NinjaDiscoPunch Posted December 7, 2012 Share Posted December 7, 2012 This is going to sound really strange, but just hear me out, ok? I had a friend in school who told me that he heard somewhere that Alex Lifeson did the drumming on Rush demo tapes. This is not something I'd ever heard before, and I'm somewhat skeptical since anything I've searched has turned up blank, with the exception of a page on tvtropes about Rush (http://tvtropes.org/...?from=Main.Rush . Somewhere around "Hidden Depths"). I'm inclined to believe that this is where he read it to begin with, but it just doesn't sound right. It just seems too hair-brained to be true, but maybe I don't know about Rush as I thought I did! Can anyone confirm this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bangster of Goats Posted December 7, 2012 Share Posted December 7, 2012 (edited) More accurately, Alex is usually the one to program the drum machine (as Neil once said back in the 80s, "my stand-in") while he and Ged hammer stuff out. The tom rolls in the Anarchist is one example of Alex's drum machine stuff being picked up by Neil and played on real drums on the studio recording. Neil's said he often likes what Alex comes up with as it's usually something he wouldn't think of himself. Alex comes up with a lot of ideas in Rush that one wouldn't really normally expect. He came up with the strings stuff in CA (later fleshed out by David Campbell) and he also wrote the piano part in The Garden (though played by Geddy's friend Jason Sniderman on the album.) Edited December 7, 2012 by Bangster of Goats Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mika Posted December 7, 2012 Share Posted December 7, 2012 I didn't realize this depth of Alex's contributions; that's cool! Especially hearing that Neil will choose drum parts that Alex has come up with... I usually think of him as 'the guitarist' and don't realize how much more he actually does! But speaking of other members of Rush playing drums... there is a picture of Geddy from the Counterparts era sitting on drums... anyone know what that's about and if he plays? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bastille Dave Posted December 7, 2012 Share Posted December 7, 2012 man, I would kill to hear Rush demos, other than the PoW ones, of course. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dakota2112 Posted December 7, 2012 Share Posted December 7, 2012 I didn't realize this depth of Alex's contributions; that's cool! Especially hearing that Neil will choose drum parts that Alex has come up with... I usually think of him as 'the guitarist' and don't realize how much more he actually does! But speaking of other members of Rush playing drums... there is a picture of Geddy from the Counterparts era sitting on drums... anyone know what that's about and if he plays? Judging by the way Ged is holding the sticks, I doubt it... iirc he has a completely incorrect grip in that picture :P Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NinjaDiscoPunch Posted December 7, 2012 Author Share Posted December 7, 2012 Well, that makes much more sense!That's pretty cool, though. I kind of get him coming up with the strings and piano in CA, but I didn't know about the drum machine! man, I would kill to hear Rush demos, other than the PoW ones, of course. Agreed, the record guys could probably make a killing off of them too. I would and wouldn't be surprised if we saw those released in the future. I mean, Led Zeppelin released Coda, after they lost Bonzo, and it was pretty much outtakes and unreleased stuff, so Rush could easily get away with doing the same! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mika Posted December 7, 2012 Share Posted December 7, 2012 Well, that makes much more sense!That's pretty cool, though. I kind of get him coming up with the strings and piano in CA, but I didn't know about the drum machine! man, I would kill to hear Rush demos, other than the PoW ones, of course. Agreed, the record guys could probably make a killing off of them too. I would and wouldn't be surprised if we saw those released in the future. I mean, Led Zeppelin released Coda, after they lost Bonzo, and it was pretty much outtakes and unreleased stuff, so Rush could easily get away with doing the same! I agree that it would be awesome to have Rush demos available! I would certainly be interested in them! But I don't see it happening - Rush are kind of perfectionists, and I don't think they'd let the public into their world of 'not good enough' and 'scrapped' songs. I would love to hear the two previous scrapped versions of 'Wish Them Well', but I don't think that these demos will see the light of day, provided that any actually exist anymore (from Rush's perspective: why keep around 30-year-old obsolete demos, when the master versions have long been declared the final versions?). I will squeal like a little girl, though, if demos came out! :) :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mika Posted December 7, 2012 Share Posted December 7, 2012 I didn't realize this depth of Alex's contributions; that's cool! Especially hearing that Neil will choose drum parts that Alex has come up with... I usually think of him as 'the guitarist' and don't realize how much more he actually does! But speaking of other members of Rush playing drums... there is a picture of Geddy from the Counterparts era sitting on drums... anyone know what that's about and if he plays? Judging by the way Ged is holding the sticks, I doubt it... iirc he has a completely incorrect grip in that picture :P Just looked at the photo (from the Counterparts liner notes), and I see what you mean. Though Geddy looked like he knew what he was doing when the boys did that silly mixed-up instruments version of 'Tom Sawyer' for the Time Machine tour! (Love when Geddy starts wearing his 'Neil scowl'!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Del_Duio Posted December 7, 2012 Share Posted December 7, 2012 The tom rolls in the Anarchist is one example of Alex's drum machine stuff being picked up by Neil and played on real drums on the studio recording. Neil's said he often likes what Alex comes up with as it's usually something he wouldn't think of himself. I read before that Alex came up with The Weapon drumbeat, one of Neil's best patterns ever IMO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rushgoober Posted December 8, 2012 Share Posted December 8, 2012 But I don't see it happening - Rush are kind of perfectionists, and I don't think they'd let the public into their world of 'not good enough' and 'scrapped' songs. Artists are artists, and ultimately they make the decisions on what gets released or not, but sometimes I think they really get it wrong. My prime example is Pink Floyd, who recorded a LOT of material that was broadcast on BBC radio from 1967-1971 or so. The band staunchly refuses to officially release these, and when asked about it they're very glib in their responses without ever really taking the endeavor seriously. They usually say things like they were "one-offs" and "never meant to be released," and of course they're hyper-critical about those kinds of recordings. The only problem is, those recordings are INCREDIBLE. Anyone into early Floyd bootlegs will tell you those recordings are absolutely essential. And plenty of well-known artists have released their BBC recordings - Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, etc., and people's collections are greatly enriched by those. Rush, however, are going to do what they're going to do - even though the fans would go bonkers over officially released demos, if they don't mean their standards, no one gets to enjoy them. It is what it is (and whatever). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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