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Having watched one Rush documentary, it seemed appropriate to watch a second. The movie Rush – 2112 and Moving Pictures is on Amazon streaming as a free-with-ads feature. This film is one “episode” in a series called Classic Albums. The larger series is a British-made set of features with 45 entries, the most recent being from 2021. These works are available on DVD, streaming, and have been shown on TV over BBC, VH1 and other channels. It should go without saying, but this particular installment is a overview of Rush’s music focusing on the albums 2112 (1976) and Moving Pictures (1981).

Rush – 2112 and Moving Pictures was made in 2010, and is one of the few of the series to combine two albums. A quick scan tells me only The Grateful Dead and Frank Zappa got a similar treatment, with most episodes exploring a single album. Toward the end of the film, it is stated that these two albums define who Rush is as a band; 2112 defined who Rush would become and Moving Pictures was arguably the peak of their popularity. This aligns well with my own experience with the band.

Now, 2010 was also the year that Rush: Beyond the Lighted Stage was made. Both run through, similarly, the early years of Rush’s formation and tell similar stories. This isn’t surprising, given that the band did what it did. Also not surprising, given the titles, is that Classic Albums is a little lighter on the details before it gets to the first of its two albums.

The style of Classic Albums is typical mid-tier cable channel documentary. Concert footage and album artwork is mixed in with talking-head interviews. Much screen time is given to early-years Rush producer/engineer Terry Brown and, so, the meat of this production is selected album tracks and thoughts about their production.

I can’t say this for sure without comparing the two films side by side, but Classic Albums looks to be an assembly of material left over from that which made up Beyond the Lighted Stage. In fact, the “heads” talking through Classic Albums were also (mostly) in Beyond the Lighted Stage. Given these two features were made at the same time, some level of coordination seems almost inevitable. Beyond the Lighted Stage is a much more polished production and covered more ground (both in material and the number of interviewees) and Classic Albums has its production-centric focus, so they each have their own purpose. With some remarkably similar segments, and given that they were both made at the same time, I think my suspicious are warranted.

So did I feel like I was just watching outtakes from a documentary I had just recently watched? Maybe. A little. But do I care?

Let me say this. There is almost no reason I’m not going to be up for another listen to Side A of 2112. Likewise I’m ever-ready to drum along with Tom Sawyer or Limelight. Thus the relative strengths and weaknesses, or even the overlap, between these two films are not particularly relevant to me. I am glad that I watched them in the order that I did. As I said Beyond the Lighted Stage is better put together and more informative, so it felt better as a complete experience. Yes, it lacks the production detail of Classic Albums but Classic Albums, in turn, lacks the detail of the Beato video I linked or the series that he links to in his own video.

Look upon it as an excuse to listen to your favorite Rush songs a half-a-dozen or more times.

One weakness of Classic Albums is that it doesn’t have some of the “exclusive” footage of Beyond the Lighted Stage. Thus, one or two 70s-era concert footage being the exception, music is played in three ways. First, they use the official music videos*. They also have Terry Brown playing the master tapes from his studio while he isolates tracks. Finally, Classic Albums uses present day (circa 2010) concert footage. It’s the last that bothers me. Geddy Lee’s vocal range, in his 60s, isn’t what it was when he was in his 20s. The newer Rush compositions reflect that and can work within its limitations, especially by dialing back on some of the higher notes. Let’s just say, his performance of Passage to Bangkok came out unpleasant and leave it at that.

Choosing to watch this show right now made for one particular coincidence. One of the “talking heads” in the documentary (and in Beyond the Lighted Stage, for that matter) is Taylor Hawkins, former drummer for Foo Fighters. He died on March 25th while touring in Colombia. The latest I’ve read said “heart failure,” an all too common problem among his age group (he was 50) these days. Although one’s mind might jump to the booster, he apparently had quite a mix of pharmaceuticals in him when the Colombians got him back to the lab. Sad to see someone looking so alive and knowing that he is gone.

I’ll also detail something that stuck in my craw after watching. In the segment** about YYZ, Alex Lifeson explains:

YYZ is always a challenge to play and, for that reason alone, it is a favorite of ours. Because you always want to feel challenged whenever you’re playing.

This struck me as a statement that says quite about Rush and who they are as artists and musicians. I think of myself as a bit of an amateur musician. This gives me my own perspective on music as a music maker. I’m also going to, up front, acknowledge that anyone who plays music must challenge themselves to do so, if they want to do it well. If it didn’t take any effort, I suppose we wouldn’t consider it an art. That said, I always want to sound good, or maybe even sound great, whenever I’m playing. This is my end goal; or rather, my aspiration because I am quite amateurish. If sounding great comes easily, so much the better as far as I’m concerned. Often, to sound great, or even good, I’m going to have to challenge myself a bit. But it’s the end result, not the challenge, the drives me. It is the beauty of the music that strikes my own fancy.

As I said, though, this says a lot about who Rush is. At its least likeable, the music of Rush technically marvelous even when not aesthetically pleasing. At its best it is both. But, truly, Rush rarely slows it down and just makes simple song. OK, maybe something from the Working Man era stuff… but nothing in the 2112 through Moving Pictures. It’s something Rush lovers love about Rush and it defines who they are. It might also explain why I’ve never been a Rush fanatic, even as I enjoyed parts of their product through the years.

In the end, Rush – 2112 and Moving Pictures was a good watch – tempered mostly because the previously-viewed Beyond the Lighted Stage was better put together.

Image “borrowed” from u/RandomCyber2112 (reddit)

*I was thinking of posting (somewhere that it might be appreciated) a link to April Wine’s I Like To Rock with the commentary “most Canadian music video ever.” It starts with video of the band playing in some kind of home-studio somewhere in the great white north and ends with the band playing table hockey, making coffee, riding a bike, and rowing around the pond in a boat. You’ve got to think – this was what they wanted to say about themselves to the world! Did Rush copy April Wine’s (1979) atmosphere for their Moving Pictures videos? Or is this just how Canadian rockers live their lives? Seriously, though, they even use the same dog.

**There is the “TV Show” version that runs about an hour and then there is the extended version that is available on DVD and at the above Amazon link. YYZ is one of the “extended features.”