Book Review: "Contents Under Pressure: 30 Years of Rush at Home and Away" by Martin Popoff (2004)

This book by Toronto rock writer Martin Popoff details the career of Canadian rock legends Rush by looking at each album and tour ranging from 1974's "Rush" to 2004's "Rock in Rio".

It's fascinating to hear the boys reminisce about how things were in the early days, from playing church basements in Toronto through to the recording of their debut and subsequent tours in Econoline vans across America with the likes of KISS and Aerosmith. (Just imagine the sweet tinted teardrop windows they must have had.) However, there's a lot more than just road stories here. The creative process, which I love reading about, is detailed by Popoff's critical eye with recollections from the band members themselves. One thing I found is that some of my favourite Rush albums are not remembered with much fondness by the band themselves, like "Hemispheres", "Signals" and "Counterparts", while some of their weaker moments, in my opinion, like "A Farewell to Kings" and "Roll the Bones" are some of their favourites. And what would have happened if U2 producer Steve Lillywhite would have produced 1984's "Grace Under Pressure", like he was supposed to?

It's also fantastic to hear what it's like recording an album. How do they actually do it? How do they pick a producer? How do they deal with the inevitable disagreements? Each band is different and each member of Rush has their own impressions of how it's been done over and over and over again, and how each time differs slightly from the last. Obviously, they're successful at it because they've grown and evolved with each other for over 30 years without a lot of either press or radio play.

The quality of writing here is second to none and Popoff has an uncanny ability in his interviewing to really get his subjects to open up and be candid. This results in a mixture of observations, opinions and tall tales that give you an excellent flavour of how Geddy, Alex and Neil view themselves, each other and their body of work thirty years on. No tell-all exposés of 27-year old "poets" dying in their hotel's bathtub while rubbing one out; just a history of excellence through the eyes of three brothers who have stuck together through thick and thin to make some of the most enduring music in rock history.

Overall rating: 9.5/10