Posts Tagged ‘Clockwork Angels’

RUSH : ‘TOO YOUNG FOR THE ROCK’N'ROLL HALL OF FAME’

By Pete Makowski

Rush kicked have kicked off 2012 with a brand new album – Clockwork Angels - and receiving the prestigious Governor General’s Performing Arts Award in Ottawa on May 5.
The band were presented the award alongside icons like Pete Townshend and a choir performed Spirit of the Radio followed by an orchestral version of Tom Sawyer (see YouTube below).

Geddy Lee was still beaming with pride when he met up with TAPEtoTAPE last week.
“That was great, it was fun and it made me proud to live in a country that recognises the performing arts and celebrates excellence in various fields.  A lot of the people were not mainstream artists but they’ve been working their whole lives perfecting their craft. In Canada we’re always fighting for support of the arts. In a lot of countries they subsidies a lot of industries but when it comes to the arts they view it as a gift. Yet the arts can be a very profitable thing to invest in. It’s as valid as investing in the car industry or whatever. So when you see an event like that which celebrates excellence in the performing arts, it sends a very positive message to the artist and the country and it informs young people that the arts matters and don’t be discouraged and follow your passion. Which is what we did.”

For years fans have been petitioning to get the band recognised by the Rock’n'Roll Hall of Fame in the America and when asked about this Lee responded with his usual humour: “No, no we’re still young . That’s for old-timers.”

Geddy was in town to promote Clockwork Angels during which time it was also announced that Rush will be touring the UK next May. Angels… follows on from Snake and Arrows and has been greeted by fans as being a return to form.
“We were attempting to bring that back with Snakes and Arrows and in retrospect before we did this record I felt we were still leaning a little too heavily on production with Snakes & Arrows“, says Lee. “Even though the songs on Clockwork Angels are still very complex, they’re leaner in the terms of the way we recorded them. We tried to make the essence of this album more reflective of the three piece.”

“The built-to-be-performed quality is clearly eveident on all the songs on Clockwork Angels“, declares Neil Peart on the notes he wrote for a press sheet.  ”Like the nineteen albums that have come before, these songs are ‘Made 2 B Played’ again and again for years.”

As told to Pete Makowski

Rush prepare to release new album and announce 2013 UK Arena Tour Dates

RUSH return with brand new studio album “CLOCKWORK ANGELS”, their first in five years and set for release on JUNE 11th (UK) 2012.

Legendary rock band Rush have announced details of a UK Arena tour in May 2013.  Full dates are as follows:

2013

Wed May 22nd Manchester Arena

Fri May 24th London, O2 Arena

Sun May 26th Birmingham, LG Arena

Tues May 28th Sheffield, Motorpoint Arena

Thurs May 30th Glasgow, SECC

Tickets go on sale at 9am GMT Friday 18th May 2012 priced at £60/£75 (subject to booking fee) and will be available from www.ticketmaster.co.uk, www.livenation.co.uk or www.ticketline.co.uk

 These are the first UK dates since the band brought their 3 ½ hour Time Machine Tour in May 2011 – the tour was met to widespread critical acclaim and included a sold out date at London’s O2 Arena.  “Rush are one of the last great bands standing” – Metal Hammer, “Canadian legends confirm their status as the world’s biggest and best cult band” – Kerrang, “It’s a blend of power, subtlety, soaring choruses and some of the most intelligent lyrics ever written.” – The Sun 5/5 live review.

This follows the band unveiling details of its highly anticipated, new album, “CLOCKWORK ANGELS.”  This is the renowned trio’s first new collection of original material in over five years and their first studio release via Anthem/Roadrunner Records.  “CLOCKWORK ANGELS,” the band’s 20th studio album, will be released in the UK on June 11th.

In the UK, the album will be released on June 11th in exclusive Classic Rock Fan Pack form – providing a unique collectible package containing the 12 track studio album alongside a specially created magazine with unseen behind-the-scenes content put together by Classic Rock.  The Fan Pack cover will also feature brand new exclusive artwork from Rush’s longtime collaborator Hugh Syme (who also designed the Clockwork Angels artwork).  The Fan Pack format will also come with free gifts including a ltd ed Clockwork Angels keyring & artwork poster and will be available to buy via more than 2000 retail outlets on newsstands nationally as well as the traditional high street and online music retailer.  The Fan Pack is available for pre-order now at www.myfavouritemagazines.co.uk/rush, where all early bird orders will receive a personalised Rush poster.  Roadrunner Records will simultaneously release the record digitally.  The standard physical release of the Rush album will follow through Roadrunner Records on July 9th 2012.

The recording of “CLOCKWORK ANGELS” began in April 2010 with Grammy Award winning producer Nick Raskulinecz (Foo Fighters, Deftones) – who also collaborated with the band on their last studio album, 2007’s “SNAKES & ARROWS.” Rush co-produced both records.  The first two songs, “Caravan” and “BU2B,” were completed during that first session at Nashville’s Blackbird studios and performed nightly during the wildly successful Time Machine Tour, which ran from June 2010 to June 2011.  Work on “CLOCKWORK ANGELS” resumed in the fall of 2011 at Revolution Recording in Toronto after the tour’s finale, with additional strings (arranged by David Campbell) recorded at Hollywood’s Ocean Way Studios earlier this year.  Lyrically, “CLOCKWORK ANGELS” chronicles a young man’s quest across a lavish and colorful world of steampunk and alchemy as he attempts to follow his dreams.  The story features lost cities, pirates, anarchists, an exotic carnival, and a rigid Watchmaker who imposes precision on every aspect of daily life.   The novelization of “CLOCKWORK ANGELS” is being written by science fiction writer Kevin J. Anderson in collaboration with Rush drummer and lyricist Neil Peart.

Rush heralded the release of “CLOCKWORK ANGELS” with a new single “Headlong Flight”.  Landing at rock radio in mid April the song is already # 1 at Classic Rock in the USA and A-Listed at the UK’s Planet Rock radio.  Details of a full-scale North American tour to support the new album have also been announced – the tour runs throughout September, October, November and December 2012.

RUSH

“CLOCKWORK ANGELS”

(ANTHEM/ROADRUNNER)

Available June 11th 

1. Caravan

2. BU2B

3. Clockwork Angels

4. The Anarchist

5. Carnies

6. Halo Effect

7. Seven Cities Of Gold

8. The Wreckers

9. Headlong Flight

10. BU2B2

11. Wish Them Well

12. The Garden