Rush, Rock Music, and the Middle Class: Dreaming in Middletown

This book reads like a thesis because it IS a thesis - Chris McDonald conducted the research for this book as part of his PhD. Thus said, it is an academic tome. Being that I am both an academic AND a hardcore Rush fan, this thoughtful and serious work on Rush and the middle class delights me no end. It may be difficult for the lay reader. Even if you are not a Rush fan, but interested in the study of class, McDonald makes an important scholarly contribution to the literature on the middle class, a oft neglected subject of study in sociology.

Warning: Not a fan book! Those looking for something that gives details about the band will be disappointed. Rather, this is a cerebral, highly detailed academic study of the famous Canadian band, the context of its music and lyrics within popular music/Rock music. The author argues that Rush's middle class roots explain much about their music and their fans. Makes copious reference to academic studies of popular music and culture, including fan culture. Serious fans may find the author's assessments useful in coming to a deeper understand of the Canadian trio as well as prog-rock's place within the realm of rock music. Plenty of footnotes.

This is a wonderful scholarly work on the band and its music and lyrics. Not being familiar with philosophy and cultural theory, this was a hard book for me. But I thoroughly enjoyed learning more about how Rush was related to middle class attitudes. I agree with everything that Chris MacDonald postulated. I could see myself in many of the situations he brings up. Each topic is well researched and backed up with a good deal of other works. I believe the essence of Rush has been captured. I was looking more for a book on what the meaning of Rush's lyrics, but this book went even deeper. If you are looking for a higher meaning then this is the book for you.

This book is a high-level academic monograph, and thus some lay readers may find it difficult. But it is rich in ideas and well worth the read. The author's appreciation of Rush comes through clearly (he remains objective while not attempting to hide that he is a fan), and many of his insights into the band's work are fascinating. Moreover, through the excellent summaries of other scholars' theories about North American and middle-class culture, it has a lot of sociology to teach. Even readers who don't particularly like Rush can learn a lot about the place that "progressive rock" (a label the band itself never cared for, but the least objectionable one there is) occupies in music history, the role that the middle class has had in defining cultural tastes in twentieth-century North America, and the brand of individuality that many middle-class North Americans were reared upon. McDonald's examination of the Ayn Rand fiasco is particularly revealing about discursive differences between North America and Great Britain. (It explains why British critics took umbrage at Rush's particular expression of individualism, while most Americans saw it as nothing out of the ordinary.) It was all the more gratifying for me, as a fan of Rush since 1981, to have Rush's devotees examined seriously as a "taste community." I hazard to say that many Rush fans will see themselves described in these pages. The elements that made Rush appeal to many - the fantasy-escapism, the fierce individualism, the interest in technology, the love of complex musicianship - is all put in a larger cultural context. This book not only taught me a lot of sociology, but helped me put my own tastes, and those of my class and generation, in a meaningful perspective.