Six months ago, we gave Martin Popoff’s Anthem: Rush In The ’70s book a glowing 9/10 review, the beautiful hardcover history of everyone’s fave Canuck prog trio the first in a trilogy that Rush hobbits were looking forward to devouring. Now here we are with Limelight: Rush In The ‘80s, and do these things ever look nice side by side on the bookshelf. And it’s impressive what Popoff is doing here, creating, between the three books, a massive, tell-all history of the group, this particular tome breaking down what is to me their most fascinating period, Permanent Waves through Presto. 

The group’s deep dive into keyboards and all the conflict that naturally comes with a power trio doing that is discussed in detail, as is the band’s slow burn to exhaustion that came after playing huge shows and being part of the whole music industry machinery for two decades. More than almost any other band out there, you get the sense that the lads in Rush are just ordinary guys, and as this book comes to a close, all their victories and losses, all their excitement and ennui, has come through vividly, a huge success on Popoff’s part. Like I say, this era of the band fascinates me, so to get this deep dive into some of the decision-making and behind-the-scenes emotions behind records like the classic Moving Pictures or the not-as-classic Hold Your Fire (which, hey, I actually love) was incredibly revealing, fascinating, and illuminating. Every page here is just a joy to read, detailed interviews with all the band members and many of the associated players (producers, road crew, etc.) painting a very clear picture of a pretty up-and-down period of life in one of the greatest bands of all time. Can’t wait for the third and final, Driven, due out in April of next year.