I Just Read About That…

SOUNDTRACK: RUSH-Snakes and Arrows (2007).

I’ve been a Rush fan since Moving Pictures, back in 1980. Some of my 8th grade classmates had made a parody of the song “Tom Sawyer” called “Father Sawyer,” (hilarious Catholic school humor!) and I thought it was funny, and that’s how I learned about Rush. In high school, my best friend was a big Rush fan as well; and then in college, my best friend and eventual roommate was a huge Rush fan too. After college, there was no one for me to hang out and talk Rush with (aside from these old friends, of course, but I wasn’t seeing them every day anymore), so I still bought the albums, but I wasn’t quite the maniac I was back in the day.

Rush went on hiatus for a few years. They came back with the fabulous, rocking Vapor Trails, and followed that up with an excellent concert tour. They seemed revitalized. And their latest, Snakes and Arrows, continues in this strong, rocking format. The fellows are also having fun on this album with a couple of instrumentals, including one that references Team America: World Police (“Malignant Narcissism”), and the usual assortment of thoughtful songs and time changes.

The opening song, “Far Cry” even starts out a lot like “Cygnus X-1” from A Farewell to Kings. I was a little disappointed that the song didn’t continue in the fun prog sound of that album, but hey, we can’t all live in the 1970s. Heck, sure we can, which is why Hemispheres and Permanent Waves are my favorite Rush albums to date. But Snakes and Arrows ranks up there pretty high.

If I have a real gripe with the record it is that the songs are all a little too long. Which I know is crazy to say when I was just raving about a record with an 18 minute song on it. But these songs don’t fit into the same category as Rush epics do. For the most part these songs just have one too many choruses or bridges, and could easily have a minute chopped off of them. Having said that though, the choruses and bridges are pretty wonderful, so I don’t really mind hearing them again and again.

And, I have to point out that over the last two albums, Alex Lifeson, the most underrated member of the band, totally rocks out. The sounds he ekes out of his guitar are really pretty amazing. Overall, I’m delighted that these guys are putting out really strong albums after all of these years.

[READ: Fall 2006] But Enough About Me.

I’m amused that there are two different subtitles for this book. I read a prepub of this book, and I have no idea which subtitle was used on my copy (in fact the cover was just a gray page with the title written in script). There’s also about 3 different covers available to choose from, so I just picked the one I liked best.

Anyhow, on to the book itself. Jancee Dunn was a writer for Rolling Stone for many years. This is the memoir of her years interviewing famous people and her growth from a Jersey girl into a world famous reporter. It also includes tips for how not to panic when faced with your idol, and other terribly useful pieces of life advice.

The memoir concerns, as you may guess from the subtitles, her life as a small-town Jersey girl, and how she went from being a shy wallflower, into working for a wild and crazy publication. How her life went from dull to drugs and from early nights to allnighters. Interspersed with her life story are fabulous memories of her interviews with celebrities.

I’ve noted on many occasions that I don’t like memoirs in general. This is more to do with the concept of them, rather than the content of them. And in this case, the content is quite fun, and more than a little interesting. I was often torn between deciding whether I liked her life story or the interview portions of the book better. Being a Jersey boy myself, I enjoyed seeing all of the Jersey locations that I recognized. But being a music fan, I also really enjoyed hearing interviews with celebs. (Madonna, Stevie Nicks, Loretta Lynn, Justin Timberlake and a host of others are included).

Plus, Dunn used to be a writer, and while Rolling Stone may not be the New York Times Book Review, the writing is generally good quality. Plus, she has a breezy style and a fun narrative voice that really lets the book flow nicely. I guess what I’m trying to say is that if I enjoyed a book that is a) a memoir, and b) a somewhat gossipy memoir about celebrities (neither of which I really care for) then she must have done something right. It’s a fun read, and excellent if you’re looking for light and breezy.