“For a supposed prog band they put their musicianship through the pop grinder and come out on top”: Lamb Of God vocalist Randy Blythe’s passion for Rush

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You probably won’t hear much of a prog influence in Lamb Of God’s music, and vocalist Randy Blythe admits he’s not deeply into the genre. But in 2011 he explained how Rush became the exception to his rule, and revealed the best place to listen to the Canadian giants.

“I’m not hugely knowledgeable about prog rock, but I do like Rush. When I was younger there weren’t a lot of underground radio stations to listen to music to in Franklin, Virginia – a little itty bitty blue collar town. But Tom Sawyer was on all the channels. I heard that and I was like, ‘That is crazy musicianship!’

I started investigating a bit further, then got Moving Pictures. Although not a Top 40 band, their musicianship was complex but had hooks, so it could be mainstream at times. That’s what caught my ear.

When we were little, everyone said Neil Peart was the best drummer in the world, cos we’d all heard YYZ. That track has caught the imagination of every single drummer I’ve ever toured with – when they’re warming up, soon enough you’ll hear them hitting the ride!

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The other thing I enjoy about Rush is that their lyrics are incredibly smart. To hear a song like Red Barchetta, then realise it’s based on a science fiction story they read and thought, ‘Let’s write a song about it’ – and make it hooky as crap so people are gonna sing along whether they get it or not… that’s genius at work.

I was thinking, ‘I’ve got to hear the first Rush record!’ … I listened for the next five days solid

They could do that about going to the shop to get a bottle of milk. But I couldn’t! There’s also a lot of social commentary, Shakespeare references; with Rush you can look in, find a good story and learn something.

I’ve been obsessed by this band. On one tour I was going through this crazy Rush phase. It started in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. I was sitting there thinking, ‘I’ve got to hear the first Rush record!’ and I made the runner leave the venue to look for it. He was a really cool dude; it was Sunday and half the record shops were closed, but he found it for me. I listened to that for the next five days solid.

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Essentially though, they’re just badass. You go back to the very first Rush record and listen to Working Man – it’s awesome; it just speaks to you. For a supposed prog rock band they’ve put their musicianship through the pop sensibility meat grinder, and come out on top.

My favourite place for listening to Rush is in a car. I believe an album is a journey through the psyche of that band and the time period it was made. The best way to hear Rush’s journey is on a journey.”

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Jo is a journalist, podcaster, event host and music industry lecturer who joined Kerrang! in 1999 and then the dark side – Prog – a decade later as Deputy Editor. Jo's had tea with Robert Fripp, touched Ian Anderson's favourite flute (!) and asked Suzi Quatro what one wears under a leather catsuit. Jo is now Associate Editor of Prog, and a regular contributor to Classic Rock. She continues to spread the experimental and psychedelic music-based word amid unsuspecting students at BIMM Institute London and can be occasionally heard polluting the BBC Radio airwaves as a pop and rock pundit. Steven Wilson still owes her £3, which he borrowed to pay for parking before a King Crimson show in Aylesbury.