About Clockwork Angels
Clockwork Angels is Rush’s 20th full-length studio album. It was recorded in April 2010 at Blackbird Studio in Nashville and from October to December 2011 at Revolution Recording in Toronto.
The record was produced with Grammy Award winner Nick Raskulinecz, with whom the guys collaborated on their 2007 studio album, Snakes and Arrows.
Lyrically, Clockwork Angels chronicles a young man’s quest across a lavish and colorful world of steampunk and alchemy as he attempts to follow his dreams. The story features lost cities, pirates, anarchists, exotic carnival, and a rigid Watchmaker who imposes precision on every aspect of daily life.
Science fiction novelist Kevin J. Anderson, a long time friend of Neil, wrote a novelization of Clockwork Angels, which was released in September of 2012.
Credits
Produced by
Nick Raskulinecz and Rush
Recording Engineer
Mixed by
Nick Raskulinecz
String Arranger
Guest Musicians
Jason Sniderman
Piano on "The Garden"
Art direction, design, and illustrations
Band portrait
Mastered by
Brian "Big Bass" Gardner
Bernie Grundman Mastering
Hollywood CA
Manager
Ray Danniels
Executive Producer
Andy Curran
Associate Producers
Pegi Cecconi
Liam Birt
Equipment Supervision
Lorne "Gump" Wheaton
John "Skully" McIntosh
Caravan
Music: Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson
Lyrics: Neil Peart
IT SEEMS LIKE A LIFETIME AGO – which of course it was, all that and more. For a boy, life on the farm was idyllic, but for the young man I became, that very peace and predictability were stifling, unbearable. I had big dreams, and needed a big place to explore them: the whole wide world.
Near our village of Barrel Arbor, the steamliners touched down and traveled on rails along the Winding Pinion River toward Crown City. Watching them pass in the night, how I prayed to get away . . .
None of it seemed right to me . . .
In a world lit only by fire
Long train of flares under piercing stars
I stand watching the steamliners roll by
The caravan thunders onward
To the distant dream of the city
The caravan carries me onward
On my way at last
On my way at last
I can’t stop thinking big
I can’t stop thinking big
On a road lit only by fire
Going where I want, instead of where I should
I peer out at the passing shadows
Carried through the night into the city
Where a young man has a chance of making good
A chance to break from the past
The caravan thunders onward
Stars winking through the canvas hood
On my way at last
In a world where I feel so small
I can’t stop thinking big