7 reasons why I love Rush - part 5

Today's reason - nothing mainstream about them! 

I loathe conformity with a passion.  I find it so incredibly boring that it makes me nod off just talking about it.  *Head banging on desk wakes me back up*

So the fact that I have chosen a band (or have they chosen me?) full of non conformists as my favorite is really no big surprise. 

What IS surprising to me is how people think I WANT them to be mainstream.  Often when I tell someone who my favorite band is, they get this 'huh??' look on their faces.  I proceed to say something like - 'Canadian rock trio...you know, 'Tom Sawyer'? - at which point they act like they know who I mean (even if they really don't).  But when they DO really know who I mean, it's as if they feel bad for me that I had to explain it.  Like it's a bad thing that it wasn't like uttering 'Bon Jovi' or 'Nirvana' where everyone knows instantly what band you mean.

I also find it a HUGE badge of honor that the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame have not yet inducted them.  I mean in all seriousness, this is the body who thinks Madonna is somehow more rock and roll than Rush??  Erm, ok.  And I love me some Madonna too - but I think even she would laugh a snort filled laugh at that ridiculousness.  And John Mellencamp?  Nice guy, but did he REALLY contribute more to the influence of rock and roll than Rush????  Not to mention Run D.M.C., R.E.M. (kill me now) and freaking ABBA.  Oh and the Staple Singers.  I know, you're saying 'Who???'  So did I....which makes my point complete.  If they ever come to their senses one day, I truly will have mixed feelings about it.  Happy for Rush in a way for the acknowledgement but -- I like it out here on the fringe, thanks very much. 

Rush's songs aren't conventional - they're not 'single length'.  They have a lot of instrumentals.  They have weird themes and talk about things that seem alien at times and sometimes are (attention all planets of the Solar Federation....  :) 

And possibly best of all - they can do whatever the hell they want.  They don't have a studio dictating to them when they must record and tour - they got rid of that pressure YEARS ago.  When a record company tried to tell them that they had to start making singles, what did they do?  The exact OPPOSITE, thanks very much.  Their logic was if we're going out, we're going out on our terms.  And that is why they continue to speak to my non-conformist spirit.