#3 Moving Pictures... RUSH

Life changer. I started playing bass around age 10, essentially arriving at the pinnacle of RUSH. When Moving Pictures came out (1981) it was perfect timing for this young bass player. I had to copy every note and nuance. Tom Sawyer? AWESOME. But wait! There’s more… the melodic bass lines of Red Barchetta… the bass solo sections of YYZ… the epic ending of Limelight… the fills and groove of Camera Eye, not to mention the cool weird keyboard atmospheric stuff going on…

I LOVE THIS RECORD.

From the first note, to the last, this is the highest level a band could aspire to. This is really the ultimate cd for just about every rock bass player and drummer I know.

Alex Lifeson’s guitar tones and solos are no less magnificent.

I tried to own every Geddy bass guitar I could. I got a Rickenbacker when I was 17, then a Steinberger in College, and now I play a Fender Jazz with a Geddy Lee model neck. I couldn’t afford a Wal bass at the time, or I would have owned one of those too.

the follow up RUSH releases (“Signals” and “Grace Under Pressure”) were every bit as influential to me. The 3 albums together were the primary sound of my high school days.

I also loved the covers for all 3 albums. Spent tons of time reading and re-reading the credits, staring at the artwork, hoping someday I'd have a band so amazing.

30 years after Moving Pictures, I crave playing in a RUSH tribute band. If I could sing a few notes higher, I would have had one all along. Meeting Geddy and Alex a couple years back on their “snakes and arrows” tour was a personal highlight of mine. (Thanks to Tony Morra!)