The thing about Rush is they are, primarily, a musician's band. What appeals to the ear of someone who plays an instrument does not necessarily appeal to the musical masses. That's how we get the Taylor Swifts, Kelly Clarksons, and Jonas Brothers. The perfect 4 minute pop song is more or less lost on a technical musician, much as the technical beauty of four musicians playing four different instruments in four different times and actually making it work the way the Allman Brothers did on "In Memory of Elisabeth Reed" is completely lost on the casual listener.

From a technical standpoint, Rush is an amazing band. However, for the most part, they were never a radio-ready band. Now, you can debate playing to your strengths and making the music you like versus making a Top 40 single and making a few million bucks all you like. No right or wrong answer.

Personally, I'll take a band like Rush over a band like, say, Coldplay any day. I just appreciate the music more.

Of course, the downside of all that is you really tick your wife off when you replay a 30 second clip of a song on your iPod over and over and say, "See? You see what they did there? You understand the reference in those lyrics? You see how much they've matured as a band?" Thankfully, she's a patient woman.

Then again, this thread is about college football (I think), and I'd hate to be accused of thread creep, so back to the "Lane Kiffin sucks" show....

I'll be listening to "La Villa Strangiato" until Vandy beats Tennessee again.