from the LP Moving Pictures, Mercury Records, 1981I’ve seen enough dinosaurs wheezing their way through current takes on their golden oldies to know that making a song (let alone an entire album) sound the same as it did on an LP thirty years ago is no small feat---and that’s just musically speaking, as I know better than to ever presume a singer’s pipes will remain intact after that much abuse. Thus, all of us were blissfully stunned last night upon receiving the sacrament which is a Rush concert at Red Rocks, because not only did they play through all of Moving Pictures with cyborg-like precision, they also played another album’s worth of deep cuts as well, both challenging stuff (still in shock that they jammed on “2112”, fucking surreal man…) and standard fare (i.e. “Working Man” and a roiling rendition of “Subdivisions”); not to mention, Geddy sounded incredible, still hitting the highest notes without bluffing. The moment that legendary synthesizer chirped to life in the opening bars of this song, people just completely lost their shit man, it was bloody extraordinary!! “…no, his mind is not for rent, to any god or government, always hopeful yet discontent, he knows changes aren't permanent--- but change is…what you say about his company is what you say about society; catch the mist, catch the myth, catch the mystery, catch the drift…the world is, the world is, love and life are deep, maybe as his skies are wide…” Being a sociologist, this type of lyrical reflection on culture and society have always been a big part of my love for this crew, one in a small handful of successful rock bands to make it big without a focus on sappy love songs or party anthems. I know I’m gonna sound like an old fuddy-duddy here, but there just aren’t many band’s today who are talented enough to even get close to this shit (maybe Zombi or Astra being the exceptions, and even they are still pawing at the mantel), either in complexity or breadth of ability. Oh yeah, and Neil Peart is greatest drummer EVER, period.
