The first volume in Martin Popoff’s biographical series on Rush ends just as the band is on the precipice of world domination… or at least, serious popularity outside of Canada. The second volume, Limelight: Rush in the ’80s, continues the story Neil Peart-style (that means it doesn’t miss a beat). We know we’re in superstar territory when the book begins with a discussion of Permanent Waves, Rush’s first album to go top-ten in the UK and US. The hardships and struggles of the previous decade are a distant memory, and the trio hits their artistic stride with the three most unimpeachable albums in their catalog.
This is all great for Rush and their music and their fans, but it means that Limelight lacks the drama of Anthem: Rush in the ’70s. The focus shifts emphatically from the guys’ personal lives to the making of their music. Since half of the albums they put out in the eighties are terrific, that means half of Limelight will engross even the casual fans who admit that “The Big Money” is totally naff. Anyone who ever wished to read six full pages each on the makings of just “The Spirit of Radio” and “Tom Sawyer” will be most pleased.
Since the other half of those albums are pretty mediocre, there’s a bit more drama later in the book as Peart, Geddy Lee, and Alex Lifeson struggle with how much to give in to the decade’s synths and sequencers aesthetic, but the deep discussions of the records are not as interesting, partially because Popoff remains pretty neutral. There’s certainly an awful lot of talk about equipment.
Still, the amply quoted Peart, Lee, and Lifeson are funny and self-effacing enough to make the telling of a tale short on dynamics enjoyable. Popoff also maintains his charm as head host, and knowing that tragedy would start haunting Rush relentlessly in the nineties makes one appreciate the good times in the eighties that much more.s
