Rush Guitar Anthology (Guitar Anthology Series)

Rating:
Summary: All Aboard the Thailand Express!
Review:
I saw Rush at the Chicago Ampitheater in 1981, for their 'Moving Pictures' tour. During the performance of 'Red Barchetta', at the break where there's that 'vroom-vroom' sound, on a giant on-stage screen there was displayed this cartoon footage of an undulating roadway. It was like, everyone in the audience became a Ferrari, dude.

Yeah, thinking back it was kinda' cheesy, but at the time it was all totally cool and really freaky.

So, do you know what 22,000 joints, bongs, pipes, and one-hitters sound like, getting toked on all at once? Well, to paraphrase H. Ross Perot, it makes a giant sucking sound.

Alex Leifson is a premier and singular guitarist. The solo riffs on 'Working Man' sound like a chainsaw cutting through a block of ice. Way cool!

And this book fairly depicts what's going on. Although, a few of the chord voicings and phrasings aren't how I play. But, the key signatures and changes are there, as well as most of the notes. What's lacking, and rightly so as only play yields such secrets, is things like wrist motion (loose) and fortitude (tight). Then of course there is the issue of phrasing. Practice! Experiment! Then practice some more!

One reviewer mentioned "getting old issues of GFTPM". Well, I've every issue from #1 (1983) to 1992. And in fact, the 3/84 GFTPM transcription of 'Tom Sawyer' was grossly innaccurate. Although GFTPM did update their transcription for the 1988 Winter Special edition, at which time I was happy to see my voicings matched this new version. Added, I've the now out-of-print folios for 'Permanent Waves, 'Moving Pictures' and 'Grace Under Pressure'.

And the transcriptions in 'Anthology' are quite similar, if not exactly the same, as any other proper transcriptions I've ever seen published elsewhere.

Rating:
Summary: Not Bad, but Certainly Not Flawless
Review: I got this transcription book basically for the riff 3:36 into The Spirit of Radio. I have never really needed tablature. And I studied notation only for a few years when I first started and really got nowhere with it either. If you play for a very long time by using your ear, you eventually will develop an ear. I knew I had always been doing something wrong and the book cleared it up from me. While it is not a complete and exaustive work on Lifeson's work, it does include some of his best. 'Body Electric' and 'A Farewell to Kings' (two awesome, yet simple tunes, except the solo in the latter which is probably Lifeson's greatest solo, both not included in the book) would have been much more preferable than 'Roll the Bones' and 'Stick it Out'. However, it is not totally accurate. While waiting for my car at the Firestone place, I skimmed through it and noticed Tom Sawyer doesn't have a descending chord riff in the tab which is inaccurate. I didn't really notice any other ones, at least just checking out bits and pieces here and there. Much of Lifeson's work is quite simple. This, of course, is not taking anything away from the fact that he was a GIANT of a guitar player. He along with Page and Gilmour and Iommi basically taught me the electric guitar just as much as Chet and Paul Simon taught me the acoustic. But all in all, it is a very helpful book. I really don't recommend tablature until a player develops an ear. This could take 20 years or more. Maybe there is no basis for that statement, other than that's what I did. But I have come across many players in my life who have become dependant on tab and their ear has suffered because of it. And it takes them a very long time to learn something if it is not in front of them. And as other reviewers/players have stated, with a developed ear, you can notice immediately when a note, of even a particular string, is used an octave higher or lower, ut of tone or pitch, etc. And if you are a beginner, STAY AWAY FROM THIS BEGINNER AND INTERMEDIATE TAB! I never even knew that stuff existed. If you are going to learn the guitar (or anything for that matter), learn to play it correctly. And it never hurts to add your own signature riff or solo once you get the song down pat. 'The Weapon' and 'Afterimage', for example, gives you the opportunity. Or, if you feel uncomfortable with something, then change it. I have always played 'Bron-Yr-Aur' on a 12 string, used the bar on 'In the Flesh', finger picked 'Lovely to See You', used the wah instead of my talkbox for 'Hair of the Dog' etc. There is nothing engraved in stone which states you must play a particular song exactly as someone else, even the original artist. You can even take a solo, for example, 'Jacob's Ladder', and add some twists and bends, while still hitting the main notes in order to keep the integrity of the solo in tact. However, it does help to learn the song note-for-note before you add your particular enhancement. But regardless, happy playing, and however much you practice....it ain't enough. It's never enough...for any of us.

Rating:
Summary: good, but....
Review: I'm glad I got this book and can stop shuffling pages of printed amateur tab off the internet. However I do agree with the other reviewer that some of the fingerings indicated here seem to be inaccurate. I was watching the Tom Sawyer video from Rio and it's clear Alex is using different fingerings on the opening chords than indicated. Not a huge deal but a bit frustrating because one reason to buy these books is to play it "just like" your heroes. (To be fair, it may be that the book is an accurate rendition of studio versions and Alex changes his fingerings in concert for ease of play, lack of overdubbing etc...)Even with that quibble, any new or intermediate guitarist who likes Rush will like this book.

Rating:
Summary: Rushed attempt at transcription
Review: The transcriptions in this book may provide one with the ability to play something that sounds something like the recordings, but are not completely accurate. Tones are missing. Fingerings are incorrect. One may argue that the musicial notation is somewhat accurate, but the tablature seems to indicate that it was produced only by translating the notes, not by listening to the recordings (e.g., by listening to the recording one could determine whether a note was played higher on a low string or lower on a higher string).
Pass on this book if you wish to play a Rush song exactly as recorded. Instead, look to back issues of guitar magazines (especially Guitar for the Practicing Musician, no longer in print).

Rating:
Summary: Rushed attempt at transcription
Review: The transcriptions in this book may provide one with the ability to play something that sounds something like the recordings, but are not completely accurate. Tones are missing. Fingerings are incorrect. One may argue that the musicial notation is somewhat accurate, but the tablature seems to indicate that it was produced only by translating the notes, not by listening to the recordings (e.g., by listening to the recording one could determine whether a note was played higher on a low string or lower on a higher string).
Pass on this book if you wish to play a Rush song exactly as recorded. Instead, look to back issues of guitar magazines (especially Guitar for the Practicing Musician, no longer in print).