Customer Reviews

Rush : Merely Players

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I'm a big Rush fan, and I enjoy reading music biographies, so I was really looking forward to this. When it arrived, I was a bit disappointed to see that it is a cut-and-paste of numerous interviews, rather than a cohesive "story". On closer inspection, however, this turned out to be the book's saving grace...

Something struck me as being wrong about the cover, but I couldn't initially put my finger on it. After staring at it for a minute or so, I realised that the *title* was misspelled -'mereley' instead of 'merely'. This error is repeated on the spine and on the title page of the book - and this pretty much sums up the poor quality of this tome. It is littered with typos and spelling and grammar mistakes. The manuscript was clearly not even spell-checked before printing, never mind reviewed by an editor.

That wouldn't matter so much if the contents themselves were accurate. Unfortunately, the first thing I read inside the book (in the review of "The Body Electric") was a direct quote (unacknowledged) from an Internet Rush FAQ. Even more unfortunately, its appearance within the FAQ was as an example of a far-fetched story for which there was no proof, and which the editor of the FAQ was therefore refusing to include...

Another example - the review of "Chain Lightning" states that this is a "tune about the weather". This is then followed by a long paragraph by the lyricist explaining what the song is about - oh, and it *isn't* about the weather. Clearly Mr Telleria can't even be bothered to read the material he is quoting...

Yet another - the "review" of "Red Barchetta" consists of the lyrics of the song rearranged with no attempt at interpretation or explanation beyond what anyone reading the lyrics themseleves could deduce...

I could go on - but you get the point. The number of items in the book that I know to be inaccurate make it difficult to believe any of the rest. As I mentioned above, the saving grace of this book is that so much of it is copied directly from quotes from band members, attributed to the people who said them. My advice, if you must buy this book - get a big black marker pen, and cross out everything in it that isn't attributed to Geddy, Alex or Neil. Read the rest, which is quite good - no thanks to Mr Telleria, who, according to the back of the book is "an authority on all things Rush". Somehow I suspect those are his own words - although the fact that they are spelled correctly does cast some doubt!

Robert Telleria should be ashamed of this effort. Rush deserve a better analysis than this, and I'd strongly advise people to avoid it. If it weren't for the large amount of quoted material, it would be utterly worthless.

First of all the band is aware of the book and *like* it. Rush.com's web designers actually used excerpted quotes and career highlights from the book on their website. Check under individual band members. The only reason Rush doesn't publicly endorse it because it would mean they get a cut so Telleria wisely chose to do it 'unauthorized'. This way he gets more profits.
The number of typos have been exaggerated by a few reviewers here. It's apparantly the same reviewer saying the same thing on the other forums. If they knew anything about publishing, they'd realize that the final editing is done by the publisher and that any proofing errors are their responsibility and the printers'.
The pictures were well chosen considering the fact that rights would have to be paid for band-authorized photos. Many concert ads, endorsement ads, key shots of the band in various stages of their career. And the rarely seen 'secret concert' cover is perfect. There are even some pics of the band receiving awards. The real strength of the book is the 'Chronology' followed by the 'Instruments' section. If you're expecting tourbook cut and paste jobs - think again. I found out when Neil was on "Politically Incorrect". Why Rush don't play festivals. Why Rush seem to avoid touring the Orient. What color those guitars really were. Basically anything I could have wondered - and not readily available in other books - is here.
In the "Words and Music" section, it seems Telleria was conscientious of another published work dissecting Rush lyrics, and chose to expound on lyrics not covered in that book. Most of the songs are explained in Rush's own words. A few reviewers here challenged Telleria's reference to "Chain Lightning" ; it is at least in some part about the weather according to the lengthy quote from the band lyricist that backs up his claim. Nowhere does the author say the things you'd find on some website, "I got laid to this album" or obvious things like "This song is about science"... The explanations are often brief but insightful. Despite what some know it alls think, Telleria is one of the few who knows that "Best I Can" was in fact a Peart song. May not seem like it, but this is the same guy who was 'digging every show' when he wrote "Making Memories". Geddy wrote only the music composition as the album and somehow this got taken out of context by many fans. Credit is given to Neil for the Permanent Waves cover art in the album sleeve, as Telleria acknowledges he was talked into actually going on the cover!
Perhaps some cities were wrongly listed in the tour dates section I don't know. I think it was interesting to see all the bands that opened for Rush. Fabulous Thunderbirds! Joe Perry!!
Read the book!

Love this book. Telleria made it very easy to read. This is not overly scholarly but not dumbed down for kids either. Just enough pictures without overkill. Reading some of the reviews here, I noticed some people claim that there are factual errors. I have been a fan of this band since '78 and I saw extremely few errors that don't take away from the book as a whole.
One thing a few fans should know is that Neil DID write Best I Can and In the End not Geddy, as Telleria correctly points out. I can see this is true with the Fly By Night album lyrics. Someone on here mentioned that Neil is not on Permanent Waves. But he is. You'd need the old vinyl to see closely. Someone mentioned that Telleria doesn't cite certain sources yet there 's hundreds of books and interviews listed at the back of the book. Citing every single fact's source would be unreadable I think. There's a broad range of topics about Rush covered and maybe a future edition will have even more if anything was left out. There's plenty to digest as it is!
I really struggle to find anything negative to say about this book on my favorite band. This is the only biography on them to actually list their whole names and discuss Neil's childhood. Nothing really leaps out as in bad taste considering Rush never really did anything controversial or scandalous. I didn't see any street addresses for the band in my copy.
I for one don't have the time nor desire to look online for Rush trivia so it's wonderful to have it in one spot whether it's part of the truth or not. I want to thank the author for bringing this wonderful tome to the fans and not caring about the many fans who think they knew everything about Rush or everything in this book. Your efforts are appreciated! :)

Merely Players is a good read. Granted you might be able to get most of this stuff for free on the 'Net but have you ever tried to read your computer in the tub? The author states that it is going to be reprinted by a new publisher and be updated with stuff from 2001 and 2002 so put away your slings and arrows until then and give the guy some slack. No matter if you feel he is merely collecting other people's information and putting it together in one book or not, it still is a hell of a lot of work to do and I look forward to the new edition. It's just nice to have a book on Rush available and I thank Mr. Telleria for that.

This book is great! Things I never knew. Things that surprised me. Things that gave me new insight. Plus I learned a ton about my favorite band! This book is loaded with great RUSH information. I really enjoyed it but some of the typos, grammatical errors and other writing problems are absolutely inexcusable. Also, Mr. Telleria's personal observations and assumptions are not needed. This book comes across as an archive of info but the occasional opinion mixed with middle school English report writing skills make this feel like a printed fan web site and not a tome to put on the shelf.

I just finished reading the "self-proclaimed foremost authority" Robert Telleria's "compendium" Mereley [sic] Players and have mixed feelings towards it. I will admit that from an encyclopedic aspect, it has more information than any casual or avid Rush fan will ever need! The equipment lists and "gig" chronology are extensive (in the case of the latter, I feel that this is the most complete I've seen next to Jimmy Lang's (or this IS Jimmy Lang's with some additions and corrections) The setlists appear to be fairly accurate, but I have heard of some inaccuracies (with "bootleg" back-up) throughout. As I read through parts, I think there were many typos (shame on the publishers!) and a few cases of mis-information, but the general idea gets across.

The part that I personally feel misses the mark is the "historical" part of the text, which is basically a "Rush in their own words" with a few interjections by the author. I feel that the author did a GREAT job of compiling snippets of interviews to tell the story. (in which the history since the Hold Your Fire album period and forward had the most new information, since "Visions" by Bill Baneshevitz stopped at that period) In some cases the quotes were taken out of context and possibly mis-placed. But over all the "story" gets across.

Maybe it would have been better served to release the interviews in their un-cut form (or maybe that's in the sequel) as has been done with other bands. (where are my old "Spirit of Rush" Fanzines when I need them)

I guess that the "definitive" Rush Bio will surface when the band releases their memoirs.
It's hard NOT to recommend, for some of the information, but skip the "biography" part!

This biography of the band is by far the best on Rush. I have several books on different bands (Yes, Zeppelin, Floyd..) and this one stands out as the most precise and exhaustive reference. Revelation after revelation of what went through Rush's heads as they made some of their greatest (Moving Pictures, Hemispheres, Power Windows...)and not so great albums (Caress of Steel, Signals...) . Whether you are a casual Rush fan or a total Rush freak who thinks they heard or saw it all get this book and see all you don't know. Huge timeline, detailed lists of gear and intriguing singles and picture disc lists. Some of the quotes catch the band in contradiction. If only there were more pictures is my only wish otherwise it would be perfect.

Rush is my favorite group,and so it's always been a bit frustrating that they are so private, and hence, I don't feel I know them all that well. Much of that changed witht his good book. Telleria basically cobbled together a "complete" history of the group through pasting together interviews and other publically available material. The amount of work this must have taken is amazing to consider, and the book appears to be exhaustive. Indeed, much of the material would be impossible to find elsewhere without doing the same amount of research, so as others here have suggested...this is the "bible" for Rush.

However, there are some sloppy mistakes, most glaringly on the front cover, where the book is titled "Mereley Players," a pretty glaring misspelling. There are small typos throughout the book, and although it appears exhaustive, I know from personal experience that the two shows I saw Rush perform in Albuquerque for the SIGNALS tour are missing from this book, which makes one wonder about the accuracy of the rest of it. I'm not sure there are sins of commission, but I suspect things might be omitted.

So, the book is admirable and enjoyable and highly recommended, but it not without flaws. For the devoted fan only!

As others have mentioned, many of the criticisms of this book going around involve errors of spelling and grammar. While I have found a few of those to exist, I believe that attacking the book on that basis would be nitpicking. However, some fellow Rush fans and myself have found errors of fact which should not have made it into a book compiled by an author who proclaims himself to be "the reiging authority on all things Rush." Just one example: The lyrics to "Best I Can" and "In the End" are credited to Neil Peart when in both cases Geddy Lee was the author. This seems like pretty basic information to me. One only has to look at the album cover or sheet music! I have also been told that there are a number of mistakes in the tour dates section, (Names of cities spelled wrong, performances left out, set lists inaccurate) but tour info is not my strong suit, (I couldn't keep all those lists in my head!) so I don't really know about that. Just passing along what I have heard.

The snippets of interviews are somewhat interesting, although I have read nearly all of them before, and I too feel that some of them did seem to be a bit vague, or out of context, as to their placement in the book. As far as the band members contradicting themselves, they are human beings who grow and change and, yes, even forget things sometimes, just like the rest of us, so I do not blame Telleria for that.

I found the discography interesting, as well as the pictures, most of which are previously unpublished. I only wish there had been more of the latter.

My biggest beef with this book was the release of a bit of personal information in one section. Any Rush fan knows how this band cherishes its privacy, and I could not believe Telleria had the brass to disrespect that. Obviously, I am not going to state what that information is here. If you are buying the book anyway, you will find out. (Unless it has been removed from the second printing.)

Overall, although I give Telleria credit for the amount of work he put into the actual compiling and organizing of information (if not the editing), there really is nothing new here, although I suppose the book does make a handy quick-reference guide. But the problems I described above drag this publication down for me. My copy is the originally published version, with the spelling error in the title. I have heard that the second, better-edited version will correct many errors, including the misspelled title. This is the version that is available now, I believe, and as to whether this is true, I don't know. And just what has been edited and corrected? Only the English mistakes? Will Telleria then publish a third version? Who knows. I only know that as a Rush fan for 21 years myself, I will probably end up buying the thing again anyway! The things I do for my collection...

If you are a fan of Rush or interested in the workings of this most private band, you NEED this bible. You won't find pictures on every page just a LOT of information. I have been into Rush for 20 years and found out a lot of things I didn't know. There were a few books before this on Rush but they are out of print and not as big as this one. Telleria doesn't waste space talking about how long he has been a fan or criticizing. It's just the facts Jack, and it's VERY accurate. There is about 40 black and white pictures and a color section showing Rush on and off the stage. Almost anything you could want to know about them is easy to find in the sections Biography & Timeline (about 100 or so pages), Words and Music, Equipment, Discography, Tributes, Collectibles, Tourdates, and more. I know some people say there's lots of typos but doesn't every book have them? You have to be really looking to find any. Real Rush fans can appreciate the work done here which is compiling the multitude of sound bites from past interviews, most of which many of us missed or couldn't collect because there's so many. This is the only book that pays attention to the details. If you are happy with the essay in Chronicles you don't need this book. Unless Rush come out with another official bio, this one will be hard to top.