Limelight: Rush In The '80s

(Paperback)

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Now in paperback, the second book in the three-part series celebrating Canada's iconic rock band, offering the most comprehensive biography ever, cultural context, and canon analysis. All based on extensive firsthand interviews with family, friends, musicians, and the boys in the band. Book two covers the height of Rush's popularity and is a look at all their 1980s albums.

In the follow-up to Anthem: Rush in the 70s, Martin Popoff brings together canon analysis, cultural context, and extensive firsthand interviews to celebrate Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson, and Neil Peart at the peak of their persuasive power. Rush was one of the most celebrated hard rock acts of the 80s, and the second book of Popoffs staggeringly comprehensive three-part series takes readers from Permanent Waves to Presto, while bringing new insight to Moving Pictures, their crowning glory. Limelight: Rush in the 80s is a celebration of fame, of the pushback against that fame, of fortunes made and spent

In the latter half of the decade, as Rush adopts keyboard technology and gets pert and poppy, theres an uproar amongst diehards, but the band finds a whole new crop of listeners. Limelight charts a dizzying period in the bands career, built of explosive excitement but also exhaustion, a state that would lead, as the 90s dawned, to the band questioning everything they previously believed, and each member eying the oncoming decade with trepidation and suspicion.

Reviews

"Lucky for the reader, Popoff is a stone-cold Rush fan. This is what makes these Rush books, beyond all the many others he has authored, especially wonderful ... Limelight: Rush in the '80s is for the die-hard Rush fanatic and the casual fan alike. Not that anybody should have any doubt, but Martin Popoff delivers once again." -- VintageRock.com
"One of the keys to success in making this book an interesting read is the interviews conducted with key personnel ... As the opportunities to celebrate Rush's catalogue are getting more and more rare, this book is a must." -- Sonic Perspectives
"Whether it's nostalgia you're after, or pure curiosity, Limelight: Rush in the '80s will make for an excellent addition to your bookshelf." -- Spill Magazine
"Music critic Martin Popoff delivers an excellent follow-up to his recent Anthem: Rush in the '70s ... Die-hard Rush fans will devour this fascinating deep-dive into the band's musically controversial decade." -- Publishers Weekly, starred review
"Popoff's treasure trove of enlightening and entertaining glimpses into the workings of three complex individuals combined into a cohesive unit will appeal to anyone with even a casual interest in Rush ... readers will eagerly await the conclusion of this impressive endeavor." -- Library Journal

Author Bio

Martin Popoff is the author of 85 books on music, including four previous titles on Rush. He has also worked on various documentaries for Banger Films, including the award-winning Rush documentary Beyond the Lighted Stage. Popoff has more record reviews published in books than anybody in the history of music writing. He lives in Toronto, Ontario.