RUSH: "CHEMISTRY" by Jon Collins

Rush: Chemistry.

Author: Jon Collins.
Publisher: Helter Skelter.
Release: UK Dec 2005.USA Feb 2006.

Rush are like a best-kept secret. Even seasoned Prog-Rock fans seem to under-estimate the startling level of success achieved by the 3 Canadians over three decades.

In this new biography Jon Collins uses over 50 new interviews with band-related insiders to chart Rush’s hard-fought rise from playground entertainers to multi-million dollar grossing album and stadium phenomenon. Collin’s biography manages to bring new insight into the “chemistry” which binds the three quite different band members and provokes such high regard from everyone who has worked with or for them. The key to this book is the insight provided by those voices so rarely heard: ticket agency managers, sound technicians, photographers and even caterers!
Never one’s to court controversy, their most public trials; Peart’s family tragedies and Lifeson’s court case are surprisingly, but correctly in my opinion, treated as “old news” given the amount of copy already devoted to these subjects. Instead we get insights into the mechanics of Rush album writing and production, the tensions of meeting deadlines and the often futile search for the perfect “take.” We get glimpses of the Rush world as seen from those who are closest to the three and we are often rewarded with nuggets of “band gossip” that would normally kept within the inner sanctum of the band’s entourage. Lifeson’s almost pathological hatred for keyboards is discussed and we learn that he would often glare at them as if they really were an evil presence even when they remained boxed in their cases.. Geddy Lee occasionally gets a rough ride; often portrayed as domineering in the studio and undermining both Lifeson’s position within the band and his confidence in his playing. Neil Peart probably gets the best press, unilaterally praised for his professionalism and humanity, often belying his “difficult” public persona.  Whilst Lifeson is the joker and Lee the organiser, it is Peart the thinker who often comes across as the personality that cements the trio.
Although we are presented with what is inevitably for a high profile rock band a story oft-told, it is in the telling of this story that Collins succeeds were others have fallen short. The attention to detail is impressive and everyone who has ever had a credit on a Rush product gets to tell his story in the neat “Personology” section at the end of the book. Collins writes with economy and flair, often just letting the facts speak for themselves, and in doing so manages to convey the genuine humanity and “ordinariness” of the three band members revered as musicians across the globe.
All in all an excellent piece of work doing justice to this great band over 200 + pages. Anyone who has already read Collins’ other rock biography on Marillion can expect more of the same high standards. Recommended.
Tony Riviere 2005.

Thanks to Graeme Milton at Helter Skelter Publishing Ltd

http://www.helterskelterbooks.com

Seems like a good read Tony. I'll have to get a copy.

For anyone interested here is a list of addenda in PDF format:

http://www.joncollins.net/wordpress/wp-content/rcadd02a.pdf

This can be found on the author's website: http://www.joncollins.net

For Rush readers, I have put together a printable PDF of the addendum entries found to date. There are 22 of them, we shall know in time if there are any more to be found. Of these:

- Ten are dating or timing errors
- Seven are typos and editing errors
- Five are factual inaccuracies

Truth be told, I was feeling more than slightly uncomfortable about the number of errors found in this book. As I was flicking through to put together the above addendum, I started remembering exactly how much of a mountain of information (some inaccurate) that I waded through to compile the book itself. It didn’t make me any less regretful of the errors, in particular the inexcusable typos (Getty! Argh!), but I do still believe that we did everything we could to get it as accurate as we possibly could at the time. In a word, sorry.

Oh well, onward and upward. Thanks to all those people who have pointed out the mistakes above. As indicated, the next reprint (due imminently) will fix the first ten issues in the text, leaving twelve which will probably now have to wait for the paperback.