Rush related-books

[maplelevy]

What is the best Rush-related book out there? I'm looking for commentary/interpretations by Geddy, Neal and Alex on the music and lyrics of the greatest band ever! Bought Rush FAQ, and it's okay, but little too technical for my taste and doesn't offer much background. Thanks for the input!

[ytserush]

What is the best Rush-related book out there? I'm looking for commentary/interpretations by Geddy, Neal and Alex on the music and lyrics of the greatest band ever! Bought Rush FAQ, and it's okay, but little too technical for my taste and doesn't offer much background. Thanks for the input!

 

What do you mean by technical ? I never planned on getting that one because it was part of a series and the author likely didn't bring anything new to the table.

 

 

 

What are you after? Books on lyrical interpretation? Philosophical and cultural discussions? Straight biography? Authorized? Unauthorized? Retrospectives?

 

There is a documentary DVD (Beyond The Lighted Stage) from several years back that touches on much of the above and no doubt brought in some new fans. That's definitely a good starting point if you're looking for a nice overview.

 

There are four bios and if you're just into the 70's and early 80's stuff they might be worth a look. The last one "Chemistry" (unauthorized) is more than 10 years old. The others (written in 1982, 1984 and 1987 ( Visions was authorized at the time)

 

Then you have the books lyrical interpretations, and the deeper connection with culture and philosophy which I won't bore you with (Although I'd be happy to)

 

There's also a retrospective looking back with the band from 2004 by the ubiquitous Martin Popoff called "Contents Under Pressure" which has the band looking in the rear view mirror at their 30 year career (to that point)

 

Not sure what is still in print and what isn't after taking a quick look at the shelf.

 

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There's also a book called Rush FAQ (Don't have it) which is from a series of band FAQ books.(I have no plans to get that one myself.)

 

Oh, and if you really like punishment, there are compilation books like ("Mereley Players" Typo on the front cover...nice!) and Rush Chronology which are kind of "This date in Rush history" books which compile release dates, memorabilia and other useless facts for the obsessed fan (like me!)

 

 

Here's a quick list. As I said there may be a few missing from here.

 

Rush, Brian Harrigan (Cherry Lane Music: 1984)

 

Success Under Pressure"", Steve Gett (Cherry Lane Books: 1984)

 

Visions, Bill Banasiewicz (Omnibus Press: 1988)

 

Mystic Rhythms"", Carol Selby Price and Robert M. Price (Wildside Press: 1999)

 

Merely Players"", Robert Telleria (Quarry Music Books: 2002)

 

A Simple Kind Mirror, Leonard Roberto, Jr. (iUniverse (vanity press), 2002)

 

Contents Under Pressure, Martin Popoff (ECW Press: 2004)

 

Chemistry"", Jon Collins (Helter Skelter Publishing: 2005)

 

Rush, Rock Music, and the Middle Class, Chris McDonald (Indiana University Press: 2009)

 

Rush and Philosophy, Jim Burti and Durrell Bowman, editors (Open Court: 2011)

 

Rush: The Illustrated History, Martin Popoff (Voyageur: 2013)

 

Rush FAQ, Max Mobley (Backbeat: 2014)

 

Rush: Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Excellence, Robert Freedman (Algora: 2014)

 

Experiencing Rush, Durrell Bowman (Rowman & Littlefield, 2014)

 

 

 

 

Books: Neil Peart

 

The Masked Rider, ECW Press: 1996

 

Ghost Rider, ECW Press: 2002

 

Traveling Music, ECW Press: 2004

 

Roadshow, ECW Press: 2007

 

Far and Away, ECW Press: 2011

 

Far and Near, ECW Press: 2014

[That One Guy]

I read Contents Under Pressure, mentioned above, about five years ago. It filled in a lot of knowledge gaps I had, and was generally interesting at the time. For this thread, I just picked it up and took my first glance through it in a few years. Generally the boys are interviewed and directly quoted throughout, and there's a great photo on just about every page. It does halt at the beginning of the R30 tour.

[maplelevy]

Thank you for the input. Much obliged.