Arena Rock and Progressive Rock always maintained an uneasy alliance. They share similar roots and even band members, but Arena Rock is typically seen as Prog’s more mainstream, watered-down sibling. It’s usually more popular too, much to the annoyance of many prog fans. Asia’s new release XXX is currently the second most popular new release on Amazon, despite the bands irrelevance in the modern music scene.

Even mentioning Rush in a post about Arena Rock is asking for debate and controversy. They are often included in the conversation. VH1′s Big 80′s Arena Rock Collection CD features Rush along with Arena Rock poster children like Styx, Asia, Foreigner, Starship, and Loverboy. Like Yes and Genesis, Rush probably did at least have an Arena Rock phase in the 80s. Regardless of the definition, it’s pretty impressive to see a prog-related band’s new release (Clockwork Angels) still in the top five in Amazon’s overall Music charts!

I heard somewhere that Rush has a great drummer. This guy Rutsey is OK, but I don’t think he lives up to all the hype…..

Here are a few tracks from Asia’s XXX: