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Books About Rush- Any Good Ones?


Segue Myles
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I would love to read more about Rush- The band, their music and more. Are their any good choices?
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I read a number of good ones for my research paper a few years ago, let me pull up my works cited...

 

Neil Peart: Cultural Repercussions - Birzer

 

Experiencing Rush: A Liatener’s Companion - Bowman

 

Rush: Chemist®y - Collins

 

Rush: The Illustrated History - Popoff

 

 

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I enjoyed Contents Under Pressure a lot.It had a lot of behind the scenes looks at the band. I think it only goes through R30 as it has been a few years since it's been published.

 

I got Rush FAQ last year for Christmas and liked that too. It goes into more details about instruments on each album, how videos were filmed, etc. than Contents.

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I would love to read more about Rush- The band, their music and more. Are their any good choices?

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.

 

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.

 

.

 

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

 

 

I haven't gotten the Cultural Repercussions book yet. I imagine that's next on my list.

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I would love to read more about Rush- The band, their music and more. Are their any good choices?

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.

 

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.

 

.

 

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

 

 

I haven't gotten the Cultural Repercussions book yet. I imagine that's next on my list.

Amen!

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Chemistry is the best of the bios, but it's out of date. None of the scholarly/academic stuff listed above has really interested me. The Popoff books are are atrocious in terms of quality of writing, but they have good info.

 

The definitive bio has yet to be written. I hope somebody does it while all three of them are still alive and can be interviewed extensively for it.

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Chemistry is the best of the bios, but it's out of date. None of the scholarly/academic stuff listed above has really interested me. The Popoff books are are atrocious in terms of quality of writing, but they have good info.

 

The definitive bio has yet to be written. I hope somebody does it while all three of them are still alive and can be interviewed extensively for it.

 

I think there is something missing, I would love a Rush book like the Kiss book "Kiss Alive Forever".

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Chemistry is the best of the bios, but it's out of date. None of the scholarly/academic stuff listed above has really interested me. The Popoff books are are atrocious in terms of quality of writing, but they have good info.

 

The definitive bio has yet to be written. I hope somebody does it while all three of them are still alive and can be interviewed extensively for it.

 

Doubt that would happen. Rush has never cared much about documenting their legacy (at least publicly). They've always did what they did and moved on. It's kind of a miracle Beyond The Lighted Stage happened but that was as much about what makes them tick as it was a nostalgia trip.

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