2 minute read
Rock & Metal Profs
ROCKthe
& METAL PROFS
Advertisement
WITH MATT ALSCHBACH & DR. COURT LEWIS
Associate professors at Owensboro Community College and Pellissippi State Community College, respectively, Alschbach and Lewis host the popular podcast The Rock & Metal Profs: The History & Philosophy of Rock & Metal. Now they're bringing their keen insights to the pages of News 4U with a monthly deep dive into some of the best bands of the rock/metal genre and thoughts on music in general.
THE RELIGION OF RUSH
Few bands have as devoted a fanbase as RUSH. They don’t have casual fans. When people discover RUSH, it is as if someone pulled back a veil to reveal the glory and splendor of a galaxy replete with vibrant sound, color, texture and meaning that speaks to their souls. Fans celebrate them, collect their catalog of albums and videos, and scan the web for anything RUSH-related. They follow multiple RUSH podcasts and social media pages. And, most importantly, they seek out other RUSH fans to talk about the band every chance they get.
But what is it about Geddy, Alex and Neil that elicits such passion and enduring curiosity? First and foremost, it is the superior musicianship - all three are brilliant and hard-working musicians revered by their peers. You would be hard-pressed to find a professional musician who doesn’t recognize the genius of RUSH. Take for example, guitarist Alex Lifeson. In any other band, Lifeson would be considered a virtuoso on the level of Eddie Van Halen. However, within RUSH he was often overlooked because bassist/keyboardist/vocalist Geddy Lee and percussionist/lyricist Neil Peart were so gifted as well. These gentlemen pushed each other to be the very best at their craft, and that is obvious in the music. Also consider the lyrics and themes in RUSH’s music. Neil Peart was a learned man and a voracious consumer of literature and information. The same thing that drove Peart to be the greatest rock percussionist of all time also made him a brilliant songwriter and storyteller. Whatever your interests - history, philosophy, culture, economics, war, love, cars or fantasy, Peart wrote songs that captured the essence of these subjects in a profound, thoughtful and poetic manner.
Perhaps that is why hardcore fans will find a way to insert RUSH into any conversation. My good friend John is such a fan. No matter what we are talking about, he’ll manage to bring RUSH into the conversation. It’s actually quite a remarkable skill. As an experiment, I’m going to introduce three random topics to John that have nothing to do with music or RUSH, just to see how he navigates the conversation towards RUSH. I’m not going to tell him what I’m doing ahead of time. I’ll report back on this in a future column. In the meantime, you should try it too, with RUSH or another band that you know a friend loves. This should be fun!
Be sure to check out episodes 14, 16, 19 and 20 of the Rock & Metal Profs podcast covering the career and legacy of RUSH.
