Words from the Ambassador

5. Permanent Waves (1980)

Coming out of the 1970′s, a time of grand excess in rock music, Rush was looking for a different path forward. The side-long multi-movement opuses no longer held the appeal that they had in previous years, and as such, the band decided to approach the studio with a more straightforward rock mindset...but still on their own terms, and still with their characteristic sound. The first album to be released with this new mindset, Permanent Waves is a truly excellent album from start to finish. Both “The Spirit of Radio” and “Freewill” are classic cuts, and the more adventurous “Jacob’s Ladder” and “Natural Science” show them flexing their prog muscles throughout. The album comes across as very self aware, considering the lyrics of “The Spirit of Radio”, the album’s opener: “One likes to believe in the freedom of music, but glittering prizes and endless compromises shatter the illusion of integrity,” can be read as a reflection of the way that bands are often pigeonholed into particular types of creative offerings, therefore restricting their creativity and originality. Luckily for us, Rush had found a way to maintain creative freedom. Had they not, the same label that had threatened them with termination for recording 20-minute songs may have, ironically, tried to steer them away from the recording experiments to come. This didn’t happen, and some outstanding music was to follow, beginning here with Permanent Waves.

4. Hemispheres (1978)

Rush’s final album of the 70′s and Permanent Waves’s immediate predecessor, Hemispheres was a burdensome recording experience for the band. They had written and recorded the music for the album before coming up with lyrics and vocal melodies, and it turned out that the music overall was very high for Geddy Lee’s voice to sing (quite a statement for the singer, whose voice had been likened to that of “a hamster in overdrive”). As such, Lee is wailing throughout the vocal cuts on the album. Call it art from adversity if you will, however, because this is among his best vocal work in his career. This album features Rush’s final side-long song, “Cygnus X-1 Book II: Hemispheres”. It’s a hell of a bad title, but it’s also likely Rush’s most coherent side-long song. The lyrics are a Greek myth that culminate in a message about balancing emotion and reason in one’s daily life, so it’s a proggy version of a self-help novel I suppose? In any case, it’s truly excellent. The B-side hasn’t a sore thumb to be found, with “Circumstances” being one of Rush’s all-time great hard rock tunes, while “The Trees” follows a more progressive bent. Closing out the album is the epic instrumental “La Villa Strangiato”, which features maybe the most compelling musicianship in Rush’s catalog, and almost certainly Lifeson’s best solo on a studio album. Essential listening.

3. Moving Pictures (1981)

This is the one. Rush’s followup to Permanent Waves is their most lasting work, the album that has the largest impact on the culture as a whole. It’s basically pitch-perfect throughout, and easily has the highest concentration of recognizable songs of any of their albums. The band’s most instantly recognizable song, “Tom Sawyer” is the opening track, followed by rock radio staple “Red Barchetta”. The band’s most popular instrumental, “YYZ”, soon follows, immediately going into “Limelight”, another of the band’s radio hits that continues to get heavy airplay. The B-side may not be as well known to the mainstream, but it’s packed with awesome tracks as well. “The Camera Eye” is one of the few long songs the band did that doesn’t have a sci-fi/fantasy tilt to it, but is still packed full with imagination. “Witch Hunt” shows the band at their most foreboding on the album (this song seems to me to be the first seed for what would become Grace Under Pressure), while “Vital Signs” closes the album out on a bittersweet, melancholy note, and is among my favorite Rush tracks. What more is there to say, really? It’s the band’s masterwork, almost certainly their best album, and will continue to be played on the radio, in CD players, on turntables and phones for years to come.

2. A Farewell to Kings (1977)

Imagine being Rush in 1977. Their last studio album, 2112, had become an underground hit and enlisted a dedicated cult following for the band. The album previous to that, Caress of Steel, was artistically aimless and a commercial failure. This was the moment to determine if success was a fluke, or if the band had begun to find their stride. A Farewell to Kings would determine that the latter is the clear truth. Kings doesn’t have the iconic stature that 2112 or Moving Pictures has, but what it does have is music produced by a band that had found their way to success, and now had begun to experiment with the formula. The result is an album that Is consistently trying new things from song to song, breaking new ground and expanding the parameters of what can be called “The Rush Sound”. This is the album that begins to feature keyboards in a more prominent way; 2112 had some synths, but they were contributed by album artist and fellow musician Hugh Syme”, whereas Kings finds Geddy Lee taking up the mantle in a move that would be definitive for the band’s sound. As for the songs, there are some heavies: any Rush fan (and many people not familiar with the band) will recognize the radio hit “Closer to the Heart”, but that’s far from the only memorable song from the album. The title cut has the band pummeling away at one of their most dynamic arrangements for a short hard rock song that they had produced. “Xanadu” finds the band taking the epic sound of something like “2112″ and condensing it a little to a somewhat-more-manageable 11 minutes. Rather than a series of movements though, “Xanadu” is a cohesive song, just a long one! It also features some of the band’s best musicianship in their catalog. “Cinderella Man” sounds like a Fly By Night-era cut, but with a more dynamic arrangement and a better variety of textures throughout, even for a shorter radio-friendly song. “Madrigal” is a soft keys-heavy experiment that makes for a refreshing palette-cleanser of sorts before going into the album’s most experimental track, “Cygnus X-1″. This is my all-time favorite Rush song. Combining a sci-fi story about traversing a black hole with the most dynamic arrangement that the band has ever produced, with plenty of twists and turns that make repeat listens a blast. It feels more like an adventure than a song, which is what the best Progressive Rock achieves. Worth noting, the A-side of Hemispheres is a sequel to this song, and features a continuation of the story. Apparently, Olympus is beyond the black hole; wouldn’t have guessed that! To summarize, this album is significant in the band’s catalog for the way that it expanded their sound and shows them experimenting and tinkering with the process that they had used to record their previous albums. Even with success, the band continued to search for a new thing to keep them interested, and it made for one hell of a memorable album, and many to come.

1. Clockwork Angels (2012)

It’s hard for me to pinpoint exactly what it is about Clockwork Angels that is so compelling to me. This is Rush’s last album before Neil Peart retired from music a couple years later. In retrospect, I would guess the band had an inkling that this would be it considering the result. Clockwork Angels is powerful to say the least. It’s powerful in its creative direction; this is the most genuine concept album the band has ever released, and even had a companion novelization by Sci Fi author Kevin J. Anderson. It’s powerful in its composition; the band seems to be pulling inspiration from their full body of work, creating some of their most atmospheric songs in years, while also seamlessly welding these ideas to their new-millennium modern hard rock sympathies as present on Vapor Trails and Snakes and Arrows. It’s especially powerful in its performances; the band, especially Peart, seems to be leaving it all on the line. Peart even stated in an interview that he intended the album to be his best work, both on the drums and in penning the lyrics. Lee, in an even bolder statement to the CBC, remarked this:

“We’re looking to write the perfect song, the perfect album. . . . I feel that this album that’s coming out is as close as we’ve gotten to doing exactly what we set out to do. And there are moments on this record I think that I’ve been trying to accomplish, as a writer, my whole life.”

This album hits hard throughout. The opening cut, “Caravan”, is a driving tour-de-force introduction that helps to showcase each band member’s personality throughout the album. Lifeson, who had begun to eschew the more virtuosic solos that he had been known for in the early days of the band, provides an obtuse and halting solo that sounds distinctly of his own brand, while Lee and Peart pummel away underneath, firmly reminding why they’re still one of the best rock rhythm sections around. The next cut, “BU2B” is a contender for Rush’s heaviest and loudest song in their history. From there, the album begins to really hit its stride with one of the album’s best songs, and a personal favorite across Rush’s entire catalog, the title cut “Clockwork Angels”. At times spacey and at others propelling forward with reckless abandon, this shows a mature Lee demonstrating a control over his voice that allows him to use it to be impactful in a completely different way than in albums past. Among his best vocal performances, period. The album has plenty of rock-solid hard rock tracks such as “The Anarchist”, “Carnies” and “The Wreckers”, each one finding ways to explore new ideas. “Seven Cities of Gold” is funky and heavy (Lee compared his bassline to something you’d find on an old porn soundtrack), while “Headlong Flight” is proggy, intense and dynamic as all hell; the final chorus hits me like a brick every time. “Halo Effect” is emotive and moody and displays the band’s considerable songwriting chops, while “The Garden” serves as a fitting conclusion to the band’s entire catalog. With a chorus line like “In the fullness of time, a garden to nurture and protect”, you get a sense of the ethos that the band has followed their entire career up to this point, with their sizable body of work having been their garden of sorts. The album is truly fantastic, and sits among their best works. I’m inclined to believe that my personal experience with the album is the main reason I place it above all the rest. Anticipating its release, listening to it over and over upon release, seeing the songs performed outstandingly well live...it all culminates in a memory of the album that stands among some of the most formative I’ve had in recent years. Neil Peart had said in the past that he feels that his favorite Rush album is whichever one just came out, otherwise what would have been the point of making it? The band can stand tall and look out on their body of work as being among the most impressive of any rock band in history; if 2112 is the soul of the band, and Moving Pictures is the heart, then Clockwork Angels is the crown. A definitive achievement, a perfect final bow in their storied career, and my favorite Rush album.

10. Snakes and Arrows (2007)

This was the first album (of 2) that Rush put out that I purchased when it actually came out instead of years, usually decades, after the fact. My first reactions to it were fairly lukewarm, and that I felt it had some good songs while others were real sleepers. Upon revisiting it recently, though, my attitude has warmed up to it significantly. The band is balancing their heavier, more modern sound with more dynamic arrangements, featuring a lot of acoustic guitar and spacey synth sounds to create some interesting textures. Lyrically, Peart is exploring current events in a direct way, as there are many references throughout the album to the chaotic state of the world that the Bush years had helped instigate. In fact, one of the compelling elements of this album to me upon re-listening is how the lyrics help the listener track Peart’s ideology over time. A self described “bleeding heart Libertarian”, may of Rush’s early songs are inspired by his reading of Ayn Rand, such as Fly By Night’s “Anthem” and one of Rush’s most well-regarded works, “2112″, which is actually dedicated to “The Genius of Ayn Rand” as I was boldly reminded of upon receiving the album on vinyl as a gift recently.  I have my problems with this because I think Ayn Rand was misguided at best and a malicious agent of chaos at worst, but that’s beside the point. Snakes and Arrows shows Peart reflecting on some of these notions in his lyrics, such as the prechorus of “Far Cry”: “It’s a far cry from the world we thought we’d inherit; it’s a far cry from the way we thought we’d share it” seems to be an acknowledgement of the unfairness of our current situation. “A Larger Bowl” is another example. Written as a Pantoum, a style of verse that originates in Malaysia, the lyric begins with the potent question, “If we’re so much the same like I always hear, why such different fortunes and fate?” This isn’t me saying that this is evidence that Peart has changed his ideology or anything, but much like how Kurt Vonnegut poses ideological questions in his works but also has viable counter-arguments represented by other characters, Peart has never been one to propagandize in his lyrics. Overall, this one is a fun listen from start to finish mainly due to the variety of sonic avenues they travel down throughout its runtime; from the hard edge of “Far Cry” and “Armor and Sword” to the softer tracks like “Hope”, it’s a roller coaster and a damn good one.

9. Grace Under Pressure (1984)

Grace Under Pressure is sort of a curious exhibit  in the band’s catalogue, and contains what I would describe as “growing pains” in their expansion to a more synth-based and textured sound. Alex Lifeson often sounds like he doesn’t know what to do, and the synth textures aren’t as mature as on later albums. When it comes to their 80’s releases, though, I regard Grace Under Pressure very highly. There are some real burners on this album, from the opening cut “Distant Early Warning” to the driving “Afterimage” and the dark and industrial sounding “Red Sector A”. “The Enemy Within” actually has one of my favorite verse riffs in the Rush catalogue, and the album does a compelling job meshing darker themes with a new found funkiness. The B side isn’t as strong (the aforementioned songs make up the entire A side) but I would say there’s no sore thumbs across the album’s runtime. This is Rush’s first album in years without Terry Brown as producer, and as such I would say this is the album that marks the end of their classic period. Nonetheless, this one still makes for a great listen now.

8. Signals (1982)

The last album with Terry Brown as producer and the last in Rush’s classic era of releases, Signals is a fan favorite. Most known for the opening song (always with the opening songs being top tier!) “Subdivisions”, which is a bonafide classic and stands among Rush’s best songs, the album has plenty of synth to go around without drowning out the guitar or bass too much, as happens on some later albums. The song “New World Man” is also Rush’s highest-charting song in their career, peaking at #21 on the Billboard Hot 100. That song never really did it for me, but other songs on the album certainly do! “The Analog Kid” is an excellent song throughout, and the guitar solo is particularly excellent. “Digital Man” is among my favorites by the band as well. A slightly weaker B-side is at play here, but this one is definitely worth your time.

7. Vapor Trails (2003)

Vapor Trails has a bumpy history. The original release of the album was a notable casualty in the “loudness wars”, which saw mixing and mastering practices sacrificing overall sound quality in favor of pure volume. This meant that the album actually had digital distortion in its final mix, which is an inexcusable situation for an album of this caliber. The poster child for this practice is Metallica’s Death Magnetic (produced by Rick Rubin, who one might call the Charlemagne of the Loudness War), which was especially notable for one reviewer who recommended illegally downloading the Rock Band versions of the tracks since they were more deftly mixed. Fortunately, Vapor Trails got a much deserved remaster in recent years which helps to showcase to the world what I’ve felt for years: Vapor Trails is a top-tier Rush album. The first album since Caress of Steel to not feature any synthesizer, the power trio rages through the 67-minute run time with a ferocity that the band hadn’t displayed quite so well in years. Recorded after a long hiatus due to personal tragedies in Neil Peart’s life, the renewed band comes out swinging with maybe their heaviest track ever, “One Little Victory”, and doesn’t let up from there. Plenty of head bangers are present, with songs like “Nocturne” and "Vapor Trail” providing a more dynamic arrangement. Both of those are highly recommended, as are “Earthshine, “Sweet Miracle”, “Secret Touch” and “Ceiling Unlimited”. I honestly recommend the whole album, best listened in the car on a road trip, which I have a hunch is how Peart, and avid motorcyclist and author (as detailed in another great cut from the album, “Ghost Rider”) likely came up with many of the lyrics for the album, or at least the seeds for them. Peart spent years in a perpetual road trip after the death of his daughter and wife. I’m very thankful for him being able to recover from those tragedies to go on to make more music, as it has been among the most impactful for me. Vapor Trails is a big part of that. Not the biggest though.

6. 2112 (1976)

I know, I know. This one is probably unexpectedly low on the list. This is the album that began Rush’s classic period of releases, and it’s quite excellent. The A-side is the now-iconic title track, a 22-minute opus about an individual in a future dystopia where the arts are banned or at least heavily centrally regulated by some sort of political/religious organization. Person finds a guitar, shows it to the people at the top, they lose their shit and destroy it, guy dies from crippling depression, nebulous voice declares to all planets of the Solar Federation that they’ve assumed control. As previously mentioned, the lyric is basically a Libertarian fever dream, but that’s not the reason why I rank this album lower than one might expect. Politics of the title cut aside, it is without question the highlight of the album. Listening to Caress of Steel’s misguided “Fountain of Lamneth”, which was on the album that they just recorded, followed immediately by the more coherent, more refined and ultimately outstanding “2112″ suite shows just what sort of creative leap they made in that short time. In fact, the album never should have existed: Rush’s international label at the time, Mercury, had stated that if Rush didn’t produce a more radio-friendly album, they would be dropped. In the face of that, they decided to stick with their guns and made something truly brilliant, solidifying their entire decades-long career in the process. That artistic confidence is on full display on the title track. The album ranks a bit lower because of its B-side. While the songs are pretty good overall, they simply don’t match the brilliance of the A-side, and while they’re not necessarily forgettable, their other albums have better songs to match their headier, longer works. “A Passage to Bangkok” and “Something For Nothing” are my favorites of the short songs.

#15 - Counterparts (1993)

Counterparts is sort of the godfather of every Rush album that came after it. The production/engineering side of the album (notably Kevin “Caveman” Shirley, an engineer who has since worked with a who’s who of rock and progressive metal bands) nudged the band further towards a harder-edged sound which became the main through-line for every post-Counterparts release. Every album that came after (with the exception of Test for Echo) ranks higher for me than this one, though there’s some great music here, and unlike some of their albums, this one simply sounds good. The production is clean and heavy with some of Alex Lifeson’s best guitar tone in years, and some awesome tunes to be found. It also features “Leave That Thing Alone”, a live show staple that is likely their best instrumental since “YYZ” (the band actually considers it their best instrumental, period). Maybe most interesting is that Counterparts is, along with only one other Rush album (more on that later) a genuine concept album. Many Rush albums have long movements that tell a narrative coupled with shorter unrelated songs. All throughout, Counterparts’s lyrical content touches on the nuances of personal relationships, especially romantic ones. Notable tracks include “Nobody’s Hero”, a song tackling the AIDS epidemic and stigma of homosexuality in our culture, and “Stick it Out”, among the heaviest guitar riffs that the band had published at the time.

#14 - Presto (1989)

This is Rush’s first album in over a decade that had fewer synthesizer tracks on it than its predecessor, and the power-trio focus is a welcome change from the thick digital textures of Hold Your Fire. The band retains the slickness from its 80′s recording experiments in this record, however, so those looking for a full return to the hard rock Rush of bygone albums will be left wanting. This is an album with plenty of good songs but few true standouts, with the exception of “The Pass”, which is most notable for being a maybe-unanimous pick by the band for their best-ever song. It’s a great showcase for the song-craft that Rush had developed over years of recording and touring, which is the characteristic that the band self-identifies with most, often in opposition to the rock media’s perception of the band (not to mention the fans, oh the fans!). In any case, Presto is a landmark album for the band in their creative journey, and must be regarded as such. The fact that it has some really cool songs on it as well is a plus! Personal favorites are the opening track, “Show Don’t Tell” (Rush often has their A+ material up first in the batting order) and “Scars”, a great bassline and drum performance.

#13 - Rush (1974)

Robert Plant once said that everything that Led Zeppelin ever did could have its seeds traced back to their first album. This is likely an exaggeration, but makes for an interesting thought experiment about the nature of the band’s catalogue. The same cannot be said for Rush, whose decades-long experiment with songwriting, recording, digital technology, etc. has only a small sliver of its output traceable to its first release. Rush is a great album, and I often put myself in the shoes of a rock listener in the year 1974 when I listen to it, intentionally forgetting that everything that came after exists. What you’re left with is a pretty great rock album that makes for a pretty alright Rush album. What a statement! One would be remiss to not point out that Neil Peart, Rush’s iconic drummer/lyricist, hadn’t yet joined the outfit, with original drummer John Rutsey making his only LP appearance with Rush on this release. Rutsey makes the band sound great, and while calling him underrated is a stretch considering his limited music career, I still appreciate what Rush sounds like without Peart behind the skins. A great choice for anyone looking for a hard hitting rock album. I personally dig “What You’re Doing” and the album’s closer, “Working Man”, certainly the “classic cut” from this record.

#12 - Fly By Night (1975)

Rush’s first release of 1975 (Caress of Steel would come out later in the same year) serves as a logical bridge between their straight-ahead rock first album and the progressive release to come, and serves as my favorite of the pre-classic Rush period. The title cut is among the band’s classic repertoire, and the album opener, “Anthem”, is one hell of an entrance for the new blood behind the drums, Mr. Peart. “By-Tor and the Snow Dog” serves as the bands earliest experiment in a conceptual piece; the song has singing at the beginning and end with a long instrumental jam detailing the events of a battle between the titular characters, and it rocks. “Beneath Between Behind” is one frenetic bit of hard rock and also hits home. My main contention with this album is that the B-side, excluding the title cut, is thoroughly forgettable. This isn’t a great album throughout, but it has some powerful stuff on it before it gets tied down in filler.

#11 - Power Windows (1985)

Welcome to the crucible of all crucibles, Rush’s most divisive album. For fans that belonged to the hard rock sphere, this was the point in which it was okay to stop buying Rush albums. The album features the most synths of any Rush album with the exception of its followup, Hold Your Fire. While Hold Your Fire dives headfirst into a poppier sound with its more recognizable tracks, Power Windows feels more experimental with the technology, to the album’s benefit. While this isn’t the Rush that many people loved in the 70′s and early 80′s, the album is a cohesive piece and has some awesome material on it. I would also argue that it features some of Geddy Lee’s most soulful vocal performances, which is a huge plus. While it’s far from Rush’s best album, many of its songs are very memorable for me, and while I can often get mixed up with exactly which song is on which album in Rush’s music, each song on Power Windows is distinctly and unmistakably a Power Windows cut. That realization of a particular vision and sound is admirable! It’s not perfect, nor does it crack my top 10, but it’s one I still revisit relatively often. Check out the opening track “Big Money”, “Middletown Dreams” and “Mystic Rhythms” in particular.

Over the past 12 years of me pursuing music first as a hobby, then a genuine passion, then a higher academic pursuit and now as a career, I’ve had many experiences that have broadened my horizons to all sorts of different music. One of my favorite things about music, after all, is just how different it can all be, and enjoying a wide swath of flavors and genres. Whether it’s extremely math-y metal like Meshuggah or stripped down folk like The Tallest Man on Earth, I love a lot of different stuff. But lately, I’ve been revisiting some of the music of the band that originally inspired me to play bass, and start this whole crazy journey I’ve been on, in the first place: Rush.

As part of this, I thought it would be a good thought/writing exercise for me to rank them in terms of how much I like them (not which is objectively best!). In doing so, I’ve found that my opinions on some albums are remarkably different than I would have originally thought, at least in terms of the enjoyment I get from them relative to each other. That’s what I’m starting today, with the lowest-4 ranked. Let’s begin!

#19 - Roll the Bones (1991)

Roll the Bones, released 3 days after my birthday (fun fact!), isn’t a bad album. From start to end, it’s an inoffensive collection of songs that showcase the band’s musicianship and songwriting chops well enough. There’s just not much to say other than it’s an inferior version of its predecessor, Presto. Rush can be described as having their particular creative direction representing itself in 2 albums at a time before they progress to the next thing, and these two fall into that category; Presto just has better songs and makes for a more appealing final product. If there were a Rush album to skip altogether, this is certainly it in my eyes. Special shout-out to the rap bridge on the title cut, though. Very likely the most playful and silly thing that Rush has done in the studio!

#18 - Hold Your Fire (1987)

Oh, Hold Your Fire. I’ve read other rankings of Rush’s albums, and this one seems to be the consensus decision as the absolute worst. So, while I rank it as my 2nd least favorite, let’s point out some strong points. “Time Stand Still” is a solid 80′s pop song that wouldn’t be out of place on a John Hughes soundtrack. The opening song, “Force Ten”, has one of Geddy Lee’s most underrated and overlooked basslines. Problem is, the rest of the album is kind of a wash. I had to look up the track listing to refresh my memory on just what else is on the album. This finds Rush at it’s most synth-heavy, which was a trend in their album releases for years up to this point, culminating in Power Windows (Hold Your Fire’s predecessor) and this album (the pairs theory stands!). It’s funny that this album came out in 1987, the same year that Appetite for Destruction was released. In a rock music world that was very soon to become much less synth-based, much more raucous and grungy, Rush puts out an album like this. It’s not a bad thing that Rush is less influenced by moment-to-moment changes in the music landscape; their independence is what many fans love about them. This album just doesn’t hold much value to the modern listener.

#17 - Caress of Steel (1975)

This album almost tanked Rush’s career. Quite a thought to consider now, considering the numerous platinum albums released in its wake. Much like bands such as Yes that Rush had admired greatly, an entire side of the LP of Caress of Steel is one long song, with a series of movements. While the previous albums were much more “classic rock” oriented, this one is where the band began to pursue a more progressive sound. Their first attempt was entitled “The Fountain of Lamneth”, and is nigh-indecipherable. Whereas future similar attempts have a much clearer musical direction and narrative, “Lamneth” is messy and even comical at times. It also has very good moments, but they shouldn’t have been strung together in such a way. There’s likely around 7 minutes of good material in the 20-minute piece, and it’s clear that it ended up being a side-long opus out of a feeling of necessity (Geddy Lee has even corroborated this idea in Contents Under Pressure, a book about the band chock full of interviews). Also included is the 12-minute “The Necromancer”, which straddles between silly D&D-inspired voiceover and some genuine gold moments, atmosphere and heavy riffs in equal measure. The shorter songs on the album are also solid, though “I Think I’m Going Bald” seems to be trying too hard to offset the pretentious B-side of the album.

#16 - Test For Echo (1996)

Rush’s 1996 release is a solid rock album. The title track, which also serves as the album’s opener, has great dynamic shifts from section to section, as does the 2nd track, “Driven”. These are likely both classic Rush songs at this point, and this dynamic energy can’t be found on many of their late 80′s/early 90′s releases. The rest of the album is totally serviceable with some small standout moments, particularly the more tender “Resist”, which is an overlooked gem and among Alex Lifeson’s favorite songs that Rush produced. Unlike previous albums on this list, I don’t find this album to have any true missteps. It ranks low on the list more because Rush has a lot of great albums! This one also serves as a good creative stepping stone to their 2000′s offerings, though it’s important to note that Rush took a long hiatus after this album due to the untimely death of Neil Peart’s daughter in a car accident and his wife to cancer.

I would like to personally thank all of Bernie's delegates at the national and state level for working so hard to ensure that Bernie's voice was represented at the convention as prominently as it was. That thanks also extends to the thousands of volunteers and millions of donors who fueled his campaign with an unprecedented grassroots foundation, the significance of which will likely be discussed for years to come.

But, here we are. Clinton is the nominee. And she's the nominee in the face of collusion by the DNC to discredit Senator Sanders. She's the nominee in part due to widespread alleged voter fraud and suppression in Arizona, New York and elsewhere. She's the nominee despite every poll placing Senator Sanders far ahead of her in regards to trustworthiness as well as in one-on-one matchups against every Republican challenger, Trump included. She's the nominee despite a massive federal investigation into her email practices and the director of the FBI, James Comey, saying that she's unfit to handle classified material. Frankly, she's the nominee despite being the worse candidate.

I have no fondness for Hillary Clinton. I don't hate her; I refuse to hate someone I do not know personally, but I do hate many things she stands for. I hate that she stands for Wall Street capitalism. I hate that she stands for US interventionism as shown by her record at the State Department. I hate that she stands for arming dictators around the world in exchange for Clinton Foundation donations. I hate that she stands as a symbol of the pure unbridled corruption that exists in Washington 2-party politics.

I'm also going to vote for her. And I'm here to argue that you should be too. Here's why.

I know what you're thinking. You probably hate Hillary Clinton as a symbol of corruption the same way I do. But she doesn't matter. This election isn't about Trump or Clinton. It's not about the Democratic party or the Republican party. What this election is about is the fact that Hillary Clinton's progressive platform, as forced by Bernie Sanders, may very well ensure that, under the right conditions, Hillary Clinton will be the last Neoliberal president of the Unites States of America. Ever.

This election is still about Bernie Sanders. And he really needs our help.

Firstly, a quote:

“An educated citizenry is a vital requisite for our survival as a free people.” -Thomas Jefferson

Since being endorsed by Sanders (and arguably entirely due to this endorsement) Clinton has written into her platform a Tuition-Free College proposal that ensures free public college for all people in the United States, so long as their family's net income is less than 125k/year. This is over 80% of the population who will have tuition free education. That's a huge number of people that will be able to attend school without the burden of student loans that people like myself must suffer through. This will provide a MASSIVE economic relief to the middle class, an unprecedented one in fact. Not only that, but with education and economic stability, we will likely see increased entrepreneurship from young people which will help reinvigorate the economy. More jobs, and likely higher wages, something Clinton supports. Couple that with Clinton's vow to overturn Citizens United and you see that Clinton's policies have been made quite progressive in some metrics, despite the fact that Clinton is not a progressive (regardless as to what she may be feeling that morning/what the polls indicate she should say).

Now, you might be saying, “Why should I trust anything that Clinton's campaign has said? She's known to change position just to secure votes. What's to stop her from changing her mind?” Well, there are two people to stop her from reneging on her promises: Bernie Sanders, and you. See, what most people seem to not acknowledge is that Bernie Sanders isn't going anywhere. Regardless as to who's president next year, he'll return to the Senate and do what he does: keep working on behalf of the American people. He will be easily the most well-known Senator in the United States, and probably among the most influential Senators in the history of the nation. With the network of supporters that he has created, he can hold Clinton accountable by actually penning the legislation that she has promised to sign into law. If she backs out, it will be huge news, because we can make it huge news. And Bernie, along with his army of supporters, should follow through with the hellfire and fury that such a bush-league move would demand. You and your voter power will command a powerful bargaining chip in Bernie's pocket that he can always keep close and use to leverage his ideas and policies. With other senators there to support him, such as Elizabeth Warren and the very-likely-new-senator Tammy Duckworth (if you live in Illinois, don't you dare fucking stay home and let that asshat Kirk keep his seat), he'll have a powerful progressive caucus to power his legislation.

This simply won't happen under a President Trump. There's no reason to pretend it would. Bernie would lose much of his power, somewhat because Democratic allies will blame him and the Bernie or Bust crowd for Clinton's loss. This is a complete logical farce, but is a reasonable thing to assume that the idiots in the Democratic Party would believe. This is why Bernie doesn't endorse the “Bernie or Bust” position; his leverage is simply not the same under any president. However, if Clinton won the presidency with a huge turnout from the Bernie bloc? And we made it very, very clear what our stance on her presidency was? That's a whole lotta chips in Bernie's pocket.

Another thing you might be feeling is, “Why should Clinton get to take credit for these ideas? These are Bernie's ideas and she's been ripping them off all primary season. I'm sick of it.” Yeah, I'm sick of it too. But, much like how Sanders has been involved with negotiating progressive reform into law throughout his career without requiring the glory of top credit on the final bill, we need to recognize that the desire to have Sanders get all the credit is vain, and unbecoming for us as a movement.

Now, let's talk about the politics of fear. This is something we all hate, and is one of the key reasons why many people that I know are “Bernie or Bust”. We LOATHE the idea of voting for a candidate out of fear of another candidate. We also hate the idea of candidates running negative campaigns based on fear. I mean, look at Donald Trump's entire campaign, or Hillary Clinton's infamous “3am” ad in 2008. When people are reacting to things based out of fear, they make some really stupid decisions. They'll follow a demagogue who threatens to treat certain Americans like second-class citizens out of fear of a very small portion of their demographic (Muslims) or to put up a giant wall to prevent immigrants from stealing work from Americans. Donald Trump's entire campaign is built around people's insecurity; fear of terrorism, fear of losing their jobs, fear of anything that isn't known to them. Clinton's entire campaign would be about fear of Trump if it weren't for Senator Sanders yanking her platform to the left. People who are afraid will also blindly dismiss allegations of voter fraud and suppression if it may show a sign of weakness in their candidate against said demagogue.

SIDE NOTE: To any Hillary Clinton supporter who stayed silent during the fraud cases in Phoenix and elsewhere, seriously. Fuck you. Your political gamesmanship is disgusting and completely unbecoming of a reasonable Democratic citizen. You deserve a Despot. Honestly, I have more distaste and anger for you than I do for Trump supporters.

Anyways, lemme tell you something about the politics of fear: it doesn't work as well when people have a stable opportunity to prosper economically, and when people don't have to worry about whether their children will have an opportunity to get a higher education and improve their lot in life. The fact that so many European nations have such strong democracies is, I would wager, due in no small part to the fact that many of these nations have programs in place to ensure a decent standard of living. Tuition-free education, a public health insurance option, etc. all help to grow the economy and keep people happy. Happy people don't put up with the blustering of a Trump. And without the blustering of a Trump, the pandering of a Clinton won't fly either.

I know that Clinton has used fear to push her agenda in the past, be it with her famous “bring them to heel” remark when she was First Lady or in, well, her support of every military attack EVER. Like, seriously, the woman has bloodlust. We have the opportunity to clip her horns and potentially the horns of the entire military industrial complex if we ensure that Sanders can pass the progressive reform that we need to put the nation on a stable footing.

So with a more educated populace, a middle class with more economic security, and one of the most powerful progressive legislative forces in history, what's next? Well, I don't think it's any secret that the leadership in the Democratic Party is a cess pool of corruption and is completely beholden to special interests. We need to go one step further and do something that's long overdue: create a new, progressive political party that will start campaigning for local seats as early as 2018. There have already been talks to do this from people such as Robert Reich. We need to support these motions fully, and possibly put a powerful contender in the running for the 2020 presidential election against Clinton and whoever the Republicans run. This is how we destroy the two-party stranglehold on our political system. It isn't by voting for Gary Johnson or Jill Stein, as their positions as party outsiders sadly give them far less leverage in a presidential seat. I'm reminded of  what Jesse Ventura of all people said about being elected Independent governor of Minnesota in retrospect: “When you're an independent, you have no allies on day one.” If they really speak to you as candidates however, then by all means support them, even if I would consider it the less strategic move.

I know how difficult it must be for many of you to consider voting for Clinton, a person who represents so many things you despise. But by backing out of the established political system, you risk disenfranchising the movement we've all helped to create, and could weaken Sanders' position in the Senate dramatically. It takes a very strong person with a mature conscience to smile at those who have wronged them. That's what I'm asking. I'm also asking you to, as Bernie says, never lose your sense of outrage. Never sit down quietly and accept what people are saying at face value. If you vote for Clinton, do it with the confidence that you'll be electing someone who can be made to do good, if there's incentive. Hillary Clinton isn't evil; she's a careerist who lacks a substantial amount of empathy. That's not a noble person, but it can be a useful person. And with an army of youthful, angry and vibrant citizens of Democracy watching her every move, you can be assured that she'll have incentive. She might not even have a choice.

To summarize, if us Bernie supporters work to achieve the following goals:

Put Clinton in the presidency,

Put aside the grand conspiring against Bernie's campaign as a matter of long-term political strategy,

Keep her on a short leash and ensure she keeps the promises she made on her platform,

Elect candidates that will support Bernie's progressive platform  to prevent gridlock,

Make sure that we support every motion and bill that Sanders supports or pens, and hold Clinton accountable for not doing the same, and

Work together to form a new Progressive party to challenge the corporate Democrats all around the country from the left,

then we may very well in retrospect be able to call the Hillary Clinton presidency the definitive end of the Neoliberal era that started back with Ronald Reagan. This will help us achieve greater economic, social, racial and environmental justice. That's what Bernie was fighting for all along. Remember what he said: “This campaign has never been about Bernie Sanders. It's about people coming together to create a political revolution.”

Is all of this optimistic? Absolutely it is, and the machinations of party politics can seem like the most imposing of Goliaths to us looking in from the outside. They're so callously stubborn and plain stupid about so many things that it seems baffling how you'd even begin to change that. The fact of the matter is that Sanders planted the seeds and we can help sew them. How? By really getting involved. Make politics part of your daily life. Always know what your representatives are doing and let them know when they're not doing what you want. If we want a Democracy as vibrant as our European friends, then we need to be willing to take to the streets like the French (I know you all have that considering the protests outside of the DNC, kudos to you all) and stand up to the moneyed interests that Bernie has been fighting against for decades now. So long as we have him as an ally in the Senate, we should never turn our backs on him.

Let's never stop fighting. But let's be smart. And, if we play our hands right, we might be able to force the political establishment into chopping its own hands off for us. And good riddance.

With solidarity,

Nicholas Fane

Artist:  Stanley Clarke  Album: Modern Man  Bass Player: Stanley Clarke Year of Release: 1978

View and download the transcription here!

Thanks for checking out my Bass Transcription of the week blog, where every week I publish and dissect a bass transcription that I have created! This week was a recommendation from Dave Green: the song is “Rock n' Roll Jelly by Stanley Clarke!

Note: This transcription is basically a “Best I Can Do” in terms of adapting what is played. Clarke was notorious for overdubbing piccolo bass and all kinds of things on his tracks, and as such this transcription may be exceptionally harder to play than what Clarke originally played. This is my first experience trying to transcribe Clarke's playing and thus I am an admitted novice. Fair warning!

The Song: As is common for Stanley Clarke songs, this is one hell of a bass feature! Backed by Jeff Beck and Carmine Appice on guitar and drums respectively, Stanley Clarke and company perform a rocking tune complete with an extended bass solo feature using overdubs and all other sorts of bass madness. Beck and Appice dutifully serve the song with an aggressive style that creates a powerful driving rhythm throughout, complete with dynamic ebbs and flows as are dictated by Clarke.

The Bass: Stanley Clarke's bass is the core of the song, playing a chordal pattern that serves as the A section. This pattern moves between the I and bVII chord and also provides a prominent melody. The B sections feature Beck's guitar with Clarke providing a more typical bass supportive role. Then comes the bass solo; incorporating octave melodies, fast trills for effect, more chordal patterns, lightning fast runs up and down the neck and a powerful devotion to stating the rhythm of the song makes for an enjoyable and compelling listen. Clarke demonstrates his particularly unique voice on the instrument here, and is as much a tour-de-force as any other song in his catalogue.

Favorite moments: The entire bass feature (letters E through H) for its consistent invention.

Artist: Ann Peebles  Album: I Can’t Stand the Rain  Bass Player: Leroy Hodges

View and download the transcription here!

Thanks for checking out this week's Bass Transcription of the Week! Today I'm looking at a bass line by a player that Matthew Wilson, current bass player for John Nemeth, requested that I look at: the bass player is Leroy Hodges, and the song is Ann Peeble's “I Can't Stand the Rain”!

The Song: “I Can't Stand the Rain” is the title track and opening song for Ann Peeble's 1974 album, and it certainly serves as a strong introduction to the album. The song is built on the backbone of a very fat backbeat courtesy of Howard Grimes. The verse are built around a simple I7-IV7 chord progression, introducing more chords in the chorus. The progression lends itself to the rich horn pads that accompany Peebles' vocal throughout.

The Bass: Leroy Hodges is a master of simplicity, and his playing on “I Can't Stand the Rain” is very clear evidence of this. He utilizes a sparse staccato-feel for the duration of the song, which creates a very powerful pocket between him and Grimes. During the verse sections, he incorporates an understated yet effective melodic bass line that serves as a counter-melody to Ann Peebles' singing. During the B sections, Hodges lays back more and plays a simple rhythmic root pattern while the horns help fill in the space. Things like this show a keen awareness of everything that was going on in the arrangement on Hodges' part, which allowed him to deftly serve the song to the utmost.

Favorite moments: The simple use of melodic pattern in the A section bass line; his simplicity during the B sections; measure 31, which ends up being a slight flourish that adds a lot to the dynamic nature of the song.

Artist: Ronnie Wood  Album: The First Barbarians: Live from Kilburn  

Bass Player: Willie Weeks  Year of Release: 2007 (Recorded 1974)

View and download the transcription here!

Thanks for checking out this entry in my Bass Transcription of the Week blog! Today, I'm looking at a song that has been requested by my bandleader at the Nick Moss Band, Nick Moss: the song is called “Crotch Music” from Ronnie Wood's live album The First Barbarians: Live from Kilburn, with Willie Weeks on bass!

The Song: “Crotch Music” originally appeared on Wood's first solo album, I've Got My Own Album to Do, which also featured Willie Weeks prominently. In fact, the song is credited to being a composition of Weeks' creation, which isn't surprising considering how bass-driven the song is. The form of the song is built around two main sections. There's the main bass line which begins the song, and a funky vamp on a B flat chord. These two sections make up the bulk of the song, with an additional C section appearing with a vi-ii-V-I progression, marked as letter D on the transcription. Weeks incorporates a few different bass line patterns into these different vamps, which I will get into below.

The Bass: Willie Weeks' bass line begins with a pulsing rhythmic figure that makes for a quickly recognizable intro for the song. It is built around an A pedal tone with a descending chordal movement in the higher register, built from a Dorian scale. The B flat vamp sections vary in bass line depending on which part of the song you're in; the first, letter B, is a very simple funk groove. Letter E is even simpler, with a galloping sort of rhythm throughout. Letter G is when things become more complicated with more ghost notes being thrown into the mix, and a move to a much higher register in measure 61. After the drum break, measure 84 introduces a new melodic idea that eventually gets echoed by the rest of the band as Weeks reincorporates the high register groove from measure 61, but displaced by two beats, followed by a lightning fast B flat Major 6 chord outline as the song winds down back into a simple B flat groove and eventually ends.

Favorite moments: Weeks does very cool and interesting melodic things at letter D; letter G, where things start to get very intense for the band; the figure that begins on beat 3 of measure 120, because it's one hell of a workout.