Skip to main content
Alex Lifeson on 40 Years of '2112': 'It Was Our Protest Album'
In connection with the 40th Anniversary of Rush's album 2112, Rolling Stone Magazine has published a new, lengthy interview with Alex Lifeson about the band's seminal album.
Titled Alex Lifeson on 40 Years of '2112': 'It Was Our Protest Album', the interview touches upon the importance of the album in Rush's history, the artwork and Starman logo, and how the band's manager, Ray Danniels essentially lied to the record label about the album:Your record label explicitly asked you not to do another suite like "The Fountain of Lamneth." How did you present 2112 to them?
[Laughs] Well, Ray [Danniels], our manager, went in and lied to them and basically told them, "Yeah, the band is working on a great record. It's gonna be a real commercial success and the songs are very straightforward." And then we delivered it. The fortunate thing is our deal at that time was a production deal. So, really, we had full control over content, including artwork. Once we delivered it to the record company, it was theirs to work with. So we were really lucky.
You can read the entire article via this LINK.
Thanks to reader Arthur R. Spear for the news.
Make another album. Stop reliving the past. I'm a huge Rush fan and nothing was more exciting for me than a new Rush album. You have always made good ones. There was never a moment when I doubted the band. A new Rush album is like Christmas day. Doesn't matter if the radio plays it or not. The best. Nothing better than anticipating and hearing a new Rush album for the first time.
ReplyDeleteI stopped anticipating new Rush albums after Power Windows.
DeleteThey were awesome from the first album through Moving Pictures.
Then they took a major nose dive with Signals, though at least Signals had New World Man and Subdivisions. I remember being stunned by how bad that album was. That is the album where the Rush can tradition of "if you don't like this album, listen to it a million times until you convince yourself it's good" begins.
I couldn't wait for Grace Under Pressure to come out. I figured Signals had to have been a one time screw up, and surely they'd be back to form with Grace Under Pressure.
"A whole new album of new Rush songs!" I thought.
Then I heard Distant Early Warning on the radio and I was like... well that sucks.
Hopefully the rest of the album is better.
Well, the rest of the album sucked.
I listened to it a million times anyway and tried to convince myself it was a good album. Of you had asked me then I probably would have said it was great.
Denial of course.
I have them one more chance with Power Windows, and it was even worse.
I no longer held out any expectations of a good Rush album after that.
Their last 2 albums (Snakes and Arrows and Clockwork Angels) were quite surprisingly a major improvement over anything they've done since Moving Pictures. "A" for effort, no question.
Alas, they're stll not good albums. It's all very bland.
They are great live though; the 41st anniversary tour was awesome.
I love the band but, to paraphrase Neil Peart's Limelight lyric, I can't pretend bland and forgettable music is awesome, and their music,sadly, has been bland and forgettable since 1982.