Big birthday greetings today to Alex Lifeson, one-third of the Canadian legendary power trio Rush, whose guitar work and his approach to it puts him firmly square in legendary territory. Lifeson, who also celebrates the milestone of the 40th anniversary of the release of the band’s debut album this year, turns 60 years old today.

Alex Lifeson is a sort of lone wolf of Rush via the perception of him by most of the band’s listeners, and even though he and frontman/bassist Geddy Lee were cultivated by childhood friendship and are always linked as such, it’s still the titanium attack of Neil Peart on the backbreaking backbeat that gets more attention. Ultimately, there remains that Peart/Lee kind of familiarity that gets tread upon long before one gets to Lifeson, even after all these years of the band’s existence. But the guitarist is a concrete explosive anchor for this band. Many people think it’s Peart, but Lifeson always seems to be the vibrant weigh station when the rest of the band takes off into its sonic oddities and delectables in its medicine chest. Lifeson has those too of course and also goes to those areas indeed, with a guitar style that is like a jumbly aural cornucopia of sound, at once fast, loose, intense, dynamic; a Lifeson solo is brimming with buoyancy, with life, technical and soulful, and there aren’t many guitarists, even those “all-time ones” (a list that Lifeson is also a part of), that can do that.

Back in December, it was announced that this year my favorite band of all time, Rush, was finally (finally!) and deservedly going to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Well, it’s official, Rush is now in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame!

The ceremony, which also saw Heart, Public Enemy, and several other artists added to the Hall, was held on Thursday, April 19, 2013 at the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles, CA, with Dave Grohl and Taylor Hawkins of Foo Fighters doing the induction honors for Rush. And not only did the Foo boys give the speech about the Canadian trio, but they also teamed up with producer Nick Raskulinecz to perform the “Overture” from Rush’s 2112 live on stage while sporting the Rush 2112-era look, complete with white satin robes and wigs!

Watch the video here below of the performance capture by fan video – be sure to watch til the end for some cool shit!!!

Amazon is currently running a spectacular MP3 album deal that all fans of the band Rush cannot ignore — only $5.00 each for select titles in their rich history of work, and most of those albums are some of the band’s best in their long and still-going career, which saw last year as being one of the biggest and most successful years in recent memory for the band, with an extremely successful tour for their newest album Clockwork Angels and finally, a long-time-coming induction into The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio; the official induction and accompanying ceremonies will take place early this year.

Hailing from Canada, Rush has been defying music critics and delighting progressive and hard rock fans for over 40 years. The trio mixes a basic framework of classic rock with impossibly amazing arrangements and hyper rhythms to create ear popping music which scores of bands try to emulate to much lesser degrees. All told, Rush set a standard and carved a niche in music which cemented their status as one of rock and roll’s best.

NOTE – Below is a breakdown of all the titles on sale, with a little bit of history and the stand-out tracks. Note, though some of the MP3 versions listed below are on sale, some of the CD versions are also on sale for as low as $4.99 and are “AutoRip,” which means that you get the MP3 download for FREE when you purchase the CD.

A major step in the right direction of finally showcasing music groups that aren’t of the extreme norm or voted in by backslapping politics has finally come to fruition in Cleveland, Ohio today as Rush, the Canadian trio whose progressive rock sounds have been thrilling and tantalizing generations of audiences mostly on cult fringes since their debut album in 1974, has finally have been inducted into The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame!

No other band in the entire history of the hall has sported the kind of controversy and division like Rush has in terms of entry to the Hall. For the most part, Rush has been anything but critically lauded throughout its tenure as a band, which is still promoting and touring its latest album Clockwork Angels, their 19th studio release. Fans, however, have seen this differently, scoffing at pseudo-highbrow critics who they pretty much have ascertained have no clue what they are talking about when it comes to the amazing, gymnastically musical elasticity of the sounds and styles of Rush.

ABC News reports that along with Rush, the class of 2013 includes Academy Award-winning singer/songwriter Randy Newman; original purveyors of hip hop Public Enemy; the late disco queen Donna Summer, who died earlier this year; the Wilson sisters-led hard rocking ensemble Heart; and “Born Under A Bad Sign” blues guitarist Albert King. Quite an eclectic mix of artists for sure.

2112, the breakthrough album by the classic Canadian progressive rock trio Rush, is now available on MP3 format from Amazon this month for only $5. The CD is also currently on sale for only $4.99.

This is the album that put Rush on the map and suddenly found them in the heavyweight division of rock music. The title track, clocking in at over 20 minutes, stretches out the spacey futuristic Twilight Zone/Ayn Rand influences that started to become musically apparent on two previous Rush releases (Fly by Night and Caress of Steel) and presents them like a musical tale, keeping and refining the Rush sound into a listenable and challengeable experience. The cannabis fragrancy of “Passage to Bangkok,” the rare tune solely penned by guitarist Alex Lifeson “Lessons,” and the only song that drummer/main lyricist Neil Peart ever played in original Rush drummer John Rutsey style 4/4 “Tears” are not to be ignored, as is the high-pitched, bottom heavy vocal, bass attack of lead singer/bassist Geddy Lee. The influences of 2112 are still prevalent on subsequent Rush albums to this very day. Upon listening, it’s easy to see why.

Browse the main sale page to see all 100 albums on sale for only $5 each in MP3 format through the end of September 2012.