“If you’re going to stay friends, you have to say something if someone’s out of line. We’ve kept egos in check all the way because of that.” How Rush’s Clockwork Angels became the prog icons’ perfect swansong

Rush posing for a photo in 2007.

By 2012, the unthinkable had happened and Rush had finally become cool in the eyes of the rest of the world. The Canadian trio’s nineteenth album, Clockwork Angels, and the acclaimed documentary Beyond The Lighted Stage saw the band rightly showered with plaudits – something Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson and Neil Peart seemed baffled by when Classic Rock caught up with them in Los Angeles.