there's a good interview with Neal, about 43 minutes, where he talks about how the idea originated, the production of the music, and the story itself. Here:
all 3 are in their 60's now, but they keep creating original works and doing these lengthy live tours. they generally play 2 1/2 - 3 hrs per show and have done this for a lot of years now.
Geddy has said they have to limit shows to every other day as his vocals can't handle every day now. He can't hit the highs he did when he was younger, either, but his vocal range is still friggin' insane.
the story starts with a young man leaving home to seek his adventures in the world and appears to span at least through middle age, maybe older.
it's a world where fire & steam are the power sources. The Watchmaker is God in that world and he visits the world in disguise.
There will be a full novelization of the story released in september, co written by a scifi author that neal has been friends with for many years.