interesting neil comments on saxon, iron maiden and AC/DC

[rugen]

I never liked AC/DC and Iron Maiden, so it's difficult for me to disapprove Neil's comments, and i would never have the guts to tell to a fan of those bands what i really think of their music, i don't want to start a fight over my personal taste... :poke:

[Sin City]

Wow! I remember reading that in 83 after one of the NEC gigs and was surprised at how grumpy he seemed in that interview. And how full of contradictions his statements were. Re-reading that he does come across as arrogant and prickly on that particular day. Maybe a roadie burned his toast for breakfast or something?

[goose]

Wow! I remember reading that in 83 after one of the NEC gigs and was surprised at how grumpy he seemed in that interview. And how full of contradictions his statements were. Re-reading that he does come across as arrogant and prickly on that particular day. Maybe a roadie burned his toast for breakfast or something?

The interview does smack of the ramblings of a road-weary mindset.

[Lerxster]

Um, this interview was from 30 years ago who cares? His opinion of those bands may have very well changed since then. Especially Iron Maiden who was just entering the peak of their musical output at that time.

 

do I look like geminirising79 to you? I'm not trying to talk shit about neil with this thread, I just thought his comments were interesting

Interesting.. 30 years ago. You failed to mention how old that article is in your post. It makes a difference.

[bathory]

Um, this interview was from 30 years ago who cares? His opinion of those bands may have very well changed since then. Especially Iron Maiden who was just entering the peak of their musical output at that time.

 

do I look like geminirising79 to you? I'm not trying to talk shit about neil with this thread, I just thought his comments were interesting

Interesting.. 30 years ago. You failed to mention how old that article is in your post. It makes a difference.

well one click reveals it so I didn't think it was that necessary

[bathory]

a lot of those older interviews are hard to read. british lester bangs-wannabes whose "style" is to be a prick to the person theyre interviewing. there's one old interview though where neil says everything he does is for howard roark, and I must admit I couldn't be able to take that seriously either

[Xanadoood]

a lot of those older interviews are hard to read. british lester bangs-wannabes whose "style" is to be a prick to the person theyre interviewing. there's one old interview though where neil says everything he does is for howard roark, and I must admit I couldn't be able to take that seriously either

 

Yeah, reading some of these interviews makes you realize perhaps why the establishment had some disdain for Rush, even though I believe the interviewers like to bait them ..

[LedRush]

a lot of those older interviews are hard to read. british lester bangs-wannabes whose "style" is to be a prick to the person theyre interviewing. there's one old interview though where neil says everything he does is for howard roark, and I must admit I couldn't be able to take that seriously either

 

Can you link to that? I'd love to read it!

[Bluefunk]

Can you link to that? I'd love to read it!

This one, perhaps?

http://www.2112.net/powerwindows/transcripts/19810600creem.htm

[LedRush]

Can you link to that? I'd love to read it!

This one, perhaps?

http://www.2112.net/powerwindows/transcripts/19810600creem.htm

 

Yes. Thank you. Why do an interview when you hate the band that much? McCartney is great and talented, but better at guitar than lifeson, better at bass than Lee, and better at drums than Peart? That's just stupid.

[Xanadoood]

Can you link to that? I'd love to read it!

This one, perhaps?

http://www.2112.net/powerwindows/transcripts/19810600creem.htm

 

Yes. Thank you. Why do an interview when you hate the band that much? McCartney is great and talented, but better at guitar than lifeson, better at bass than Lee, and better at drums than Peart? That's just stupid.

 

It's funny seeing all the praise Rush has gotten in recent years from not only other bands, but from so called critics.... Man were they despised by the music establishment back then.. They really just DID NOT like what they were about.., notice Blondie on the cover.. They were such outsiders to what was going on.. I wonder where this writer is today?

 

I suppose I can't blame them for some of the disdain.. Neil talking bad about The Stones doesn't do him any favors.. It's cool he didn't share the same tired views of the mainstream music world, but he definitley set himself up for the backlash... At the end of it all, I give Rush props for sticking to their guns and not kissing anyones ass, but I can definitley see why they were looked at the the way they were

Edited August 26, 2013 by Xanadoood

[LedRush]

Can you link to that? I'd love to read it!

This one, perhaps?

http://www.2112.net/powerwindows/transcripts/19810600creem.htm

 

Yes. Thank you. Why do an interview when you hate the band that much? McCartney is great and talented, but better at guitar than lifeson, better at bass than Lee, and better at drums than Peart? That's just stupid.

 

It's funny seeing all the praise Rush has gotten in recent years from not only other bands, but from so called critics.... Man were they despised by the music establishment back then.. They really just DID NOT like what they were about.., notice Blondie on the cover.. They were such outsiders to what was going on.. I wonder where this writer is today?

 

I suppose I can't blame them for some of the disdain.. Neil talking bad about The Stones doesn't do him any favors.. It's cool he didn't share the same tired views of the mainstream music world, but he definitley set himself up for the backlash... At the end of it all, I give Rush props for sticking to their guns and not kissing anyones ass, but I can definitley see why they were looked at the the way they were

 

But I can understand Neil's position as well. The band is trying to become the best musicians they can be and they're constantly getting killed by the critics, who heap praise on untalented punk bands cashing in on image.

[x1yyz]

Rush, or at least Geddy, seem to get along well with Nicko from Maiden now, according to this photo:

 

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10151663076948417&set=a.323278588416.186832.229726898416&type=1

 

I agree with the others—that interview came at a time when the Rush guys did make some conceited comments. Think of Geddy's comment about new wave music in Beyond the Lighted Stage, where he says something about other bands who can't get past the basics.

[bathory]

Can you link to that? I'd love to read it!

This one, perhaps?

http://www.2112.net/...810600creem.htm

 

Yes. Thank you. Why do an interview when you hate the band that much? McCartney is great and talented, but better at guitar than lifeson, better at bass than Lee, and better at drums than Peart? That's just stupid.

 

it's the typical lester bangs hack job. as good a writer as he was, he's really had a negative impact on rock journalism as far as those who emulate his style and try to be as "edgy" and "transgressive" (aka, insult bands and musicians youre talking to) as possible. especially the guy doing that interview. putting himself into the story, asking purposely dickheaded questions - why does every young writer who likes rock think he's lester bangs or hunter thompson or something? you gotta be interesting for people to wanna read about YOUR own bullshit when youre supposed to be writing about, say, neil peart or something, and this guy just isnt

[bathory]

but I guess he had to make some money somehow, and all the hip bands like the jam or the clash were probably already being covered by other lester bangs wannabes. so he had to settle for a band he's never really listened to

[Ged Lent's sis]

Yeah, they definitely had a chip on their shoulder back then and expressed it often enough. And Neil does sound a bit off. I mean, he definitely had an axe to grind with the British, who he seemed to generalize an awful lot about, while criticizing the generalization of Americans.

 

But the thing that bothers me about interviews in print is the punctuation. I cannot rely on it to tell me when Neil made an exclamation and not just a statement.

 

All in all, I am glad that most of us, Rush included, mature with age. Nevertheless, as recent as the last time he came to Europe, Peart was moaning in his diary about a street being named after Karl Marx because he thinks that Marx is responsible for deaths we normally attribute to Stalin. I mean, you never hear him bitch about Reagan International Airport, and he was more directly responsible for the death squads in Central America than Marx was the Gulag. So I guess Neil hasn't learned much more about El Salvador than he knew 30 years ago. But, hell, nobody's perfect.