Sunday, 3 December 2017
737 Goodbye Rush - Roll The Bones
Chart entered : 7 March 1992
Chart peak : 49
The Canadian rockers made their exit from the singles chart with this one.
The band began to shift away from hard rock towards the end of the seventies and started to use synthesisers on their "Permanent Waves" album in 1980 which yielded their only Top 20 hit "Spirit of Radio". This dabbling in other genres continued throughout the eighties producing a string of minor hits. At the end of the decade they started gravitating back towards guitar rock with Rupert Hine as producer although they stuck with shorter songs and more melodic choruses.
"Roll the Bones" was the second single from and title track of their first album of the nineties. It's a long wordy song about taking your chances in life which sounds somewhat similar to latter-day Yes in the verses punctuated with Fairlight stabs and The Levellers in the chorus, singer Geddy Lee having become less squeaky over the years. If that sounds an unlikely combination, Geddy then does a clumsy rap in the second half of the song. It has its attractive moments but it's far too confusing to really work as a single and might have owed its chart placing to a limited edition holographic CD version.
They released a third single "Ghost of A Chance" which seems to have more commercial potential with its lovely quiet chorus disclaiming any belief other than the possibility of finding a soul mate but without the gimmick it failed to chart.
The band seemed to lose interest in releasing singles after that. Other than as promotional copies for radio, they've not released many since. From their 1993 album "Counterparts" only "Nobody's Hero" was released as a conventional single, presumably to highlight the gay tolerance message. What's more striking for me is how much it sounds like the post-Edwards Manic Street Preachers ; I'm wondering if Rush were high on James Dean Bradfield's playlist. It's the standout track on an album that many of their fans seem to think is below par though it achieved their highest chart placing in the US where it reached number 2.
The band were not getting along too well with each other and took a long break after the tour - guitarist Alex Lifeson released a solo album "Victor" in the interim-before regrouping for 1996's "Test for Echo" . It's a rather lacklustre effort ; "Virtuality" is interesting as an early song about the internet but otherwise everything's pretty routine.
Shortly after their tour finished, drummer Neil Peart's daughter died in a car accident. He told Alex and Geddy at her funeral to consider him retired. Less than a year later his wife died from cancer and he took to the road travelling long distances on his motorcycle. In 2000 he married and shortly afterwards told Geddy and Alex, who'd made no move to replace him, that he was ready to return to the band.
In 2002 they released "Vapor Trails". Stripping out the synthesisers and guitar solos, they set out to deliver a noisy riff-based album with dark lyrics reflecting Neil's travails. Many of their fans disliked the production and the band acknowledged these concerns by issuing a remixed version in 2013. It's certainly a tough listen and was the band's least successful album in the UK since 1976. In 2004 they marked time with "Feedback "a mini-LP of sixties covers.
2007's "Snakes and Arrows" is very long at over an hour but generally an easier lesson with a less abrasive production and some mellower songs. There's a lot of meditation about religion and its place in the world in songs like "Faithless" and "The Way The Wind Blows". "The Golden Bowl ( A Pantoum)", inspired by Neil's travels in West Africa is the standout track. It improved on its predecessor's showing both here and in America.
In 2012 , they released what is currently their final LP "Clockwork Angels" , a concept album about a young man trying to make his way in a scary totalitarian future. The opening track "Caravan" , their first proper single for over a decade, introduces their strongest set in some time. The return of synthesisers and string arrangements make it more accessible and "BU2B" and "The Wreckers" are particularly good. If it turns out to be their final LP they will have gone out on a high.
In 2015 they toured to celebrate 40 years since Neil joined the band. The following year Alex confirmed they would not be touring on a large scale again with he and Neil suffering from arthritis and tendinitis respectively.
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Never my cup of tea bar the odd song ("Spirit of Radio" is a good listen), but their appearances in comedies such as Aqua Teen Hunger Force and Trailer Park Boys shows their members have a healthy enough sense of humour, if nothing else...
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