Rush

No I am not insane...This is not just one song from RUSH... You get an entire album side of the classic 1976 release 2112. This group page and the sister MML blog are a complete focus on quality music from all angles. We feature artists from all over the world, and sometimes from unlikely places in your own back yard. Most of the time, the bands are just getting started and hold promise we feel the need to share. On Sunday, I try to present relevant music from 10+ years ago. I was trolling around various music resources last week and found this on a blog that posts weekly songs that are 8 minutes or longer. Check out Ear Farm when you get the chance. If you are just now figuring out that this is a 20:33 minute concept album side, you might want to stop it for a sec, go get a beer and sit back to listen. If you have the patience to get halfway through this seven part suite, I can almost guarantee that you will make an extra effort to search the used bins of your local record store the next time you visit.















What you are listening to is a remastered version. I have to say, in all honesty, that there is something lost without the crackle and hiss of the old beat up vinyl hand me down I had as a kid (and still own.) I'm not sure there was a single desk in grade school that didn't have 2112 accompanied by the pentagram carved into it. All of my notebooks had similar variations of the theme tattooed on them. It was everywhere in the late 1970's. This was the first music to spark my interest as a child and there are probably several of you that are around my age nodding your head right about now. I learned to fight, play dungeons & dragons, steal my Grandfather's beer and pretend I was one of the band (air guitar) to this very music. This actually might have been the first band to unite the geeks (me) and hoods of my generation now that I think about it.















Rush is the historic rock band from Toronto, Ontario, Canada that you all know. They formed in 1968 with a different lineup but eventually became the trio of Geddy Lee (bass, vocals, keyboard), Alex Lifeson (guitar) and Neil Peart (drums, lyrics). As I mentioned earlier, 2112 was originally released in 1976. Only half of the album was really a concept, in similar fashion to unrelated artist Todd Rundgren's classic A Wizard/ A True Star which was released a couple of years prior. In both cases the songs on side 2 were completely separate, although mistakenly thought to be a part of side one. The official RUSH Website has a ton of current and historical info on the band. There is also a really nice RUSH Fan site with good archived stuff. You can also check out the Rush Forum as well. Oh yeah... How could I forget the YouTube video of this??



It happens to be part of the 30th anniversary tour that took place in Frankfort, Germany. Enjoy the rest of your weekend. This will spill into Monday for sure.















MP3: 2112 (Side A, in its entirety!) (1976)
(Just so you know... our hosting site has been a bit glitchy today - this file might well take a while to load. Keep trying, be patient... the music will start in the end!)