Victor

Of all the Rush solo stuff, Alex Lifeson's Victor is my absolute favourite. I listen to the other stuff but have only a passing interest in My Favourite Headache (I don't find it very accessible) and I have to seriously be in the mood to listen to the Buddy Rich tribute stuff.

I picked up my copy of Victor in an independent music store in Birmingham when it was first released. It set my back about £19 which was a lot of money for a school kid back then... I played it a bit when I first got it but it was one of my "occasional" CDs.

Then Cozy Powell died.

That was the first time I had lost a hero and it was very difficult for me to listen to any music that reminded me of him. Consider that most of my music collection was Rainbow, Black Sabbath, Brian May, etc. So I started playing Victor more often. Now, of course, "I Am the Spirit" reminds me of Coze but that is a positive thing.

I just love Victor. I tend to play the same few tracks over and over but I go through phases as to which those few tracks are.

My favourite track is "Start Today". In fact, that is one of my favourite tracks of all time. I only recently found out it was sung by a woman (Dalbello) and always assumed it was a man singing about his unreasonable lover... It contains the best lyrics ever -

Clear your mind of those things gone by

You can't change the past; why even try?

Look ahead to those better days

Make the effort, it always pays

You can build upon all you've learned

You can start today

As someone who used to dwell on the past a lot, these are indeed wise words to live by...

"Strip and Go Naked" is an amazing instrumental, rather like something you would expect Rush to produce. People have described it as the starting point of "The Main Monkey Business" but I am not so sure myself... It is the track I can listen to while I get ready for work in the morning without too many distractions.

I always liked "Shut Up Shuttin' Up". I mean, who doesn't like to listen to women bitch and moan about their husbands?

"The Big Dance". Ah, gigolos... A male prostitute/escort telling his story.

You want to keep me held inside your cage

You best remember, you're twice my age

You think I'll want you with me for evermore

It's only been two weeks, and you're such a bore

...

Can you be happy for my moment in your life

It doesn't bother you you're someone else's wife

...

I don't live for love, you sticky bitch

All I care about is if you're rich

You decide if you still want to play this game

The price to you for this is nothing will ever be the same

As a woman who repeatedly has affairs with much older married men and then enjoys destroying their lives afterwards, I kinda relate to this one...

I'm not a whore or a home-wrecker; I just think men should not get away with all the shit they do. I like older men and the sort I go for tend to be married so when they decide they are tired of putting up with my demands or want to move on to someone ever younger, I make things "difficult" for them... and I am immensely proud of this.

The title track is the W.H. Auden poem put to music. When I was doing my A Level in English, we were put on the spot one day and told to recite a poem. Guess which was the only one I could remember verbatim...

As for "I Am the Spirit"... This song has given me such strength over the years. It gives an insight into the complexity of human nature.

I am the man for all of the seasons

I am the boy who never fears

I am the woman who knows all the reasons

I am the girl who sheds the tears

It speaks of hope and ambition, something that can be lacking in this day and age when our lying government are cutting public spending and forcing libraries to close and buses to stop running.

I have a need for building on tomorrow

I have a need to begin today

I have no time for living some past sorrow

I just want to get on my way

I need to have a strength in my conviction

I need to have the final say

I need to make some sense in my selection

I just want to get on my way

Buy Victor if you ever see it available. You wont be disappointed.