To tell you the truth, we were a little bit hesitant about this release from June 15, 2021
On the one hand, this is the first piece of music in 9 years that comes from a former "Rush" member, our favorite band.
On the other hand, it might just be us, but at first, we were a little disappointed. We really could not understand what dear Alex Lifeson wants to say through the two pieces of music "Kabul Blues / Spy House", which were released for play only through the new and impressive site he set up, see here.
The decision to release two instrumental pieces that are so far from the musical style that has characterized Alex for five decades, and doing so after almost a decade of silence, was not understood by us at all. We even learned to accept and love the weird “Victor” project, but here, it sounds to us at first so uninspired, so detached from Alex’s roots, and worst of all, light years away from his incredible abilities as a guitarist.
We listened to both tracks back and forth non-stop and in the end, it hit us. 1:34 minute in the "Spy House" track Alex's guitar just pierced our hearts and we suddenly realized that just like after a serious injury that requires rehabilitation, Alex signals us that he is learning to walk again. He's learning, he's experimenting and he's warming up for the next big thing - Inshallah "Lee-Lifeson Band" with Mike Portnoy. This is also probably the reason why Alex chose to release the two excerpts solely on his website and also not to include his friend and good neighbor Geddy Lee in this mini-project.
The two pieces released are atmospheric, a kind of ambiance with keyboards accompanied by harmonic vocals, combined with experimental music and blues. Alex Lifeson presents his sensitive side with the bluesy guitar licks, especially in the "Kabul Blues" segment.
Lifeson is joined here by bassist Andy Curran and drummer David Quinton Steinberg, both fellow Canadian artists. Curran began his career in the early '80s as a member of the hard rock band "Coney Hatch" from Toronto. The band has been able to warm up big bands like "Judas Priest", "Iron Maiden", "Cheap Trick" and of course "Rush". He was even nominated along with his band for the Juno Award for Best Rock / Metal Album in 1991, but lost to "Rush"'s Presto.
Steinberg, on the other hand, played with some of the punk pioneers of the '70s, including "The Mods" and "The Dead Boys." Since then he retired and served as an attorney for "entertainment" and "intellectual property", of which Rush is one of his best-known clients.
earlier this year, Lifeson said he and his friend Geddy Lee still want to make music together. “We still talk about it, and I’m sure we will. Of course, now with the pandemic, it’s kind of wrecked things for a bit. But we’re both eager to get back together and kind of get back into that thing that we’ve done since we were 14-years-old that we love to do. And we work well together. So we’ll see what happens with that.”
For listening: Click Here.
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