In a new MusicRadar interview, Alex Lifeson talks about Rush's upcoming Clockwork Angels album on a track-by-track basis. From Alex:“We wanted something that was bold and stripped down,” says guitarist Alex Lifeson of Rush’s Clockwork Angels. “The goal was to make it real in your face and very much the sound of a three piece – a hard rock record in the classic sense. I’m happy to say that it really did come out the way we anticipated and hoped for.”With numerous reviews already surfacing about the album, many have cited the title track as one of the stand-outs on the album. Here's what Alex had to say about the third track on the album:Clockwork AngelsCheck out the entire article/interview via this LINK.
“I was just messing around at home and came up with a pretty lengthy piece, and most of it’s what Clockwork Angels turned out to be.
“Ged and I both like to work on a day. We don’t really bring stuff in, nor do we refer to soundcheck jams any more. We’re both just excited to start on something new. But I had this thing floating around, so I gave him a copy of it, and he really liked it and saw great potential in it. We rearranged it and developed some of the parts a little bit more in the verses. From there, the song just came together.
“I love the strumming in the verses; it’s so energetic. And the pre-verse sections are so dreamy; they take you to another place. There's also that blues section in the middle, which comes out of nowhere, but it really emphasizes the lyric. And then it just falls back into that beautiful, climbing arpeggio. It gives me goose bumps every time.
“Near the end, there’s a vocal harmony that Ged does that almost sounds like a prayer. He sang it for one of the other parts, but it got flipped around. I think Nick is responsible for that. He said, ‘Hey, check this out,’ and we listened to it and figured, ‘Oh, we have got to have that in there.’ It’s really nice, especially since you don’t know where it’s from.”
Thanks to reader RushFanForever for passing along the news.
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As always, an interesting blow-by-blow narrative by Alex. I worry about the sound, tho'. Since...when was that?...Counterparts, the engineering has resulted in (in my opinion) sound which is TOO in your face and too harsh and strident. There haven't been many tracks with mixing for subtleties for the past three albums or so. There's a far cry between how "Roll the Bones" sounds, and how "Vapor Trails" sounds, with the latter being virtually unlistenable. Alex talking about an emphasis or a goal to be more vigorous and "three-piece" has me worried.
ReplyDeleteStill, that being said, the fact that remixes to the existing preview tracks BU2B and Caravan were done encourages me.
Anyone else feel the same way, or am I off my nut?
You're not way off at all. I share your same concerns. And as much as I really enjoy Headlong Flight, the muddled vocals make me cringe from time to time. And I'm listening to the song right off of a promotional CD, so I can't blame any low bit-rate MP3 for the sound.
DeleteI guess we'll all know in less than 2 weeks now :-)