WE HAVE ASSUMED CONTROL

I never dreamed I would ever get to admit this, but this year has made me feel cool as fuck to be a Rush fan.

It wasn't always that way. I can remember the first time I ever heard them. I was 12 or 13. Sometime in 1981, my only friend at the time was crazy into buying 45s. He picked up the single for Tom Sawyer by some band called Rush, whose name I think I recognized from T-shirts I saw older kids wearing while driving cars I wasn't allowed to get into.

I'm sitting in my buddy's bedroom and he puts this single on and CRASH!!! goes that opening chord to Tom Sawyer. I honestly remember thinking "What kind of singing is that? That's a human being playing that stuff? What is with that drummer in the middle part of the song? Why do I have this heavy feeling in my chest?" Some things in your life, seemingly small to others, stay with you till the grave is dug. This was one of mine.

I bought the Moving Pictures LP soon after that and had my mind completely frozen by YYZ and Witch Hunt. I was converted immediately. This was no ordinary band playing around with blues chord changes and Beatleish melodies. These guys were out to decimate every other band in the rock genre by playing harder, tighter and faster than their contemporaries.

It was pretty hard to get excited over The Doobie Brothers or Bob Seger when I heard 2112 for the first time. Somehow, the combination of bombastic playing and VERY deeply intellectual lyrics inspired by Ayn Rand spoke directly to me and a lot of my friends. I have no real explanation why. We were not the cool kids, we were not the ones guaranteed for academic or financial success, we didn't know girls, but somehow this trio of ugly Canadian dudes wearing kimonos made us think we were special.

I followed this band every album since. Every weird synth phase or weird move they made, I was there. I stood in line overnight to get my first RUSH tickets in 1984 and had the worst seats but the best time. (Al's Donuts!!!)

This music speaks to me on a level completely removed from my other favorite bands.

Fast forward thirty years and hundreds of lost brain cells later, the holy triumvirate of Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson and Neil Peart suddenly are getting mainstream recognition everywhere. Their 2009 appearance on The Colbert Report (their first on US TV since 1976) was the start. Then came their cameo and plot thread through the movie I LOVE YOU, MAN, and now suddenly they are all over VH1 Classic. I seriously have watched so many Rush concerts on that channel I seriously wonder if they've just given up playing anything else.

The piece d' resistance has been twofold this year. The first crown jewel is the fascinating and justifying two hour documentary BEYOND THE LIGHTED STAGE by Sam Dunn and Scot MacFayden, who previously helmed two great metal docs, METAL-A HEADBANGER'S JOURNEY and IRON MAIDEN FLIGHT 666. (Must-see for any heavy metal fan if you haven't checked them out by now). The Rush film goes deep into the history of all three band members covering the fact that they too were outcasts with an uphill battle for acceptance from day one. It covers all the changes in style, sound and hairdos the band encountered and cleverly addresses the topic of why and how Rush fans got to be predominantly male and nerdy for so many years. It's also a reminder of how truly funny these three are when not playing such heavy serious music. Go to the bonus menu on the DVD and watch the footage of the band getting drunk at a hunting lodge for further proof.

After you watch that, watch the newly-released entry from the Classic Albums series 2112-Moving Pictures. For the first time, the series has devoted an hour to two albums by the same band. The producers went deep into the subject with interviews from the band as well as one-on-one live demonstrations with Alex, Geddy and Neil walking you through the creative process of writing and playing the stuff that has inspired generations of air guitarists and air drummers around the world. It makes for a great companion piece and if this doesn't satisfy your inner RUSH geek, you'll just have to wait for the next album and tour.