Review of Rush: Beyond the Lighted Stage (2010) by Steven B — 21 Aug 2010

3/5 Stars - As a Rush fan, I really enjoyed this, but as a rock documentary for regular folk, it doesn't have the twists and turns of something like "Some Kind of Monster", nor the heart of "Anvil". or the thoroughness of "The Beatles Anthology". It's essentially an extended, well done "Behind the Music" episode.

Rush has only faced one real crisis as a band: The death of drummer Neil Peart's daughter and wife less than a year apart, and his subsequent year-long sabbatical as he rode his motorcycle across North America. That is covered quite extensively, but other than that, it's a happy career retrospective. That's fine, but sometimes you need controversy or conflict. Rush hasn't had that, and the story is pretty linear and cheerful as a result.

I loved seeing Trent Reznor, Kirk Hammett, Billy Corgan, and Danny Carey (among others) giving their honest opinion about growing up on Rush; Corgan actually gives perhaps the best and most insightful comments. Jack Black is featured, seemingly only to be Jack Black and "sing" the riffs of Rush songs and do a bad Geddy Lee impression while playing air guitar. Meh.

It's a shame that this band is not in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, but as Corgan said, "You don't need some guy at Rolling Stone (Jann Wenner, who is in charge of the board that selects inductees and has been accused of choosing acts that HE likes) to decide how great a band is", and it's true. However, I think that this film was made with the sole purpose of getting Rush into that Cleveland museum. I sure would like to see it, and soon.