2112

     Sound Mind reached a fun milepost today; 2112 pageviews. Loyal readers of this blog are painfully aware of my Rush fandom and 2112 is perceived to be one of their iconic albums. My best friend in high school owned it on 8 track, I own it on vinyl and recently bought the remastered deluxe edition on CD. When I was a teenager, I spent hours in my room with a Rush songbook trying to learn side one of 2112 in it's entirety. I still fart around at playing the "Discovery" section when I break out my guitar. I've seen them play the complete side one of 2112 live. I love 2112. Well, side one anyway.
     A mythology has grown up recently around 2112, which I don't particularly buy. The first part is that they were about to be dumped by Mercury Records and had to record an album with hits. The band even talks about how the label demanded they "sell out", but they stuck to their principles and put out a concept album anyway. Now, Rush was already a popular touring band and had songs on the radio, like "Working Man" and "Fly By Night". I'm pretty sure their recording career wouldn't have come to an end if 2112 had been a disaster. In fact, there were no hits or even songs that received radio play on 2112. Their next big song was "Closer To The Heart" from A Farewell To Kings. The other myth about 2112 is that it's one of Rush's classic albums. Moving Pictures even had to share an installment of Classic Albums with 2112. I'm a huge Rush fan, but side two of 2112 is the worst music they ever made. The only semi-listenable song on side two is about buying weed around the world (Passage To Bangkok).
     I am glad Rush finally got in the Rock Hall. I thought it was cool when Foo Fighters performed 2112 in costume during Rush's induction. I just think 2112's place in their history is blown out of proportion. To me, it's no Moving Pictures or Permanent Waves. Having said all that, Happy 2112th pageview! Peace.

P.S. There won't be one of these for Van Halen's 5150:)