Rush Subdivisions
Classic Rock|August 2023
Musically it was influenced by some of the newer bands they were listening to, and sonically it took Rush further into the world of synthesisers and not all of the trio were happy about that.
Dave Everley
Rush Subdivisions

Rush were holed up in Le Studio, a residential recording facility tucked away in the mountains of Quebec, when it all got too much for guitarist Alex Lifeson. It was the summer of 1982, and the band were mixing Subdivisions, the track that would open their ninth studio album, Signals.

Change was in the air in the wider music world. The hegemony of the guitar – for so long the weapon of choice for rock bands – was under threat from the technological advances made in the realm of electronic music. Synthesisers were moving in from the sidelines to become the pre-eminent instrument of the era.

Rush themselves weren’t immune to this new trend – certainly not singer/ bassist Geddy Lee, a self-professed “synth geek” who had been incorporating synthesisers into the band’s music since 1977’s A Farewell To Kings. But for Alex Lifeson, Subdivisions marked the point where the balance between guitars and synths tipped in the wrong direction.

“I was sitting there thinking: ‘I can’t hear guitar,’” says Lifeson, recalling the mixing process. “I’m a very easy-going guy, but I thought: ‘This is not right.’ So I pushed that fader up. I do remember Terry [Brown, producer] turning to me and smiling, and reaching over and pulling it back down. I could barely hear my guitar on that mix, and that just screams ‘wrong’ to me.”

この記事は Classic Rock の August 2023 版に掲載されています。

7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。

この記事は Classic Rock の August 2023 版に掲載されています。

7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。

CLASSIC ROCKのその他の記事すべて表示
Dream Theater
Classic Rock

Dream Theater

With friends (and bandmates) reunited for the band's 40th anniversary, it'll be a special night for fans at Wembley Arena.

time-read
3 分  |
November 2024
Royal Republic
Classic Rock

Royal Republic

Livewire, turbo-harmonised, disco-rocking Swedes get ready for upgraded UK and Europe dates.

time-read
4 分  |
November 2024
GOTTA KEEP MOVIN'
Classic Rock

GOTTA KEEP MOVIN'

In 1968 the MC5's Kick Out The Jams album was a grenade thrown into the music scene. In the decades since, Wayne Kramer acted as guardian of the band's legacy until he died earlier this year, after making one final album.

time-read
9 分  |
November 2024
THE KILLING FLOOR
Classic Rock

THE KILLING FLOOR

Now revered as a linchpin moment in the history of the blues, Howlin' Wolf's London sessions in 1970, with a superstar cast that included some of England's rock royalty, came out of a chance encounter several months earlier at a gig in San Francisco.

time-read
10+ 分  |
November 2024
ROGUE TRADER
Classic Rock

ROGUE TRADER

Recording almost everything on his latest album himself and putting it out on his own label, Tuk Smith followed the adage that if you want something doing properly, do it yourself.

time-read
4 分  |
November 2024
BILL WYMAN
Classic Rock

BILL WYMAN

WW2 evacuee, RAF airman, Rolling Stone, hit solo artist, bandleader, author, restaurateur, archaeologist, cricketer... Even just his time in The Greatest Rock'N'Roll Band In The World is storied, but there's been much, much more to his life than that.

time-read
10+ 分  |
November 2024
LIFE IS A JOURNEY
Classic Rock

LIFE IS A JOURNEY

For some people, travelling life's road is easy. For lifelong worrier Myles Kennedy it's anything but. But with his brand new solo album The Art Of Letting Go he's learning just what that title says.

time-read
9 分  |
November 2024
ALL ABOUT BEING LOUD
Classic Rock

ALL ABOUT BEING LOUD

In an exclusive extract from his Fast Eddie biography Make My Day, long-time Motörhead associate Kris Needs looks back at the making of their game-changing Overkill album and the subsequent killing-it UK tour.

time-read
10+ 分  |
November 2024
Nikki Sixx
Classic Rock

Nikki Sixx

The Mötley Crüe bassist on making new music, replacing Mick Mars, work-life balance, learning when to say no...

time-read
5 分  |
November 2024
Bobbie Dazzle
Classic Rock

Bobbie Dazzle

Meet the West Midlands singer bringing back upbeat music, fun and fashion of the 70s.

time-read
2 分  |
November 2024