Talk:Alex Lifeson/Archive 1

Archive 1

Trial

Hi,
any news about Alex´ trial. January 5th is over ;-) ... response:date for the trial has now been set for May 16th 2005, not known if a plea bargain has been entered...

Questionable Revision

See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alex%5fLifeson?curid=2893&diff=0

I don't know the facts, just wondering, which is more accurate? 24.76.141.237 02:22, 27 Apr 2005 (UTC)

Alex Lifeson is Serbian, but Serbia was part of Yugoslavia at the time his parents emigrated, if I recall correctly. But I don't even want to touch the issue of the Balkans. That said, Lerxst's parents are referred to as Serbian immigrants everywhere I've seen it. — Phil Welch 22:55, 27 Apr 2005 (UTC)

Does this really make sense?

He is commonly regarded as one of the most underrated rock guitarists of all time.

If it's common that he's considered underrated, doesn't that make him really not underrated?

Hmm not really. He is generally well known, it's just that he is underrated amongst the people that know him. Those people don't rate him as good as he really is. It doesn't really matter how many people underrate him. I hope you understand what I mean :) ( Davehard 15:57, 10 December 2005 (UTC) )

The concepts of "underrated" and "overrated" are both entirely POV. I question the encyclopedic value of such a statement, whether it makes sense or not (which I don't think it does.) Druff 20:50, 14 May 2007 (UTC)

Outstanding!

Alex is right up there with all the guitar greats in my estimation. He is a very accomplished musician as all the members of RUSH are. Outstanding!--Bumpusmills1 09:35, 29 December 2005 (UTC)

Alex Lifeson is regarded within rock musician circles, but if you want a really underrated guitarist, try Lerxst's fellow Canadian, Ian Crichton of Saga.

Family?

It has long been known that Alex's wife is/was named Charlene (dating back to the thanks-to's on the ''A Farewell To Kings'' album), but on this page http://www.nndb.com/people/548/000025473/ it says his wife is named Michelle. Has he been divorced and remarried, or is his wife's name Charlene Michelle or Michelle Charlene, or some such combination?--MarshallStack 13:34, 12 June 2006 (UTC)

Alex Lifeson's wife is Charlene. Michelle is the wife of his son, Justin. -- Sassue2u 02:54, 6 November 2007 (UTC)

I wish there was a way to include this bit of film, or some mention of it, in the main body of the piece.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q7zLCw5xy_w

duncanrmi — Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.161.243.108 (talk) 20:01, 27 August 2012 (UTC)

Concerned about The Omega Concern (Really)

First post here.... I love the Lifeson article. Wouldn't change a thing. OK, one thing bothers me: Aren't we taking the Omega Concern a little seriously? It's always been my impression that it's just a running in-joke that Alex and the band use to ascribe his pet inventions to. He made a special guitar stand, he made a couple of minor gadgets for his bandmates... I don't see any proof here that he's got a major operation going. Someone cite me something to prove me wrong, otherwise, I respectfully request that we tone down the Omega stuff -- give it a single line or so -- So we don't look silly for taking what is essentially an in-joke for Alex and turning it into a major Internet chin-rubbing head-scratching thing.

I want NPOV, and I also kind of have the image in my mind that I would like it if Alex would approve of his Bio here. (And this is of course purely hypothetical, but...) If he were to look at this article, would he think we've done a good job? I think he would... But I think we may be missing the point of "The Omega Concern"... I believe it's a running in-joke that's not really worth mentioning in the abstract, the lead paragraph. It might make for a good one-line note somewhere down the page. Again, I welcome anyone to cite me if I'm wrong, but I think "The Omega Concern" should be reduced to a one-line mention, for example: "Alex has built X, Y, and Z for his use, Geddy's, Neils... Alex has, perhaps jokingly, referred to his enterprise as The Omega Concern." (Sorry, best I can do. I'm tired...) Absent proof that he's done anything more substantial than this, I say we eliminate over-informing everybody on the subject of THE OMEGA CONCERN. Really.

Thanks!

You are correct in that it is a bit of a joke. Neil needed a book stand while we were recording years ago so I built one from spare airplane model parts. I couldn't find a guitar stand that suited me so I designed one that was available for a time through Venemann Music exclusively. The name appealed to me because is sounded like some mysterious, covert corporation. It has always been an inside joke with us.

Yes, I do approve of the Bio!

~~ —Preceding unsigned comment added by Aledit (talk • contribs) 13:32, 19 March 2008 (UTC)

--

ManfrenjenStJohn 09:28, 10 March 2007 (UTC)

Based on that, I've completed the redirect from Omega Concern. CovenantD 09:59, 10 March 2007 (UTC)

OK, thanks for jumping in. I appreciate the help. I think what I'm asking about, which I'm too timid to do myself at the moment, is to *remove* "he owns and operates a small consumer-products design, engineering, and manufacturing firm The Omega Concern;" from the abstract... is that what it's properly called? Do I mean the "lead"? I know I should "be bold" and just go do it, but I'm a little overwhelmed at the moment. I don't feel at the moment like editing something that I'm not sure what it's even called. I'm a little new here. (as an editor, anyway)  : ) -- ManfrenjenStJohn 10:12, 10 March 2007 (UTC)

PS - I promise I'll "be more bold" in the future, but I've burned my hand on the stove to many times today... damned newbie biters. (Not you, of course!)

The Omega Concern article was questionable to begin with, having no sources at all, so that was an easy decision. I'll leave it to the fans to figure out what to do with this article. As for being a newbie, just remember to cite EVERYTHING (even if you don't think it needs it) and write from a Neutral Point of View (NPOV) and you should be fine. CovenantD 10:25, 10 March 2007 (UTC)

Thanks. As a newbie, I was surprised to see no References section in the Alex article. Clearly, consensuswise, the editorial standard for the main Rush article is being held a lot more stringently than for the Alex a article. I say this because I've had major, almost immediate scrutiny for every edit I've made to the Rush article (which I've come to learn is a Good Thing), whilst Alex's article didn't even have any sources, nor even a Refs section. So I'm glad I'm familiar enough with wikipolicy that I've done Good Things for Alex's article so far. It breaks my heart to go deleting information that I know is true (from the Alex article) if I can't find sources (and it's a big article with no sources except the ones I've put in so far). But now I know that I'll be doing right if I hold the Alex article (and the unsourced statements therein) to Wikipolicy more stringently.

So, to CovenantD, Thank You. And to anyone else: Please understand that I may make some major changes to the Article, especially deletions for statements that cannot be sourced. But I'll be doing it in a way that I feel is in the best interest of WikiPolicy, including (but not limited to) Attribution and Biographies of Living Persons. Thanks. -- ManfrenjenStJohn 16:59, 10 March 2007 (UTC)

Chiming in here with my first comment... I'd really like to see more mention made of the Omega stand in the article, especially since one of the photos very prominently shows how it's used. My recollection is that Alex invented something very important, being the first guitarist to make a stand which allowed quick switching between electric and acoustic guitars. Since his invention, I've seen other bands use similar contraptions, perhaps the very same one that he invented. I specifically recall seeing a music video in the 90's where such a stand is featured prominently, I think the band was either Def Leppard or Bon Jovi. My point is that the stand Alex invented is *important* from a historical point of view and deserves mention in the article. But unfortunately don't have any references to cite that can be linked on the internet. I've read interviews in printed magazines such as Guitar Player where Alex talks about it, and I could swear that I've seen the product actually offered for sale in catalogs with the brand name Omega, but again, can't find an online store that sells them that I could link as proof. I guess my point here is that the current article has *no* references regarding the Omega stand and it really should, and I'm looking for help and support in locating cites, such as article dates in Guitar Player magazine. Tfabris (talk) 17:51, 3 June 2008 (UTC)

Currently The Omega Concern redirects here, but there is no mention of the Omega Concern on the page --- let alone in the lede --- in violation of Wikipedia:Redirect#What needs to be done on pages that are targets of redirects?. I hope that some long-time editor of this article can restore a bare minimum of content to satisfy policy. Mgnbar (talk) 22:12, 6 September 2020 (UTC)

The Naples/Ritz-Carlton Incident - Expunge?

According to the information in the section itself (although there is no source cited), the criminal charges have been expunged.

Therefore, I think we should consider removing this entire section as well, because

• It's old
• It's potentially negative
• The authorities involved have expunged (wiped clean) his criminal record; We should do the same unless there is a good reason not to.

I'm leaving it in for now, because there is SOME information that may still be current, specifically:

• Alex (may be) still engaged in civil litigation (although if this is not of significant public importance, I think it should be removed)
• Neil's book "Roadshow" is a current topic, and it's mentioned here as a reference. Again, I still consider removing the entire section as being no longer significant, but I'm writing this in advance of doing so.

Suggestions welcome.

-- ManfrenjenStJohn 19:09, 10 March 2007 (UTC)

I think it should still be in there as it was a significant event in his life. 220.245.107.141 11:11, 27 April 2007 (UTC)

I agree that it should be mentioned. I actually came to the Lifeson page because I hadn't heard how the issue was resolved and was wondering what eventually happened. 65.24.249.74 04:00, 5 June 2007 (UTC)

--

It should remain, but the description changed. The way the incident was described here really did sound like there was a "drunken brawl" instead of an extreme case of police brutality, giving Alex the image of a "spoiled drunken rock star". I'd like to see this changed. (Not Alex)24.128.232.145 (talk) 19:10, 26 July 2008 (UTC)

Red Ensign?

What's with the Red Ensign (File:Canadian Red Ensign 1921.svg)? Even if that was the flag when and where he was born, wouldn't the current flag () make more sense? That's what appears on the page for Geddy Lee? 65.24.249.74 04:08, 5 June 2007 (UTC)

I completely agree. The Neil Peart article also has it with the Canadian flag. I've changed it to meet that. The only suggestion I could offer is maybe we could put both? Thoughts, anyone? The Fwanksta 16:39, 24 June 2007 (UTC)

urgh some people think 1 flag is overkill, 2 would be over the top. Just stick with the maple leaf.harlock_jds 00:24, 14 July 2007 (UTC)

Lerxst and Lerxt

The article mentions the latter as an alternate spelling, but I've never seen it that way. And I consider myself a pretty rabid Rush fan. I'm removing it until someone can find a citation. The Fwanksta 16:39, 24 June 2007 (UTC)

Restoring Naples Incident

Just because the legal record was expunged doesn't mean the incident didn't occur. It did occur, and it's verifiable in major news sources. Lots of incidents are dismissed, or never come to charges being filed, yet that doesn't mean they never happened. VxP 18:04, 13 July 2007 (UTC)

Wording

"and has been an integral member of the three-piece band ever since."

Aren't they all? Isn't it a three-legged stool? Take away any of the three and they wouldn't be the same......rock on...and don't get a pick in the eye.... ~ WikiDon 07:43, 3 November 2007 (UTC)

Merge proposal

I am proposing that the article Hentor Sportscasters be merged into the section Alex Lifeson#Guitar equipment. A previous proposal to merge Hentor Sportscasters into Fender Stratocaster failed due to lack of notability for Hentor Sportscasters, even as a subtopic of the Stratocaster article. (Discussion at Talk:Hentor Sportscasters.) I agree, and believe that Hentor Sportscasters lacks sufficient notability to stand as its own article - it has only one primary source, and no secondary. But in preference to pursuing AfD, I'd suggest it could add interesting dimension to a discussion of Alex Lifeson's instrument choices to be appropriate within this article. Ipoellet (talk) 01:07, 2 February 2008 (UTC)

Naples part 2

The section has been mentioned previously... looking at the article this section is one of the longest on the page? Does it need that much space? A mishap that occurred in one night... in an article about a musician with a respected career that's nearing 40 years?... and it takes up a quarter of the page. Surely that thing can be trimmed down to a short paragraph that touches on the details... contains any req'd refs... and doesn't encroach any space out of the "non-soap opera" content of the page. Wisdom89/ThuranX... can either of you comment (I am picking on you as "vet" Rush editors) 156.34.142.110 (talk) 16:19, 12 February 2008 (UTC)

Bingo, you read my mind. I've been wanting to trim it down for some time, but always just procrastinated. I would be all for pruning that section. It reminds me of a non-NPOV WP:WEIGHT. Wisdom89 _{(T / ^C)} 16:59, 12 February 2008 (UTC)

Thanks for the the quick comment. I did an 'advert' trim on the gear section. It could use more. After reading that I just didn't want to tackle Naples so I thought I would comment here. (that's the Wiki-way of passing the buck). I will re-read it again myself once my eyes become un-crossed. I never read an article with so many "by then"'s and "by this time"'s. 156.34.142.110 (talk) 17:17, 12 February 2008 (UTC)

PS... since I have your attention... slightly different.. but still Rush topic. I have noticed that Wiki is starting to lean towards merging any/all band "non-single" songs/content back into their parent album articles. Metallica, Queen... a few others... have all been purged of song articles and had their album pages fleshed out wit the the song content and re-directs put in place to link directly to the album page section related to the "song search". Other bands still have an article for every single song... not just Rush. But it seems to be the "lean" of Wiki. Wondering if a few dedicated Rush editors whouldn't push something like that up before someone else comes along and does it all wrong. Is now the time?... Is never the time??? Most of any band's song articles are rampant with original research and "personal touches"... might be a good way to "hoover" out all the cotton candy. Anyone may comment on this... Each Rush song is its own little piece of art. I just don't want to see anything "of substance" get lost along the Wiki-way. 156.34.142.110 (talk) 17:24, 12 February 2008 (UTC)

Alex Live

Hi All

I have been studying Alex Lifeson live for twenty or so years....

The "Dog Houses" are brilliant.

Best Guess: Alex still uses the tc-2290 DDD's in conjunction with the 1210 and relies on the 3 G-Forces to make up ground.

Always seems to be a matter of timing.

Alex is so freaking good, he can't even recall how to get through Xanadu.....or Spirit........when you get that good......you really don't need to tell peeps how.......

Just to let you know, my bet is:..........Boss TU-12H Tuner......Volume Pedal, .....Mix Pedal (wet/dry),.....then the signal goes to the 2290's......followed by the 1210, ........equalization and proofing on the way....

Alex just makes us all look like amateurs....

Michael —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.75.31.37 (talk) 02:34, 14 June 2008 (UTC)

Order of Canada

What about the controversy over choosing "Rush" for the first Canadian rock-group Order of Canada rather than "The Guess Who"? Shouldn't there be an entry about that?

For those who remember, this engendered bitter debate. Rumour had it that the officials in charge insisted that the first such OC be awarded to a rock-group from the Canadian heartland (the Southern Ontario / Southern Quebec urban corridor between Quebec City and Windsor, also known as "Upper and Lower Canada") -- just like everything else in Canada. Anger from the hinterland was overwhelming. Many music aficionados of the day knew for a fact that "The Guess Who" deserved it more but, coming from the hinterland -- the Prairies, in this case, and Winnipeg, specifically -- they didn't have a hope in hell of winning the OC over a rock-group from Toronto. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Atikokan (talk • contribs) 04:11, 6 July 2008 (UTC)

If coverage of this is indeed appropriate, it should be in the article about the band, not the band's guitarist. As an aside, and purely as a matter of opinion unrelated, for you to state as fact that The Guess Who deserved it more smacks of bias on your part. Is it because Rush had far greater success in the States, making them somehow less Canadian? The Guess Who had a 10 year run of musical relevance, while in 1996, Rush had been relevant for twenty years and was still relevant. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.144.11.58 (talk) 22:49, 25 July 2008 (UTC)

with respect, Rush's induction into the Order Of Canada was in recognition of the millions of dollars they had been quietly raising for charity over the years, not because someone decided it was time to include a rock band. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.193.128.193 (talk) 07:34, 28 June 2010 (UTC)

Missing body

Thought it's not mentioned in the "Body of work" section, five years prior to his guest appearance on the mentioned Gowan album, Lifeson made a guest appearance on the Platinum Blonde album Alien Shores (1985)... performing guitar solos on the songs "Crying Over You" and "Holy Water". Though I'm personally not a Platinum Blonde fan, I do acknowledge that they were a popular Canadian act in their day, and that particular album is reported to have sold 400,000 copies. Reference one, reference two, reference three reference four. I believe it deserves a mention in this article, should anyone care to write it in. 142.68.129.140 (talk) 19:46, 18 July 2008 (UTC)

Good catch, mate. I have included the information in the article. Wisdom89 _{(T / ^C)} 20:14, 18 July 2008 (UTC)

External Link suggestion: New interview with Alex Lifeson

As an editor at Crawdaddy!, and to comply with COI guidelines, I am not posting the link to this new interview with Alex Lifeson. However, I would like to recommend it on its merits, and hope that an editor will find the time to examine the interview and—if he or she sees fit—post it to the external links section. I appreciate your time. Crawdaddy! [1]
Mike harkin (talk) 23:20, 23 October 2008 (UTC)

Lerxst?

This pretty well goes for all three band members, but wouldn't it be pertinent to mention their respective nicknames on their pages? Geddy, Alex, and Neil are frequently referred to as Dirk, Lerxst, and The Ole Perfesser (Behind the Drum Kit). Hope (Snakes & Arrows) is credited to "Lerxst Lifeson, all by himself". Don't know what people think. Mønster av Arktisk Vinter Kvelden (talk) 23:47, 3 December 2008 (UTC)

This crossed my mind a few times. It probably could be placed somewhere in the biography section, as long as it's properly sourced. If it isn't, it'll probably come off as fancrufty. Wisdom89 _{(T / ^C)} 00:21, 4 December 2008 (UTC)

That's easy enough- they're all on the inside album sleeve of Caress of Steel, La Villa Strangiato contains a section called "A Lerxst in Wonderland" (the song is based on Alex's nightmares, I have several interesting sources for that), and as I mentioned before, Hope. As a little side note, the time I met them, I walked up to Geddy and said, "Nice show, Dirk". He signed his autograph as Geddy Lee and as Dirk, and this trick worked with Alex and Neil too. But anyways, I'll see what I can do. Mønster av Arktisk Vinter Kvelden (talk) 01:52, 4 December 2008 (UTC)

Sorry about that, I got interrupted while I was trying to put it into the main article, and I didn't have time to revert myself. I'll give it another shot when I get some more time. Mønster av Arktisk Vinter Kvelden (talk) 19:01, 11 December 2008 (UTC)

Aleksandar Živojinović

Do we have a pronounciation on his birth name? It's a bit daunting as it stands. Rockman999 (talk) 09:45, 13 January 2009 (UTC)

Influence not cited, removed speech from A Show of Hands video laser disc

I'm missing Steve Hackett and Steve Howe in Lifeson's list of influences. Please take a look at: http://www.dinosaurrockguitar.com/new/node/32

And http://www.angelfire.com/ok3/rush/albuminfo.html , where he mentions Hackett's influence on the album Caress of Steel, specially in the song No One at the Bridge.

Another topic which could be covered by those who have the information: Alex's speech which had its audio removed in the song La Villa Strangiatto, in the live performance A Show of Hands. While the song is going, Alex goes to the microphone and says something, no audio from this mic, and a sign shows up and says that due to the strange content of the speech, it was removed. Many ask about it.

Cheers. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Saulocpp (talk • contribs) 18:39, 4 May 2009 (UTC)

Current Residence?

Naturally I would think Canada for all the members of Rush, until I found out that Neil now lives in California. So does anyone know if Alex still lives in Canada, or is he living in the U.S. as well?65.123.238.246 (talk) 22:22, 3 June 2010 (UTC)

I know for a while he was dividing his time between Toronto and New York. But in a recent interview on CBC's "The Hour" He said that he and Geddy are practically neighbours. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.193.128.193 (talk) 07:22, 28 June 2010 (UTC)

Side Project omissions

There's a couple of fairly significant omissions from the "side project" section: the "Beyond Borders" project with Rik Emmett of Triumph and Liona Boyd. The Kumbayah festival. And the "Rock Aid Armenia" project. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.193.128.193 (talk) 07:25, 28 June 2010 (UTC)

Golf Course?

Perhaps in should also be mentioned that Lifeson is part owner of a world-class golf course that he helped to design. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.193.128.193 (talk) 07:35, 28 June 2010 (UTC)

which golf course would that be, and what kind of source can you provide? Wisdom89 _{(T / ^C)} 17:36, 28 June 2010 (UTC)

Name

I think the names in he lede should be reversed. Generally, when someone changes their name (i.e. Buzz Aldrin, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar) we begin the article with that name. When someone uses a nom d'arte, but retains their birth name for legal purposes (i.e. Geddy Lee, Teena Marie) we begin the article with their birth name. I believe Lifeson falls into the latter category. Joefromrandb (talk) 18:26, 6 June 2011 (UTC)

As no one has objected, I have made the change. Joefromrandb (talk) 17:24, 8 June 2011 (UTC)

Birthday

The reference used in the sentence with the birthday says he's born in 1953, as do all the articles about him turning 60 last year. Why are people changing this to 1952? I can't find any support for that.LedRush (talk) 04:19, 5 February 2014 (UTC)

There is no mention of Alex's birthday in the official web, but Rush's official Facebook page published this on 27 August 2013, so it really looks like he was born on 27 August 1953.--Gorpik (talk) 07:29, 5 February 2014 (UTC)

Zivojinovic / Lifeson

"Zivojinovic" actually doesn't mean just "son of life" but "Zivojin's little one" or if you will "Zivojin's son". Zivojin being a Serbian name with the root "zivot" (life) that's made into the surname Zivojinovic. Like Nikolic (Nicholson) or Petrovic (Peterson). It's something like the Scottish "Mac" or "Mc". Which means that someone with the last name "Zivojinovic" is the descendant of some Zivojin who lived a couple of hundred years ago. --87.184.142.125 (talk) 11:45, 18 June 2016 (UTC)

the blah-blah speech at the RnRHoF

This is a glaring oversight. C'mon, Rushkies, you have the video plus numerous reliable sources to cite from. 104.169.16.173 (talk) 01:17, 12 February 2018 (UTC)