Song of the day, 16 April 2026

Song of the day, 2 March 2026

Divorce song o'the day

Closed for my protection
Open to your scorn

Between these two directions
My heart is sometimes torn

A song about a car

Another song I've been listening to a lot lately. Sadly, these folks no longer appear to be a band. This is a great version of the venerable Rush tune. The band is tight and Tahnee Juryn is lovely and enthusiastic, adding her own energy to the performance.

Neil Peart, Stoic?

So I was reading some Marcus Aurelius as one does and came across this bit:

And of course this made me think of "Tom Sawyer" and its famous line:

"He knows changes aren’t permanent –
But change is"

The Corona Diaries Vol. 120 - Prelude: Airports

Happy Rush Day!

A friend just wished me a Happy Rush Day. It took me a minute but then realized today is 21/12.

Here's a bit of 2112 from Milwaukee in 2013, a show I was at.

And then, hey, Presto!

It was on this day in 1989 that Rush released Presto. This was about 2 years after I had taken the plunge into their catalogue. Not as strong as 1987's Hold Your Fire, in my humble opinion, it nonetheless has some great songs.

My first Rush show was on 17 June 1990 on the Presto tour at Alpine Valley and they played 2 of the best songs from the album, "The Pass" and "War Paint". Here's that concert.

Heart and Mind united on this day

With such a large repository of knowledge, you'd think it would be easy to ascertain when Rush released Hemispheres but no. I have seen 3 or 4 dates for it but the 29th seems to be the most common so I am going with it.

And so, Hemispheres was released this day back in 1978 - theoretically. It continues to mine the progressive rock vein with acoustic bits, shifting time signatures, and lengthy epics.

A friend of mine saw them here in Madison at the Dane County Coliseum on the this tour. He has related to me how he ingested many a substance that night and had something of a freak out episode when the rear projection screen showed two giant hemispheres of a brain splitting apart. Unfortunately, I have never found a recording of that concert nor can I find any photos of that image from that tour.

Anyway, here's "Cygnus X-1 Book II: Hemispheres" from 7 December 1978 at the MECCA Arena in Milwaukee.

Triumvirat of prog

We have a proggy trifecta of anniversaries today.

First we have Jethro Tull's Catfish Rising released this day in 1991. Perhaps not their strongest album, but it nonetheless has some fine music on it including the slightly lascivious "Like a Tall Thin Girl". Here it is from 25 November of that year at the Chicago Theatre.

 

 

Five years later Rush gave us Test For Echo. It continues the trend started on Counterparts of largely eschewing synthesizers and instead letting Alex Lifeson flex his chops in a lead, riffy kind of way.

This is the beautiful "Half the World" recorded in Milwaukee on 13 June 1997.

Another five years later Yes released Magnification. It's an album I've never really given a proper listen, although I really like the title track and "In the Presence Of".

This is "Don't Go" from their show in Milwaukee on 15 August 2001. Thinking back, I am wondering why I didn't go (ha!) to this concert when a couple friends of mine did. I suspect it had to do with the fact that 15 August is a common move-in date for renters and I was one back in the day.

Signals transmitted

Proggers love to release albums in late summer/autumn. Today we commemorate the day Rush released Signals back in 1982. It marks the start of a shift in their sound that brought synthesizers to the fore and saw the guitar shifting from lead riffing to more of a rhythm role, adding color and texture.

This is "Chemistry" from the 1982 tour stop in Milwaukee.

Imagination on fire

This is where I boarded the Rush train back in 1987. Hold Your Fire. A desert island disc for me. Perhaps their most beautiful album. Released on this day 37 years ago.

Here is "Prime Mover" from Milwaukee on 5 April 1988.

Rolling those bones for 33 years

Rush released Roll the Bones on this day in 1991. I recall bringing that tape home, if not that day, then shortly thereafter. "Dreamline" has been a favorite ever since and here's a live version of it from Milwaukee in a couple tours later in 1996.

A proggy anniversary twofer

Today is an anniversary twofer! First is Rush's A Farewell to Kings.

Released this day in 1977, A Farewell to Kings sees Rush continuing to thumb their noses at expectations and go all in on progressive rock at the height of punk. A month before the recording of the album commenced the band played at the Riverside Theater in Milwaukee where they debuted a new song, "Xanadu" which would become one of the most beloved songs on A Farewell to Kings. This musical adaptation of Coleridge would remain in setlists more or less until the very end.

This is the earliest known live recording of it from 10 May 1977 in Milwaukee.

A slightly more recent anniversary - a mere 27 years - is Calling All Stations by Genesis.

While I find the album to be mediocre overall, it does have some great moments. For instance, I really adore "Shipwrecked". My understanding is that it is mainly a Mike Rutherford song but, for me, Tony Banks' keys really elevate it to greatness. They add drama to the chorus and give the song a tender feel. OK, there's also some really nice guitar work towards the end that adds emotional intensity and fills in the the musical landscape quite well. I wish these parts were more forward in the mix but what can you do? This is their latter day "Follow You, Follow Me", in my humble opinion.

There was no U.S. tour in support of the album but the European shows are well-documented. At least 2 concerts were recorded by local TV outlets (I think) including the one on 2 February 1998 in Prague which is where this performance comes from.

The Corona Diaries Vol. 115 - Playlist: Dreamline

 

 

(Now proceed to entry #115.)

A (short) soundtrack for reading John Muir

Happy 17th Snakes & Arrows

Rush's penultimate album, Snakes & Arrows, turns 17 today. I love this album. Two instrumentals! A fair amount of acoustic guitar, great riffs, some very moving lyrics. It has a wonderful energy to it.

To celebrate, here's "The Larger Bowl" live from Milwaukee on 6 September 2007.

Under Pressure at the Mecca

It was 40 years ago today that Rush released what is perhaps their most synth-laden album, Grace Under Pressure.

"Distant Early Warning" and "Red Sector A" survived in live sets for a long time with the former lasting until the very end. But most of the album didn't survive much beyond the tour in support of the album. ("Red Lenses" did make it to the Power Windows tour, oddly enough.) And so I am going to celebrate this anniversary with the album's closer, "Between the Wheels".

It was recorded in Milwaukee on 25 June 1984.

Permanent Waves is 44

Rush greeted the 1980s on this day 44 years ago. Some sleeker songs and the sci-fi/fantasy trappings are gone. "Natural Science" was originally to be about the medieval poem, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. To the best of my knowledge, the song was never recorded with the original lyrics but they do survive on paper.

Such wonderful illustrations! Geddy Lee no doubt enjoyed receiving illuminated lyrics.

The album points to the band's future direction but has the heavy sound of their earlier work. And, although Geddy's screaming/shrieking is on the decline, there's still some here.

Here's "Spirit of Radio" from here in Madison when the song was a youthful 24.

A stellar decoration

A recent visit to Chicago's Christkindlmarkt yielded a purchase within a minute - this fine star. It looks really nice with the living room lights turned off. I am tempted to pretend it's the red star of the Solar Federation and stand there naked with arms extended - and without closing the curtains. Holiday cheer indeed.