Bass Player: Geddy Lee

Having had a really weak response to their previous album, ‘Caress Of Steel’, Canadian Rock band Rush’s career was on a knife edge when the band went into the studios to record the follow up album, ‘2112’. Fortunately for Messrs. Zivojinivic, Weinrib and Peart, the epic tune ‘2112’ captured the imagination of their growing fan base and started a series of incredibly successful recordings that ended only with the death of drummer, Neil Peart, in 2020. The presence of the side long title ‘suite’ often hides the fact that there are some other great tunes on the album that, whilst lacking in the scope of the band’s lengthy Prog influenced epics, nevertheless have their own charm and resonance.

The tune “The Twilight Zone” is the third track on 2112 and was the last track written and recorded for the album. It was the first single to be released from that recording. As with most Rush songs, the lyrics are written by Neil Peart with music by Alex Lifeson and Geddy Lee. It is based on two episodes of the TV Series ‘The Twilight Zone’; “Will The Real Martian Please Stand Up’ and ‘Stopover In A Quiet Town’.  Rush dedicated the song to the memory of The Twilight Zone creator Rod Serling.

The bass part switches between a gentle 12:8 shuffle and a more ballady 4:4 with some interesting arpeggios to watch for. Not massively challenging to play due to the the relatively sedate tempo but there are sections where the reading required is more demanding.