For A Limited Time
The band played the last date of the ‘Test For Echo’ tour on 4 July 1997 at the Corel Centre in Ottawa, and as they walked off stage, the mood was – excellent.
Indeed, the whole ‘Test For Echo’ experience had been highly positive. “On this record more than any in the past, I feel like we’ve arrived as a band,” said Alex. “Funnily enough, if this record’s about anything, it’s communication. We’ve always been very close, but on this record, we all got so much closer.” Finally, Rush had managed to get back to what it saw as its core values – guitar, drums and bass – the process was harder than anyone had anticipated, but the results made it all worthwhile. The break before ‘Test For Echo’, the resulting album, and the success of the tour, all added to the comfort factor.
Whatever works – the external projects embarked upon by both Alex and Neil had only added to the mix, and everyone including Geddy could see the benefits. This was a path that took the band to a new place – one in which work and life could be balanced, and other things could be tried without compromising what it meant to be Rush.
Neil had his big band projects (‘Burning for Buddy II’ had been recorded between album and tour), and was finally embarking on an instructional video; meanwhile, Geddy was keen to get into coaching new bands, and Alex had a growing reputation as a producer.
As far as Rush was concerned, nobody was going to be idle. SRO/Anthem had negotiated the remasters of the band’s first seven albums, and Geddy in particular wanted to get his teeth into updating them. “We wanted to put the music back in its original form with a fresher sound, something which is long overdue,” said Geddy. It also offered an opportunity to fix a few minor errors – such as including Neil on the ‘Moving Pictures’ cover. “I mean, you know, we’re not a duo.”
The first priority was to get started on the live album, incorporating older and newer material as a retrospective overview of the decades. “There was no real sense of immediacy in getting started,” says Robert Scovill. “The concept from the get-go was one of archival purposes for a possible future release.” In addition, there were tentative plans to produce a CD-ROM. “We actually have people working in the basement of the office, digging up videos and bits of information and all kinds of trivia being put into it,” said Neil. “We really want to make it a compendium. So, we’re taking our time about that of course, because it is going to take a lot of work.”
Nothing needed to happen too fast. With sound finances, a devoted fan base and a re-ignited optimism, there was all the time in the world.
A month after the end of the tour, everything changed. On a rainy night on 10 August 1997, a policeman came to Neil and Jackie’s door with the information that their only daughter, Selena had been fatally injured in a motor accident. Nobody else was involved: according to the Toronto Sun, “She died when the Jeep she was driving left the westbound lane of Highway 401, and crashed near Brighton, Ontario.”
Immediately of course, Neil turned to supporting Jackie, who had been inseparable from her daughter: Jackie was hit particularly hard by the news and her health started to deteriorate. Over the year that followed Jackie became increasingly more ill, and as best he could Neil stayed by her side, first in London then in the Bahamas, then back to Toronto for the final two months as Jackie slowly but surely let her life spirit escape. “The doctors called it cancer, but of course it was a broken heart,” said Neil. A year after Selena’s tragic demise, on 20 June 1998, Neil lost Jackie as well. Before she died, Neil asked Jackie what he would do without her. “Oh, you’ll just go travelling on your motorcycle,” she said.
For Neil, who had been so strong for Jackie for so long, the effect was a shock so great it was a while before he could talk to anyone at all. Neil had lost absolutely everything that was dear. The other members of Rush were devastated at Neil’s loss, and could do nothing but stand by, to be there for him as he suffered, as any friends of twenty-five years would do. Of course, the idea of the band continuing was the last thing in anybody’s mind.
As Geddy put it: “Rush was all just very quietly ‘put away’.”