Geddy Talks About R30 And New Album Plans

Geddy Lee, lead vocalist (among other things) for Rush, recently talked to MTV about the band’s recently released double DVD set, R30 and their plans to begin work on a new album in the coming months.

In the interview, Lee talks a bit about the early days when he and guitarist Alex Lifeson once took on a job painting a movie theater to make some quick cash. Those, apparently, were the days before their fateful union with drummer and lyricist Neil Peart — the event that obviously changed the direction of the band rather dramatically and made their eventual success possible.

I have had the opportunity to hear the band’s first album that they recorded with their original drummer, John Rutsey, and, well, let’s just say it’s the only Rush album that isn’t part of my personal collection. It might be nice to have a copy for historical reasons, but really, that would be about it for me.

The interview didn’t reveal anything terribly new with regard to plans for the new album other than Geddy’s comments that they would like it to capture some of the “freshness and spontaneity” of Feedback, the album of cover songs that the band released during 2004.

Source: MTV.com

Rush R30 Review

I’ve finally had a chance to check out the new R30 DVD’s and I’d say they are definitely a good investment for serious Rush fans. I don’t have the CDs that come with the Deluxe set since I have never cared much for live recordings. I guess I’ve never understood the attraction to live tracks since my ears are a lot happier listening to a nice, clean studio recording.

Despite the suffering my ears endured with the first DVD (yes, I’m kidding), there is some great concert footage on the disk and for a live recording, the sound is actually about as good as one could expect. Remember, this is coming from a confirmed studio recording snob, so that’s quite a compliment.

I really enjoyed watching the footage on the first DVD but I think I enjoyed the interviews and other extras on the second DVD even more. Beyond the great music, another thing that I really admire about these guys is that they aren’t your stereotypical rock stars.

They have always come across to me as very down-to-Earth and very much “regular guys” who have not allowed the fame and fortune to go to their heads. That’s got to be difficult on many levels and a testament to the kind of guys they are.

Who ever heard of a rock band that spends their downtime on tours taking French language lessons and seeking out restaurants that offer good wine selections?

Another thing I enjoyed on the second DVD was the “music video” footage where the performances are more like something you would see on VH1 or MTV and the music is studio quality.

There are some interesting interviews, particularly one with Geddy back around 1979 where he talks about some other artists that he enjoys listening to.

Another interview segment features Neil Peart talking about the mood that led them to write and record 2112. A period when they were feeling rather discouraged and feeling that a lot of people had abandoned them.

There are two “Easter Eggs” I am aware of on the second DVD. One features the fans in St. John’s, Newfoundland that managed to convince Rush to do a show in their town. There is also a tongue-in-cheek interview with Alex Lifeson about his nomination for “Artist of The Decade.”

Between the great concert footage on the first DVD and the interviews and music videos on the second DVD, I’d say this set is very worthy of a little shelf space in any Rush fan’s collection.

Lynyrd Skynyrd Working On New Album

Legendary southern rockers Lynyrd Skynyrd are reported to be working on a new studio album to be released sometime in 2006.

Guitarists Gary Rossington and Ricky Medlocke have been working with singer Johnny Van Zant writing new material for the album.

Rossington says he and the boys are just trying to come up with some orginal rock n’ roll like the old Skynyrd stuff used to be.

Source: TheRockRadio

Rush R30 Easter Eggs

There are reports that there are two hidden features or Easter Eggs on the New R30 DVD.

To access them, use following instructions:

The Easter Egg one is on the opening menu. Press the right arrow key on your remote three times and the menu will re-appear with a new option showing: “Rush Hits St. John’s.” Select it and you will be treated to a cool clip.

For the next one, access the interviews section, which you can reach form the main menu. Highlight the Interviews And Anthem Vault selection and then press the right arrow key three times. You will then see a fellow with a broom on the left of the screen turn yellow. Press the enter key on your remote and you will see Alex Lifeson’s interview for Artist Of The Decade.

Neal Schon Interview

Neal Schon, one of the founding members of Journey recently answered a few questions for an interview that covered his side of the Steve Perry split, their current crop of fans, his early muscial influences and their new lead singer, Steve Augeri.

One of the more interesting observations made by Schon was the younger audiences that are showing up for the band’s live performances. This is yet another manifestation of a growing trend that has seen a resurgence of interest in what might commonly be called “classic rock” by younger fans.

For the entire interview follow this link.

Joe Perry Interview

Detroit’s WRIF Radio 101.1 FM has posted a recent audio interview that was conducted with Aerosmith guitar man, Joe Perry.

In the interview he talks about how the band is handling their new tour and their special appreciation for the fans in Detroit. He also talks a little about their recently released live album and their plans for a new studio album that they will probably begin working on in the spring of 2006.

There also may be plans for some more touring this coming summer in some outdoor venues.

To hear the interview, click here.

Crank It Up Little Brother!

I ran across another article that provides a little more information about the young classic rock fans in the article I referenced in a post a few days back called “Crank It Up, Dad!”.

Apparently, even his 6-year-old brother is a classic rock fan. Now that’s what I call coming up right! More power to them and I hope this catches on with more young people in the future. I’d really hate to think that so much great music would die with the old geezers like me!

Rush Video Re-Releases And New Album Plans

Recent news from Billboard includes a brief conversation with Rush Guitarist Alex Lifeson, who reveals the group’s intention to re-release several classis live performance videos on DVD.

Available previously only on VHS tape, Exit…Stage Left, Grace Under Pressure Tour and A Show of Hands will all be re-released on DVD with new re-mixed 5.1 sound.

At this point, Lifeson hints that a boxed set may be the form this release takes, but he did not completely close the door on the possibility of individual releases either.

Asked about plans for any new solo material, Lifeson says he pretty much satisfied that urge a few years back with his 1996 release of Victor. I’m personally glad to hear that. I love Alex as much as any Rush fan, but I’m afraid that applies only to the work he does with Rush.

I don’t want to be too hard on the guy, but I had a chance to listen to Victor, and was surprised to discover just how much better he is when he’s in the company of Geddy and Neil. If you have not heard it and are expecting it to be anything like Rush, you will be seriously disappointed. I honestly don’t know how to describe it other than to call it poor quality heavy metal. I listened to it maybe twice and that was all I could stand.

Geddy Lee’s solo album on the other hand, My Favorite Headache, was much better and I actually enjoy that, although that isn’t terribly reminiscent of Rush either. I do hear certain elements that remind me of Rush however, and I’d have to say they every track on the whole album was quite listenable for me.

Rush is definitely a band that works best together and thankfully they plan to continue to do that. Lifeson repeated recent comments he made elsewhere regarding the group’s plan to enter the studio early next year to begin working on a new album.

ZZ Top To Re-release Two Albums Early Next Year

According to Billboard, ZZ Top will be re-releasing two of their best-known albums. On February 28, Warner Brothers will re-release Tres Hombres and Fandango! with previously unreleased live tracks included.

Since I’m not much of a live music fan, this release sounds like a non-event to me. However, if you don’t already have the number 8 track of the original Tres Hombres, a tune entitled La Grange, I’d say the purchase of the entire album would be worth it just for that one tune. That one’s got to me my all-time favorite ZZ Top song, followed closely by Cheap Sunglasses.

On second thought, I’d probably recommend the Greatest Hits album, since that pretty much has all the best stuff on it and fits the bill nicely for someone like me, who is not a huge ZZ Top fan, but really enjoys some of their best-known work.

Richie Sambora Interview

With Bon Jovi scheduled to perform three shows this coming week at the Continental Arena in East Rutherford, NJ, the band’s guitarist, Richie Sambora sat down recently to talk with North Jersey Media Group’s Brian Aberback.

Among the topics discussed were Sambora’s thoughts on why Bon Jovi is one of the few surviving “hair bands” or 1980’s fame, his feelings about being on tour and the reasons why the band’s music has evolved into what it is today.

To read the entire interview (it is a short one), click here.