Geddy Lee powers up with new disc
Tiny Dancer
No Rush job
Band says it took time to get back 'in sync'
By KIERAN GRANT
Toronto Sun
Rush were "rusty" after a long absence from recording, Geddy Lee told
The Toronto Sun in an interview yesterday.
But patience and spirit helped see the legendary Canadian band through
difficult work on their new Vapor Trails disc.
Rush officially closes a six-year gap between studio albums--their
longest break in 30 years together -- when the album hits stores a week
from today.
"We were not in sync when we started," said Lee, flanked by guitarist
Alex Lifeson at the downtown offices of Rush's management. "We weren't
playing well and our material was run-of-the-mill. We had to make time
become our friend."
Not easy for a band who'd always prided themselves on working quickly.
But then, Rush had already been through worse: The death of drummer
and lyricist Neil Peart's daughter in 1997, and his wife's death from cancer
a year later, had resulted in the indefinite shut-down of the band.
When Peart returned in 2000 ready to play, it took Lee and Lifeson time
to find their feet.
"Outwardly we were pretty up, but inwardly I was feeling quite disappointed,"
Lee said.
"Neil kept wondering, 'Why haven't those guys brought me any music?
I've written them lots of lyrics. What's going on in there?' We did a lot of
talking. It took a few months before we got past that stage of forcing it and
trying to make it sound great. We decided it was a long-term project and
we have a lot of recovery to do."
Added Lifeson: "I was judging everything by the way we worked in the past.
We'd give ourselves six or seven weeks to write a whole record and go
into the studio. All along Geddy said: If it takes us five years to make this
record, so what? As long as it was the record we wanted to make."
That personal and creative adversity resulted in what is, not surprisingly,
Rush's heaviest album in years.
"A lot of the music was spontaneous," Lifeson said.
"In some cases there are songs that are made almost entirely of those
first moments of a piece. I love that idea. It's pure instinct, and truly from
the heart. Our criteria was: If we can't better the performance and maintain
the energy, we'll leave it. No spending three days on one 30-second passage."
This week Rush start rehearsals for an upcoming North American tour,
which brings them to the Molson Amphitheatre July 17.
"Right now we're just relieved after working as intensely as usual for
three times as long," Lifeson said.
"The idea of touring is so enormous right now, but once we start to play
it's all going to come back.
"And if it doesn't," added Lee with a laugh, "we'll retire. Very quietly."
Cheers,
TD
The blacksmith and the artist
Reflect it in their art
They forge their creativity
Closer to the heart
from Rush's "Closer To The Heart"
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