Self-Indulgence Posted August 18, 2015 Share Posted August 18, 2015 (edited) In Rush‘s early years, they opened for a number of major acts, learning the tricks of the trade from older masters – among them Kiss.They say everyone got along, up until a point. “We would get high with Ace Frehley in his hotel room and make him laugh,” Geddy Lee tells Rolling Stone, “and they were a really good influence on us in terms of learning to put on a show.”But Neil Peart recoiled from Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley‘s larger approach to marketing their band as a product. “I don’t want to knock them,” he says. “But once I was in a little restaurant in Kansas, and a guy with Kiss Army tattoos kept playing Kiss songs on the jukebox. He believed in a marketing campaign, swallowed it as religion. He was like a convert to Scientology.”Peart says it went against the kind of musical purism that surrounded him as a youngster. “It’s about being your own hero,” he says. “I set out to never betray the values that 16-year-old had, to never sell out, to never bow to the man. A compromise is what I can never accept.”That includes the on-stage rap that seems to surround most rock shows. “We would hear them give the same rap to the audience every night,” Peart says of bands they supported. “‘This is the greatest rock city in the world, man!’ That was creepy. I despise the cynical dishonesty.” Edited August 18, 2015 by Self-Indulgence 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rod in Toronto Posted August 18, 2015 Share Posted August 18, 2015 (edited) Well stated, Neil. Edited August 18, 2015 by Rod in Rio 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grep Posted August 18, 2015 Share Posted August 18, 2015 (edited) Plenty of Rush fans all tatted up that worship the music like a religion. Neil really needs to have a good look at this board, and FB. Not knocking it, to each his own. My point is that Pratt should take a good look at his own fanbase.. Who were all those nuts at the RRHOF pissing off Qunicy Jones and Oprah? The most devoted fanbase , second only to The Dead, that's who. Rush may not have a lot of material product like KISS Kaskets and all that outrageous stuff, but the band IS a brand. Sure, more based on the music and the image the guys have. But Rush fans are not all that different than the KISS guys in terms of devotion. Edited August 18, 2015 by grep 11 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
x1yyz Posted August 18, 2015 Share Posted August 18, 2015 That includes the on-stage rap that seems to surround most rock shows. “We would hear them give the same rap to the audience every night,” Peart says of bands they supported. “‘This is the greatest rock city in the world, man!’ That was creepy. I despise the cynical dishonesty.” Geddy said pretty much the same thing, night to night, on the R40 tour. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gornhay Posted August 18, 2015 Share Posted August 18, 2015 "We've got about a gazillion songs" said some frontman at just about every tour for the last decade. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TexMike Posted August 18, 2015 Share Posted August 18, 2015 I love Neil, but I think it would've benefitted him to lighten up a little over the years. Especially in regard to fan appreciation. As already mentioned, there are tons of people with Rush related tattoos. Some even on this board. :) It's like Neil judges every person's fandom behavior based on whether or not it's something HE would do and deems them idiots if they go outside the box that HE has always lived in. 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Cat 3 Posted August 18, 2015 Share Posted August 18, 2015 All out marketing... ...like selling everything from Rush underwear, Rush bar stools and overpriced books with his signature on them. Do you have any idea how much of RobertRobyn's money this band has taken over the years?! :) 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grep Posted August 18, 2015 Share Posted August 18, 2015 (edited) "We've got about a gazillion songs" said some frontman at just about every tour for the last decade. Yes. And with that repition, is it any wonder why we get all excited by guys running around on stage in chicken suits? The shows are spectacles and all that... but we need something more fun. Like Van Halen... they fracking ROCK. But the shows are fun too. Because Dave is the party. (Yes, he's less of a party these days, but still the party) Where's our Party? Our man Lerxst. He's our party... but he hasn't done a rant in 8 years. We need more of that. Hit me baby! Edited August 18, 2015 by grep 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turbine Freight Posted August 18, 2015 Share Posted August 18, 2015 “I set out to never betray the values that 16-year-old had, to never sell out, ” Then you failed miserably, sunshine. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
treeduck Posted August 18, 2015 Share Posted August 18, 2015 Neil is desperate to appear like he was never a metalhead and thinks he's above "normal" rock bands. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lorraine Posted August 18, 2015 Share Posted August 18, 2015 "I despise the cynical dishonesty.” 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ReRushed Posted August 18, 2015 Share Posted August 18, 2015 GeminiRising79 should have a field day with this... 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grep Posted August 18, 2015 Share Posted August 18, 2015 Ru$h. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
librarian Posted August 18, 2015 Share Posted August 18, 2015 As long as they don't come out with the Rush casket. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ReRushed Posted August 18, 2015 Share Posted August 18, 2015 I like to remember the Neil Peart I imagined when I was 14 years old - an intellectual and musiclal genius. A man that inspires and motivates. Now, he's just another "entertainer" who is not as smart as imagined. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lorraine Posted August 18, 2015 Share Posted August 18, 2015 It's not Neil's fault. It's not KISS's fault. They wouldn't be able to do what they do if there weren't countless people willing to fork over the money. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ReRushed Posted August 18, 2015 Share Posted August 18, 2015 In this day and age, we might see more and more bands copying Kiss. There is basically an entire generation that expects music for free. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
g under p Posted August 18, 2015 Share Posted August 18, 2015 Well oddly, as long as this band RUSH has been creating and playing music they're NOT among the richest musicians in rock. All three are waaaaaaaay, waaaaaaaay down on the list. They do push their product/merchandise as much as any other rock band, AS THEY SHOULD. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xanadu Posted August 18, 2015 Share Posted August 18, 2015 I don't know if I would call that a "bashing". But I suppose if they just said Neil "disagrees with" KISS, people would be less interested. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Cat 3 Posted August 18, 2015 Share Posted August 18, 2015 It's not Neil's fault. It's not KISS's fault. They wouldn't be able to do what they do if there weren't countless people willing to fork over the money. True... ...but at least Kiss is honest about their marketing. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grep Posted August 18, 2015 Share Posted August 18, 2015 It's not Neil's fault. It's not KISS's fault. They wouldn't be able to do what they do if there weren't countless people willing to fork over the money. You're right of course. He and the boys have earned every penny - worked damned hard for it too. The only reason this topic is even being discussed is because of the Neil story. He disagrees with the marketing and all that.... 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ReRushed Posted August 18, 2015 Share Posted August 18, 2015 It's not Neil's fault. It's not KISS's fault. They wouldn't be able to do what they do if there weren't countless people willing to fork over the money. True... ...but at least Kiss is honest about their marketing.It's what Kiss does. They never steered away from or strayed from the mercendise. Heck, I loved it when I was a kid. I liked my Kiss stuff better than my Star Wars stuff. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lorraine Posted August 18, 2015 Share Posted August 18, 2015 I don't think this article is that recent. I read it before a while back. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Cat 3 Posted August 18, 2015 Share Posted August 18, 2015 It's not Neil's fault. It's not KISS's fault. They wouldn't be able to do what they do if there weren't countless people willing to fork over the money. True... ...but at least Kiss is honest about their marketing.It's what Kiss does. They never steered away from or strayed from the mercendise. Heck, I loved it when I was a kid. I liked my Kiss stuff better than my Star Wars stuff. Same here, I actually still have most of my Kiss memorabilia from the 70s up to Dynasty. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Cat 3 Posted August 18, 2015 Share Posted August 18, 2015 I don't think this article is that recent. I read it before a while back. I think you are right, it really sounded familiar to me as well. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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