Posted on 09/12/2006 11:51:45 AM PDT by My Favorite Headache
Rush Wrestling With Faith On New Album
Neil Peart
September 11, 2006, 3:50 PM ET
Jonathan Cohen, N.Y. Rush has penned eight songs for its next studio album, which should be out in early 2007, according to drummer Neil Peart. The artist tells Billboard.com his lyrics for the as-yet-untitled set were greatly influenced by his motorcycle journeys throughout the United States, chronicled in the new book "Roadshow: Landscape With Drums."
Peart says he was struck by the ubiquity of religious billboards that have sprung up on America's highways, which got him thinking about some weighty topics. "Just seeing the power of evangelical Christianity and contrasting that with the power of fundamentalist religion all over the world in its different forms had a big effect on me," he says.
"You try to put your own way of seeing the world into some kind of congruence with other peoples, and that's difficult for me," he admits. "I mean, I see the world in what I think to be a perfectly obvious and rational way, but when you go out into it and see the way other people think and behave, and express themselves on church signs, you realize, 'Well, I'm not really part of this club.'"
"I looked for the good side of faith," Peart says. "To me it ought to be your armor, something to protect you and something to console you in dark times. But it's more often being turned into a sword, and that's one big theme I'm messing with."
Musically, the new album is continuing in much the same vein as 2002's "Vapor Trails," which returned Rush to a more guitar/bass/drums-driven sound. But Peart is quick to add that the music is "remarkably organic in a way that I haven't heard [from Rush] before. We spent a month together in May working on those songs and developing our individual instrument parts for them. It's early to characterize it, but it's definitely fresh and different and that's certainly satisfying."
Peart, bassist/vocalist Geddy Lee and guitarist Alex Lifeson will regroup next month to finish pre-production and will begin recording in November. However, as Peart writes at the conclusion of "Roadshow," he is ambivalent about putting himself through yet another massive world tour.
"It is true that in 1989 I announced that I wasn't going to tour anymore, and have said that every time since and have gone back and decided [to do it] for all good reasons," he says. "One of the main ones to me is that a band plays live, so if I want to consider our band as a living, working thing then that's the case. I haven't in my own mind committed to [another tour] yet, but of course I haven't ruled it out, either."
"I looked for the good side of faith," Peart says. "To me it ought to be your armor, something to protect you and something to console you in dark times. But it's more often being turned into a sword, and that's one big theme I'm messing with."
Unlike Islam, Christianity's sword is a spiritual one. But knowing Peart, he'll just lump Christianity in with all the other world religions, as being fundamentalist-fascist, power-hungry type of organizations.
This might be the last straw for this Rush fan if he goes in this direction.
Rush's heydey was 25 years ago. They can still pack in a few hundered drunk gamblers at the local indian casinos, but hey, so can Styx.
You're shocked by this?!?
Shouldn't the lyrics in Tom Sawyer, "No his mind is not for rent/to any God or government" clued you in to Peart's world view?
Rush hasn't been good for YEARS.
Peart is a typical Canadian, unfortunately. You get normal people in Alberta, but that's about it. The rest of the country is going Euroweenie.
I always understood Peart to be a libertarian so his comments don't surprise me. Love their music. Saw them live in '83.
You have to look a Peart's life as well. He has gone through some serious tragedies lately and is probably trying to deal with them all.
I didn't know Rush sang! WOW! ohhhhhhh U mean that Rush .... wow, they are still alive???
Their hero Ayn Rand was a staunch atheist.
Neil, dude, you are so deep, man. I, like, learned about this stuff in Philosophy 101 with that hippy professor when I was 18! Now you're put it to music...profound, man, profound.
"Rush hasn't been good for YEARS."
Yup, Signals was the last one I bought.
I will say those "you'll burn in hell" church signs splattered over highways leave me a little disgusted also.
You're reading it correctly if you've now become yet another FReeper that spends all of their time going off half-cocked frantically looking for stuff to be enraged about because you enjoy being enraged at stuff.
Might want to wait for the actual lyrics.
As another poster points out you really need a trip to the clue farm if you haven't noticed Peart isn't much of a fan of organized religion of any kind before.
They've never played a casino to my knowledge, and there was at least 10,000 people at the last Rush concert I attended on the last tour.
Reading this in context of the comments today by the Pope, who used the sword imagery as well, I have some hope for Mr. Peart.
Christianity doesn't come to everyone quickly... sometimes it's a long process to get there.
Regarding the Tom Sawyer lyric, I would say God ain't paying rent to anyone.
No I have known that for years...I am just talking about the blanket comparisons to Chrisitan signs to fundamentalism in the M.E. (around the world).
All one needs is the words to Freewill to know where he stands on religion...or Sweet Miracle. I just hope he hasn't decided to "through his travels" in both America since the 9-11 attacks, war in Iraq and Afghanistan go off and show how hated we are in Europe now and how middle America can be compared to Islamic Nazi's.
By his own words...it looks as "if" he is headed that way.
The bottom line's the same: Their lead singer couldn't sing 25 years ago, and - barring a miracle - he still can't sing. Rush had to be one of THE most annoying bands of all time.
Still, you've got to hand it to him - he turned no talent into quite a career (if he was wise to invest in the market 25
years ago, that is.....)
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