While 2112 isn’t my favorite album, there’s this. I like the whole thing surrounding The Temples of Syrinx, and here it is, in two parts; 1976, B&W, and when they were all still long-haired hippies. I like Part II a little more, which I’ll explain after the show. Oh, and watch Lifeson tune his guitar mid-solo at about 6:10 or so on Pt 2.

They say that The Blues is the root of rock (true), and that Folk is the root of country (true too). But I think that this sort of themed album-rock is a bit different. One goes from hard-driving rock to some tender moments (especially in Pt 2) and I have often thought that for Rush and a few others — even Led Zep at times and certainly Pink Floyd — what really prefigures their music is Classical music. I have a lot of classical that I listen to often, love, and I can never escape wondering what the fuck Mozart could have done with an electric guitar, bass, & a drum set.

Remember, Rush has always been a 3-man power band, never more that I’m aware of. They ought to go down as the greatest rock 3-man power band in history.