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Alex Lifeson Quotes

Powerful Alex Lifeson for Daily Growth

I'm not that fluid when it comes to scales and modes. I just pick up the guitar and play. It's all about exploration: just tune the guitar any way you want and start playing.

- Alex Lifeson

Play, Exploration, Want, Modes

The shock of any trauma, I think changes your life. It's more acute in the beginning and after a little time you settle back to what you were. However it leaves an indelible mark on your psyche.

- Alex Lifeson

I Think, However, Acute, Psyche

I don't know how many times I heard older people, and not just parents but just older people, say, 'Oh, my God. Your generation is just totally nuts. You have no sense of what it was really like, when it was great.' And every generation has that same feeling, you know?

- Alex Lifeson

How, No Sense, Your, Older People

In September 1968, Rush played for around 20 people at a small hall in a church basement. We played songs like 'Spoonful,' 'Fire' and 'Born Under a Bad Sign,' and got paid $10. Then we went to a nearby deli and ordered Cokes and French fries and started planning our future.

- Alex Lifeson

Small, Bad, Basement, Deli

The Stones were more dangerous than other bands of the Sixties. It looked like they had more fun than the Beatles - like they stayed up later.

- Alex Lifeson

Other, Like, Looked, Sixties

The more I got into playing guitar, the more I enjoyed music, and the broader my listening became. The instrument itself became important to me, and I started messing around with classical guitar and took classical lessons.

- Alex Lifeson

Listening, Messing, Became, Broader

When we signed our deal in 1974, we'd already been together for six years. When they lowered the drinking age in Ontario in 1971 to 18 years, we went from playing two or three high schools in a month to playing clubs two or three times a week.

- Alex Lifeson

Week, Deal, Been, Ontario

A lot of '2112' was written in the back seat of a car and in cold dressing rooms while on tour in northern Ontario.

- Alex Lifeson

Cold, Back, Rooms, Ontario

It used to be that you made an album and then you went on the road to promote that album, hoping for good record sales. Well, good record sales basically don't exist any more, and the emphasis has been more on the live show.

- Alex Lifeson

Been, Made, Record Sales, Good Record

Rush has never been a spontaneous group. We may be spontaneous in our writing, we may be spontaneous as individuals in our day to day lives... certainly I think am and always have been, but I think when it comes to Rush and our presentation of our music it's quite controlled.

- Alex Lifeson

Been, I Think, Individuals, Spontaneous

Of any guitarist, Jimmy Page was my biggest influence. I wanted to look, think and play like him. Zeppelin had a heavy influence on Rush during our early days. Page's loose style of playing showed an immense confidence, and there are no rules to his playing.

- Alex Lifeson

Play, Had, Early Days, Immense

Hendrix was a natural genius who played many beautiful styles. Talent as great as his doesn't come through life very frequently. Hendrix was one in a billion.

- Alex Lifeson

Natural, Through, Very, Hendrix

When I sit down and play guitar, I melt into the instrument. I can play for hours by myself. Playing guitar has given me such a wonderful life, and I'm grateful for it.

- Alex Lifeson

Grateful, Play, Given, Wonderful Life

My parents got me a $25 Kent steel-string acoustic guitar when I was around 12. The following Christmas, my parents bought me a Conora electric guitar. It looked almost like a Gretsch. It cost $59, and my mom still has it.

- Alex Lifeson

Mom, Got, Almost, Kent

I dreamed of having a Gibson. I had a cheap Kent - you know, a Japanese guitar - and then a Kanora, a Japanese guitar. I borrowed a friend's Harmony for years. To have a Gibson was really, really my dream as a kid.

- Alex Lifeson

Harmony, Kid, Having, Kent

And on top of that, when we work together we have a wonderful working relationship we push each other we challenge each other we laugh 80% of the time that we are together we're very fortunate.

- Alex Lifeson

Work, Other, Very, Push

I think that's given inspiration to other musicians. I know, particularly through the 90s, a lot of bands would cite Rush as an influence. I don't think it was so much our music, but more the way we really stuck to our guns.

- Alex Lifeson

Through, Other, I Think, Stuck

The Rush fans are pretty crazy everywhere, but they're particularly wild in South America.

- Alex Lifeson

Pretty, Particularly, South, South America

With solos, I don't like to be too prepared going in - I like to surprise myself.

- Alex Lifeson

Surprise, Like, Too, Solos

'Moving Pictures' still makes me get into a groove; I love the way it feels. But I'm not nostalgic for old times. I'd love to have that hair again and be 40 pounds lighter, but it's a tradeoff.

- Alex Lifeson

Love, Groove, Feels, Pounds

Bryan Adams might not be what I want to put on, but he's a pop singer with a great voice and great guitar tone. Plus, he's done more for Canada than Rush have, because he works all the time. I envy him for that.

- Alex Lifeson

Voice, Envy, Works, Plus

Both Neil and I had done solo projects where we were the boss and I just thought that if he was willing to get into it, it would really be a good experience for him.

- Alex Lifeson

Boss, Thought, Projects, Solo

I really consider myself more of a rhythm guitarist than a soloist.

- Alex Lifeson

Myself, More, Than, Guitarist

Pete Townshend is one of my greatest influences. More than any other guitarist, he taught me how to play rhythm guitar and demonstrated its importance, particularly in a three-piece band.

- Alex Lifeson

Play, Other, Particularly, Guitarist

But I think the credit has to go to Geddy... he spent a lot of time in the studio with Paul, I think he needed that kind of focus to be in there to be a part of the whole thing, and for the most part he made all the major decisions.

- Alex Lifeson

Think, I Think, Studio, Paul

I think Rush have always had this reputation, particularly to non-fans, of being an ultra-serious and cerebral group when, in fact, the reverse is true. We don't take ourselves seriously at all. Sure, we take our music seriously, but that's altogether different.

- Alex Lifeson

Reputation, Fact, I Think, Reverse

I'd say we do reach somewhat of a younger audience, but I think for the most part that younger audience is picking our music up from a brother or sister or even parent, who is turning them onto the band.

- Alex Lifeson

Parent, Reach, I Think, Sister

You know, we have a long history of covering different periods of this band's development with a live record... a sort of live thing that would be done for three or four records, and that was the intention with this particular package.

- Alex Lifeson

Development, Covering, Intention

It's a wonderful thing to be able to see your music going from generation to generation.

- Alex Lifeson

Music, Generation, See, Wonderful Thing

'Tom Sawyer' could have been written eight months ago, with the kind of response it still gets.

- Alex Lifeson

Been, Still, Tom, Response

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