10. Rush2112
One of the bands that I watched in a backyard party that made me decide I wanted to be a musician had played the song ‘2112’. I heard that weird pedal effect at the beginning and thought, "Are you kidding me?!" That was the opening of a whole new world. I lost track of them after Permanent Waves when I started doing my own thing, but you can’t ignore their legacy. Alex Lifeson is another with a really bizarre approach to guitar playing. It sometimes seems that his solos don’t have a direction because they are like spurts of energy, almost like solar bursts. It’s all so progressive to the point that when they do a comparatively straightforward song, it almost seems like they are dumbing things down – something like ‘Working Man’ for example, which is a simple rock track.
But generally they are progressive rock at its very best and bands like Dream Theater owe a lot to them. Although Megadeth has progressive elements, I’m not a huge fan of pure prog as such. I respect the players because they are so talented, but to me it might feel like you’re in a straitjacket. Incidentally, people have referred to Rust In Peace as being a progressive record, but in truth it was just where we were at the time. In fact I always saw it as a thrashy little metal record, as opposed to sounding like early Genesis or King Crimson where you dropped acid and went, "Whoa dude…" Not that I’ve ever done that, I should add…
