"We've committed to taking about a year off," says Lifeson. "We all agreed when we finished this tour (in early August) we were going to take this time off and we weren't going to talk about band stuff or make any plans. We committed to a year, so that's going to take us through to the end of next summer, for sure. That's the minimum. We haven't stopped or quit. Right now we're just relaxing. We're taking it easy and just enjoying our current employment."

That said, Lifeson acknowledges that he and singer/bassist/keyboardist Geddy Lee - who both live in the Toronto area while drummer Neil Peart resides in California - "typically get a little bored, and so we enjoy writing and working together and I wouldn't doubt that some time in the new year we'll probably gravitate towards each other and start doing some writing."