Rush is poised for a “reinvention,” according to drummer Neil Peart. In a long, philosophical post on his website, the Rush veteran says the current musical environment is similar to that of the 1950s, when individual songs mattered much more than albums. His comments, a portion of which are re-printed below, intimate that Rush’s work going forward will likely make accommodations toward that new reality. To read the post in its entirety, click here.
“In this autumn of 2009, the three of us are poised on another kind of ‘reinvention.’ We have agreed to meet in Los Angeles in November, and discuss our future. We learned many years ago that when we finish one long project—like a two-year tour following a year or so of writing and recording for Snakes and Arrows—we don’t make any further plans for a while. It’s good to feel truly free for a time, and to clear your mind to focus on what you’d really like to do next.
“Of course, these are parlous times in the music business, so our time-honored pattern of touring, recording, and touring is no longer the obvious way to do things. The music world—or at least the business of it—is very different now, even since 2006, when we began work on Snakes and Arrows. The importance of ‘the album’ is not what it was, and there is currently a reversion to a musical climate rather like the 1950s, when only ‘the song’ matters. Radio, downloads, and ‘shuffle’ settings are inimical to collected works. Because of that reality, record company advances that used to pay for album projects are a thing of the past, so if that was what we wanted to do, we’d be on our own.”