I was re-reading during my "respite" a book called "Rush Tribute - Merely Players", which I find to be an excellent biography of Rush. It is exhilirating to hear musicians who lack pretense - especially Neil.
Early on in the book, it mentions that Geddy and Alex used to play those songs a long time ago. On page 114 Geddy says (from 2000) "I think about covers from time to time, it would be fun. Of course, I would always choose a Who song if I was to do that type of thing. that might be a fun thing for Rush to do down the road, interpret someone else's music".
There you go!
I find it neat that Rush has no half-finished songs/demos, later coming out. What you see is what you get.
Here's my reason why so many people like different Rush records - the amount of output and when you start to get into their music.
term, my quick time trip for you -
Rush - for 1973, it's awesome. Blood rattlin' rock.
Fly By Night - still raw, but the best of the three early ones. Just listen to "Anthem" and pay attention to the detail!
Caress of Steel - reviled by many, but I like it a lot.
2112 - get that one first, after Farewell to Kings.
Hemispheres is a must.
Perm waves and Moving pics are classic. Signals very muddy and overdone in keyboards, but the songs are top-notch.
Power Windows mediocre for Rush, excellent for 98% of others.
Hold Your Fire - like it more as I go on, just repeat choruses too much.
That's far enough..............
