Martin Popoff > Quotes

“So our dream was to combine the feeling and the emotional rock potential of The Who and even Zeppelin and bring the complexity of a band like Genesis and Yes. “And we wanted to do that in a three-piece format. We wanted to be the world’s most complicated three-piece band.”
― Martin Popoff, Anthem: Rush in the ’70s

“Artists never finish a project — they just abandon it.”
― Martin Popoff, Driven: Rush in the ’90s and “In the End”

“you constantly think, ‘If I’m nice to people and treat them well, they’ll appreciate it and behave better.’ They won’t, but it’s still not a bad way to live.”
― Martin Popoff, Driven: Rush in the ’90s and “In the End”

“When the day gets more complicated, there’s more and more demands on your time. Instead of time on your hands, you have hands on your time — I like that! That’s the question involved there: you have to put aside all that, and it’s songwriting that’s important, and that’s going to make the difference between feeling good and not feeling good. If I walk offstage knowing I haven’t played as well as I can, I feel bad. And it doesn’t matter how many thousands of people are telling me it was good — it wasn’t. On the other hand when I walk offstage knowing that I’ve played well or close to as well as I can, then I feel very satisfied. And it’s a sort of peace of mind that nothing can intrude on, negatively or positively. You just feel good about it and you don’t need external ratification or external approval for that.”
― Martin Popoff, Limelight: Rush in the ’80s

“I still get that today: "I used to listen to you guys in high school." What do you mean used to? "Oh you know man, you fucking get older." No, I don't know, because I'm going to go home and put on Ride The Lightning right now. I'm going to get online and play poker and listen to Exodus or Pantera. So I don't understand what you're talking about. I'm older than you and I don't get it, dude. You don't grow out of it. That's bullshit to me. - Anthrax guitarist Scott Ian”
― Martin Popoff, Tornado Of Souls: Thrash's Titanic Clash

“Theories abound about how progressive rock is intrinsically British, whereas in America few bands of this ilk emerged from the late 1960s into the 1970s. One accepted theory is that Europe is the birthplace of classical music, whereas in America, it is the nation’s rich blues-based tradition that informs rock history. That supports the theory that 400 years of classical music is in the blood over there”
― Martin Popoff, Time And A Word: The Yes Story