Cover Albums

 

The March 2022 issue of Classic Rock Magazine has its cover story on … covers.  “Covers” are when one musician plays a song by another musician.  Oddly, although Garage, Inc. (Metallica’s double covers album) is mentioned, there’s really no discussion of cover albums per se.  And as I can show you below, there are now plenty of them to talk about.

Morning and Evening.  When bands are starting out, they have to rely on covers until they hone the skills necessary to write acceptable quality material of their own, obviously drawing upon the inspiration of those covers.  The Beatles had gone to 100% originals by the third album, A Hard Day’s Night, but even Please Please Me (#1) and With The Beatles (#2) were less than 50% covers.  The Stones didn’t make it to 100% originals until Aftermath, their fourth album, and the first album had only one original.

Likewise, when the bands get older and run out of gas, rather than put out an album of substandard originals, it’s much easier just to do an album of covers.  Of course, it’s intriguing to hear how they put their mark on other bands’ music.  What I noticed, though, was most of these covers predate the band’s own material and – as Saxon explicitly acknowledge with the album title – were their inspirations.  What I rarely hear are any of these bands playing covers of their own peers and competitors.  Thus no Beatles covers on Blue & Lonesome, no Black Sabbath (and just a snippet of “Dazed and Confused” in a medley) on Turning to Crime, no Megadeth, Slayer or Anthrax on Garage, Inc. 

Here they are, listing the songs and the original artists.

Deep Purple, Turning To Crime.  The most recent of these.  Half are fairly obscure 50s tunes, the rest are more famous 60s tunes.

7 and 7 Is (Love); Rockin’ Pneumonia and the Boogie Woogie Flu (Huey “Piano” Smith); Oh Well (Fleetwood Mac); Jenny Take A Ride (Mitch Ryder & the Detroit Wheels); Watching The River Flow (Bob Dylan); Let The Good Times Roll (Louis Jordan & the Tympany Five); Dixie Chicken (Little Feat); Shapes of Things (Yardbirds); The Battle of New Orleans (Johnny Horton); Lucifer (Bob Seger); White Room (Cream); Caught in the Act (medley including “Dazed and Confused” (Led Zeppelin), “Hot ‘Lanta” (Allman Brothers))

Ace Frehley, Origins Vols 1 & 2.  The original lead guitarist for KISS.  These were released separately in 2016 and 2020.  He claims he’ll do a Vol. 3, but the story quoting him saying so isn’t dated.

Vol #1.  White Room (Cream); Street Fighting Man (Rolling Stones); Spanish Castle Magic (Jimi Hendrix); Fire And Water (Free); Emerald (Thin Lizzy); Bring It On Home (Led Zeppelin); Wild Thing (Troggs); Parasite (KISS – really a cover?); Magic Carpet Ride (Steppenwolf); Cold Gin (KISS); Till The End of the Day (Kinks); Rock and Roll Hell (KISS)

Vol #2.  Good Times Bad Times (Led Zeppelin); Never In My Life (Mountain); Space Truckin’ (Deep Purple); I’m Down (Beatles); Jumpin’ Jack Flash (Rolling Stones); Politician (Cream); Lola (Kinks); 30 Days In The Hole (Humble Pie); Manic Depression (Jimi Hendrix); Kicks (Paul Revere & the Raiders); We’ve Gotta Get Out of This Place (Animals); She (KISS)

Fu Manchu, The Covers.  I have this on vinyl, and have never seen it on CD.  It doesn’t show up on Amazon or eBay in either format, nor does their Wikipedia discography even mention it.  Apparently it was a limited release of 700 copies by the band itself.  As stoner rock bands go, FM have shorter, snappier, high tempo songs, often about skateboarding, so the punk influence is definitely front center, as the cover choices make clear. 

Who Are You (Void); Nothing Done (SSD); D.O.A. (Van Halen, not Bloodrock); When The Shit Hits The Fan (The Circle Jerks); Moving in Stereo (The Cars); Beach Blanket Bongout (JFA); Freedom of Choice (Devo); Godzilla (Blue Oyster Cult); Things Start Moving (Adolescents); Ride To Live (Live To Ride) (Twisted Sister); Six Pack (Black Flag); Words To Live By (Penance); Jailbreak (Thin Lizzy); Chevy Van (Sammy Johns).

Yngwie Malmsteen, Inspiration.  A few years back before the Saxon album.  YM plays large headstock Stratocasters with scalloped fretboards and took classical music into overdrive, blending it with obvious influences of Ritchie Blackmore, Uli Roth, and Jimi Hendrix, which makes their inclusion on this covers album a no-brainer.  Although he’s obviously talented and practiced those oddball scales rigorously, somehow he doesn’t seem to pull off more bluesier solos that well.  My recollection is that I got the UK album after hearing this one, the only track on the album I wasn’t already familiar with. That’s a prog super group with Allan Holdsworth (guitar), John Wetton (bass & vocals), Bill Bruford (drums), and Eddie Jobson (keyboards).

Carry On Wayward Son (Kansas); Pictures of Home (Deep Purple); Gates of Babylon (Rainbow); Manic Depression (Jimi Hendrix); In the Dead of Night (UK); Mistreated (Deep Purple); The Sails of Charon (Scorpions); Demon’s Eye (Deep Purple); Anthem (Rush); Child in Time (Deep Purple); Spanish Castle Magic (Jimi Hendrix)

Metallica, Garage, Inc.  Before this, they had “broken in” Jason Newsted with the $5.98 EP, Garage Days Re-Revisited (1987), before his bass was ignored on …And Justice For All.  Fast forward to 1998, when the band released Garage, Inc., which included the EP on disc 2 along with other previously released covers – including “Am I Evil” (Diamond Head) and “Blitzkrieg” (Blitzkrieg) which had been the b-sides of “Creeping Death” and tacked on to the Elektra version of their first album, Kill ‘Em All.  Then they went into the studio and recorded a whole CD worth of new covers, for a two disc set.  I like that they pick more obscure tunes instead of big hits.

Disc 1 (Freshly recorded):  Free Speech For the Deaf (Discharge); It’s Electric (Diamond Head); Sabbra Cadabra (Black Sabbath); Turn The Page (Bob Seger); Die, Die My Darling (Misfits); Loverman (Nick Cave); Mercyful Fate (Mercyful Fate); Astronomy (Blue Oyster Cult); Whiskey In the Jar (traditional, played by Thin Lizzy); Tuesday’s Gone (Lynyrd Skynyrd); The More I See (Discharge)

Disc 2 (previously released):  Helpless (Diamond Head); The Small Hours (Holocaust); The Wait (Killing Joke); Crash Course in Brain Surgery (Budgie); Last Caress/Green Hell (Misfits); Am I Evil? (Diamond Head); Blitzkrieg (Blitzkrieg); Breadfan (Budgie); The Prince (Diamond Head); Stone Cold Crazy (Queen); So What (Anti-Nowhere League); Killing Time (Sweet Savage); Overkill (Motorhead); Damage Case (Motorhead); Stone Dead Forever (Motorhead); Too Late Too Late (Motorhead) 

Monster Magnet, A Better Dystopia.  New Jersey's premiere stoner rock band.  Dave Wyndorf gave us this collection of mostly obscure tunes.  I would have preferred an entire album of Hawkwind covers – or least add in their earlier covers of “Brainstorm” and “The Right Stuff” – but at least he gives us the distinction of the only Hawkwind cover on any of these albums.

The Diamond Mine (spoken word intro); Born To Go (Hawkwind); Epitaph For A Head (Blackfoot); Solid Gold Hell (Scientists); Be Forwarned (Pentagram); Mr. Destroyer (Poobah); When The Wolf Sits (Jerusalem); Death (Pretty Things); Situation (Josefus); It’s Trash (Cavemen); Motorcycle (Straight To Hell) (Table Scraps); Learning To Die (Dust); Welcome To The Void (Morgen)

Motorhead, Under Cover.  Given that the man himself, Lemmy, already did “Motorhead”, “Lost Johnny” and “The Watcher” on both On Parole and Motorhead, I suppose Hawkwind songs weren’t going to show up here, though “Silver Machine” would have been cool. 

Breaking The Law (Judas Priest); God Save The Queen (Sex Pistols); Heroes (Bowie & Fripp); Starstruck (Rainbow); Cat Scratch Fever (Ted Nugent); Jumpin’ Jack Flash (Rolling Stones); Sympathy For The Devil (Rolling Stones); Hellraiser (Ozzy Osbourne); Rockaway Beach (Ramones); Shoot ‘Em Down (Twisted Sister); Whiplash (Metallica)

Ozzy Osbourne, Under Cover.  Yes, the same title as Lemmy’s.  Instead of Zakk Wylde, his guitarist on this is Jerry Cantrell of Alice In Chains.  Mike Bordin of Faith No More (who also played drums with Ozzy’s solo band, and Black Sabbath on the 1997 Ozzfest tour) is here on drums.  Ozzy gives us lots of hits from left field: a Beatles song, two John Lennon songs, King Crimson, and the hit the Moody Blues had before Justin Hayward and John Lodge joined and they became a prog band with Days of Future Passed, “Go Now”. 

Rocky Mountain Way (Joe Walsh); In My Life (Beatles); Mississippi Queen (Mountain); Go Now (The Moody Blues); Woman (John Lennon); 21^st Century Schizoid Man (King Crimson); All The Young Dudes (Mott the Hoople); For What It’s Worth (Buffalo Springfield); Good Times (The Animals); Sunshine of Your Love (Cream); Fire (Arthur Brown); Working Class Hero (John Lennon); Sympathy For The Devil (Rolling Stones); Changes (Black Sabbath – yes, like Ace, covering a song he was originally on)

The Rolling Stones, Blue & Lonesome.  Eleven years after their last album of original material, A Bigger Bang (9/5/05), the Stones come back with an album of exclusively blues covers.

Just Your Fool (Little Walter); Commit A Crime (Howlin’ Wolf); Blue and Lonesome (Little Walter); All of Your Love (Magic Sam); I Gotta Go (Little Walter); Everybody Knows About My Good Thing (Miles Grayson & Lermon Horton); Ride ‘Em On Down (Eddie Taylor); Hate To See You Go (Little Walter); Hoo Doo Blues (Otis Hicks & Jerry West); Little Rain (Ewart G. Abner Jr & Jimmy Reed); Just Like It Treat You (Willie Dixon); I Can’t Quit You Baby (Willie Dixon)

Rush, Feedback.  Back in 2007, fairly short – just an EP.  They did a tour for this album, which we saw, and for which some of the concert t-shirts were tie-dyes, with the 2112 Naked Man (who may or may not be the same naked guy from the Hemispheres cover) is now afraid of a peace symbol instead of a red star.

Summertime Blues (Eddie Cochran, but homage to The Who version, not the Blue Cheer version); Heart Full of Soul (Yardbirds); For What It’s Worth (Buffalo Springfield); The Seeker (The Who); Mr Soul (Buffalo Springfield); Seven and Seven Is (Love); Shapes of Things (Yardbirds); Crossroads (Robert Johnson/Cream).

Saxon, Inspirations.  Along with Iron Maiden and Def Leppard, among the trio of most successful New Wave of British Heavy Metal (NWOBHM) bands to emerge from the early 1980s and not merely survive but prosper, even if they aren't quite as famous or successful as the other two.  Biff & his comrades came out with this relatively recently.

Paint It Black (Rolling Stones); Immigrant Song (Led Zeppelin); Paperback Writer (Beatles); Evil Woman (Crow); Stone Free (Jimi Hendrix); Bomber (Motorhead); Speed King (Deep Purple); The Rocker (Thin Lizzy); Hold The Line (Toto); Problem Child (AC/DC); See My Friends (Kinks)

Tesla, Real to Reel (Discs 1 & 2).  Often lumped together with Motley Crue and Skid Row as a "hair metal" band, Tesla were less about image than about the music itself, with a sincerity that was sometimes borderline naive.  Disc 1 was sold outright in CD packaging allowing for two.  The second disc was given at the shows for that tour, which I saw at the Ram’s Head Live in Baltimore.  Frank Hannon himself was at the merch booth and give me the disc – and signed the insert.

Reel 1.  Space Truckin’ (Deep Purple); Walk Away (James Gang); Hand Me Down World (Guess Who); Bad Reputation (Thin Lizzy); Thank You (Led Zeppelin); I’ve Got A Feeling (Beatles); Day of the Eagle (Robin Trower); Ball of Confusion (Temptations); Rock Bottom (UFO); Stealin’ (Uriah Heep); Bell Bottom Blues (Derek & the Dominos); Honky Tonk Woman (Rolling Stones); Dear Mr. Fantasy (Traffic)

Reel 2.  All The Young Dudes (Mott the Hoople); Make It Last (Montrose); Shooting Star (Bad Company); Not Fragile (BTO); Street Fighting Man (Rolling Stones); It’s My Body (Alice Cooper); I Want To Take You Higher (Sly and the Family Stone); Do You Feel Like We Do (Peter Frampton); Beer Drinkers and Hell Raisers (ZZTop); Seasons of Wither (Aerosmith); Saturday Night Special (Lynyrd Skynrd); War Pigs (Black Sabbath)

UFO, The Salentino Cuts.  They started off with Mick Bolton on guitar for two space jam-type albums, then found Michael Schenker for five major seventies albums and a later trio of reunion albums; Vinnie Moore has been the guitarist for the last several albums.  The only constant member has been vocalist Phil Mogg, and they give us a rare gem: a LATER song, “River of Deceit” from Mad Season. 

Heartful of Soul (Yardbirds); Break on Through (The Doors); River of Deceit (Mad Season); The Pusher (Steppenwolf); Paper In Fire (John Mellencamp); Rock Candy (Montrose); Mississippi Queen (Mountain); Ain’t No Sunshine (Bill Withers); Honey-Bee (Tom Petty); Too Rolling Stoned (Robin Trower); Just Got Paid (ZZTop); It’s My Life (Animals).

As these are all experienced professionals, I didn’t hear any songs butchered, though I didn’t hear any where I felt they had improved on the originals.  In about 20% of the cases I was unfamiliar with the source material to make any kind of comparison anyway.  As a Monster Magnet fan, though, I was dissatisfied with Wyndorf’s choices; it seems he deliberately picked extremely obscure tracks to continue cultivating his “aren’t I cool?  I wear sunglasses at night” persona. 

Tribute Albums.  I suppose the opposite of a covers album, where one band covers all sorts of different bands’ songs, is a tribute album, in which all different bands cover one band’s songs.  The most recent was Blacklist, where Metallica’s 1991 self-titled, so-called Black Album, gets cover treatment by a host of bands outside their own genre.  The sad apart about it is that almost all of them make the original versions sound that much better.  It’s almost as if the band was thinking, “well, everyone seems to think we sold out on this album, but here are versions of our songs which are far more commercial than our own.  See how you like those.” 

RUSH

 

I recently finished listening to the more recent Rush albums, and also noticed that, aside from a brief paragraph about the band in my blog about rock trios, I haven’t done a full blog.  Drummer Neil Peart has written four books, and I blogged about him before (Neil Peart – Drummer & Author, March 15, 2007). 

Toronto, Canada.  The capital.  No, that’s Ottawa – I visited there in 1991, never been anywhere else in Canada.   Geddy and Alex are from there, Peart being from St. Catherine’s (on the southern shore of lake Ontario, due west of Buffalo), and considered it their home town. 

Geddy Lee.   Vocalist, bassist, and keyboardist.  His distinctive vocals took some time to get used to, but now I don’t mind them at all.  In some ways they remind me of Burke Shelley, bassist/vocalist for Budgie, another famous trio from the 70s.   Back in the day he favored Rickenbacker basses.  Nowadays he’s more into Fender Precisions running straight into the P.A.  He has washing machines on stage instead of amps. 

Alex Lifeson.   Guitar.  His Les Pauls and Gibson Doublenecks gave the earlier albums plenty of bite and crunch, but with the Light Meh albums was practically nonexistent.  His sense of humor is easily the strongest (“blah, blah, blah”) and he’s been on “Trailer Park Boys” three times.

Neil Peart.  Drummer and lyricist.  Generally the band’s drummer is the least intelligent and articulate, someone who “hits things with sticks” (Peart’s own words).  Peart was much more intelligent, even to the point of writing the band’s lyrics and coming up with their concept albums, most notably 2112, based on Ayn Rand’s story Anthem (albeit with a more tragic ending).  He’s written several books, mostly about his road trips.  I described these in far more detail in my prior blog, “Neil Peart – Drummer & Author”, dated 3/15/2007.  I have read them all and can heartily endorse them: Masked Rider: Cycling in West Africa; Ghost Rider: Travels Along the Healing Road; Travelling Music: The Soundtrack of My Life And Times; and Roadshow: Landscape With Drums, A Concert Tour By Motorcycle.  In fact, having enjoyed Innocents Abroad (1869) and A Tramp Abroad (1880), Mark Twain’s travel diaries, I can tell you that Peart is in some ways a modern equivalent of Twain. 

He had the immense misfortune of losing his daughter Selena and first wife Jackie in short order.  His daughter was driving to start college in August 1997, had a car accident along the way, and died.  His wife never recovered from the intense shock, and was dead herself ten months later.   To avoid taking his own life, he went travelling across the US.  Peart himself died of brain cancer in January 2020, just over a year ago.

When I reached college, I took up Peart’s obsession with Ayn Rand myself, as a government & politics major.  I eagerly devoured The Fountainhead, Atlas Shrugged, and her nonfiction, much to everyone else’s annoyance.   Certainly it’s there in “2112” (side-long title track), but also “Free Will” and other songs.  What’s funny is that Geddy actually sings these lyrics and isn’t always aware of what they mean (Tobes of Hades?  Let me get back to you on that).   

John Rutsey.  The original drummer, he’s only on the first, self-titled album.  He had health issues which prevented him from touring and quit the band early on, replaced by Peart.   Back then they were pretty much copying Led Zeppelin – so much so, that when their first single, “In The Mood”, hit the airwaves, fans called the radio station asking about the “new Led Zeppelin album”.   He died in May 2008.

Discography.   Actually, the band has, as I might describe it, four separate phases, into which I’ll divide the albums.

ROCK.  Rush (1974), Fly By Night (1975), Caress of Steel (1975).   Plus Feedback (2004) a collection of covers.    This is back when they were a classic rock band, with longer songs, blues solos, and truly kicked ass. 

PROG.  2112 (1976),  A Farewell to Kings (1977), Hemispheres (1978), Permanent Waves (1980), Moving Pictures (1980).   Now the songs get more complicated, multiple parts, somewhat more pretentious, though Moving Pictures songs are fairly short.  That album was my introduction to the band around 1982.

LIGHT MEH.   Signals (1982), Grace Under Pressure (1984), Power Windows (1985), Hold Your Fire (1987), Presto (1989), Roll The Bones (1991).  Although he’s nominally listed as a band member, Alex Lifeson’s guitar work here is practically nonexistent, buried deep in the music and his distortion pedal (or Marshall head) apparently mothballed.  To me this is one step removed from elevator music.  Mind you, my review of these albums was in the last few weeks, long after my teenage years where I thought Pink Floyd was too weird.  These days I can handle the Grateful Dead and Frank Zappa.  So even now, this material goes in one ear, out the other. 

HEAVY MEH.  Counterparts (1993), Test For Echo (1996), Vapor Trails (2002), Snakes & Arrows (2007), Clockwork Angels (2012).   Alex is back!  You can hear his guitar!  And there’s some distortion in there.  It doesn’t come backup to 70s standards, but it’s far more energetic and dynamic than last few albums.   Having said that, I have no idea how much time I have left on this planet, and I’m ill-inclined to waste any more of it listening to anything after Moving Pictures – except maybe Feedback.   

Live.  As my first ever concert was AC/DC in Paris in 1984, I obviously wasn’t able to see Rush during the 1970s, when they opened for Blue Oyster Cult or KISS.  The shows I have seen are:

1.         11/30/87 at the Capital Centre, Largo, Maryland, on the Hold Your Fire tour. 

Setlist: The Big Money; Subdivisions; Limelight; Marathon; Turn The Page; Prime Mover; Manhattan Project; Closer to the Heart; Red Sector A; Force Ten; Time Stand Still; Distant Early Warning; Lock and Key; Mission; Territories; YYZ; drum solo; Red Lenses; The Spirit of Radio; Tom Sawyer; encore: 2112: Part I: Overture; 2112 Part II: The Temples of Syrinx; La Villa Strangiato; In The Mood

2.         6/20/97 at Nissan Pavilion, Bristow, VA on the Test For Echo tour.

Setlist:  Set 1: Dreamline; Limelight; Stick It Out; Driven; Half The World; Red Barchetta; Animate; Limbo; The Trees; Virtuality; Nobody’s Hero; Closer to the Heart; 2112 Part I: Overture; 2112 Part II: The Temples of Syrinx; 2112 Part III: Discovery; 2112 Part IV: Presentation; 2112 Part V: Oracle – The Dream; 2112 Part VI: Soliloquy; 2112 Part VII: Grande Finale [full 2112 suite in its entirety]

Set 2: Test For Echo; Freewill; Red Sector A; Roll The Bones; Resist; Leave That Thing Alone; drum solo; Natural Science; Force Ten; The Spirit of Radio; Tom Sawyer; encore: YYZ

3.         8/3/04 at Nissan Pavilion on the Feedback tour.

Setlist: Set 1: Finding My Way/Anthem/Bastille Day/A Passage to Bangkok/Cygnus X-1/Cygnus X-1 Book II: Hemispheres Part I: Prelude (R30 Overture); The Spirit of Radio; Force Ten; Animate; Subdivisions; Earthshine; Red Barchetta; Roll The Bones; Bravado; YYZ; The Trees; The Seeker (The Who); One Little Victory

Set 2: Tom Sawyer; Dreamline; Secret Touch; Between the Wheels; Mystic Rhythms; Red Sector A; drum solo; Resist; Heart Full of Soul (Yardbirds cover); 2112 Part I: Overture; 2112 Part II: The Temples of Syrinx;2112 Part VII: Grande Finale; La Villa Strangiato; By-Tor & The Snow Dog; Xanadu; Working Man;

Encore: Summertime Blues (The Who cover); Crossroads (Cream cover); Limelight

4.         9/18/10 at Jiffy Lube Live (= Nissan Pavilion renamed), on the Snakes & Arrows tour.

Set 1: The Spirit of Radio; Time Stand Still; Presto; Stick It Out; Workin’ Them Angels; Leave That Thing Alone; Faithless; BU2B; Freewill; Marathon; Subdivisions

Set 2: Tom Sawyer; Red Barchetta; YYZ; Limelight; The Camera Eye; Witch Hunt; Vital Signs [= Moving Pictures in its entirety]; Caravan; drum solo; Closer to the Heart; 2112 Part I: Overture; 2112 Part II: The Temples of Syrinx; Far Cry; encore: La Villa Strangiato; Working Man

5.         5/30/15 at Jiffy Lube Live on the Clockwork Angels tour.

Set 1: The Anarchist; Clockwork Angels; Headlong Flight; Far Cry; The Main Monkey Business; One Little Victory; Animate; Roll The Bones; Distant Early Warning; Subdivisions

Set 2: Tom Sawyer; YYZ; The Spirit of Radio; Natural Science; Jacob’s Ladder; Cygnus X-1 Book II: Hemispheres Part I: Prelude; Cygnus X-1; Closer to the Heart; Xanadu; 2112 Part I: The Overture; 2112 Part II: The Temples of Syrinx; 2112 Part IV: Presentation; 2112 Part VII: Grand Finale; encore Mel’s Rock Pile Featuring Eugene Levy; Lakeside Park; Anthem; What You’re Doing; Working Man; Exit Stage Left outro video

Unlike the Grateful Dead, with different setlists every night and extended jams, Rush give you what’s on the album, note-for-note, with no improvisation at all.  Listening to All The World’s A Stage (the live album recorded on the 2112 tour) I do hear some variation, but that was before they locked everything down.  However, they do have some interesting visuals, some even humorous:  South Park doing Lil’ Rush, and Cartman adlibbing “Tom Sawyer” but describing Huckleberry Finn (“going down the river on a raft with a black guy”).  So I can say I did enjoy all 5 concerts.  

With Neil’s death in January 2020, that puts an end to Rush as we know it.  Whether Geddy and Alex will do anything else remains to be seen.  Stay tuned….

Canada Rocks

Our friends upstairs, in the Great White North, haven’t been content to give their bigger, more arrogant neighbors to the south – or their cousins across the ocean - a monopoly on good music.  While a few bark out loudest, I’ll also review the B-list.  I can’t really comment on the rest, but they’re out there.

Rush.  Easily the biggest, at least in my humble opinion.  Bassist-singer Geddy Lee’s voice takes some getting used to, but it is distinctive and not unpleasant.  Unusually for most drummers (guys who “hit things with sticks”), Neil Peart actually writes lyrics, and even wrote a few books.  However, guitarist Alex Lifeson is adamant about replicating his solos note for note, so a Rush concert is basically hearing the studio versions faithfully reproduced. 

            Arising from Toronto in 1968, they quickly shed both drummer John Rutsey (RIP) and their initial Led Zeppelin influence in 1974 with Peart’s addition, to veer off into Ayn Rand prog territory, peaking that era with a prog-rock masterpiece, 2112.  Although that album is my favorite Fly By Night, Caress of Steel, A Farewell to Kings, Hemispheres and Permanent Waves are also top quality.  While Hemispheres (side 1) can be a bit tedious and pretentious, “Trees” and “Villa Strangiato” on side 2 make this album a must-have for Rush fans.

            After 1981’s Moving Pictures, though, the band settled into a skinny tie, techno-rock mediocrity of stellar musicianship and talent with zero passion; that album was not only my introduction to the band back in the early 80s, but also the last Rush album I listen to with any regularity.  Listening to anything from Signals to Clockwork Angels is like digesting a textbook for coursework, not music to be enjoyed.  I’ve seen them in concert a few times (the first tour being the Hold Your Fire tour) and they are much more interesting live than on record, even if they never jam or improvise.  2112 got a full treatment a few years back, but Fly By Night and Caress of Steel get scant attention.  Their 60s-retro-covers album, Feedback, was enjoyable, but then they weren’t doing their own material.

Triumph.  Starting in the late 70s and continuing through the 80s before disbanding – guitarist Rik Emmett still tours and plays Triumph material, albeit in small clubs – this band is more straight up rock and roll.  As Emmett himself said, “I’m a Les Paul-though-a-Marshall kind of guy”.  Drummer Gil Moore also sang; bassist Mike Levine just played the bass, well enough.  Thunder Seven is probably their top album, with Never Surrender a close second.  Stages is a good double live album with an impressive set.  I saw them in concert, front row seats at the Patriot Center on 10/31/86 with Yngwie (who?) Malmsteen opening.  Great show! 

Max Webster.  Led by singer-guitarist Kim Mitchell, this band could be the Canadian Blue Oyster Cult: blending commercial sound with offbeat lyrics and quirky sense of humor, but just enough heavy guitar to give it some balls.  They have 5 albums: Max Webster, High Class in Borrowed Shoes, Mutiny Up My Sleeve, Million Vacations, and Universal Juveniles, of which I have the first three.  I got the first one in Ottawa back in 1991, suffering an appropriate “Hangover” the day after overindulging in 7-8 Canadian (full-strength) Labatt Blues.  They used to open for Rush, and were good friends of theirs, but disbanded in the early 80s.  Kim Mitchell continues a modest music career and radio DJ work.

The rest:  I have some familiarity with the rest, even if they can’t qualify as being as important – in my mind – as the foregoing.

Anvil.   I’d call them a NWOBHM band, except they’re Canadian.  “Lips” Ludlow is their singer/guitarist.  Their sound is standard 80s metal, more on the Judas Priest side than hair metal side.  They have a recent documentary which is Spinal Tap-esque, which makes it even more tragic because it’s all true, not just Rob Reiner’s fanciful comedic rock story.

Black Mountain.  I consider them a stoner rock band, very similar to Crippled Black Phoenix (if you know who they are).  Good, but not everyone’s can of Molson.

Jeff Healey.   A blind slide guitarist – he did a good cover of “When a Blind Man Cries” by Deep Purple.  He’s also featured in the Patrick Swayze movie, “Roadhouse”.  He died back in 2008.

Frank Marino & Mahogany Rush.  Marino is one of those Robin Trower & Uli Jon Roth guys who jam extensively with a very strong Jimi Hendrix vibe.  His concerts – I’ve seen him twice – are 2+ hours of nonstop soloing, which is good if that’s what you’re into.  His studio material seems to be an effort to expand Hendrix’s catalog beyond the three albums he did in his lifetime. 

sHeavy.  I read a guy named Toby Manning refer to Mostly Autumn as “de facto Pink Floyd cover band, even if they deny it.”  You could consider sHeavy as a de facto Black Sabbath cover band, and I’d doubt they’d take much offense to that, much less deny it.  Their original material is indistinguishable from Ozzy era Black Sabbath, and vocalist Steve Hennessey does Ozzy’s voice spot on – so much so that some people hear sHeavy and honestly believe they’re hearing some long-lost Sabbath material.  They don’t seem to tour (!!!) and I saw a live video of them in concert, half of the band looking like they have day jobs and can’t tour.  Anyhow.  If the 8 original Black Sabbath albums with Ozzy are wearing thin, and you want to hear more, by all means indulge in sHeavy.  Electric Sleep being a good start.

Voivod.  From Montreal, Voivod are Canada’s top thrash band. I have their album The Outer Limits, which has an awesome 3D design with glasses. They are talented and smart prog-thrash, and even covered Pink Floyd twice: “Astronomy Domine” and “The Nile Song”. 

Neil Young.   I could never get into Neil Young; the only album I have is Harvest.  If you can’t break out of your blues-box rut, I suppose you’re in Neil Young territory.  He’s undeniably honest and down to earth, and rocks hard enough, but his stuff is material you cite to make yourself look smart.  Kinda like Rush.

Honorable (?) mentions.   Clearly there are more than these.  Helix is a band we got on vinyl (for free) and listened to once (the same stash that got us Defenders of the Faith and Y&T); they get a mention by Ricky of “Trailer Park Boys” as the band he prefers over Rush.  Anyone who’s ever heard “Born to Be Wild” knows who Steppenwolf is.  Loverboy was an AOR band from the 80s which I never paid much attention to while they were around.  Thor?  Gives me the impression of a guy who is actually more talented than his image would imply, but I never delved into his music.  Finally, we all know and dislike Nickelback and Avril Lavigne.   I suppose we can’t be too hard on Celine Dion, but she definitely isn’t “rock”. 

Great White North.  Anyone familiar with SCTV recalls Bob & Doug McKenzie (Rick Moranis and Dave Thomas), the pair of egregiously Canadian guys spouting “hoser” and “eh” to mock the CBC’s bizarre requirement for “Canadian” programming, whatever that is.  “Monday Night Curling” and “Magnum: Prince Edward Island” were other brief comedic efforts in that direction by the SCTV gang.  But the point is valid: how do make “Canadian” music?  Remarkably, with all this Canadian music, none of it gives off any particularly Canadian flavor.  Rush sing about “Trees”, but we have trees and communists here in the US.  I suppose “Toronto Tontos” could be a Canadian reference.  

The Power of Three

For some reason, 3-piece bands are quite popular, and have been for some time.  Usually – though not always - the bassist is also the singer.  They’re well done enough to put out enough power to be competitive with more traditional 4 and 5 piece bands, but I don’t think of them as being MORE powerful.

 Jimi Hendrix Experience.  Active from 1966 to 1969. Noel Redding played bass, Mitch Mitchell played the drums, and Jimi sang and … played guitar.  Fairly well, in fact.  Remarkably, they only have 3 studio albums, Are You Experienced?, Electric Ladyland, and Axis: Bold As Love.  Hendrix was one of those rare persons whose skill at guitar was light years more advanced, in terms of intuitive knowledge, beyond anyone else.

 Blue Cheer.  I did a previous blog on this band.  They came out around the same time as Jimi Hendrix and Cream (1967), from San Francisco; I think of them as part of that scene, but to this date all the attention goes to the Grateful Dead and Jefferson Airplane, with BC being almost completely ignored, an unwanted stepchild or black sheep, which is a shame, because they are definitely MUCH heavier than the others, but it wasn’t – as the others claim – using excessive volume as a crutch for poor talent.   The classic lineup was Dickie Peterson (bass/vocals), Leigh Stephens (guitar), and Paul Whaley (drums).  Stephens retired long ago, so now Duck McDonald is the guitarist – and Dickie IS Blue Cheer.  BC’s claim to fame is their cover of Eddie Cochran’s popular “Summertime Blues” – which they still play in concert.

 Cream.  Also a contemporary (1966-68): Eric Clapton (guitar/vocals), Jack Bruce (bass/vocals), and Ginger Baker (drums).  “Crossroads”, “Sunshine of Your Love”, “White Room”, “Badge”, “Born Under A Bad Sign”, and “Tales of Brave Ulysses” are the top songs.  Clapton went on to do Blind Faith, Derek & The Dominos, and then his solo career.  While he’s definitely a good guitarist, I think he’s overrated; I also consider his solo material a bit too commercial, ironic given he quit the Yardbirds to join John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers because he considered the YBs were getting too commercial (!). 

 Mountain.  Leslie West’s band, along with Corky Laing (drums) and Felix Pappalardi (Bass).  They were at Woodstock.  West is a big guy – not a bad guitar player, but it’s hard to get past his bulk and appreciate his skill (probably best to LISTEN to him rather than WATCH him).  His most famous song was “Mississippi Queen”.  We saw them open up for Deep Purple in 1985 (Perfect Strangers tour) and he forgot the words to “Nantucket Sleighride”, which didn’t impress us. 

 Emerson, Lake & Palmer.  Keith Emerson (gonzo keyboardist), Greg Lake (bassist/singer – formerly with King Crimson) and Carl Palmer (drummer) – though Cozy Powell stepped in briefly in the mid-80s.  We saw them play at the Cap Center in 1986, but I can’t remember anything.  I’ve heard Pictures at an Exhibition, but didn’t like it – it was too much like King Crimson without a guitarist.  But the first album (self-titled) and Tarkus (2nd album) are both excellent.

 King Crimson.  They qualify only for the Red album, which they didn’t even tour: Robert Fripp (of course) (guitar), John Wetton (bass/vocals) and Bill Bruford (drums).  As I noted in my lengthy KC blog, Red was the pinnacle of a three-album streak including Larks’ Tongues in Aspic and Starless.  Thankfully they did play “Red” on their most recent tour.  And around the time of Thrak (1995), KC was actually a “double trio”: Fripp and Belew on guitar, Trey Gunn and Tony Levin on bass/stick, and Pat Mastelotto and Bill Bruford on drums.

 Grand Funk Railroad.  Mark Farner (guitar/vocals), Mel Schacter (bass), and Don Brewer (drums/vocals), from Flint, Michigan and associated with Terry Knight.  They had their peak in the 70s.  I never liked their top hit, “We’re An American Band”; they had so much better songs, “Walk Like A Man”, “Sin’s A Good Man’s Brother”, “Heartbreaker”, “Mean Mistreater” and “Can’t Take Too Long”.  Supposedly the press hated GFR, even if Homer Simpson was a huge fan. 

 Rush.  From Canada, starting in 1974, and with the same lineup since Neil Peart (drums) replaced John Rutsey after the first album.  Alex Lifeson (guitar) and Geddy Lee (bass/vocals) are the other two.  Lee’s voice took some time to get used to.  My introduction was Moving Pictures and “Tom Sawyer”.  Geddy doubles up on keyboards, filling out the sound a little more.  They are still active, and featured in “I Love You, Man”. 

 Triumph.  Also from Canada, coming out in the mid-70s, and accused of being Rush clones, though their sound is much heavier and more pop-oriented – far closer to Blue Oyster Cult than Rush (though with none of BOC’s quirky and obscure references).  Rik Emmitt (guitar/vocals), Gil Moore (drums/vocals) and Mike Levine (bass).  We saw Triumph at the Patriot Center on Halloween, 1986, with Yngwie Malmsteen opening up – front row seats.  They broke up in 1988, but Rik Emmitt still tours and plays Triumph material. 

 Budgie.  From Wales, England, starting off in the early 70s with Burke Shelley (vocals/bass), Tony Bourge (guitar), and various drummers, most consistently Steve Williams.  Shelley’s voice is somewhat like Geddy Lee’s.  The first four albums were heavy, even to the point of having early Black Sabbath producer Rodger Bain producing them, but with the strangest song titles: “She’s As Hot As A Docker’s Armpit” and “Nude Disintegrating Parachutist Woman”, topping Frank Zappa and Blue Oyster Cult.  The later three of seven albums with Tony Bourge (Bandolier, If I Were Britannia I’d Waive the Rules, and Impeckable) have a snappier, jazzier feel, even vaguely bossa nova, before Bourge left – to be replaced by John Thomas, at which point (1980) they turned into a New Wave of British Heavy Metal Band.  Metallica resurrected their career by covering “Crash Course in Brain Surgery” (on the Garage Days Re-Revisited EP) and “Breadfan”.

 Motorhead.  Fresh from Hawkwind’s ill-advised sacking of him in 1975, Lemmy (bassist/vocalist) lost no time in forming this band.  The classic lineup, which recorded Ace of Spades in 1980, was Lemmy, “Fast” Eddie Clarke (guitar – I always thought he looked like Ritchie Blackmore, even to the point of playing Stratocasters) and “Philty Animal” Taylor (drums).  For one album, Another Perfect Day, the band had Thin Lizzy’s Brian Robertson, but that lasted almost no time.  They also had Pete Gill (Saxon) for some time as well.   Briefly Motorhead had two guitarists, Wurzel and Phil Campbell, but are back to a trio format with just Campbell.  All their albums sound the same to me, but they do rock.  Lemmy is certainly one of the more colorful characters in hard rock.

 Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble.  If I included Hendrix here, SRV belongs here too.  His bassist was Tommy Shannon (who used to play with Johnny Winter), his drummer was Chris Layton.  The Texas blues guitarist died in a helicopter crash in 1990.  He was the younger brother of Jimmy Vaughan, guitarist in the Fabulous Thunderbirds.  His major hits were “Pride & Joy”. “The Sky Is Crying”, and his cover of Jimi Hendrix’ “Voodoo Chile (Slight Return)”. 

 The Police.  I’ve never been a fan of this band, though I do like “Wrapped Around Your Finger”.  Sting (Gordon Sumner) (bass/vocals), Andy Summers (guitar), and Stuart Copeland (drums).  In high school they were the band to see, but I passed on the Synchronicity Tour.  I liked Sting in “Dune” as Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen.  Rik Emmett (as noted above) put it well, commenting on Andy Summers: “he was very much a Telecaster w/chorus kind of guitarist, and my preference was Les Paul through a Marshall.”  The Edge has a similar light and fluffy touch on the guitar – and they both make Mark Knopfler sound like Pete Townshend.

 Nirvana.  I’ve noted them already in my grunge blog: Kurt Cobain (guitar/vocals), Krist Novoselic (bass) and Dave Grohl (drums).  Grohl did a spell in the Queens of the Stone Age as well as his own band Foo Fighters.

TOOL and Concerts

On Friday, June 8, 2007, I saw Tool in concert at the 1^st Mariner Arena in Baltimore, formerly known as the Baltimore Arena.  They played for two hours with no encore, and pretty much played the songs as they are on the albums, with over half the set from their newest (and in my opinion best) album 10,000 Days: Jambi, Stinkfist, Forty-Six and 2, Schism, Rosetta Stoned, Flood, Wings 1&2, Lateralus, and Vicarious.  9 songs in two hours = 13 minutes a song!  Since the running time for the studio versions of the songs comes up to less than an hour and a half, some of the songs were obviously extended.  I had to endure Friday rush hour traffic, including a substantial detour off 95 North, and the venue was NOT air conditioned, which the hot, humid June weather made quite noticeable.

 I’m not going to claim that I didn’t enjoy the show, because I did.  These guys are talented musicians and I like their music.  And they focused on the album of theirs which I like the most.  But it prompted me to consider certain things.

 This was concert 134 for me, since October 1984.  Tool was clearly worthwhile as I had never seen them before and had no idea what to expect – even though I’ve known of this band since 1992 when their first album, Undertow, came out, and their first single, “Sober” dominated the airwaves and MTV.  I don’t know why I ignored them for so long, as I liked “Sober” and hadn’t heard anything by them that I didn’t like.  I guess I just never got around to getting into them, and it took Maynard’s “we’re not worthy” worshipping at the altar of King Crimson to get me to pay attention to them. 

  OK, so seeing Tool was a good idea.  But why bother going to a concert at all?  Just to see the band play?  Why is that important?   You can hear the music at home – any song you want, not just the greatest hits the band wants to shove down our throats tour after tour (“the fans demand it”, they claim.  Which fans?  They never asked ME).  Maybe because seeing a band play live gives you an experience you don’t get at home.  Every band claims to be great live, but they clearly differ in this.

 At one extreme are bands like Rush, who go onstage and play every song, note-for-note, exactly as it is on the album, with no improvisation, no jamming, and no unexpected gems popping out.  Alex and Geddy pretty much stay on their sides of the stage and play.  Neil gets his drum solo, though I find drum solos so dull that as far as I’m concerned, they don’t really count as “improvisation”.  More like “cure for insomnia.”   A reviewer made similar remarks about Boston, noting that from a distance, for all we knew these were cardboard cutouts of the band members; he wished Tom Scholz would sneeze or bend over to tie his shoelace so we could see it was a real, living human being up there.  For bands like this, there doesn’t appear to be any dramatic improvement over simply staying at home and listening to whatever album you want to hear – especially older ones they never play live!!! – such that you should feel compelled to pay $60 for a ticket, endure the crowds and parking lots, and see them again for the xth time. 

 At the other extreme is the Grateful Dead, where every night was a different set, they frequently played covers, and often had guest musicians – and you could expect a jam.  Moreover, they might play a familiar song in a different way, faster, slower, heavier, etc.  Even so, a Dead concert had a format you could count on: two sets divided by an intermission, with “drums/space” in the second set, a de facto second intermission as most of us don’t really care to watch Mickey and Bill square off against each other yet again.   But here again, you’re getting something completely different than what you could expect at home.  I don’t have an entire stadium parking lot of stoned hippies, selling dope and clever Calvin & Hobbes toke-off vs. Bart Simpson t-shirts at my apartment!  Somewhat more of an incentive to get off your butt and over to RFK, Nissan Pavilion, or Merriweather.

 In the middle are bands like AC/DC, Deep Purple, and Blue Oyster Cult.  You can expect certain songs are going to be in the set, but they leave room for jams and you get an experience you don’t get by simply sitting at home listening to the music on your stereo.  Ian Gillan talks alot during the show, though much of what he says doesn’t seem to make a whole lot of sense; his introductions to songs are somewhat obtuse.  Eric Bloom can usually be counted on to make a few clever offhand remarks.  In this regard, Jethro Tull are probably one of the better bands: Ian Anderson not only jumps around with his flute, far more spry than you would imagine a man his age would be, but also very clever and witty with the onstage chat.  He’s one singer where you DON’T think to yourself, “shut the fuck up and play more music!”

 Concert Crap. One element I could do without are these “call and response” sections.  Metallica, Judas Priest, and Iron Maiden are worst at this.  15 minutes of “seek and....” “SEEK AND DESTROY!!!” “Very good!  Again!”  which could have been 2-3 songs.  Thanks!  I came to hear music, not to scream lyrics I’ve known for years at a band who also know them (or do they need 10,000 screaming idiots to remind them?).  MOSHING is another idiocy.  Whoever came up with that concept deserves a lobotomy, though I wonder if it would really make much of a difference.  Then there are these “food court druids”, especially at metal shows (Marilyn Manson comes to mind).  You know the type.  They can’t simply wear a t-shirt and jeans; they have to dye their hair black, white, purple, or other weird colors, have some tattoos and piercings, and wear some sort of really outlandish outfit (e.g. those black trench coats or fishnet stockings) and you can tell they take themselves SOOOO seriously.  It’s a whole IMAGE and PERSONA they’re cultivating.  Anyone wearing KISS makeup – or anything close to the full costume – at a KISS show definitely qualifies (has anyone ever seen anyone pretending to be Eric Carr or Vinnie Vincent?).  What are you, a General in the KISS Army?  Give me a break.  Finally, there’s the complete asshole who can only enjoy himself if he gets totally tanked and yells, screams, bumps into people, and makes a complete ass of himself; his “concert experience” consists of ruining it for everyone else around him.  At least potheads and Deadheads don’t do this.  Moshing at a Dead show?  I don’t think so.

 Venues.  I’ve gone to a fair amount of shows at clubs, which are an amazingly good deal.  Several times cheaper than a stadium show and no bad seats in the place – none of this business of paying $80 for a seat up in section 30,000,000 where you need the Hubble Telescope to see the band, AND the sound quality totally sucks.  Plus at the club shows the band frequently hangs around to sign autographs with the 30 fans it has left.  Good luck trying to meet Mick or Keith at the stadium concert.  Finally, you’re not stuck in a huge parking lot, breathing that fragrant aroma of carbon monoxide, for an hour trying to get out.  The trick is to show up in between the last (completely incompetent) opening act and the headliner.  Woo hoo!

 T-shirts.  When we were younger we’d eagerly snap up as many as we could.  We didn’t have many, so we wanted to accumulate a collection.  As years went by, and we can’t wear the Judas Priest or Metallica shirt at the office (and we have 3-4 of each anyway) AND the prices went up, it got to the point where you look and go, “do any of these $35 shirts reach out and blow me? Otherwise forget it.”

 I still go to concerts.  But I no longer have the youthful enthusiasm, unlimited energy, and clueless tolerance for inane bullshit and idiocy that I had when I was 15.   Life goes on. “Plus ça change, plus c’est le meme chose.”

Neil Peart - Drummer & Author

RUSH – a Canadian rock trio who have been around for over 30 years. They started out as Led Zeppelin clones – so much so, that when their first single, "Working Man", came out, listeners called the radio station asking about the "new Led Zeppelin song" – but quickly developed their own style, with impressively intellectual lyrics inspired partly by Ayn Rand. By the 80s, they cast aside their swords & sorcery for the slick, skinny tie quasi-techno stuff guaranteed to get more airtime and sell more records. The newer material is all well-produced and technically proficient, but lacks the energy and force of the earlier material.

 By now the drummer, Neil Peart, has established a reputation as one of the top drummers on the planet, though it’s a distinction which he’d challenge out of sheer modesty. Given that drummers (as he notes) are basically guys who "hit things with sticks", i.e. the least intelligent and sophisticated member of any band (Exhibit A, John Bonham; Exhibit B, Keith Moon) it’s remarkable that he writes the band’s lyrics.

But he also writes books. I suppose it’s common sense that a lyricist – who makes his money by writing words for public consumption in the form of lyrics – should also write, but it didn’t occur to Peart until fairly late in his career. Here, as of 2007, is his "library". It’s all non-fiction, quasi-autobiographical, and written in the first person.

 1. The Masked Rider: Cycling In West Africa. He took a bicycle tour in Africa, through Cameroon, with a group of similarly inane (but non-celebrity) riders. As you can imagine, cycling through a Third World country is quite an adventure. His commentary is extremely interesting. I have zero desire to bicycle through Africa, and after reading this book, I have even less (if that’s possible). But reading this book I got the sensation of being along with him, vicariously. Neil went there so I didn’t have to. Thanks!

 2. Ghost Rider: Travels Along the Healing Road. In 1997, his daughter Selena died in a car accident on her way to college for the first year – a complete shock and surprise. One moment they’re waving goodbye to her, the next, a policeman is at their doorstep with the terrible news. His wife, Jackie, took it particularly hard; she never overcame the grief and sorrow, lost the will to live, and within a year she was dead too, leaving Neil all alone.

 To deal with this without likewise withering away or going insane, he took a break from the band and travelled across the United States on motorcycle, losing himself like a ghost among the roads and towns of America. He describes his travels, his feelings, his anger and grief. As with Masked Rider, he succeeds at "bringing us along" with him in spirit, so we share in his grief and heal with him. An excellent book.

 3. Travelling Music: The Soundtrack Of My Life And Times. This book focuses more on music, per se, and not on his travels, but the source is the music which he listens to as he travels (by car, motorcycle or bicycle). He describes his childhood in St Catherine’s, Ontario (on Lake Ontario’s southern shore, due west of Buffalo); his early musical development and influences; and the circumstances of his joining Rush in 1974. Rush itself doesn’t occupy much space in this book in terms of pages or importance. We do get a good glimpse into the music he likes – notably Jeff Buckley and Frank Sinatra. He also loves The Who, the Rolling Stones (big fan of Charlie Watts), and the Grateful Dead. I always find it interesting to hear musicians go into detail about other musicians, even if it’s music I don’t care about or if I don’t agree with their opinions.

 4. Roadshow: Landscape With Drums, A Concert Tour By Motorcycle. By 2004 they had been together for 30 years, so they put out an album of covers, called Feedback, and toured – the so-called R30 tour (we saw them at the Nissan Pavilion on this tour, a show he mentions...without mentioning us! What’s the deal, man?). Finally, with book #4 we get a book which focuses on his work in Rush, and Alex Lifeson and Geddy Lee, who are incidental characters in the prior three books, take their rightful roles as major characters here. He decided to go from city to city by motorcycle (in the US, Canada and Europe), travelling separately from Alex and Geddy and scheduling his independent trips so as to arrive at each venue in time for the show – and didn’t miss ANY concerts. None of this business like Ace Frehley missing his flights!

 If you’re a Rush fan, you owe it to yourself to read these books. Even if you’re not, they’re great stories. He has alot to say and an interesting way of saying it. If they ever decided to make these into "books on tape", I strongly recommend that they get John O’Hurley, aka "J. Peterman" from "Seinfeld", to read them. I don’t even listen to Rush that much anymore (certainly not the ZZZ newer material) but still found his books impossible to put down.