Today is the sixth anniversary of the release of the final Rush studio album, CLOCKWORK ANGELS. It can get “nun more” prog.
[This piece is dedicated to my great and brave friend, Steve Horwitz, fellow Rush-ian]
Rush’s nineteenth studio album, Clockwork Angels, came out on June 12, 2012. It was the first album to be distributed by heavy-metal label, Roadrunner, and the second to be produced by Nick Raskulinecz. As mentioned at this beginning of this book, the story of Clockwork Angelsis such an artistic success—as a story, a concert, a novel, a sequel to the novel, a graphic novel, an audio book, and a series of comic books—that it really overshadows not only the actual album but much of Rush’s other art. It is, of course, the culmination of forty years of care, of love, and of purpose. However much the Clockwork universe has dwarfed the album itself, it is very much worth considering the original source material.
Clockwork Angelscame out a full six years after Snakes and Arrows, a break between albums even greater than that between Test for Echoand Vapor Trails. Still, few worried as hints came out frequently about the forthcoming Rush album during that time, and Rush even released versions of the two opening songs as singles, performing them on the Time Machine Tourof 2011. As few would disagree, the wait for the final product was well worth it. While Moving Pictures—because of its time and place in history—might always remain the iconic Rush album, Clockwork Angelsis arguably the best, cohesive piece of art the band has ever made. It reveals a maturity in lyrics and music understandably absent in the first few Rush albums, but it also possesses every explosion of energy those albums expressed.
Continue reading “Rush’s Clockwork Angels (It Can Get None More Prog!)”
Maybe it’s because I’m now closer to death than I am to birth, but I’ve been thinking a lot lately about what I love and what I want to promote. This is as true in my choice and love of books as it is in my love of rock.
Progarchy 