The story goes that Rush's old drummer John Rutsey had difficulty playing this song when Geddy and Alex started writing the song. But during Neil's audition they started playing Anthem, and Neil nailed it.
Just saw this notice I thought would interest you: The National GUITAR Museum is proud to announce that Alex Lifeson, one of the most revered rock guitarists of the past 50 years, will receive its annual "Lifetime Achievement" Award for 2024. Lifeson is the fifteenth recipient of the award. A founding member of the band Rush-known for its extraordinary level of musicianship and for crafting experimental and progressive rock epics-Lifeson has appeared on over 30 albums since 1974. "Alex's playing has inspired countless guitarists to push the boundaries of what the guitar can do. And I am one of them," says HP Newquist, the executive director of The National GUITAR Museum. "It's hard to even put his playing in a single category-calling him a "rock guitarist" doesn't begin to cover it. Catchy riffs, intricate instrumental passages, classical flourishes, jackhammer chords, brilliant tone ... that's just the start of what Alex does as a guitarist." "I'm honoured to be receiving this Lifetime Achievement award from the National GUITAR Museum," said Lifeson. "I fell in love with the guitar when I was eleven years old and continue my romantic affair to this day, sixty years later. It has been my voice, my lover and my partner on a lifelong journey, and we've never had a single argument. I'm grateful for this acknowledgement and fortunate to share the rewards that come with being a guitarist." The Museum's Board of Advisors is comprised of guitar greats Ritchie Blackmore, Steve Howe, Steve Vai, Liona Boyd, Tony Iommi and Al Di Meola. Alex is the fifteenth recipient of the Award, joining such accomplished guitarists as Buddy Guy, Tony Iommi, B.B. King, Bonnie Raitt, Jeff Beck and Eddie Van Halen.
I saw rush live in Detroit MI in 1975, to hear them play " Anthem" live was awesome . The whole arena was lighting there bic lighters at the end of the song, standing ovation!
Ayn Rand (whose novel, Anthem, is what this song is based on) is a brilliant writer. Often discarded as being a proponent of selfishness. I never saw her as that. She was a proponent of individualism...that people do for themselves, not others. I don't believe Rand is completely right. We are also motivated to do things for others and not just ourselves. But Rand beautifully explores the halves of us that tickles our self-motivating characteristics. Nice reaction video, I think you generally understood it well. 2112 is Neil's followup to Rand.
Also, only by raising yourself can you then raise others ... I can wish to help those in need, but if I am also at that level then I can do little to nothing to assist them. I must first rise above to reach down a hand.
You must watch Rush live, "Best intro ever" from the opening of the R30 tour. Snippets of tracks from their 1st few album's played as an instrumental melody. Brilliant
The lyrics about selfishness being "wrong" means that everyone benefits when we act in our own self interests first and foremost. Rush wrote the song Anthem for themselves, but we all benefit from their selfish act because we get to enjoy the song as well. So when we go to work, we do it to make money and benefit ourselves. But other people benefit from our work having been done.
You just listened to the first track on the 2nd RUSH album, Fly By Night, the first with Neil Peart (pronounced using “ear” ) on drums. They started out with a rock style that developed into their own progressive style after this record. John Rutsey didn’t want to play progressive rock. Neil was the catalyst to the change that distinguished the RUSH progressive style which was evident with this record (one of my favorites) and the next one Caress of Steel. Please react to more early RUSH because I really enjoy your comments as a musician so much! R.I.P. Neil Peart ❤
You're right about Neil - he was drumming for a jazz band when Rush recruited him. This song is from their second album, the first to feature Neil on the drums.
****** Dude just casually listens for a few seconds and then picks up a bass and proceeds to imitate GEDDY FREAKING LEE! WHO ARE YOU MAN!!!!!!!!!! You are fire!!!!!!!!!!!!!
You have the gist of the lyrics, but the scope of it has far more depth than people realize. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, This song is the birth of Progressive Metal, IMHO… This album is approaching it’s 50th anniversary. Hard to believe it’s been that long… RIP Professor
This song was inspired by the writings of Ayn Rand who preached the need for individualism over group think. So Neil is just saying live your live according to your own values and don’t be influenced by outsiders. You get to make your own success not because of someone else’s benefit.
At that time Geddy played the RIC through Ampex Amps. In the early days Alex often played double tracked guitar, in fact he is one of the best double trackers in the business
I actually prefer the live version from "All The World's A Stage", this is an example of how they played it live, to answer your question "do they have more than one guitar track going". The neat thing about RUSH is, even when they had layered parts they were able to fully perform all of their pieces live. I have been to 18 RUSH concerts over the decades, and it always amazed me that they could perform studio quality live shows. Very few bands could do that. .. .YT link: watch?v=11H71Q1PAAI
One of Neil's drumming icons was Buddy Rich, viewed by most drummers as the best drummer ever. A couple years after Buddy passed Neil worked with Buddy's daughter Cathy to produce a couple tribute CD's with various drummers playing his famous songs with the Buddy Rich Big Band. During the recording of the second CD Neil noticed one of the drummers had improved his jazz chops by taking lessons from a well known teacher Freddie Gruber. Neil, in his 40's and at the top of his rock career started taking lessons from Freddie to improve his jazz feel. Neil also played with Buddy's band in a couple tribute concert, video of those are available on YT.
This is the opening track of their second album, the first with Neil in the band. " they always tell you selfishness is wrong, but it was for me not you i came to write this song"
Rutsey the original drummer was amazing. Neil was in a band called JR flood at the time. Story is that Rutsey was too crazy with the partying and their manager said this kid won’t make it through one tour. Then enter Mr. Peart the GOAT. Rip Rutsey Rip Peart Listen to “the trees” studio version . Makes you think. Rock on and God bless
At the time of this being written, Neil was reading books by Russian Philosopher, AYN RAND. The title of this song is from the title of her book from the same name. And her philosophy was to live for yourself and screw everyone else. Their big hit, 2112, is loosely based on the book. And if you want a base guitar challenge, try listening to YYZ Enjoy your journey down the RUSH rabbit hole of music. Its 40 years deep
Although I’m not a heavy metal music guy, there was a group of guys during Covid that covered this. And it was fun and fantastic. It’s called 2 minutes to Latenight. You won’t be disappointed.
Neil's drumming is what got me initially into RUSH....I can see he's having the same affect on you CB! He just adds in so many interesting FILLS to all the tracks...and of course Geddy and Alex bring their own brilliance....Great job of breaking down their music! This band was under appreciated over the years.
Anthem is inspired by the book by Ayn Rand of the same name. Bleeding hearts and begging hands are the toxic scourge of Socialism stealing wealth from self made men who have struggled and sacrificed to build wealth. It's a theme Rand returns to in future books. In essence, Rand is the last champion of Capitalism and the idea that everything in this world must be earned. Those who have not earned something have stolen it even if indirectly via the government and taxation.
One of my favorite songs of their 'early' era. Was always a treat when they would do this live and by the time I started going to shows (1982), it was pretty well dropped from the setlist (they brought it back in medley form in 1991 and the 30th Anniversary tour and finally on the final tour as an encore), though it was a staple in the '70's. Part of this song was written on the day that Neil came down to audition. Not a bad audition.
It's actually humorous how indifferent he is to mid-70s Geddy and his Olympian caliber vocal range! 😂 You hear that first, "wrouuuuuugggghhhhht!" and he cuts it off and is focused on the bass riff.
Neil did not have a jazz background at this point in his career. I’ve seen some people say he played for a jazz band, but that’s not exactly true. He played for more of jazzy rock band but played very similar to how he played in rush. It wasn’t until later in his life when he did the Buddy Rich tribute project Where he realized he did not know how to play drums in a way that could be jazz. He ended up taking lessons from a guy named Freddie Gruber, who helped him after a disastrous performance at a Buddy Rich memorial concert. If you actually go and watch some of his jazz performance is playing big band music, you will see a lot of jazz drummers, ripping him apart for his technique and his ability to swing. Or lack there of. He did an entire album where he played a traditional grip after he took lessons, but still continue to practice and eventually did a follow up tribute concert where he was playing much better. But by no means was Neil ever a jazz drummer nor would he ever claim to be a jazz drummer. He simply admired the form and tried his best to play that style, recognizing his limitations because of his background. All of this is in his books if you read them.
@@paulcaruana4090 Yup. One thing Neil was not was full of himself. He had a love of learning whether torturing himself with hi-hat work (that is hilarious!) or learning African style on his bike journeys. While he was a private guy and maybe came off as an a$$ to some, we lost one hell of a human when he passed away.
....And Bastille Day, Fly By Night/ In the Mood, Lakeside Park, 2112, In The End, Working Man/Finding My Way, and What You're Doing!! (In other words, the rest of the album!LOL!)
Happy Holiday!!! Love you have recently circled back to Rush. Great Intro to Neil as a member and. If influence. How about playing Alien Shore soon?? Thanks!!! Cheers to 2025
At this time i think geddy was playing a fender precision. This was his first song with a really busy bassline. They were very young here. 21 i think. What 21yo’s sound like this lmao
Rickenbacker on this track. He used the Fender Precision on all of the first album but with the advancement they got from the record company for the Fly By Night album Geddy bought his first Rickenbacker and used it for the whole album except for the song Making Memories which was the done with the Fender Precision.
@ he was playing that ugly blue teardrop precision all the way through caress of steel. Idk what basses he used on what songs. He didnt get into that detail in either of his books but he was definitely playing that blue precision up until 2112.
@@trenken He mostly used his first Rickenbacker from Fly By Night all the way up through Farewell To Kings with occasional sprinklings of the Precision on a few tracks. His second Rickenbacker was used from Hemispheres through Signals except for when he started using the Fender Jazz bass on Permanent Waves and Moving Pictures.
At its best interpretation, this song is about finding self esteem, drive, integrity, and ignoring the haters. Basically, your anthem, your song, your life, should be lived on your terms; not what your parents want, not what your friends want, not what society wants, not what the critics want, and not what the studio wants. Neil, like Rand, believed that most (if not all) accomplishment is the result of individual integrity to an idea. Take the line "I know they've always told you selfishness was wrong, yet it was for me not you I came to write this song". Basically, he is saying that if instead of trying to write and play this song based on what he thought was interesting and cool, and instead tried to write it based on what he thought everybody else would like, it would have been shit. Based on the music of today, that only want a viral hit on spotify and the radio, we can see that he was mostly right. It takes understanding the nature of your instrument, and your hard work and practice, to create something great.
10:30 I don’t think the technology of the day was the problem… listen to Miles Davis Kind of Blue from 1955. One microphone. Amazing. Sgt Pepper, 1967. They definitely knew how to record in the 70’s. I think the problem was that Rush were still kids, had little studio experience, and even less of a budget. They were making an album every 6 months in those days. They had almost zero support from their label. Also, I don’t think Geddy had forged his signature sound quite yet; I think he was playing straight into the board in this album.
of course it’s jazz! lol😂 the more you get to learn about Neil, the more you realize that he wanted to push himself every album and learn as many styles as possible. Odd time signatures, hard hitting, hi hat wizard, sometimes reggae, always learning genius. oh yeah he can write lyrics pretty decent too. ha!!
Nice to see that you hear too what I've always heard, that jazz feel on the drums, Neil always took criticism because (usually Bonham fans) he didn't "swing' , I've never agreed. The type of music Rush plays for the most part isn't as bluesy based as zep, so, duh, of course a progy band doesn't swing. No one knocks them off the hill. They were the best at what they did, although other bands were the best at what they did.
Not exactly right Jennifer. Alex and Geddy had agreed to see all drummers auditioning the day Neil came in to the band. Geddy was smiling, knowing this was the guy. Alex was mad at Geddy for not waiting to hear the last drummer due to play for them. But he knew too. He knew this was the guy, He loved Neil from the start. Apart from his short hair cut.
EDIT... ignore all this he was playing a Rickenbacker early on. Apparently the fender was the messed up bass. The video below is a pretty cool story. Church boy has anybody explained to you the story behind this particular fender bass purchased in a Michigan Pawn shop? If not somebody please do! In a nutshell, that particular bass was jacked up, but in a good way. Can you explain it in an interview somewhere but he was very particular who put their hands on that base because something was not quite right with it but he never wanted to lose that tone. I wish I knew where that interview was at my fingertips but it's out there. I FOUND IT! th-cam.com/video/04Ekje672mo/w-d-xo.htmlsi=9ibtMjHm4kS8iLBp
Neil later regretted the hard lines on some of these lyrics as he matured. He was young and impressionable and he read a lot!!! He didn’t exactly walk back his stance here but evolved to be much more of a bleeding heart libertarian and was known to be privately very generous.
Neil did study and play some jazz and of course Buddy Rich and big band was some of his favorites. One of Neil's early bands was JR Flood, playing covers, some jazz and fusion-ish. th-cam.com/video/xrVqBlMm75U/w-d-xo.htmlsi=qeBej5rZSw0e0m7l
Another point about trying to duplicate the tone today. I don’t believe as much as you try you can get the same sound out of a digital wave as an analog wave. They each have their own qualities. Yes perhaps they could not have caught all the tones that we can now back then but at the same time they can not recreate that exact sound with all of the tube and 1st generation electronic technology.
th-cam.com/video/YSToKcbWz1k/w-d-xo.html The Best Intro Ever From the R30 concert in Frankfurt, Germany They play a medley of 6 different songs, Anthem is one of them, before they finally get to Spirit of Radio. I'm not sure if you have done this one but I would be interested to see your analysis of this performance.
Imagine picking up up Rush's second album and wondering if the new guy is any good? This is the opening track.
The story goes that Rush's old drummer John Rutsey had difficulty playing this song when Geddy and Alex started writing the song. But during Neil's audition they started playing Anthem, and Neil nailed it.
Neil nailed everything!
Yes, I heard it started as a jam with Geddy and Alex, but Rutsey wasn't into it. He wasn't really a progger.
Just saw this notice I thought would interest you:
The National GUITAR Museum is proud to announce that Alex Lifeson, one of the most revered rock guitarists of the past 50 years, will receive its annual "Lifetime Achievement" Award for 2024. Lifeson is the fifteenth recipient of the award.
A founding member of the band Rush-known for its extraordinary level of musicianship and for crafting experimental and progressive rock epics-Lifeson has appeared on over 30 albums since 1974. "Alex's playing has inspired countless guitarists to push the boundaries of what the guitar can do. And I am one of them," says HP Newquist, the executive director of The National GUITAR Museum. "It's hard to even put his playing in a single category-calling him a "rock guitarist" doesn't begin to cover it. Catchy riffs, intricate instrumental passages, classical flourishes, jackhammer chords, brilliant tone ... that's just the start of what Alex does as a guitarist."
"I'm honoured to be receiving this Lifetime Achievement award from the National GUITAR Museum," said Lifeson. "I fell in love with the guitar when I was eleven years old and continue my romantic affair to this day, sixty years later. It has been my voice, my lover and my partner on a lifelong journey, and we've never had a single argument. I'm grateful for this acknowledgement and fortunate to share the rewards that come with being a guitarist."
The Museum's Board of Advisors is comprised of guitar greats Ritchie Blackmore, Steve Howe, Steve Vai, Liona Boyd, Tony Iommi and Al Di Meola. Alex is the fifteenth recipient of the Award, joining such accomplished guitarists as Buddy Guy, Tony Iommi, B.B. King, Bonnie Raitt, Jeff Beck and Eddie Van Halen.
I saw rush live in Detroit MI in 1975, to hear them play " Anthem" live was awesome . The whole arena was lighting there bic lighters at the end of the song, standing ovation!
What were they lighting up with those Bic lighter?
YES!!! THEY ARE THE BEST BAND OF ALL TIME!!! WELL SAID!
And they were only 21/22 when this was released. Pure talent!
Ayn Rand (whose novel, Anthem, is what this song is based on) is a brilliant writer. Often discarded as being a proponent of selfishness. I never saw her as that. She was a proponent of individualism...that people do for themselves, not others. I don't believe Rand is completely right. We are also motivated to do things for others and not just ourselves. But Rand beautifully explores the halves of us that tickles our self-motivating characteristics. Nice reaction video, I think you generally understood it well. 2112 is Neil's followup to Rand.
Also, only by raising yourself can you then raise others ... I can wish to help those in need, but if I am also at that level then I can do little to nothing to assist them. I must first rise above to reach down a hand.
@@lauriivey7801 indeed, this is a part of the message as well.
You must watch Rush live, "Best intro ever" from the opening of the R30 tour. Snippets of tracks from their 1st few album's played as an instrumental melody. Brilliant
By-Tor and the Snowdog is a must listen from the same album.
Yes it is!
And then the LIVE versions!
These guys were in their early 20s when they did this... You have quite the ear! Thanks for the occasional rewind! Love your reactions! Thanks!
The lyrics about selfishness being "wrong" means that everyone benefits when we act in our own self interests first and foremost. Rush wrote the song Anthem for themselves, but we all benefit from their selfish act because we get to enjoy the song as well. So when we go to work, we do it to make money and benefit ourselves. But other people benefit from our work having been done.
No one does Rush reactions "LIKE YOU" Keep on going Churchie! :)
Crazy to think the boys were only about 21 when they recorded this (much less created the song).
You just listened to the first track on the 2nd RUSH album, Fly By Night, the first with Neil Peart (pronounced using “ear” ) on drums. They started out with a rock style that developed into their own progressive style after this record. John Rutsey didn’t want to play progressive rock. Neil was the catalyst to the change that distinguished the RUSH progressive style which was evident with this record (one of my favorites) and the next one Caress of Steel. Please react to more early RUSH because I really enjoy your comments as a musician so much! R.I.P. Neil Peart ❤
You're right about Neil - he was drumming for a jazz band when Rush recruited him. This song is from their second album, the first to feature Neil on the drums.
Older Rush is my jam first 10 albums is where I live.
Go up to Grace and we're best buddies! 😊
Don’t sleep on Power Windows and Hold Your Fire 😁
I love you, Church Boy. ❤😊 Thank you for loving RUSH as much as I do and recognizing how amazing they were.
RIP Neil. Gone but never forgotten.
****** Dude just casually listens for a few seconds and then picks up a bass and proceeds to imitate GEDDY FREAKING LEE! WHO ARE YOU MAN!!!!!!!!!! You are fire!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I think the same thing. He is really in tune with Geddy. I would really like to hear him play at church.
Neil introduced himself to the world with this song in 1975
Yeah the drums don't stop, just listen to the next song on the album, Best That I Can Neil starts right off the bat, so cool.
That call and response between Alex and Geddy! Killer!!!
The live version of this song from the 1976 All the World's a Stage album is excellent. Actually that whole album is 🔥.
You have the gist of the lyrics, but the scope of it has far more depth than people realize. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again,
This song is the birth of Progressive Metal, IMHO…
This album is approaching it’s 50th anniversary. Hard to believe it’s been that long… RIP Professor
This song was inspired by the writings of Ayn Rand who preached the need for individualism over group think. So Neil is just saying live your live according to your own values and don’t be influenced by outsiders. You get to make your own success not because of someone else’s benefit.
Old Rush im in all day
The official video for this is fun. Young Rush killing it.
☺️ You can "run it back" as many times as you want. 🥁 Anthem intro is a Beast for sure! 🥰🐰
And play it loud!!!!
🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦👍👍
At that time Geddy played the RIC through Ampex Amps.
In the early days Alex often played double tracked guitar, in fact he is one of the best double trackers in the business
I actually prefer the live version from "All The World's A Stage", this is an example of how they played it live, to answer your question "do they have more than one guitar track going". The neat thing about RUSH is, even when they had layered parts they were able to fully perform all of their pieces live. I have been to 18 RUSH concerts over the decades, and it always amazed me that they could perform studio quality live shows. Very few bands could do that. .. .YT link: watch?v=11H71Q1PAAI
One of Neil's drumming icons was Buddy Rich, viewed by most drummers as the best drummer ever. A couple years after Buddy passed Neil worked with Buddy's daughter Cathy to produce a couple tribute CD's with various drummers playing his famous songs with the Buddy Rich Big Band. During the recording of the second CD Neil noticed one of the drummers had improved his jazz chops by taking lessons from a well known teacher Freddie Gruber. Neil, in his 40's and at the top of his rock career started taking lessons from Freddie to improve his jazz feel. Neil also played with Buddy's band in a couple tribute concert, video of those are available on YT.
This is from their 2nd album Fly By Night, & the first with Neil! Early 1975!!! Rock Gods already!!!
This is the opening track of their second album, the first with Neil in the band.
" they always tell you selfishness is wrong, but it was for me not you i came to write this song"
Rutsey the original drummer was amazing. Neil was in a band called JR flood at the time. Story is that Rutsey was too crazy with the partying and their manager said this kid won’t make it through one tour. Then enter Mr. Peart the GOAT.
Rip Rutsey
Rip Peart
Listen to “the trees” studio version . Makes you think. Rock on and God bless
Ladies and gentlemen, Mr. Neil Peart on the drum kit
At the time of this being written, Neil was reading books by Russian Philosopher, AYN RAND. The title of this song is from the title of her book from the same name. And her philosophy was to live for yourself and screw everyone else. Their big hit, 2112, is loosely based on the book.
And if you want a base guitar challenge, try listening to YYZ
Enjoy your journey down the RUSH rabbit hole of music. Its 40 years deep
Neil was a big proponent of individualism vs the masses
Although I’m not a heavy metal music guy, there was a group of guys during Covid that covered this. And it was fun and fantastic. It’s called 2 minutes to Latenight. You won’t be disappointed.
Anthem and Xanadu are two songs that have occasionally popped up in my head! Don’t know why! Guess they are part of my personal soundtrack!
Neil's drumming is what got me initially into RUSH....I can see he's having the same affect on you CB! He just adds in so many interesting FILLS to all the tracks...and of course Geddy and Alex bring their own brilliance....Great job of breaking down their music! This band was under appreciated over the years.
Love how u pick up that bass and play it ...sounds so good man
Anthem is inspired by the book by Ayn Rand of the same name. Bleeding hearts and begging hands are the toxic scourge of Socialism stealing wealth from self made men who have struggled and sacrificed to build wealth. It's a theme Rand returns to in future books. In essence, Rand is the last champion of Capitalism and the idea that everything in this world must be earned. Those who have not earned something have stolen it even if indirectly via the government and taxation.
Rush IS the Greatest Band of the last 50 years. Because they never had outside influences in their creation of music. Loved growing up with Rush😍
Your enthusiasm and appreciation for musicianship is tops. Love it! God bless you!❤
Neils syncopation and accents. are dope. A fantastic merry Christmas to you sir as well. Thankyou.
PLEASE do BU2B live Time Machine tour if you wanna see Geddy play his flamenco style and Neil do his thing
u need to see this live
You mean the official brownish video? +1
@mdu2112 wen they like 19 years old kicking ass
Capitol Theater 76
Rush! #1 band in all eternity without disputes. Absolute fact not opinion! Period, end of discussion.
You mentioned that Neil Peart was something like a jazz drummer
Check out - Neil Peart - Cotton Tail with drum solo ( Bubby Rich Tribute )
The music video shows his drumming, check it out. This is literally the band’s very first song with newcomer Neil Peart.
getting closer to the necromancer and the fountain of lamneth
I hope he does necromancer that’s a journey
@@ashylarry212 both epic journeys
I love hearing a fresh perspective on a song that I've heard (probably) thousands of times.
1975 Fly By Night, Rush's second album and first with Neil on it.
You are correct good sir, Geddy was playing a Ricky 4001 for this album
Man, you are a really good bassist.
One of my favorite songs of their 'early' era. Was always a treat when they would do this live and by the time I started going to shows (1982), it was pretty well dropped from the setlist (they brought it back in medley form in 1991 and the 30th Anniversary tour and finally on the final tour as an encore), though it was a staple in the '70's. Part of this song was written on the day that Neil came down to audition. Not a bad audition.
It's actually humorous how indifferent he is to mid-70s Geddy and his Olympian caliber vocal range! 😂
You hear that first, "wrouuuuuugggghhhhht!" and he cuts it off and is focused on the bass riff.
Neil was reading Ayn Rand’s “ Anthem” at the time. it spoke to him obviously, but he later quoted that his outlook changed with time.
Geddy used a Rickenbacker on this track and on all but one of the songs from the 1975 Fly By Night album which it's from.
Bill Ward from Black Sabbath is also Jazz based as well as his famous friend John Bonham
If you listen to 2112, you'll hear a lot, I mean a lot, of drums.
Neil did not have a jazz background at this point in his career. I’ve seen some people say he played for a jazz band, but that’s not exactly true. He played for more of jazzy rock band but played very similar to how he played in rush. It wasn’t until later in his life when he did the Buddy Rich tribute project Where he realized he did not know how to play drums in a way that could be jazz. He ended up taking lessons from a guy named Freddie Gruber, who helped him after a disastrous performance at a Buddy Rich memorial concert. If you actually go and watch some of his jazz performance is playing big band music, you will see a lot of jazz drummers, ripping him apart for his technique and his ability to swing. Or lack there of. He did an entire album where he played a traditional grip after he took lessons, but still continue to practice and eventually did a follow up tribute concert where he was playing much better. But by no means was Neil ever a jazz drummer nor would he ever claim to be a jazz drummer. He simply admired the form and tried his best to play that style, recognizing his limitations because of his background. All of this is in his books if you read them.
Later he took lessons from jazz great Peter Erskine. Mr. Erskine made him play ONLY HI HAT for 6 months !! That's dedication.
@@paulcaruana4090 Yup. One thing Neil was not was full of himself. He had a love of learning whether torturing himself with hi-hat work (that is hilarious!) or learning African style on his bike journeys. While he was a private guy and maybe came off as an a$$ to some, we lost one hell of a human when he passed away.
What a debut by Neil
Gotta listen to the live version from "All the World's a Stage "
Agreed. That & By-Tor!
....And Bastille Day, Fly By Night/ In the Mood, Lakeside Park, 2112, In The End, Working Man/Finding My Way, and What You're Doing!! (In other words, the rest of the album!LOL!)
Neils lyrics were the best in rock music let alone deep and intellectual.
Neils philosophy was to keep them wanting more.
Happy Holiday!!!
Love you have recently circled back to Rush.
Great Intro to Neil as a member and. If influence.
How about playing Alien Shore soon??
Thanks!!!
Cheers to 2025
They did 7/8 as well as any band ever did.
This was their second album
The first song by the only Rush ever❤️🎸🥁🎤🎸🤘✌️🖖
I’m dying to watch you react to closer to the heart live off different stages! You won’t be disappointed
We wonder at the success of people who have DISCOVERED something profound, not just did something.
Ayn Rand is all over this song.
You can find the whole fly by night album with just the isolated bass on TH-cam. OH….MY…GOSH!!!!!
Geddy's tone has a lot to do with his aggressive attack also.
At this time i think geddy was playing a fender precision. This was his first song with a really busy bassline. They were very young here. 21 i think. What 21yo’s sound like this lmao
Rickenbacker on this track. He used the Fender Precision on all of the first album but with the advancement they got from the record company for the Fly By Night album Geddy bought his first Rickenbacker and used it for the whole album except for the song Making Memories which was the done with the Fender Precision.
@ he was playing that ugly blue teardrop precision all the way through caress of steel. Idk what basses he used on what songs. He didnt get into that detail in either of his books but he was definitely playing that blue precision up until 2112.
@@trenken He mostly used his first Rickenbacker from Fly By Night all the way up through Farewell To Kings with occasional sprinklings of the Precision on a few tracks. His second Rickenbacker was used from Hemispheres through Signals except for when he started using the Fender Jazz bass on Permanent Waves and Moving Pictures.
triumph is not as good as Rush but is still very good and another Power Trio from Canada
your thing seems to be watching the lyric video's. with Rush you should really watch them performing these songs.
At its best interpretation, this song is about finding self esteem, drive, integrity, and ignoring the haters. Basically, your anthem, your song, your life, should be lived on your terms; not what your parents want, not what your friends want, not what society wants, not what the critics want, and not what the studio wants. Neil, like Rand, believed that most (if not all) accomplishment is the result of individual integrity to an idea. Take the line "I know they've always told you selfishness was wrong, yet it was for me not you I came to write this song". Basically, he is saying that if instead of trying to write and play this song based on what he thought was interesting and cool, and instead tried to write it based on what he thought everybody else would like, it would have been shit. Based on the music of today, that only want a viral hit on spotify and the radio, we can see that he was mostly right. It takes understanding the nature of your instrument, and your hard work and practice, to create something great.
the eyes in the lyrics should be "I's"
Great pick.
If you like the bass you need to check out the bass line during the guitar solo in Cinderella man. It's soooo good.
Rush opened with Anthem and followed with Bastille Day many times back in the 70's. What great concerts they were!
10:30 I don’t think the technology of the day was the problem… listen to Miles Davis Kind of Blue from 1955. One microphone. Amazing. Sgt Pepper, 1967. They definitely knew how to record in the 70’s.
I think the problem was that Rush were still kids, had little studio experience, and even less of a budget. They were making an album every 6 months in those days. They had almost zero support from their label. Also, I don’t think Geddy had forged his signature sound quite yet; I think he was playing straight into the board in this album.
of course it’s jazz! lol😂 the more you get to learn about Neil, the more you realize that he wanted to push himself every album and learn as many styles as possible. Odd time signatures, hard hitting, hi hat wizard, sometimes reggae, always learning genius. oh yeah he can write lyrics pretty decent too. ha!!
Drummers keep time to metronomes.... metronomes keep time to Neil Peart!!
Nice to see that you hear too what I've always heard, that jazz feel on the drums, Neil always took criticism because (usually Bonham fans) he didn't "swing' , I've never agreed. The type of music Rush plays for the most part isn't as bluesy based as zep, so, duh, of course a progy band doesn't swing. No one knocks them off the hill. They were the best at what they did, although other bands were the best at what they did.
Definitely had the harmony guitar leads on this, later part of the track!
Story goes that Alex didn’t really like Neil but Geddy convinced him to allow him to join the band. Silly Alex.
Not exactly right Jennifer. Alex and Geddy had agreed to see all drummers auditioning the day Neil came in to the band. Geddy was smiling, knowing this was the guy. Alex was mad at Geddy for not waiting to hear the last drummer due to play for them. But he knew too. He knew this was the guy, He loved Neil from the start. Apart from his short hair cut.
EDIT... ignore all this he was playing a Rickenbacker early on. Apparently the fender was the messed up bass. The video below is a pretty cool story.
Church boy has anybody explained to you the story behind this particular fender bass purchased in a Michigan Pawn shop? If not somebody please do! In a nutshell, that particular bass was jacked up, but in a good way. Can you explain it in an interview somewhere but he was very particular who put their hands on that base because something was not quite right with it but he never wanted to lose that tone. I wish I knew where that interview was at my fingertips but it's out there.
I FOUND IT!
th-cam.com/video/04Ekje672mo/w-d-xo.htmlsi=9ibtMjHm4kS8iLBp
You are correct
Neil later regretted the hard lines on some of these lyrics as he matured. He was young and impressionable and he read a lot!!! He didn’t exactly walk back his stance here but evolved to be much more of a bleeding heart libertarian and was known to be privately very generous.
Be careful. Libertarian and bleeding heart OFTEN are not the same thing.
Clockwork Angels
Tech 21 offers the Geddy pedal that gets that sound
Neil only put the tip in! 😂
Neil did study and play some jazz and of course Buddy Rich and big band was some of his favorites. One of Neil's early bands was JR Flood, playing covers, some jazz and fusion-ish. th-cam.com/video/xrVqBlMm75U/w-d-xo.htmlsi=qeBej5rZSw0e0m7l
have you seen Neil doing cotton tail at buddy rich tribute 1994 with buddy rich big band
I saw Rush 11 times, my only regret is it wasn't 12.
You should check out a band called Concrete Blonde - the song "JOEY". It's Awesome!
Another point about trying to duplicate the tone today. I don’t believe as much as you try you can get the same sound out of a digital wave as an analog wave. They each have their own qualities. Yes perhaps they could not have caught all the tones that we can now back then but at the same time they can not recreate that exact sound with all of the tube and 1st generation electronic technology.
th-cam.com/video/YSToKcbWz1k/w-d-xo.html The Best Intro Ever
From the R30 concert in Frankfurt, Germany
They play a medley of 6 different songs, Anthem is one of them, before they finally get to Spirit of Radio. I'm not sure if you have done this one but I would be interested to see your analysis of this performance.