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Star Tribune: October 27, 2002

Rush was in no hurry to record its first album in five years

by Jon Bream

Rush drummer/lyricist Neil Peart went on an emotional ride that could top just about anything on VH1's "Behind the Music."

His 19-year-old daughter died in a car accident in 1997.  Less than a year later, his wife died of cancer.  So he hopped on his motorcycle for 14 months, wheeling all around North America, getting his head together.  He fell in love and remarried.

Finally, last year, he was ready to play the drums again.  He wrote a book about his cycling experience, made an album and has hit the road with Rush again on a tour that comes Saturday to Minneapolis.

"The first few years were very tough for him," said Rush bassist Geddy Lee, who sings the words that Peart writes.  "He felt being on the move was good for him, especially on his motorcycle, due to the fact that it takes so much concentration not to hurt yourself on a cycle.  I think that was Step One: getting on the move and reacquainting himself with the beautiful things that he loves about being alive and reminding himself what's important."

Lee, 48, believes that Peart, 49, didn't truly get positive about life until he met his current wife.  She recognized that he needed to return to work to continue his healing.

"He needed that from her, not from us," Lee said recently.

Once Peart, Lee and guitarist Alex Lifeson got back together, the singer noticed that the drummer was making the same kind of jokes he used to and that there was "a jump in his step."  In January 2001, the Canadian progressive power trio started work on an album, "Vapor Trails," which was released this spring.

"He was able to focus on the creative side and open that whole thing up for him again," Lee said.  However, the singer had to temper some of Peart's lyrics, which were personal and painful.

"Some of the songs that were originally written in the first person, I couldn't sing with the right kind of conviction," Lee recalled.  "So we would shift into the third person or try to bring some more objectivity to them.

"He uses me as sort of an editor.  He gives me complete freedom when he gives me a page of written lyrics.  I'm free to use all of them, none of them or pick out a few and write a song around them and he'll fill in the blanks.  He understands what I'm up against."

Getting the rust out

Musically, "Vapor Trails" sounds heavier and less clinical than Rush has sounded in years.  And there are precious few synthesizers.

"It was tough to get rid of the rust and to find a new sound that we were excited about," Lee admitted.  For months, he and Lifeson jammed in the studio with a computer program.  Later, Lee sifted through the material and constructed songs, though much of the album is "one-take live improv."

Many of Peart's parts -- and the singing -- came later.  In fact, while Lee and Lifeson were "slaving in the studio to try and shape these songs," Peart was in the other room writing his book, "Ghost Rider" (which is also the title of a new song).

After the recording was finished, Peart was reluctant to go on tour, Lee said: "He's not a person who loves touring.  But once we started talking about it and he realized it was a natural extension of what we were doing, it was easier for him.  The whole rehearsal process was good for him, to hear himself playing.  All these things have helped bring him back."

During the five years off the road, Lee did not miss touring.

"I got a chance to be a fairly normal human being for a few years and spend some time with my family and develop a social life and be part of my community.  And I like that a lot."

He also found time to make a solo CD, "My Favorite Headache," in 2000.  Lifeson produced a CD by nu-metal band Lifer.  And, in '98, Rush issued a live CD, "Different Stages."

Rush, one of the heaviest progressive bands of the '70s and '80s, returned to the road this summer to auspicious reviews.

"It feels surprisingly good" to be back on tour, Lee said.  "When you've been away for a while, a lot of things change and you don't know what your level of enthusiasm will be and what the crowd enthusiasm will be.  On both those fronts, it's been excellent.  When you've gone on a long break -- and a difficult break -- I think you come in with a real appreciation for the opportunity to play."

Will there be another Rush tour?

"It's hard to say.  I would think so, but life has proven to me to be completely unpredictable.  I would say 'probably,' but I would hedge that.  Who knows?"