“You mean you used to listen to this un-ironically?”
Abby Doench, 13, with the Sickest Burn of 2019 so far….
Yes child… yes I did…
So as a vinyl collector I subscribe to a service that texts me deals on new records I might like. And when a sweet 200 gram remaster of Rush‘s 1977 release A Farewell to Kings just after the holidays… well it kinda just jumped into my queue. And so had I’ve “Closer to the Heart” stuck in my head all week. Which led to the sick burn of the year above, uttered as I assaulted the family with Dad Rock on a shopping g trip. And yes I STILL listen to Rush un-ironically, though not with quite the same enthusiasm as in my substance fueled twenties. I gotta admit that the Canadian trio hasn’t quite aged quite as well as some of my other Prog Rock faves.
The music still moves me, the amazing drumming of Neil Peart, Alex Lifeson’s wondrously inventive guitar work, and Geddy Lee’s unique aggressive falsetto combine to make sonic masterpieces. And I absolutely admire the gusto that band throws into sprawling eleven minute sagas like .”Xanadu” and “Cygnus X-1 Book I: The Voyage. But I have to admit that Peart’s songwriting chops are still in infancy at this stage of their evolution. The subject matter is ambitious, but Peart wields his lyrics like blunt instruments, as if he missed the classes on metaphor and simile in English class. The end result can seem kind of corny… as this Family Guy clip lampoons…
A lifelong Jethro Tull fan develops a thick skin though, so while the sick burn stung, the scars will heal. So here’s an unapologetic 13 minute live performance of a song about a FREAKING BLACK HOLE to chew on…
The Internet Meme Demolition Derby 
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