Rush: Classic or Dud?

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No one has asked this one yet (and I have a sneaking suspicion I know why, but I'll ask it anyway)...

What do you think of them crazy prog-rockin' Canadians, then? Super? Sucky? Somewhere in the middle? Please write your response in the form of a haiku.

― Dan Perry, Thursday, 21 June 2001 00:00 (11 years ago) Permalink

"Why I Like Rush: A Haiku" by Alex in NYC

Rush Rock Like No One Ex-Cept May-Be Pla-Ce-Bo Neil Peart, Wow, He's Good.

― Alex in NYC, Thursday, 21 June 2001 00:00 (11 years ago) Permalink

Rush -- i get high on

you and my spacey invade

ers get by on you

― Mark, Thursday, 21 June 2001 00:00 (11 years ago) Permalink

Hi points - the drum beat of "Tom Sawyer" (as everyone knows by now), & one of the best fake-Led-Zeppelins ever in "Working Man" (great gtr solo!). Other than that, they can go & read the complete works of Ayn Rand. (I'd rather attempt to eat the entire works of Ayn Rand).

― duane, Thursday, 21 June 2001 00:00 (11 years ago) Permalink

Hilarious fact abt Ayn Rand: when she went round in the 60s giving lectures on how unfettered capitalism was the BEST BEST BEST, she wd wear a black cape covered in gold $ signs!!

― mark s, Thursday, 21 June 2001 00:00 (11 years ago) Permalink

As a band: dud. As a rite of passage: classic.

― scott p, Thursday, 21 June 2001 00:00 (11 years ago) Permalink

I'd like Rush a lot more if they wore black capes covered with gold $ signs...

― duane, Thursday, 21 June 2001 00:00 (11 years ago) Permalink

I think Rush sucks. Any band where the drummer writes the lyrics is bound to suck. Do you know what RUSH stands for? "Running Under Satan's House." I did learn something in school... "Anti-Christ Devil Child," "We Are Satan's People,""Knights in Satan's Service," etc.

― andy, Thursday, 21 June 2001 00:00 (11 years ago) Permalink

---------> "Je suis Le By-Tor."

"Non. Vous etes Le Chien d'Neige." <------------

"Les pommes frites! Mon dieu!!!"

― Jean-Luc Godard, Friday, 22 June 2001 00:00 (11 years ago) Permalink

The good woman claims to like Rush, although I've never seen any evidence of this.

― Dirty Vicar, Friday, 22 June 2001 00:00 (11 years ago) Permalink

The only Rush track I've heard is 'The Spirit of Radio' from 'The Permanent Waves alb (1980). It was the nearest thing Rush had to a hit single in the UK (top thirty?) Now I don't know what Canadian radio was like back when this single was released, but English pop radio at the time, which for me basically meant Radio One, was horrendous. The 'Breakfast Show' was the station's prime time biggie, only entrusted to Radio One's biggest 'personalities'/tossers - Noel Edmonds, Dave Lee Travis, Steve Wright, all endlessly yakking over the few pop hits they played in-between their 'banter'. So the lyrics to 'Spirit of Radio', clearly written to suck up to radio station DJs, were not only v. horrible, but also a million miles from the truth. Here's the opening verse:

"Begin the day with a friendly voice/A companion, unobtrusive/ Plays the song that's so elusive/And the magic music makes your morning mood"

Dud for that alone.

― Andrew L, Friday, 22 June 2001 00:00 (11 years ago) Permalink

they were good before
Lee's voice dropped, and Lifeson
stopped using distortion

― tarden, Friday, 22 June 2001 00:00 (11 years ago) Permalink

Rush are r0x0r, and don't let anyone tell you otherwise. Check out the k-kewl sartorial elegance displayed on the back cover of "2112" if you don't believe me. Stylee! Neil Peart's RAD, d00d (etc etc)

x0x0

― /<-r/-\/>, Friday, 22 June 2001 00:00 (11 years ago) Permalink

I am proud to say that I once voted Rush the greatest band of the 80's. They had a lot of good moments, 'Xanadu' appeared in Tommy Vance's poll for the top ten rock tracks of all time throughout most of the 1980s. I think they peaked with 'The Weapon' on Signals (1982). They differed from their contemporaries in being more interested in playing around with the time-signature of their tracks. But ultimately, in an oft repeated pattern, instrumental virtuosity ceased to be musically interesting and just became self-indulgent.

― Conor Kostick, Friday, 22 June 2001 00:00 (11 years ago) Permalink

But ultimately, in an oft repeated pattern, instrumental virtuosity ceased to be musically interesting and just became self-indulgent.

Are you describing your personal development or that of the band? Because, if anything, the band got less and less showy as the years went on. "Counterparts" (the last one I heard) was even "grunge" influenced, allegedly. Rush was my favorite band all throughout high school.

― Kris, Friday, 22 June 2001 00:00 (11 years ago) Permalink

Hey, it's supposed to be a HAIKU, people !

Guitar mag gruel
Less smart than it wants to be
Pretty harmless now

Hey, gimme a break, I've never written a haiku before.

― Patrick, Friday, 22 June 2001 00:00 (11 years ago) Permalink

Stoner's favourite

'Tom Sawyer' plays through art class

Turn that shit off now!

― suzy, Saturday, 23 June 2001 00:00 (11 years ago) Permalink

Geddy Lee = King of the Mullet People

― Kim, Sunday, 24 June 2001 00:00 (11 years ago) Permalink

I'm in Canada I like said prog band less Than I did before

― Dave M., Sunday, 24 June 2001 00:00 (11 years ago) Permalink

Truly dreadful, they Give "chops", prog-rock a bad name. Two good songs* -- rest's dud.

*( I reluctantly but freely admit that both Tom Sawyer and YYZ are both decent songs.)

― Phil, Sunday, 24 June 2001 00:00 (11 years ago) Permalink

Oh dear, where did my line breaks go...

― Phil, Sunday, 24 June 2001 00:00 (11 years ago) Permalink

Childhood memories
Older brother worships them
Despite this, they ROCK

― Dan Perry, Monday, 25 June 2001 00:00 (11 years ago) Permalink

Repeated listens
Render it annoying, eh
Still, sentimental

― Sean Carruthers, Monday, 25 June 2001 00:00 (11 years ago) Permalink

1 year passes...

I'm so bored tonight that I'm reading vintage "classic or dud"'s, and I have to say that the stipulation of submitting answers in haiku format is pure, unhomogenized genius. More please!

― Alex in NYC, Friday, 2 August 2002 00:00 (10 years ago) Permalink

Objectivist Rock a la Ayn Rand = DUD!

― Jack Cole, Friday, 2 August 2002 00:00 (10 years ago) Permalink

"Unhomogenised
Gen-i-us?" You would say that,
Since you started it!

― Jeff W, Friday, 2 August 2002 00:00 (10 years ago) Permalink

BA da BA BA BA

da BA BA BA BA da-da

BA da BA BA BA...

― Joe, Friday, 2 August 2002 00:00 (10 years ago) Permalink

Neil Peart squeals, righteous in his Objectivist zeal but all their songs suck

― Shaky Mo Collier, Friday, 2 August 2002 00:00 (10 years ago) Permalink

Drummers Who Write songs
Didn't make Hüsker Dü suck
it was Geddy's voice.

― Mr Noodles, Friday, 2 August 2002 00:00 (10 years ago) Permalink

2 years pass...

They may be cheesy
But add rocking conviction
Who else but Rush eh?

― piers (piers), Friday, 8 October 2004 04:13 (8 years ago) Permalink

Rush sucks my big dick
Geddy lee is a scourge on Earth
prog rock motherfucks

― The TAO that can be Posted is not the TAO! (The Tao that can be Posted is), Friday, 8 October 2004 04:42 (8 years ago) Permalink

more rush haikus please

― kyle (akmonday), Friday, 8 October 2004 04:48 (8 years ago) Permalink

Andrew L missed the whole point of "Spirit of Radio"! TAO: Your second line would actually fit haiku conventions if you made it "Geddy is a scourge on Earth".

― sundar subramanian (sundar), Friday, 8 October 2004 04:57 (8 years ago) Permalink

Fly by night limelight
Too many notes played at once
Blame's on Toronto

― Pleasant Plains (Pleasant Plains), Friday, 8 October 2004 05:26 (8 years ago) Permalink

thank you sweet sundar, you are correct. that is what i meant to do. *tries to awkwardly plant a kiss on sundar's cheek and is promptly slapped on the face* ouch.

― The TAO that can be Posted is not the TAO! (The Tao that can be Posted is), Friday, 8 October 2004 05:47 (8 years ago) Permalink

Ayn Rand prog rockin'
Canadian eunuch squeals
You people so dumb!

― Confucius, Friday, 8 October 2004 06:13 (8 years ago) Permalink

moving pictures has
the very worst cover art
which is such a shame

subdivisions rocks
which counters all that i've been
told about this band

the lyrics are too
obvious but what can you
expect from hosers?

― derrick (derrick), Friday, 8 October 2004 06:38 (8 years ago) Permalink

'Limelight' licks are great
'Signals' is a true classic
The rest smells like wee

― Rob Bolton (Rob Bolton), Friday, 8 October 2004 07:31 (8 years ago) Permalink

Once I crossed the street
Geddy Lee almost hit me
In his Land Rover

― Rob Bolton (Rob Bolton), Friday, 8 October 2004 07:32 (8 years ago) Permalink

CLASSIC as long as this man was Prime Minister:

DUD thereafter

― Myonga Von Bontee (Myonga Von Bontee), Friday, 8 October 2004 09:45 (8 years ago) Permalink

[...wish I coulda found a picture of him riding on a train & flipping off protesters thru the window!]

― Myonga Von Bontee (Myonga Von Bontee), Friday, 8 October 2004 09:51 (8 years ago) Permalink

Rush is good
for opening up my pooper
so other men can do me

― Good Dog, Friday, 8 October 2004 10:45 (8 years ago) Permalink

. . . Or maybe not

Space-jazz-rock-tronic
If rednecks didn't like them
They'd be Kraftwerk-hip

Geddyvox

Less boy or girl than
Alien; Precise
Enunciation

― sundar subramanian (sundar), Friday, 8 October 2004 15:44 (8 years ago) Permalink

fact checkin cuz to thread

― sleep (sleep), Friday, 8 October 2004 16:02 (8 years ago) Permalink

Songs(works) and arrangements: Classic
Lyrics and vocals: Dud

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Friday, 8 October 2004 22:33 (8 years ago) Permalink

I love Rush probably more than any other band....I don't think there BETTER than alot of bands, but they were a big part of my childhood....

Great band, I think.

― M@tt He1geson (Matt Helgeson), Friday, 8 October 2004 22:50 (8 years ago) Permalink

Young Black Teenagers
Seeking the phattest of shit
Sample Tom Sawyer

― dlp9001, Saturday, 9 October 2004 00:01 (8 years ago) Permalink

has anyone seen the episode of "trailer park boys" where they kidnap alex liefson?
i gained new respect for the man after watching that.

― m0stly clean (m0stly clean), Saturday, 9 October 2004 13:44 (8 years ago) Permalink

I have no haiku to offer which I why I didn't say anything before. But great, of course.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Saturday, 9 October 2004 13:46 (8 years ago) Permalink

i was at a party with some guys who were really entranced with some kind of video of stevie ray vaughn stranglin' the blues back in the '80s. doo-rags. these guys were such geeks, glued to the tube while there were girls to hit on and barbecue to scarf. then they got into "moving pictures," talking about the "production values" and saying things like "you can't deny the musicianship," while trying to be "ironic" about the whole stinkin' thing. typical night with people in nashville trying to be hip about not being hip or whatever that convolution is. then, everyone got drunk the host attempted to explain the shaggs to these geeks and everyone *listened hard and they got it*!! ahh. so, rush sucks and that's it, that's just like being "ironic" about kiss or worryin' about montgomery gentry, i think (as in the video where that goober takes off his cowboy hat to reveal an expensive-looking doo-rag/headwrap of some kind), and only the man upstairs can say whether rush is great or not...yes, rush did a record of covers i understand includes a version of eddie cochran's summertime blues done like blue cheer! so, they have roots like the rest of us, cuz.

― eddie hurt (ddduncan), Saturday, 9 October 2004 15:40 (8 years ago) Permalink

worst. voice. ever.

― oops (Oops), Sunday, 10 October 2004 00:00 (8 years ago) Permalink

No, that is Brian Johnson, Robert Plant or Bruce Dickinson. But Geddy Lee's voice is not far behind.

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Sunday, 10 October 2004 00:19 (8 years ago) Permalink

As a band: dud. As a rite of passage: classic.
-- scott p (scot...), June 21st, 2001.

the wisdom in this succinct observation is humid. i loved rush until i discovered indie and punk rock in high school. hearing that particularly melodramatic cut "the trees" (i think that's the title) is still powerfully evocative of my 13-15 years, playing D&D, obsessing about securing issue # 202 of Spiderman, and committing to memory SNL lines. so i'll grant my meaningless benediction upon Rush in the same manner as the astute scott p.

― j.m. lockery (j.m. lockery), Sunday, 10 October 2004 02:25 (8 years ago) Permalink

Rush: Sophomore Lit.
texts become some deep and
meaningful lyrics.

― Edward Bax, Tuesday, 19 October 2004 19:10 (8 years ago) Permalink

"Red Barchetta" plays
on radio, Rush fan gets
a speeding ticket.

― Edward Bax, Tuesday, 19 October 2004 19:10 (8 years ago) Permalink

Fans debate how to
say Peart. Does it sound like "pert"?
No, it rhymes with "near".

― Edward Bax, Tuesday, 19 October 2004 19:11 (8 years ago) Permalink

Here: Rush's real names
Alex Zivojinovic
Gary Lee Weinrib

― Edward Bax, Tuesday, 19 October 2004 19:11 (8 years ago) Permalink

hahaha

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Tuesday, 19 October 2004 19:11 (8 years ago) Permalink

Classic.

NEER-neer-neener-neener
NEE nee nerr
NEER-neer-neener-neener...

That's my "Tom Sawyer" tribute. They should have collaborated with Gary Numan. Maybe there's still time.

― Thea (Thea), Tuesday, 19 October 2004 19:19 (8 years ago) Permalink

They sort of define dud, don't they?

― Burr (Burr), Tuesday, 19 October 2004 22:19 (8 years ago) Permalink

They define "dude," as in, one kid goes, "Dude, check out Neil's drum solo." Other kid nods in appreciation: "Duuuuuuude." I guess with each passing year I like them less than I did when I was 15, but I still wonder what people who dislike them aren't hearing. Maybe they haven't heard "Natural Science," or "Hemispheres," or "The Camera Eye." I guess Geddy's voice can be annoying but so can Neil Young's and Johnny Rotten's.

― clark, Tuesday, 19 October 2004 22:35 (8 years ago) Permalink

Canadian crap
You hosers should have stayed home
why why oh god why?

― The TAO that can be Posted is not the TAO! (The Tao that can be Posted is), Tuesday, 19 October 2004 23:09 (8 years ago) Permalink

Rush shall be absolved
of all sonic crimes because
"Working Man" kicks ass

― Will (will), Wednesday, 20 October 2004 00:03 (8 years ago) Permalink

rickenbacker bass
slingerland and tama drums
gibsons for alex

(uh, not that i knew very much about 'em)

― naturalaw-dp, Wednesday, 20 October 2004 16:15 (8 years ago) Permalink

Second-string classic
opening for Aerosmith.
As headliner, dud.

― briania (briania), Wednesday, 20 October 2004 16:27 (8 years ago) Permalink

Anthem, In the End
Best I Can and Bastille Day
-songs neil ain't write, joe

― naturalaw-dp, Wednesday, 20 October 2004 16:31 (8 years ago) Permalink

A sad but true fact :
No women, none, anywhere
Are fans of Rush. None.

― udu wudu (udu wudu), Wednesday, 20 October 2004 17:25 (8 years ago) Permalink

Geddy had the suaveness:
'Hey baby, the hour is late, I
feel I've got to groove'

― Roy Williams Highlight (diamond), Wednesday, 20 October 2004 17:33 (8 years ago) Permalink

Geddy got his name
When his immigrant mother
Mispronounced "Gary"

I do enjoy them
Since, unlike so much prog-rock
They have some real hooks.

― Josh in Chicago (Josh in Chicago), Wednesday, 20 October 2004 17:50 (8 years ago) Permalink

Read an interview
Where Peart described some of his
Practice methods. Wow.

And I don't mean to
Be facetious. That stuff was
Cool to a young me.

― Dominique (dleone), Wednesday, 20 October 2004 17:51 (8 years ago) Permalink

2112 rocks.
Dude, A Passage to Bangkok
is in 7/8.

― darin (darin), Wednesday, 20 October 2004 17:55 (8 years ago) Permalink

Band denies, but we
know what "Passage To Bangkok"
is really about.

― Edward Bax, Thursday, 21 October 2004 23:59 (8 years ago) Permalink

Who in the hell messed
up the production on the
Vapor Trails LP?

― Edward Bax, Thursday, 21 October 2004 23:59 (8 years ago) Permalink

Went to a Rush show,
the first ten rows were filled with
teen boys air drumming.

― Edward Bax, Friday, 22 October 2004 00:00 (8 years ago) Permalink

"Dude, if you like Rush,
you will love Dream Theater!"
"No, I don't think so."

― Edward Bax, Friday, 22 October 2004 00:00 (8 years ago) Permalink

we know many scales
watch us play pretentious shit
please, we are the Rush

― The TAO that can be Posted is not the TAO! (The Tao that can be Posted is), Friday, 22 October 2004 00:03 (8 years ago) Permalink

'Passage to Bangkok':
Peart plays that 'oriental theme'
on tuned percussion

― Roy Williams Highlight (diamond), Friday, 22 October 2004 00:03 (8 years ago) Permalink

My first rock concert
Peart's solo is awesome; pot smoke
wafting through the air

― Roy Williams Highlight (diamond), Friday, 22 October 2004 00:06 (8 years ago) Permalink

3 weeks pass...

how can you go wrong
with the dubious ayn rand-
influenced lyrics?

― amateur!!st, Friday, 12 November 2004 04:53 (8 years ago) Permalink

just heard "overture/
temples of syrinx" online
on knac

oh my fucking god
i mean, oh my fucking god
oh my fucking god

― fact checking cuz (fcc), Friday, 12 November 2004 15:09 (8 years ago) Permalink

i see my friends clock
made from the power windows
picture disc, fucks sake!

― bg, Friday, 12 November 2004 15:15 (8 years ago) Permalink

Naked dude learns
Guitar, like that! Has bummer:
Life blood spills over

______________________

Look at videos
The Trees to Power Windows
Geddy has nose job

― Mehama Mama, Friday, 12 November 2004 22:49 (8 years ago) Permalink

Recently, I've been listening more to stuff from the post-synthpop lightly-funky-math-AOR/dadrock phase that basically seems to run from the late 80s until the present day, which was the first stuff by them I ever heard and which (embarrassingly? I dunno) stirred me as a preteen. There's something to be said for this period. The grand sentimental statements and the quirkily wordy and quasi-intellectual lyrics actually come together in a way that makes it less corny than it could be. There's a lot to listen to in the playing and production that accompanies the broad melodies (which I realize a lot of people find cheesy and/or 'inert' in Martin Popoff's words); the solos tend to be elegant in their conciseness. It's kinda proto-DMB in a way but not in a bad way as such. I really like "The Pass".

― sundar subramanian (sundar), Saturday, 13 November 2004 05:14 (8 years ago) Permalink

Presto was pretty great. I never bought it -- in fact, when it came out I felt as though I was more or less "over" Rush. But these dudes I used to hang out with in high school bought it when it came out and used to play it constantly; we all used to congregate at these dudes' house after school and play Euchre and drink beer and basically fuck around until we had to go home to eat dinner with the folks. Anyway, these guys bought Presto and played it all the time, and though I wasn't as big a Rush-head as I had been just a scant few years prior, I had to admit that the thing sounded pretty good. Like, they were kind of rocking out again. "Show Don't Tell" has an awesome structure; still love that one. I remember "Superconductor" had a real hot riff to it. I don't remember "The Pass" though, I'll have to seek that one out.

― Stormy Davis (diamond), Saturday, 13 November 2004 05:31 (8 years ago) Permalink

It's kind of a really sappy ballad. You might not like it. (Pre-chorus to chorus goes something like "Now you're standing on a rocky ledge/Staring out into a heartless sea/Can't waste time on the razor's edge/Nothing's what you thought it would be/All of us get lost in the darkness/Dreamers try to live by the stars/All of us do time in the gutter/Dreamers learn to steer by the cars/Turn around and walk the razor's edge/Don't turn your back and slam the door on me" if that rings any bells). "Show Don't Tell" is cool, yeah.

― sundar subramanian (sundar), Saturday, 13 November 2004 05:39 (8 years ago) Permalink

Dud. Can I do a limerick instead of a haiku, 'cause that's what I got.

There once was a Canuck named Geddy,
Who sang in voice nasal and heady,
His pretensions grand
plus ideas from Ayn Rand
Cause my gastric juices to eddy.

― Ken L (Ken L), Saturday, 13 November 2004 18:52 (8 years ago) Permalink

Did anyone get Rush In Rio? How is it?

― sundar subramanian (sundar), Saturday, 13 November 2004 20:41 (8 years ago) Permalink

I really like "The Pass".

I did too a lot at the time -- you have inspired me, I am listening to Presto for the first time in who knows how long. (The start to "Show Don't Tell" is a freakin' treble-fest.)

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Saturday, 13 November 2004 20:49 (8 years ago) Permalink

Actually now it seems like the whole album is. What were they on?

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Saturday, 13 November 2004 20:55 (8 years ago) Permalink

Also, the pun of the title of "Anagram (For Mongo)" makes me want to hurt someone. (Flipside: I do enjoy that the album was "brought to you by the letter 'D'")

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Saturday, 13 November 2004 21:20 (8 years ago) Permalink

Ha, and the instrumental break with the synth on "Superconductor" actually makes me think of the Chameleons!

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Saturday, 13 November 2004 21:21 (8 years ago) Permalink

Rush was awesome the more new wave they got.

― M@tt He1geson (Matt Helgeson), Saturday, 13 November 2004 21:24 (8 years ago) Permalink

I always wished that "Rattled by the Rush" would be about the band instead of Rush Limbaugh. I'm still hoping that when Matador releases the deluxe "Wowee Zowee: the Rad Edition" that there is a bonus version of the song with alternate lyrics.

― Ken L (Ken L), Saturday, 13 November 2004 21:37 (8 years ago) Permalink

Oh, that I could bend my fret outwards
Leave your thumb hurting
Pluggin' my bass in
Notes I play so well
Cause your tour shirt smells
Worse than your lyin'
Caught Ayn Rand cryin'
Loose like the wind
From the North we get beer
Alberta woman
Waiting to rock

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Saturday, 13 November 2004 21:53 (8 years ago) Permalink

Ned, very good. You came back with that very fast. Is that because: you had it lying around somewhere, because you are a pro and you just whipped it up, or because that is the actual lyric and, as usual, I just wasn't paying attention?

― Ken L (Ken L), Saturday, 13 November 2004 22:35 (8 years ago) Permalink

The second one (it's amazing what you can do with a lyrics database and a sense of humor).

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Saturday, 13 November 2004 22:36 (8 years ago) Permalink

sundar: late rush as DMB precusor is a stroke of inspiration!

are they from alberta?!?!?!?!?! rush i mean. i don't really know the whole rush mythology.

― amateur!!st, Saturday, 13 November 2004 23:14 (8 years ago) Permalink

I just said Alberta as it fit the flow.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Saturday, 13 November 2004 23:16 (8 years ago) Permalink

they are warriors from the mounts of heaven

― big chaki (chaki), Saturday, 13 November 2004 23:16 (8 years ago) Permalink

in the chuck eddy spirit i will say that i don't really know if i can explain what it means to "rock," but these guys really rock.

― amateur!!st, Saturday, 13 November 2004 23:34 (8 years ago) Permalink

bass like the thunder
guitars like serrated knives
it never lets up!

― amateur!!st, Saturday, 13 November 2004 23:37 (8 years ago) Permalink

whats the best rush album?

― big chaki (chaki), Saturday, 13 November 2004 23:38 (8 years ago) Permalink

the all music guide
says they are from toronto;
i could have figured

― amateur!!st, Saturday, 13 November 2004 23:45 (8 years ago) Permalink

whats the best rush album?

You'll get a thousand answers. For me, Caress of Steel, Moving Pictures, Permanent Waves, A Show of Hands (hey, it was my Rush album - sentimental reasons) and Vapor Trails are the standouts.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Saturday, 13 November 2004 23:56 (8 years ago) Permalink

The best Rush album?
A Farewell To Kings vs
2112 FITE

― The Ghost of Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Sunday, 14 November 2004 00:02 (8 years ago) Permalink

i'm willing to call it
a draw so that we all can
blast rush and lez up

― amateur!!st, Sunday, 14 November 2004 00:07 (8 years ago) Permalink

Geddy trips on log
What could this strange device be?
A guitar, dumbass

― wetmink (wetmink), Sunday, 14 November 2004 02:10 (8 years ago) Permalink

2 months pass...

I think this might be
The best thread that I've started
In the past four years

― The Ghost of Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Thursday, 3 February 2005 14:05 (8 years ago) Permalink

"What about the voice of Geddy Lee
How did it get so high?
I wonder if he speaks like an ordinary guy"

― Alfred Soto (Alfred Soto), Thursday, 3 February 2005 14:40 (8 years ago) Permalink

7 months pass...

Most days I'm real glad
that the rap on Roll the Bones
exists, It's roffle-worthy

― M@tt He1geson (Matt Helgeson), Monday, 26 September 2005 19:23 (7 years ago) Permalink

Classic, but that don't
mean that I want to hear their
early or later stuff

― kornrulez6969 (TCBeing), Monday, 26 September 2005 19:35 (7 years ago) Permalink

"Geddy Lee looks like
The Wicked Witch of the West!"
a friend pointed out

― Myonga Von Bontee (Myonga Von Bontee), Tuesday, 27 September 2005 08:15 (7 years ago) Permalink

Too lazy to haiku.

I have much enjoyed relistening to Rush tracks earlier this month after having not heard them for at least ten years, despite some shark-jumping around 1991.

When I think about Aerosmith's last 25 years, well, how can I complain about Rush?

― Mitch Mitchell (mitya), Thursday, 29 September 2005 10:29 (7 years ago) Permalink

A sad but true fact :
No women, none, anywhere
Are fans of Rush. None.

hello I am a
woman, and a fan of Rush.
Sorry. Bubble burst.

― VegemiteGrrl (VegemiteGrrl), Thursday, 29 September 2005 18:12 (7 years ago) Permalink

That was my haiku
Under a different name
Vegemite, sorry

― Matt #2 (Matt #2), Thursday, 29 September 2005 20:12 (7 years ago) Permalink

On "Rush In Rio"
The audience sing along
To "YYZ", ha!

― Matt #2 (Matt #2), Thursday, 29 September 2005 20:15 (7 years ago) Permalink

Forgiven is Matt.
He knoweth not what he does.
Tom Sawyer rocks hard!

― VegemiteGrrl (VegemiteGrrl), Thursday, 29 September 2005 21:52 (7 years ago) Permalink

I have a friend who
says his favorite bands are
Rush and Hum. What the...!

― richard wood johnson, Thursday, 29 September 2005 21:58 (7 years ago) Permalink

When I was a kid
"Afterimage" made me cry
cuz my dad had died.

I haven't heard that
song in years I wonder if
it would still be sad?

― M@tt He1geson (Matt Helgeson), Thursday, 29 September 2005 22:18 (7 years ago) Permalink

3 months pass...

Hey, is it just me
Or does Geddy sound like the
Sleater-Kinney chick?

― darin (darin), Friday, 6 January 2006 17:48 (7 years ago) Permalink

"The ugliest chick
I've ever seen!", a letter
To CREEM once proclaimed!

(Damn, those are hard! I don't see how Haikunym can do it so consistently, mine are always so stilted. Practice makes perfect, I guess.)

― Myonga Von By-Tor (Myonga Von Bontee), Friday, 6 January 2006 18:53 (7 years ago) Permalink

Rush are so classic
ILX, as usual
is dead fucking wrong

It is very fun
Living vicariously
Through gaggles of geeks

In the backs of cars
Be rockist or be cast out
Dream of ILX

― Rock Friendster, Sunday, 8 January 2006 17:23 (7 years ago) Permalink

I stand by what I wrote in 2004. The songs (works) themselves are often very good, but I can't stand Geddy Lee's voice, their general Led Zeppelin complex, or those fascistoid Ayn Rand-influenced lyrics.

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Monday, 9 January 2006 13:16 (7 years ago) Permalink

I haven't listened
To 2112 for years.
I would like to now.

― Excelsior Syndrum (noodle vague), Monday, 9 January 2006 14:01 (7 years ago) Permalink

their general Led Zeppelin complex

of course, most of their music, esp. everything after Moving Pix sounds absolutely NOTHING like Led Zeppelin at all....

― M@tt He1geson (Matt Helgeson), Monday, 9 January 2006 16:53 (7 years ago) Permalink

Geddy Les Claypool
Sounds so uptight.
Might farts help ?

(dudski)

― blunt (blunt), Monday, 9 January 2006 17:51 (7 years ago) Permalink

Rush reveal secret
to success - four studio
albums, then one live

― Edward Bax (EdBax), Monday, 9 January 2006 21:14 (7 years ago) Permalink

were they born but three
decades later would they be
RPG coders?

― Elliot (Elliot), Tuesday, 10 January 2006 07:57 (7 years ago) Permalink

Those naughty Canucks
They borrowed from Raymond Scott
They almost got sued!

― Edward Bax (EdBax), Tuesday, 10 January 2006 17:35 (7 years ago) Permalink

Those cheaky Canucks
borrowed from Tchaikovsky, "We
have assumed control."

― Edward Bax (EdBax), Tuesday, 10 January 2006 17:35 (7 years ago) Permalink

Those silly Canucks
Using airport and morse codes
in song, Y Y Zed

― Edward Bax (EdBax), Tuesday, 10 January 2006 17:35 (7 years ago) Permalink

If I could still play
AD&D to ol' Rush like
When I was a boy. . . .

― vomit redux, Tuesday, 10 January 2006 17:38 (7 years ago) Permalink

"Power Windows" was
brought to you by the letter
'M'. Why that letter?

― Edward Bax (EdBax), Wednesday, 11 January 2006 00:20 (7 years ago) Permalink

Oh sweet Rivendell
Led Zep weren't alone with the
Tolkien fixation

― Edward Bax (EdBax), Wednesday, 11 January 2006 00:20 (7 years ago) Permalink

So many rumors
Like this - no, Neil Peart does not
have a doctorate

― Edward Bax (EdBax), Wednesday, 11 January 2006 00:20 (7 years ago) Permalink

Who is John Rutsey?
You may well ask this question.
Well, heard of Pete Best?

― Edward Bax (EdBax), Wednesday, 11 January 2006 00:20 (7 years ago) Permalink

Plato, Socrates,
What use do I have of these,
When I have "The Trees"?

― Edward Bax (EdBax), Wednesday, 11 January 2006 00:21 (7 years ago) Permalink

geddy's real name is
gary, but his grandma used to say
"geddy", and it stuck

― M@tt He1geson (Matt Helgeson), Wednesday, 11 January 2006 00:24 (7 years ago) Permalink

Geddy sings so high
I say we blame Canada
It gets cold up there

I love first record
I might be the only one
Besides John Rutsey

I survived high school
because of "Subdivisions"
That and Minor Threat

― Brian O'Neill (NYCNative), Wednesday, 11 January 2006 10:55 (7 years ago) Permalink

Tai Shan is the name

― zaxxon25 (zaxxon25), Wednesday, 11 January 2006 12:58 (7 years ago) Permalink

Tai Shan is the name
Of the DC zoo panda
Influenced by Rush?

― zaxxon25 (zaxxon25), Wednesday, 11 January 2006 12:59 (7 years ago) Permalink

"Hold Your Fire" cover?
Geddy sez: "It has nothing
to do with brown rice."

― Edward Bax (EdBax), Wednesday, 11 January 2006 19:29 (7 years ago) Permalink

Geddy Lee - who else
could sing for the Great White North?
"Take off, you hoser!"

― Edward Bax (EdBax), Wednesday, 11 January 2006 20:43 (7 years ago) Permalink

Rush: bringing you so
many record covers to
examine while stoned.

― Edward Bax (EdBax), Wednesday, 11 January 2006 20:43 (7 years ago) Permalink

Listen to those toms;
Peart gets a lot of flack now,
but he gets around.

― Dominique (dleone), Wednesday, 11 January 2006 20:47 (7 years ago) Permalink

Neil Peart, a drummer
The only one of the three
who names his solos

― Edward Bax (EdBax), Wednesday, 11 January 2006 23:19 (7 years ago) Permalink

I love first record
I might be the only one
Besides John Rutsey

No, dude, I do too
Working Man is a hard-rock
jam for the ages

― M@tt He1geson (Matt Helgeson), Wednesday, 11 January 2006 23:23 (7 years ago) Permalink

Fans read liners, ask:
"No music credit for Neil,
are drums not music?"

― Edward Bax (EdBax), Thursday, 12 January 2006 02:44 (7 years ago) Permalink

"Didacts and Narpets"
could be an anagram for
"Addicts and Parents"

― Edward Bax (EdBax), Friday, 13 January 2006 12:47 (7 years ago) Permalink

WTF? Neil's drums
toured North America but
without Neil. That's weird.

― Edward Bax (EdBax), Friday, 13 January 2006 22:34 (7 years ago) Permalink

Talk about Rand but
Unlike Saints Joni and Neil
They're not tax exiles

― Sundar (sundar), Saturday, 14 January 2006 17:23 (7 years ago) Permalink

I am new to Rush -
what song is the best showcase
for Neil Peart's drumming?

What song, most of all,
makes you wonder how the fuck
he did what he did?

― Deluxe (Damian), Saturday, 14 January 2006 21:48 (7 years ago) Permalink

That's arguable,
But the best known Peart showcase
Would be YYZ

― dlp9001, Saturday, 14 January 2006 22:23 (7 years ago) Permalink

I thank you, and will
keep this tune in mind next time
I'm CD shopping.

― Deluxe (Damian), Saturday, 14 January 2006 22:27 (7 years ago) Permalink

it must be rush day on vh-1 classic, all rush all the time.

― keyth (keyth), Sunday, 15 January 2006 05:27 (7 years ago) Permalink

I'd like Rush a lot more if they wore black capes covered with gold $ signs...

How about robes?

src="http://www.designvortex.com/greenman/rush/images/2112group.jpg"
width=539>

― Brian O'Neill (NYCNative), Sunday, 15 January 2006 09:48 (7 years ago) Permalink

Er...

width=539>

― Brian O'Neill (NYCNative), Sunday, 15 January 2006 09:49 (7 years ago) Permalink

rickenbacker bass
slingerland and tama drums
gibsons for alex

gibsons for alex
yes, it was true, now mostly
he plays Paul Reed Smith

― Edward Bax (EdBax), Sunday, 22 January 2006 05:37 (7 years ago) Permalink

Wow, I count over 100 Rush haiku here!

(25 of 'em are mine)

― Edward Bax (EdBax), Tuesday, 24 January 2006 04:59 (7 years ago) Permalink

How was R30,
anyone who bought it?
Looked good on TV.

― Sundar (sundar), Tuesday, 24 January 2006 05:10 (7 years ago) Permalink

R30 gives you
two dvd, two cd,
and two guitar picks

― Edward Bax (EdBax), Tuesday, 24 January 2006 05:39 (7 years ago) Permalink

i have been to both
la villa strangiato
and sphyrinx's temple

― prince rupert, Tuesday, 24 January 2006 05:48 (7 years ago) Permalink

4 months pass...

new "Replay x 3"
three videos, one cd
Best Buy has bonus

― Edward Bax (EdBax), Thursday, 22 June 2006 20:26 (6 years ago) Permalink

Rush pretty much rocks my world. I'm always saddened by the amount of unfounded hate that is heaped upon them. These guys have been cranking out consistently high quality albums for over 30 years, you'd think someone would cut them some slack!

The string of albums starting with Permanent Waves and ending with Power Windows were basically flawless, and there are many great songs throughout their catalog.

Please stop the hate!

― Matt Olken (Moodles), Thursday, 22 June 2006 20:53 (6 years ago) Permalink

I have to say, Matt
I appreciate your love
But that's no haiku

― Jesus Dan (Dan Perry), Thursday, 22 June 2006 20:56 (6 years ago) Permalink

Good point Jesus Dan, just had to get that off my chest.

Here you go:

Rush in Rio rocks
Brazilians go nuts during
Alex's solos

― Matt Olken (Moodles), Thursday, 22 June 2006 21:06 (6 years ago) Permalink

Your bad haiku has
One too many syllables
In the second line

― Matt #2 (Matt #2), Thursday, 22 June 2006 21:09 (6 years ago) Permalink

Hey Matt #2
Let's not get all pedantic
It's the thought that counts

― Jesus Dan (Dan Perry), Thursday, 22 June 2006 21:11 (6 years ago) Permalink

This machinery
Making Rush haiku can still
Be open-hearted

― LC (Damian), Thursday, 22 June 2006 22:03 (6 years ago) Permalink

I say "Brazilians"
With three syllables, not four.
Does anyone else?

― Matt Olken (Moodles), Friday, 23 June 2006 14:31 (6 years ago) Permalink

Let's see: bru-zil-yans.
I say Brazilians with three,
Not four syllables.

― dlp9001 (dlp9001), Friday, 23 June 2006 16:18 (6 years ago) Permalink

...and this argument
Makes me glad there's no Rush song
Called "Aluminum."

― dlp9001 (dlp9001), Friday, 23 June 2006 16:22 (6 years ago) Permalink

...and this argument
Makes me glad there's no Rush song
Called "Aluminum."
-- dlp9001 (mysticalbeas...), June 23rd, 2006.

Oh, but there should be - I can just hear Geddy Lee singing "Al-u-min-i-yum!" Don't know what such a song would be about, but I know it would rock!

― Matt Olken (Moodles), Friday, 23 June 2006 17:00 (6 years ago) Permalink

wish I still got high
when A Passage to Bangkok
comes on in the car

― nicky lo-fi (nicky lo-fi), Friday, 23 June 2006 19:10 (6 years ago) Permalink

Liked Rush as a teen
Started listening again
Brings back those old days

Friend's smoke-filled basement
'Anthem' blasts on the hi-fi
Air guitars abound

― Lynco (lync0), Friday, 23 June 2006 19:38 (6 years ago) Permalink

I have two copies
Of the three-dvd set
All shrink-wrap intact

― pdf (Phil Freeman), Friday, 23 June 2006 19:44 (6 years ago) Permalink

for some strange reason
i don't possess any rush
should remedy that

― gear (gear), Friday, 23 June 2006 19:48 (6 years ago) Permalink

gear:

Moving Pictures and
Counterparts and Grace Under
Pressure are all great!

Permanent Waves and
Signals plus Power Windows
rock and roll my world!

― Matt Olken (Moodles), Friday, 23 June 2006 19:52 (6 years ago) Permalink

The early records
are sorely underrated
2112 rules

― Lynco (lync0), Friday, 23 June 2006 19:58 (6 years ago) Permalink

A Farewell to Kings:
forged their creativity
closer to my heart

― Stormy Davis (diamond), Friday, 23 June 2006 20:58 (6 years ago) Permalink

Loved Exit Stage Left
When I was at boarding school
Not so much today

― Naive Teen Idol (Naive Teen Idol), Saturday, 24 June 2006 00:08 (6 years ago) Permalink

Cool old videos?
Remember "Subdivisions"
Atari Tempest

― Joe (Joe), Saturday, 24 June 2006 01:31 (6 years ago) Permalink

A Rush song I like
goes: "One zero zero one
zero zero one..."

― Joe (Joe), Saturday, 24 June 2006 01:34 (6 years ago) Permalink

That Freaks & Geeks guy
had more drums than Neal Peart. Be
cool or be cast out.

― ramon fernandez (ramon fernandez), Saturday, 24 June 2006 05:35 (6 years ago) Permalink

8 months pass...

The new Rush single: Far Cry is being streamed @ Official Rush website

http://www.rush.com/

the track has a similar feel to Porcupine Tree on the In Absentia album in 2002

― djmartian, Monday, 12 March 2007 12:48 (6 years ago) Permalink

for a "prog" band their
eighties albums sound a lot like
the police, but cool

― M@tt He1ges0n, Monday, 12 March 2007 22:25 (6 years ago) Permalink

This thread was awesome
We should all do more haikus
And start ILH

― NYCNative, Monday, 12 March 2007 23:08 (6 years ago) Permalink

What do you think of this song, martian? It's not embarrassing but it doesn't strike me as anything extremely special either and it's a little annoying. Very much in the Vapor Trails vein + that build-up to the triumphant chord that sounds straight off "Hemispheres." It seems like Geddy decided at some point that he could just declaim things instead of writing vocal melodies.

― Sundar, Monday, 12 March 2007 23:40 (6 years ago) Permalink

Plato, Socrates,
What use do I have of these,
When I have "The Trees"?

Edward Bax (EdBax) on Wednesday, 11 January 2006 00:21 (1 year ago)

Genius!

― J, Tuesday, 13 March 2007 00:17 (6 years ago) Permalink

DUD!

― wesley useche, Tuesday, 13 March 2007 00:53 (6 years ago) Permalink

The song's actually growing on me a bit after hearing it on the radio. I still think the intro and breaks are more exciting than the song qua song but it's got a hook or two.

― Sundar, Wednesday, 14 March 2007 02:18 (6 years ago) Permalink

Been a long time since
I'd listened to Show of Hands
Boy Rush liked their synths

― Naive Teen Idol, Thursday, 15 March 2007 03:52 (6 years ago) Permalink

absolute shit.

I mean DUD.

― Saxby D. Elder, Thursday, 15 March 2007 03:57 (6 years ago) Permalink

Ha, well, that's the easy take on them.

The truth is, these guys wrote some pretty...interesting music. I won't say "good" necessarily, b/c Geddy's voice has issues and there's just something about their aesthetic that screams "LOSER."

But as I listen to Show of Hands, which is kind of their "Rush in the 80's" record, I defy anyone who's heard "Manhattan Project," "Subdivisions," or "Red Sector A" to say that these guys didn't know their way around a good tune or have a pretty remarkable sense of pop dynamics. Particularly on the former, the synth stuff is surprisingly sophisticated.

― Naive Teen Idol, Thursday, 15 March 2007 04:09 (6 years ago) Permalink

Ok, not to take this TOO far, but is it just me or does Geddy sound like he's going through an auto-tuner on this version of "Spirit of Radio"?

http://youtube.com/watch?v=DelSXAtiB48&mode=related&search=

― Naive Teen Idol, Thursday, 15 March 2007 04:17 (6 years ago) Permalink

haha yeah I never thought about that but even the shouts and exclamations sound like they are right on pitch. That's great if he's doing it on his own. I need someone like that to help me out with my solfège struggles.

― Sundar, Thursday, 15 March 2007 04:42 (6 years ago) Permalink

pot kettle black
"there's just something about their aesthetic that screams "LOSER."
wow, to worry about what's aesthetically screaming loser on an internet board, wow
Classic

― kamerad, Thursday, 15 March 2007 04:47 (6 years ago) Permalink

not enough haikus
in this thread revival, folks!
I quite like "Far Cry"

― Jeff W, Thursday, 15 March 2007 13:04 (6 years ago) Permalink

But as I listen to Show of Hands, which is kind of their "Rush in the 80's" record, I defy anyone who's heard "Manhattan Project," "Subdivisions," or "Red Sector A" to say that these guys didn't know their way around a good tune or have a pretty remarkable sense of pop dynamics. Particularly on the former, the synth stuff is surprisingly sophisticated

Yup. I've been saying this for years. For me, the '70s stuff was their apprenticeship; the results were the eighties synth-pop.

― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn, Thursday, 15 March 2007 13:05 (6 years ago) Permalink

I grew up on Rush
Tom Sawyer, 2112
No fault before God

― Pye Poudre, Thursday, 15 March 2007 13:43 (6 years ago) Permalink

The new Rush song sounds
like the old Rush songs I like
but just not as good

― M@tt He1ges0n, Thursday, 15 March 2007 14:29 (6 years ago) Permalink

Agreed with Alfred
That their early eighties sound
represents their peak

― M@tt He1ges0n, Thursday, 15 March 2007 14:30 (6 years ago) Permalink

Yes. Moving Pictures
Too much strange beauty for us
Mere humans, my ears

But synthpop? Hardly
And while Permanent Waves and
Signals shine brightly

They hold no candle
To 2112, it's strong
Light o'ermasters theirs

For this band knows peaks
Then valleys: brilliant flashes
Come sudden, then gone

― Pye Poudre, Thursday, 15 March 2007 14:58 (6 years ago) Permalink

I dig Geddy's appearence in the new ESPN fantasy baseball commercial!

― Stormy Davis, Friday, 16 March 2007 00:36 (6 years ago) Permalink

I'm quite enjoying "Mystic Rhythms" right now. Oh, and Anne Dudley on Power Windows?!? My...

― Naive Teen Idol, Friday, 16 March 2007 04:42 (6 years ago) Permalink

1 year passes...

r.i.p. john rutsey.

― tipsy mothra, Tuesday, 13 May 2008 23:32 (5 years ago) Permalink

RIP duder -- never knew that's why he had to leave the band.

― Ned Raggett, Tuesday, 13 May 2008 23:35 (5 years ago) Permalink

on a whim bought tickets for Rush at the Excel Center on Thursday nite!

SOOO OOOO OOEXCITED : ) : ) : ) : )

― M@tt He1ges0n, Tuesday, 20 May 2008 20:27 (5 years ago) Permalink

I think Rush have a bunch of great songs, but I wouldn't call myself a fan: their fans tend to be kinda obsessive. But that's awesome. One of my regrets is that a friend of mine was a huge Rush fan (also Dream Theater and Jethro Tull) when I met him, and I turned him on to alternative rock in the mid 90s and he just gave up on Rush and the others. That's too bad: I found his Rush obsessiveness interesting. So I'm glad that there are still Rush fans out there.

― Euler, Tuesday, 20 May 2008 20:37 (5 years ago) Permalink

They still bring it live. too bad about Rutsey, the first album was a beast.

― Bill Magill, Tuesday, 20 May 2008 20:37 (5 years ago) Permalink

Seeing them on Sunday! For the first time ever, I might add.

I'm starting to think their new live album just might be their best to date.

― A. Begrand, Tuesday, 20 May 2008 20:42 (5 years ago) Permalink

All the World's A Stage is a nearly unbeatable live album. So if you say that, I guess I gotta hear this new one.

― Bill Magill, Tuesday, 20 May 2008 20:51 (5 years ago) Permalink

so freakin awesome - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mav12Hm8fSs&feature=related

― will, Tuesday, 20 May 2008 21:05 (5 years ago) Permalink

one of my very first concerts (back in the Hemispheres days)...practically wore out my copy of All The World's A Stage before I caught the "back in the dressing room" banter at the end of Side 4...("oh man, what a show!")...sad about Rutsey...I recall rumors about Neil Peart having leukemia...maybe true, maybe fans confusing him with Rutsey...

― henry s, Tuesday, 20 May 2008 21:10 (5 years ago) Permalink

Granted, my taste in Rush is a bit on the weird side, I tend to prefer their 82-87 output. I guess because those were the years where I first got into the band.

― A. Begrand, Tuesday, 20 May 2008 21:13 (5 years ago) Permalink

AB-I think your tastes are in line with this thread, nothing weird about that. I'm more of a '70s fan, with 2112 being, in my opinion, their best. But I also love the 80s stuff.

― Bill Magill, Tuesday, 20 May 2008 21:53 (5 years ago) Permalink

My favorite album is still the first one I got by them -- A Show of Hands, of all things. I think they're a band that you end up loving whatever you get into first.

― Ned Raggett, Tuesday, 20 May 2008 21:56 (5 years ago) Permalink

Thought I'd seen it all
Til I saw that video
Finding My Way smokes

― Bill Magill, Tuesday, 20 May 2008 21:59 (5 years ago) Permalink

Cool to see Peart on a small kit too.

― Bill Magill, Tuesday, 20 May 2008 22:00 (5 years ago) Permalink

I haven't listened to their recent stuff much, but they were truly awesome in the '70s. Agreed that All the Worlds... is incredible, one of the most underrated live albums by any band in any genre. Also, I agree with Ned's second sentence -- I think they're a band that you end up loving whatever you get into first -- with one caveat: provided you can like or grow to like Geddy's voice, especially on the earlier stuff when it was higher.

― Lostandfound, Tuesday, 20 May 2008 22:06 (5 years ago) Permalink

I tell you, I'd freak if they ever pulled out stuff like "Red Sector A" and "The Enemy Within". They are doing "Between the Wheels" and "Digital Man", which is cool.

And yeah, Ned's comment is dead on...Grace Under Pressure is the album I'm most fond of precisely because it was my first. Even though "Red Lenses" kind of blows.

― A. Begrand, Tuesday, 20 May 2008 22:13 (5 years ago) Permalink

One thing I always liked about 80s Rush is that Lifeson actually takes great advantage of that super chorus/compressed post-Andy Summers sound that every guitarist was flocking to then.

First Rush album I ever heard was Exit... Stage Left. Signals was the first one I ever bought (and am fond of the most)

― Elvis Telecom, Thursday, 22 May 2008 00:02 (4 years ago) Permalink

One thing I always liked about 80s Rush is that Lifeson actually takes great advantage of that super chorus/compressed post-Andy Summers sound that every guitarist was flocking to then.

That's for sure. There's this effortless transition from one style of Big Epic Music to another that lesser souls failed at constantly.

― Ned Raggett, Thursday, 22 May 2008 00:05 (4 years ago) Permalink

That was weird watching them be so Zeppelin-ish in that You Tube clip.

― Bimble, Thursday, 22 May 2008 00:10 (4 years ago) Permalink

it's weird how so many of the dino-chops-rockers of the 70s made a transition into quasi-new wave moves but still maintaining their own sort of spin on it -- rush, dudes from asia, yes, king crimson, etc

― M@tt He1ges0n, Thursday, 22 May 2008 00:11 (4 years ago) Permalink

Yeah, I think Lifeson was the best at that early-80s new wave guitar style. On Grace Under Pressure, Power Windows, he really nailed that tone.

That's what I found so exciting about the last album, you had subtle glimpses of that very sound, like on "Armor and Sword".

― A. Begrand, Thursday, 22 May 2008 00:50 (4 years ago) Permalink

Yeah, I think Lifeson was the best at that early-80s new wave guitar style. On Grace Under Pressure, Power Windows, he really nailed that tone.

Aye. "The Manhattan Project" always sounded like a McGeoch-era Siouxsie song to me - especially with that string break in the middle.

OK, I'm going to have to fish out my Rush albums tonight.

― Elvis Telecom, Thursday, 22 May 2008 01:48 (4 years ago) Permalink

My favorite may actually be A Show of Hands... talk about an all killer, no filler set list. I love their 70s stuff, but a lot of the live albums from then had spotty material. Hands really encapsulated the very best songs from that era of the band.

― Jeff Treppel, Thursday, 22 May 2008 02:06 (4 years ago) Permalink

i got into these guys thru my classic rock lovin' older sisters back around the time of Farewell To kings & hemispheres. these guys were HUGE in my jr high/high school years in my blue collar/lower middle class environment. i would rate permanent waves & signals as things i would still like to listen to, tho i don't own anything by them anymore. i saw them at the Meadowlands back on the signals tour (i think). anything post-signals sounded like shit to me but i know that's when a lot of you younger guys got into them.
Take off,to the great white north.

― gershy, Thursday, 22 May 2008 05:47 (4 years ago) Permalink

love this guy who plays acoustic rush riffs in his suburban kitchen.

― tipsy mothra, Thursday, 22 May 2008 07:24 (4 years ago) Permalink

presumably while the kids are at soccer.

― tipsy mothra, Thursday, 22 May 2008 07:25 (4 years ago) Permalink

Aye. "The Manhattan Project" always sounded like a McGeoch-era Siouxsie song to me - especially with that string break in the middle.

You have made my day, mister. I wish you understood just how much shit I was given for listening to Power Windows in 9th grade.

― Bimble, Thursday, 22 May 2008 07:43 (4 years ago) Permalink

growing up in a small town, rush was almost served as a kind of "alternative" rock for us before nirvana and all them...we never heard about any cool new wave or punk stuff...so rush was metal enough to get a pass but there was something different about it obviously.

anyway i'm pretty excited about tonight...

― M@tt He1ges0n, Thursday, 22 May 2008 16:12 (4 years ago) Permalink

If they were playing here in town, I'd go but I really don't wanna drive for hours to the middle of nowhere etc...

― Bimble, Thursday, 22 May 2008 19:16 (4 years ago) Permalink

i can't wait for those opening notes of spirt of radio!!!!!!!!!!!

― M@tt He1ges0n, Thursday, 22 May 2008 19:18 (4 years ago) Permalink

"Subdivisions" is going to be the one that gets me the most, I know it.

― A. Begrand, Thursday, 22 May 2008 19:41 (4 years ago) Permalink

ANY EsCAPE MIGHT HELP TO SOOTH THE UNATTRACTIVE TRUTH!!!!

― M@tt He1ges0n, Thursday, 22 May 2008 19:42 (4 years ago) Permalink

Yeah, "Subdivisions" is probably my ultimate favorite as well in the end. Though it was kinda funny I first heard one of the best encapsulations of bored/frustrated suburban life crossed with random dreams of something else after I'd already left high school!

― Ned Raggett, Thursday, 22 May 2008 19:44 (4 years ago) Permalink

I think the perfect midpoint between the '70s prog stuff and the '80s new wave stuff has to be Moving Pictures, and I nominate that album as Rush's platonic ideal. It has a little bit of both realms, and knocks both out of the park

― Bill Magill, Thursday, 22 May 2008 19:59 (4 years ago) Permalink

A Farewell To Kings
Hemispheres is also great
2112 rules

― HI DERE, Thursday, 22 May 2008 20:25 (4 years ago) Permalink

i will (sort of) defend hold your fire as being good too

― M@tt He1ges0n, Thursday, 22 May 2008 20:29 (4 years ago) Permalink

2112 is so fucking awesome. From that point up to Signals is my Rush era.

― Bill Magill, Thursday, 22 May 2008 20:36 (4 years ago) Permalink

2112 is the one pre-1980 Rush album I prefer the most. I'd mention A Farewell to Kings, but I'm sick to death of "Closer to the Heart". It'd be cool to see Rush perform the title track live, though. Killer tune, that one.

Yeah, that song had a pretty big impact on any kid who was into Rush in junior high/highschool, including me. It's funny, so many people criticize Peart for coming off as so rigid in his lyric writing, especially post-Permanent Waves, but to this day I find his work incredibly eloquent.

― A. Begrand, Thursday, 22 May 2008 20:52 (4 years ago) Permalink

I want to make a case for "Time Stand Still," a mostly unsentimental and accurate depiction of nostalgia that's perfect for missing a high school you never loved; it's their "Solsbury Hill."

― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn, Thursday, 22 May 2008 21:33 (4 years ago) Permalink

^^^word up! love that song! aimee mann on the hook

― M@tt He1ges0n, Thursday, 22 May 2008 21:34 (4 years ago) Permalink

"Time Stand Still" is incredible. I had no idea that was Aimee Mann!

― Euler, Thursday, 22 May 2008 21:34 (4 years ago) Permalink

She was in the video, which was a cool touch. Definitely Rush's best pop moment since "Limelight". I want to go watch the Show of Hands DVD now.

― A. Begrand, Thursday, 22 May 2008 21:36 (4 years ago) Permalink

from the onion AV club, interview w/aimee mann:

O: Speaking of popping up in weird places, what are you doing on that Rush album? [Mann sings on "Time Stand Still" from Hold Your Fire. —ed.]

AM: They called me up and asked me if I would sing. And I thought, Rush? That's not my kind of thing. So I listened to the song, and the part was this little falsetto thing. It was cute.

O: It's a fine enough song.

AM: Yeah. I don't mind the song.

O: Do you still get royalty checks from that?

AM: Oh, I don't think so. I doubt it. They gave me $2,000. That's a lot of dough.

O: Canadian or American?

AM: [Laughs.] That's the question! I think American. They flew me up to Toronto, and they were really funny. Well, except for Neil Peart. He wasn't very funny.

― M@tt He1ges0n, Thursday, 22 May 2008 21:37 (4 years ago) Permalink

]She was in the video, which was a cool touch. Definitely Rush's best pop moment since "Limelight".

LURVE the synth line over the chorus.

― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn, Thursday, 22 May 2008 21:41 (4 years ago) Permalink

I love Rush as a pop band, which is why I won't say that I'm a Rush fan, having dealt for years with Rush fans who claimed to hate pop.

― Euler, Thursday, 22 May 2008 21:43 (4 years ago) Permalink

One of my first alb reviews in high school was Rush's Presto. Still love "The Pass."

― Terrible Cold, Thursday, 22 May 2008 21:46 (4 years ago) Permalink

oh man just watched the video for time stands still...i forgot how sweet and melancholy that song is.

― M@tt He1ges0n, Thursday, 22 May 2008 21:48 (4 years ago) Permalink

SO many guitar riffs on "Time Stands Still." Lifeson tries something different all over the verses.

― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn, Thursday, 22 May 2008 21:49 (4 years ago) Permalink

"The Pass", there's an underrated track. Gorgeous song.

AM: [Laughs.] That's the question! I think American. They flew me up to Toronto, and they were really funny. Well, except for Neil Peart. He wasn't very funny.

http://www.cbc.ca/mercerreport/video_player.html?neilpeart

― A. Begrand, Thursday, 22 May 2008 21:53 (4 years ago) Permalink

Adding 'yes' to all the "Time Stands Still" love. Another example of capturing a mindset in song to a T (and lord knows I'm feeling that more with the years).

― Ned Raggett, Thursday, 22 May 2008 21:54 (4 years ago) Permalink

"The Pass", there's an underrated track. Gorgeous song.

^^^^OTM^^^^OTM^^^^OTM^^^^

― Elvis Telecom, Thursday, 22 May 2008 23:21 (4 years ago) Permalink

t-shirts I saw at the Rush concert last night:

Savatage
Boards of Canada
System of a Down
New York Dolls
Santana
Dead Kennedys

Think of another band where you'd see all those in the crowd??

― M@tt He1ges0n, Friday, 23 May 2008 15:30 (4 years ago) Permalink

Rush has fans from all over the spectrum. Yes is another one like that, where you see headbangers and Jackson Browne fans at the same concert.

― Bill Magill, Friday, 23 May 2008 15:38 (4 years ago) Permalink

I caught them at Irvine Meadows about two weeks ago. It was my 3rd Rush show.

These guys are just fucking fantastic.

Though they played some really exciting tracks like "Overture/Temple of the Syrinx" and "Passage to Bangkok", I have to say the highest energy moment of night was the mid-set "Spirit of Radio". I had it stuck in my head for days and days.

Might have to go see them again in Portland soon... which is silly since it's the same set list. But goddamn it--it's RUSH!

― Nate Carson, Sunday, 25 May 2008 22:15 (4 years ago) Permalink

The show tonight was simply one of the best concerts I have ever seen. I was fifth row on the floor, dead center, and it was perfect. They were perfect. Lifeson is such a ham. Personal faves were the 80s fare, no surprise..."Subdivisions", "Between the Wheels", "Mission", etc. But the classics slayed, too. "2112 Overture/Syrinx" especially. And the new stuff fit extremely well with the oldies.

And yeah, such a huge variety of people. Great seeing so many kids, either curious teens or little kids taken by their dads.

― A. Begrand, Monday, 26 May 2008 08:54 (4 years ago) Permalink

2 weeks pass...

Wow, I just want you guys to know I have experienced the first album this weekend at long last and had a great fucking time with it. I find if I just relax and accept that it is just a Led Zeppelin knockoff, then I can really enjoy it. I've always ignored their early stuff, which I probably said before on this thread. I only started caring about Rush for a few select tracks on the Permanent Waves album up through Hold Your Fire, then I lost interest. So this is just fantastic fun, this first album of theirs. Thanks ILM!

― Bimble Is Still More Goth Than You, Sunday, 15 June 2008 08:33 (4 years ago) Permalink

i recall reading an interview of u2 where they were talking about their zooropa tour or something, one of their biggest tours on the back of a huge bestselling album anyway... and they were all hyped cause they sold out some arena in michigan or somewhere - until they they realized rush had sold out the venue across town, on the same night as their concert, with rush's venue holding like 3 times as many people as u2's stadium, for that night *and the next*, and rush hadn't even dented the top 40 in like 10 years at that point....

so, are they pretty good live then? i honestly never understood their appeal myself.

― messiahwannabe, Sunday, 15 June 2008 18:10 (4 years ago) Permalink

I see something like a hundred shows a year and anytime I see Rush is a major event. They are that good live.

― Nate Carson, Monday, 16 June 2008 05:56 (4 years ago) Permalink

What was that thread about the drummer?

Finding My Way:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mav12Hm8fSs

― Bimble Is Still More Goth Than You, Monday, 16 June 2008 12:25 (4 years ago) Permalink

fuck you guys, I'll take my '80s U2 over Rush any day

― stephen, Monday, 16 June 2008 23:41 (4 years ago) Permalink

oh man -- had Eno produced Power Windows-era Rush...

― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn, Monday, 16 June 2008 23:42 (4 years ago) Permalink

...then Coldplay would never have existed. (Or not.)

― Ned Raggett, Monday, 16 June 2008 23:53 (4 years ago) Permalink

I played Power Windows at the gym this week. Do I get a cookie?

― Bimble, Tuesday, 17 June 2008 02:23 (4 years ago) Permalink

yes!

― M@tt He1ges0n, Tuesday, 17 June 2008 02:24 (4 years ago) Permalink

Saw them in Austin several weeks ago and it was absolutely mind-blowing.

I've seen them many times before, but this was in a much smaller venue than usual and the sound was insanely loud yet crystal clear.

Between The Wheels from Grace Under Pressure was one of many highlights. I still can't believe that they were that good.

― Moodles, Tuesday, 17 June 2008 03:54 (4 years ago) Permalink

"Between the Wheels" sounded so good live, that I wish they'd played more from that album!

― A. Begrand, Tuesday, 17 June 2008 04:04 (4 years ago) Permalink

A childhood friend introduced me to Rush when Permanent Waves came out. I forgot about 'em until I heard Moving Pictures on headphones and was blown away. I was a fan through Power Windows which at first seemed perfect, but later felt a bit sterile. I sold all their records before college, but I couldn't stay away, and gradually got most of the 2003 reissues. In hindsight, Signals has the most consistent songwriting. Grace Under Pressure is a bit of a dense mess, but was I the only one to think of it when I first heard OK Computer?

― Fastnbulbous, Thursday, 19 June 2008 16:36 (4 years ago) Permalink

I guess the reissues were 1997.

― Fastnbulbous, Thursday, 19 June 2008 16:56 (4 years ago) Permalink

Next door in college,
a kid from Billerica
REALLY LIKED Counterparts

― David R., Thursday, 19 June 2008 16:59 (4 years ago) Permalink

3 weeks pass...

― Bimble Is Still More Goth Than You, Monday, 14 July 2008 03:55 (4 years ago) Permalink

Take yourself a friend

― Bimble Is Still More Goth Than You, Monday, 14 July 2008 03:56 (4 years ago) Permalink

the words of the prophets were written on the studio wall

concert hall

― Bimble Is Still More Goth Than You, Monday, 14 July 2008 04:06 (4 years ago) Permalink

Time Stands Still.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e10z-E56PVI

― Bimble Is Still More Goth Than You, Monday, 14 July 2008 04:35 (4 years ago) Permalink

Okay, but srsly, Time Stands Still rules. Amirite?

― Bimble Is Still More Goth Than You, Sunday, 20 July 2008 10:49 (4 years ago) Permalink

I spun Passage to Bangkok at my Dj gig tonight.

― Nate Carson, Monday, 21 July 2008 09:38 (4 years ago) Permalink

I've had "Signals" on in the car the last few days, "Countdown" is so good, like Rush doing Gary Numan. Best album they ever did, I think, the only track I don't like is the "Walking on the Moon" knockoff.

― Pashmina, Monday, 21 July 2008 11:07 (4 years ago) Permalink

Fucking Signals. THAT IS THE SHIT.

― Bimble Is Still More Goth Than You, Monday, 21 July 2008 12:18 (4 years ago) Permalink

Stephen Colbert, Rolling Stone... I want my old uncool unsexy Rush back!

― Shin Oliva Suzuki, Monday, 21 July 2008 12:40 (4 years ago) Permalink

I've been going through a huge Rush phase the last two weeks, mostly spent diving into all the 80s albums I'd ignored before. Signals is most definitely my favorite, but I'm surprised at how much I'm actually enjoying the others I'd never previously even wanted to hear (Power Windows, Grace Under Pressure).

― jon /via/ chi 2.0, Monday, 21 July 2008 12:46 (4 years ago) Permalink

Fly by Night! 2112! Hemispheres!

― vogtlin, Monday, 21 July 2008 16:21 (4 years ago) Permalink

I took my family to EPCOT recently and got a swell t-shirt that says "The 21st Century started in October, 1982" (when EPCOT opened). Signals is totally a trip back to that time and that future-centric state of mind.

As we entered the park, we were greeted by the music of the Beach Boys playing over the PA. Not bad, but "Countdown" would have been far more appropriate, especially since it was released right around the time of EPCOT's opening and describes events that Rush witnessed right down the road from the Disney parks. Hell, I'll even bet Rush went to EPCOT after seeing the Space Shuttle launch!

― Moodles, Monday, 21 July 2008 18:19 (4 years ago) Permalink

i think that series of albums from the 80's (signals through power windows, I guess add moving pictures in there too) is their best era. really much after that I can't stand anything they did; and the earlier stuff gets overly histrionic vocally though I think most of it is good.

― akm, Monday, 21 July 2008 20:49 (4 years ago) Permalink

Yeah, I totally see Rush as Epcot music. You can almost hear The Nightfly's "I.G.Y." playing too.

― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn, Monday, 21 July 2008 22:18 (4 years ago) Permalink

"i think that series of albums from the 80's (signals through power windows, I guess add moving pictures in there too) is their best era."

This seems to be the majority opinion on ILM, though I'll never be able to understand it.

― Bill Magill, Monday, 21 July 2008 23:16 (4 years ago) Permalink

Hell, I'll even bet Rush went to EPCOT after seeing the Space Shuttle launch!

Quoting from the Signals tour book

VIII COUNTDOWN
Cape Kennedy, Florida, April,1982
We were there! It wasn't easy, but we made it! We had a long-standing invitation to the first launch, and always swore that we would be there no matter what. Little did we know!
On April 9th we flew into Orlando on a day off, checked into a hotel, and slept until about four A.M., when we had to leave for our rendezvous at the Air Force Base near the Cape. There we met our liaison man, who conducted us safely into the "V.I.P." zone (Red Sector A) in the pre-dawn hours. We stood around, listening to the announcements, as the sun rose higher and hotter in the sky. We were due to play that night in Dallas, so we couldn't wait much longer. Finally they announced that the launch would be scrubbed for that day. The computers weren't speaking!
Well, we ran for the car, and our daring driver sped off, around the traffic jams, down the median of the highway, and got us to the airport barely in time.
The next night we had a show in San Antonio, after which we drove off immediately, clambered into a hired jet, and flew straight back to Florida. This time the launch took place on schedule, and it was SOMETHING!! (More about that in the song.) Again we raced backed to the plane, and flew off once more, back to Fort Worth where we had a show that night. Fortunately the day after that was a day off, so we had a chance to catch up on all that sleep!
I remember thinking to myself as we flew back to Fort Worth after a couple days without sleep: "We've got to write a song about this!" It was an incredible thing to witness, truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience. I can only hope that the song comes even close to capturing the excitement and awe that we felt that morning.

― Elvis Telecom, Monday, 21 July 2008 23:22 (4 years ago) Permalink

So no trip to EPCOT, huh, bummer...

― Moodles, Monday, 21 July 2008 23:35 (4 years ago) Permalink

does ANYONE not like 'tom sawyer'?? i mean ANYONE.

no? i thought so.

― deeznuts, Monday, 21 July 2008 23:39 (4 years ago) Permalink

I used to hate Tom Sawyer. Doesn't bother me now, though.

― Bimble, Monday, 21 July 2008 23:46 (4 years ago) Permalink

I'm often mystified by certain arguments against Rush:

A lot of people go for the Geddy Lee screeches too much argument, which is odd since he started singing in a fairly normal tone of voice somewhere back in the late 70s.

The other is the idea that they are too show-offy and technical. Again, a weird argument since their music is far less busy than much of prog-rock. There's lots of intense musicianship, but they never loose track of the actual song.

I also get irritated by the folks that say that Rush is Neil Peart, Geddy Lee, and some guy that no one cares about or has heard of. Alex Lifeson easily holds his own in Rush, and for me often outshines the other two.

Thoughts? Do these arguments hold any merit? Do arguments like these come from a place of deep insecurity? Or should I just ignore the haters?

― Moodles, Monday, 21 July 2008 23:58 (4 years ago) Permalink

From first to last...the peak is never past...

― Terrible Cold, Tuesday, 22 July 2008 01:33 (4 years ago) Permalink

Rush was, is and e'er shall be..... godlike.

― Alex in NYC, Tuesday, 22 July 2008 01:47 (4 years ago) Permalink

No TV for years
Guest spot on Colbert Report
Throw to ad mid-song

― Sean Carruthers, Tuesday, 22 July 2008 03:21 (4 years ago) Permalink

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Swk_XqBPs2Y

(BTW, Rush was def. on VH1 Classic in the past few years. Did they just mean "network TV" or something? But then, why would Comedy Central count?)

― Sundar, Tuesday, 22 July 2008 03:47 (4 years ago) Permalink

i think that series of albums from the 80's (signals through power windows, I guess add moving pictures in there too) is their best era.

i'd start and end two albums earlier, hemispheres to signals. any peak era that doesn't include permanent waves is not a peak era.

― tipsy mothra, Tuesday, 22 July 2008 04:03 (4 years ago) Permalink

or, in haiku...

the best rush era,
for me, starts with hemispheres
and ends with signals

― tipsy mothra, Tuesday, 22 July 2008 04:07 (4 years ago) Permalink

For me it's 2112 through Moving Pictures

― Bill Magill, Tuesday, 22 July 2008 14:55 (4 years ago) Permalink

the first LP through Permanent Waves...

heh, I never knew that "Geddy" was not his real name, but rather his grandmother's pronunciation of his given name (Gary)...thanks, Wiki!

― henry s, Tuesday, 22 July 2008 15:03 (4 years ago) Permalink

Rush plays the Rock Band version of "Tom Sawyer" backstage at Colbert
http://ccinsider.comedycentral.com/cc_insider/2008/07/rush-plays-rock.html

― Elvis Telecom, Wednesday, 23 July 2008 21:57 (4 years ago) Permalink

There's a really good feature on Rush in the Rolling Stone issue with the giant Obama head on the cover.

― Jeff Treppel, Thursday, 24 July 2008 00:08 (4 years ago) Permalink

4 months pass...

The hell?

http://members.cox.net/antipop42/yyz_bigband.mp3

(I suppose this was inevitable)

― Chris Barrus (Elvis Telecom), Tuesday, 25 November 2008 01:49 (4 years ago) Permalink

Thanks Chris. Now I feel dirty.

― Nate Carson, Tuesday, 25 November 2008 02:24 (4 years ago) Permalink

Is that really the first time someone's done that with "YYZ"? I think there's a thread somewhere where I mentioned to Bryan how I thought the guitar solo would work on a clarinet.

― Sundar, Tuesday, 25 November 2008 03:01 (4 years ago) Permalink

1 month passes...

I would like to know what Rush would have sounded like if they'd tried to do disco.

― Can't Get The Gin If You're Not Plugged In (Bimble), Sunday, 11 January 2009 20:58 (4 years ago) Permalink

1 month passes...

― paper plans (tipsy mothra), Sunday, 8 March 2009 22:11 (4 years ago) Permalink

that's fucking awesome

― kamerad, Sunday, 8 March 2009 22:23 (4 years ago) Permalink

― Stormy Davis, Monday, 9 March 2009 02:03 (4 years ago) Permalink

Rush actually uses that Southpark skit as part of their stage show. Last couple times I saw them anyway. It's cute.

― Nate Carson, Monday, 9 March 2009 20:10 (4 years ago) Permalink

1 month passes...

Anyone got late era Rush LPs (Presto and beyond) they want to sell me? I have vinyl of every one through Hold Your Fire...

― Nate Carson, Thursday, 30 April 2009 20:27 (4 years ago) Permalink

The last "new" Rush album I bought was probably Grace Under Pressure.

― Alex in NYC, Thursday, 30 April 2009 21:37 (4 years ago) Permalink

I'm way into Snakes & Arrows. Otherwise, Counterparts is the latest I've even heard (aside from live tracks).

― Nate Carson, Thursday, 30 April 2009 21:47 (4 years ago) Permalink

I heard that album
With the internet-themed song
Pretty cringeworthy

― Matt #2, Thursday, 30 April 2009 23:01 (4 years ago) Permalink

Rush covers EP
is a difficult listen
due to compression

― Bill Magill, Friday, 1 May 2009 14:11 (4 years ago) Permalink

Cute haiku.

On a happier note, I just won 18 Rush cassettes on ebay for $21. I'll be driving with the windows rolled down this summer!

― Nate Carson, Saturday, 2 May 2009 01:12 (4 years ago) Permalink

I'm so appalled how awesome 'Digital Man' is. But I'm not able to write a haiku about it. sorry

― Shin Oliva Suzuki, Saturday, 2 May 2009 01:35 (4 years ago) Permalink

Rush is like the Blood
Brothers: both singers' vocals
scare away poseurs

― kamerad, Saturday, 2 May 2009 05:14 (4 years ago) Permalink

except, unlike the
blood brothers rush can write a
good tune and has jams

― Domm P))) (M@tt He1ges0n), Saturday, 2 May 2009 15:48 (4 years ago) Permalink

hey now, the jaguar love album last year was pretty good, you have to give them that

― kamerad, Saturday, 2 May 2009 15:57 (4 years ago) Permalink

I have heard this "Rush"
like Christmas, with power chords
to my ears it was

― invitation to rabies (╓abies), Saturday, 2 May 2009 15:58 (4 years ago) Permalink

That was quite nice.

― Alex in NYC, Saturday, 2 May 2009 17:13 (4 years ago) Permalink

Ah man now I feel bad for making a snarky comment in the MJvsNC thread.

― SQUIRREL WITH A PEOPLE FACE (╓abies), Sunday, 3 May 2009 12:55 (4 years ago) Permalink

Well, you'll get yours.

― Alex in NYC, Sunday, 3 May 2009 13:05 (4 years ago) Permalink

i think you'd have to pay a lot of money for some of those post-presto albums on vinyl (and in fact, I think some of them were never released on vinyl). most of them sound varying degrees of awful anyway though (vapor trails being the absolute worst of them all).

rush must be enjoying their new profile, they were referenced in both Adventureland and I Love you Man (obviously more than referenced in the latter).

― akm, Sunday, 3 May 2009 13:58 (4 years ago) Permalink

...and appeared on "The Colbert Report"

― Alex in NYC, Sunday, 3 May 2009 14:32 (4 years ago) Permalink

i've definitely seen snakes & arrows on vinyl

― Domm P))) (M@tt He1ges0n), Sunday, 3 May 2009 14:34 (4 years ago) Permalink

The Colbert Report appearance was kind of awkward... Colbert jumped in front of them and they had to cut short Tom Sawyer because of time or some shit like that

― Shin Oliva Suzuki, Monday, 4 May 2009 02:09 (4 years ago) Permalink

"I have heard this "Rush"
like Christmas, with power chords
to my ears it was"

Fantastic. And extra points for doing it like Yoda.

― Bill Magill, Monday, 4 May 2009 13:35 (4 years ago) Permalink

Tonight at my weekly Dj gig in Portland, my co-host DJ BRKFST SNDWCH and I are going to have a Rush-off battle--2 hours of Rush songs back and forth. It's going to be ridiculous, and will definitely bum out more than a few patrons and staffers.

― Nate Carson, Monday, 4 May 2009 20:59 (4 years ago) Permalink

1 month passes...

Okay at the bar today I heard "Closer To The Heart". My musical encyclopediac mind capitulated. What fucking album was that on??? I asked two bartenders and one guy at the bar and they didn't know jack shit. It drove me nuts!! Rush's "Closer To The Heart". What fucking album was that on? Not Moving Pictures, but it didn't seem like it was that one that had Spirit Of Radio on it either. Damn, dudes. I missed that fucking song in my Rush trips, even though I heard it before. Yowza. Grabbing it on iTunes, it says it was on Farewell To Kings? What in the living fuck? I never even had that album! I plead innocence!

― A Breath of Fresh Culture (Bimble), Monday, 22 June 2009 00:23 (3 years ago) Permalink

Also every bar really needs to have someone with a musical encyclopedia knowledge so that I don't have to go through that again.

― A Breath of Fresh Culture (Bimble), Monday, 22 June 2009 00:24 (3 years ago) Permalink

I haven't listened to Rush in years and years, but was a big fan at one time (high school) and seem to recall A Farewell to Kings being one of the better '70s Rush albums. The first really "Rush-y" Rush album.

― Johnny Fever, Monday, 22 June 2009 00:27 (3 years ago) Permalink

10 months pass...

Rush doc nabs Tribeca audience prize
The documentary Rush: Beyond the Lighted Stage, about Canada's iconic rockers, has captured the audience award at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York City.
The feature — which was one of two films that opened Toronto's Hot Docs International Documentary Festival on April 29 — captured the prize at a wrap party on Saturday night.
Directors Scot McFadyen and Sam Dunn also got $25,000 US. All the other festival awards were handed out on Thursday.
The film chronicles the band's 42-year history, profiling bandmates Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson and Neil Peart.
"It was great to see Rush fans and non-fans enjoy the movie together," said the directors in a statement released Saturday night.
Festival executive director Nancy Schafer called the film "an intimate but energetic portrayal of one of the most prolific rock bands."
McFadyen and Dunn are old hands in the genre of music documentary. Their previous credits include Metal: A Headbanger's Journey, Global Metal and last year's Juno-winning Iron Maiden: Flight 666.

http://www.youtube.com/user/RareRushReview#p/a/u/0/sk8hbSxY0sE

― Shin Oliva Suzuki, Monday, 3 May 2010 12:26 (3 years ago) Permalink

I've heard that this movie is fantastic.

― Bill Magill, Monday, 3 May 2010 15:35 (3 years ago) Permalink

Whoah super psyched for this! Hopefully it will get a normal engagement in nyc as I wasn't really paying attention to Tribeca...

― International Harvester Of Eyes (Jon Lewis), Monday, 3 May 2010 15:49 (3 years ago) Permalink

I'm pumped for this as well

― Moodles, Monday, 3 May 2010 15:51 (3 years ago) Permalink

yay!

― Shakey Ja Mocha (M@tt He1ges0n), Monday, 3 May 2010 16:37 (3 years ago) Permalink

Wow, I can't wait!

In the meantime, new haiku:

'Limelight' is so great!
Perfection held in a song.
Sublime. Joy. And bliss.

― VegemiteGrrrl, Monday, 3 May 2010 19:11 (3 years ago) Permalink

couple of my friends got tix to see Rush this summer playing Time Machine in its entirety. Should I have bought tickets, too!? Shit sold out in like 10 minutes. Not my fave Rush album tho.

― tylerw, Monday, 3 May 2010 19:20 (3 years ago) Permalink

pre-sale for San Antonio starts tomorrow morning, I'm all over this.

― Moodles, Monday, 3 May 2010 19:23 (3 years ago) Permalink

"Time Machine"?

― Bill Magill, Monday, 3 May 2010 19:42 (3 years ago) Permalink

lol oops it's Moving Pictures they're playing -- the tour is called Time Machine ...

― tylerw, Monday, 3 May 2010 19:44 (3 years ago) Permalink

they almost always have played 90% of that record anyway so it's kind of funny that by adding one song they now get to ride the 'classic albums played live' wave.

― akm, Monday, 3 May 2010 20:29 (3 years ago) Permalink

It is a little silly, although I'm psyched to hear The Camera Eye as it is one of my favorite Rush tracks and one I've been hoping to hear live for a long time.

Also, they'll be premiering unreleased tracks from their forthcoming album plus they'll be playing some more obscure oldies. I'm pretty sure Jacob's Ladder will be one, not sure of any others though.

― Moodles, Monday, 3 May 2010 20:43 (3 years ago) Permalink

part 1 of the Rush episode with Alex Lifeson (it just came on Direct TV last week)

Ricky: "they got these lyrics aboot how trees are talking together, how different sides of your brain works or outer space bullshit"

― CaptainLorax, Tuesday, 4 May 2010 00:15 (3 years ago) Permalink

So psyched for the film, the tour, and the next album!

― Nate Carson, Tuesday, 4 May 2010 12:18 (3 years ago) Permalink

Got my tickets for the San Antonio concert this morning. Woot!

― Moodles, Tuesday, 4 May 2010 17:59 (3 years ago) Permalink

2 weeks pass...

http://www.cbc.ca/video/#/Shows/ID=1445449710

Interview with Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson on five Rush songs that are being inducted into the Canadian Songwriters' Hall of Fame. Long as hell but fairly in-depth re the songwriting process for a TV interview with a rock band. It's interesting to hear people remember how they first composed a hugely successful song before I was born, how they reacted to an anti-radio critique becoming a radio hit, etc.

― Sundar, Sunday, 23 May 2010 15:30 (2 years ago) Permalink

Just watched a screener DVD of the new Sam Dunn documentary on Rush. If this film doesn't make you love Rush, it will make you WANT to love Rush.

In select theaters.

― Nate Carson, Friday, 28 May 2010 04:29 (2 years ago) Permalink

I haven't LOVED Rush since I was about 18, but I'm definitely up for watching this.

― Johnny Fever, Friday, 28 May 2010 04:31 (2 years ago) Permalink

This is playing in theatres here in Canada in a couple weeks. I'll be there.

― A. Begrand, Friday, 28 May 2010 05:14 (2 years ago) Permalink

I heard Eddie Trunk rave about this thing the other day, he says its one of the best docs hes seen. My life will suck until I see this movie, cant wait.

― Bill Magill, Friday, 28 May 2010 14:51 (2 years ago) Permalink

Just bought my ticket for the screening in Rotterdam. So glad I'm able to go after all, I was supposed to go see Mastodon (who cancelled) that very evening. Can't wait, it will be drumming-in-the-dark awesome!

― Thijs, Friday, 28 May 2010 14:57 (2 years ago) Permalink

Looks like the doc will be playing in Austin in a couple weeks, gotta get me some tickets!

― Moodles, Friday, 28 May 2010 14:58 (2 years ago) Permalink

new album, clockwork angels, out next year; new single, "caravan," out next week
http://www.marketwire.com/press-release/Rush-Unveils-New-Music-Legendary-Rock-Band-Return-With-New-Single-Caravan-Plus-Additional-1266086.htm

― kamerad, Friday, 28 May 2010 15:08 (2 years ago) Permalink

I borrowed a friend's copy of Power Windows a few weeks ago – what a shame these kinds of synths aren't used much anymore.

― Filmmaker, Author, Radio Host Stephen Baldwin (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, 28 May 2010 15:13 (2 years ago) Permalink

The synths on M83's Dead Cities album remind me a lot of Grace Under Pressure.

― Moodles, Friday, 28 May 2010 16:01 (2 years ago) Permalink

"Power Windows" and "Grace Under Pressure" are my faves. Loved the addition of "Between the Wheels" to the last couple of tours.

I think it's too bad the band is doing the "play the whole album thing" with re: "Moving Pictures." In the Rush catalog, its place in the canon is vastly overestimated. It's not like it's their "Back in Black" or something, and it's def. no better than "Permanent Waves" or "Signals." Bigger "hit," I guess, but they play that one all the time, anyway. Kind of curious what they dust off to fill the rest of the set.

― Josh in Chicago, Friday, 28 May 2010 17:42 (2 years ago) Permalink

Well, it actually is their biggest hit.

― Filmmaker, Author, Radio Host Stephen Baldwin (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, 28 May 2010 17:43 (2 years ago) Permalink

yeah i was PUMPED when they did between the wheels

yeah i'd rather see a lot of albums in their entirety rather than moving pix

hell i'd be pysched for like farewell to kings or something

― m@tt (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Friday, 28 May 2010 17:44 (2 years ago) Permalink

Or even Presto.

― Johnny Fever, Friday, 28 May 2010 17:45 (2 years ago) Permalink

I'm excited to hear all of Moving Pictures just because I've been wanting to see them play The Camera Eye for a long time. Otherwise I could take it or leave it. The played 5 out of 7 tracks off Moving Pictures on their last tour, so they were practically doing the whole album already.

I'm hoping that they will pull out some other obscurities on this tour. That seems to be the direction they've been headed recently. I read one rumor that they'll be playing Jacob's Ladder, which should be pretty cool.

Between The Wheels was definitely a highlight of their last tour. They did a bunch of other really great tracks pulled from the vault as well including Digital Man, Entre Nous, Mission, Circumstances, Ghost of a Chance, Witch Hunt, and Passage To Bangkok. I hope this trend continues with Time Machine.

― Moodles, Friday, 28 May 2010 17:55 (2 years ago) Permalink

Yeah, I mean, how many Rush fans only own that one album? How many people in the world only own one Rush album, for that matter? They're sort of an all-in kind of band. It's not like they wouldn't have sold out their tour if they were doing "Presto" or whatever. Like it was said above, it's spending too much time on an album that gets pretty well represented every show, anyway, and this from a band that no longer has opening acts to make room for more songs people want to hear. And having seen Mr. Big open for the group on the "Presto" tour, I'm doubly glad it's been "A Night with Rush"-mode from there on out.

"Ghost of a Chance" very underrated. "Presto" and "Roll the Bones" really marked the band's transition into secular humanist territory, no doubt enhanced by Peart's personal double whammy.

― Josh in Chicago, Friday, 28 May 2010 17:59 (2 years ago) Permalink

and it's def. no better than "Permanent Waves" or "Signals."

^ you're crazy. Moving Pictures blows both of those out of the water.

― Bill Magill, Friday, 28 May 2010 18:07 (2 years ago) Permalink

I love "Ghost of a Chance"; the change from piledriving verses to mellow, weary chorus (buttressed by remnants of eighties echo) is beautifully executed. Nice piano part too.

― Filmmaker, Author, Radio Host Stephen Baldwin (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, 28 May 2010 18:07 (2 years ago) Permalink

Moving Pictures blows both of those out of the water.

I can imagine preferring it, but blowing them out of the water? Nah.

― Josh in Chicago, Friday, 28 May 2010 18:10 (2 years ago) Permalink

Shit, man your right. I thought I read "Grace under Pressure", not Permanent Waves. I rescind on that one, Waves rules. My bad.

― Bill Magill, Friday, 28 May 2010 18:13 (2 years ago) Permalink

I guess I look at it like this: Rush are pretty much never going to play a show that does not include Tom Sawyer, Limelight, and YYZ. Most tours they also play Red Barchetta. That right there is half of Moving Pictures. Witch Hunt was a highlight of their last tour and I'd love to see them play it again. That leaves The Camera Eye and Vital Signs, both amazing songs that I've always wanted to see live.

That adds up to about 40 minutes worth of music, they'll probably perform for upwards of 3 hours, so there's lots of room for other great stuff.

― Moodles, Friday, 28 May 2010 18:17 (2 years ago) Permalink

And having seen Mr. Big open for the group on the "Presto" tour, I'm doubly glad it's been "A Night with Rush"-mode from there on out.

The two times I've seen them (1992 & 1994), the openers were Primus and Candlebox respectively. Now, in 1992, seeing Primus and Rush on the same bill blew my 18 year old brains right out the back of my head. 20 year old me was well aware that Candlebox sucked pretty hard.

― Johnny Fever, Friday, 28 May 2010 18:20 (2 years ago) Permalink

Ditching the opening bands was probably one of the smartest things they ever did. Their tours got way better once they did that.

― Moodles, Friday, 28 May 2010 18:22 (2 years ago) Permalink

I love Presto and Roll The Bones and Hold Yr Fire with a passion that is inscrutable to me. I think of it as their Police-ish atmospherock period and I am a sucker for the (even more) earnest turn the lyrics take during those. Signals and Grace Under Pressure def fall into a different 80s Rush basket, more of a heavy new wave power synth kind of thing. I need to go to this tour man, I wonder if the NY/NJ dates are already sold out...

― minor thread (Jon Lewis), Friday, 28 May 2010 18:23 (2 years ago) Permalink

geddy makes me squirm
busy pretentious songcraft
but tom sawyer's good

― ImprovSpirit, Friday, 28 May 2010 18:23 (2 years ago) Permalink

Pretty sure "Tom Sawyer" was the first Rush song I ever heard, but the first Rush tape I ever bought was Hold Your Fire. "Time Stand Still" is an impressively structured pop song (complete with Aimee Mann's contributions). But it was Presto that really cemented me as a raging fan (at least for a brief moment in time). I bought all the albums and listened to them constantly. By the time of Counterparts, I was kind of over it all. Test For Echo is the last one I bought, and I can't even remember a thing about it, except there was a song on there that mentioned "email."

― Johnny Fever, Friday, 28 May 2010 18:27 (2 years ago) Permalink

Fun Rush fact: "Test for Echoes" is the only Rush album I've never owned or even heard once. Wikipedia should be updated ASAP to reflect that.

― Josh in Chicago, Friday, 28 May 2010 18:36 (2 years ago) Permalink

Josh you going to either of the Notherly Island shows? i'm going on the 5th

― Stormy Davis, Friday, 28 May 2010 18:41 (2 years ago) Permalink

Hold Your Fire, Presto, and Roll The Bones are kind of a low point for me. Hold Your Fire and Presto both have a bunch of good tunes, and Roll The Bones a few, but the overall sound and production values are just terrible. So jangly and trebly, with like zero low-end or guitar crunch. I much prefer their "return to rock" albums that they've put out since then.

― Moodles, Friday, 28 May 2010 18:50 (2 years ago) Permalink

well i think the rap on the song "roll the bones" is THE low point

but i like hold your fire quite a bit actually...time stand still is great...i like new wave 80s/synchronicity-jocking rush

― m@tt (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Friday, 28 May 2010 18:53 (2 years ago) Permalink

If you're behind, Snakes and Arrows is their best album since Counterparts. To my ears, it's their best album since Signals, but most would not agree because they either have a nostalgic fondness for late 80s Rush, or they won't be able to appreciate Rush produced in a modern way. I think it sounds great, though all those new songs are even better live.

It's been a treat liking that record because obviously they play a lot of it in concert. So when a badass new track like Spindrift starts, and 1500 dudes start heading to the concessions stand to buy another $14 beer, I'm just rocking out and smiling.

― Nate Carson, Friday, 28 May 2010 20:07 (2 years ago) Permalink

i did enjoy the songs off S&A live when i saw them a couple years ago...

the recording from what i heard was too modern metal sounding i thought, but i guess that's rush, they usually try to keep up w/the times

― m@tt (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Friday, 28 May 2010 20:08 (2 years ago) Permalink

I actually think Snakes and Arrows is their best since Presto. As big a fan as I am, they'd sounded creatively stagnant on record for the longest time, so that album really blindsided me. It still holds up well today.

― A. Begrand, Friday, 28 May 2010 20:31 (2 years ago) Permalink

the song title "workin' them angels" drives me UP A WALL for some reason

― m@tt (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Friday, 28 May 2010 20:33 (2 years ago) Permalink

Tour dates are here: http://www.rush.com/

Those bastards play every other day. Must be nice :)

― Nate Carson, Friday, 28 May 2010 20:40 (2 years ago) Permalink

they've earned it!

did you read that "roadshow" book where peart did a tour by motorcycle (he would follow the tour vans and make his own route)....i thought it was pretty entertaining.

― m@tt (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Friday, 28 May 2010 20:42 (2 years ago) Permalink

It's on the back of my toilet right now.

― Nate Carson, Friday, 28 May 2010 20:52 (2 years ago) Permalink

^^^yet another perfect ILM board description

― minor thread (Jon Lewis), Friday, 28 May 2010 21:17 (2 years ago) Permalink

Rob, I'll prolly go to one of them, if I can get in for free, especially now that U2 has been scuttled til '11.

― Josh in Chicago, Friday, 28 May 2010 21:52 (2 years ago) Permalink

Charter One Pavilion will be a great place to see Rush. I saw Dio with Heaven & Hell last year -- it was small enough that none of the seats were bad. There were fold-out metal chairs and hs-style bleachers, the stage facing the lake. There had just been a storm with 90+mph gusts of wind earlier, and the sky was still swirling with quick moving clouds, and Dio's hair blew dramatically like an 80s video.

I hope they do it like The Cult's Love tour -- after they played the complete album, they did "hits" from Electric and later. With Rush the question is do they stick to one era (Permanent Waves to Power Windows would seem cohesive to me) or not.

― Fastnbulbous, Saturday, 29 May 2010 15:00 (2 years ago) Permalink

Well, considering the album runs less than an hour and a typical Rush set closer to three (including intermission), I hope they just pack the rest with goodness. I mean, Rush has a lot more to draw from than the Cult. I love "Love" but hated that show.

― Josh in Chicago, Saturday, 29 May 2010 15:21 (2 years ago) Permalink

I don't think I can handle 3 hours! I thought the Cult show was great up through Electric. I left not long after they got into their sucky albums.

― Fastnbulbous, Saturday, 29 May 2010 15:26 (2 years ago) Permalink

"did you read that "roadshow" book where peart did a tour by motorcycle (he would follow the tour vans and make his own route)....i thought it was pretty entertaining."

That's a great book. His other ones are pretty good too.

― Bill Magill, Saturday, 29 May 2010 16:12 (2 years ago) Permalink

True story:

Daniel Richler's parked
Illegally at Shopper's
Then Geddy Lee hops in!

― Sean Carruthers, Saturday, 29 May 2010 16:15 (2 years ago) Permalink

Whoops, drop the "Lee" from that last line to make it fit haiku form.

― Sean Carruthers, Saturday, 29 May 2010 16:17 (2 years ago) Permalink

New Rush single is out today - Caravan b/w BU2B - and it rocks!

Some crazy instrumentals going on in Caravan, and BU2B is super heavy.

― Moodles, Tuesday, 1 June 2010 20:47 (2 years ago) Permalink

hmmm not really feeling this....

it's like they are just jamming random riffs together, no memorable melodies or songwriting...

these songs remind me of what ppl often say about rush like they are some kinda math rock band, when in reality they always used to write really great songs, great hooks...

why are they trying to be so "heavy", this is arguable "heavier" than they ever were, at the expense of the stuff i actually loved about rush.

― m@tt (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Tuesday, 1 June 2010 20:59 (2 years ago) Permalink

Yeah, not feeling the new one. Reminds me a bit of the "Counterparts" comeback, when the band was all, hey, we can be heavy, too! But this seems almost Primus at times in its herky-jerkiness.

― Josh in Chicago, Tuesday, 1 June 2010 21:07 (2 years ago) Permalink

Yeah, the vocal melodies seem a bit generic TBH (although maybe not that much worse than many other hard rock/metal bands) but I think the music, especially on "Caravan", is very good. Surprisingly metal for them. Have they been listening to Mastodon or something?

xpost

― Sundar, Tuesday, 1 June 2010 21:10 (2 years ago) Permalink

I did think of Primus too, actually, but not in a bad way.

― Sundar, Tuesday, 1 June 2010 21:10 (2 years ago) Permalink

The new songs are pretty good if you ask me. Very heavy at times, but still willing to toss in some synths every now and then. I think it's very similar to what they did on S&A.

― A. Begrand, Tuesday, 1 June 2010 21:17 (2 years ago) Permalink

You guys are scaring me shitless with the Primus comparos.

― it takes a lot to laugh, it takes a crane shot to 'NOOOOOO' (Jon Lewis), Tuesday, 1 June 2010 21:52 (2 years ago) Permalink

doesn't sound like primus to me. no rubbery bass riffery at least. something else that might be worrisome though is what BU2B might have to do with bono

― kamerad, Tuesday, 1 June 2010 21:57 (2 years ago) Permalink

There's no Primus going on. Nice psych groove on "Caravan", though. Not unlike the new Cathedral.

― A. Begrand, Tuesday, 1 June 2010 22:18 (2 years ago) Permalink

Ha NOW you're talkin'!

― it takes a lot to laugh, it takes a crane shot to 'NOOOOOO' (Jon Lewis), Tuesday, 1 June 2010 22:18 (2 years ago) Permalink

Off to download now. This is my first official purchase of music from ITunes, lol!

― Nate Carson, Tuesday, 1 June 2010 22:52 (2 years ago) Permalink

I suppose I've always liked this neither fish nor fowl quality of the band. Is it metal? Well, no. Prog? Not really. Hard rock? In the most generic sense, yes, but ...

― Josh in Chicago, Tuesday, 1 June 2010 22:52 (2 years ago) Permalink

I just became a Yes convert, and I can feel Rush on the horizon..what is happening to me??!!

― iago g., Tuesday, 1 June 2010 22:57 (2 years ago) Permalink

Cathedral is probably a better comparison, actually.

― Sundar, Tuesday, 1 June 2010 23:50 (2 years ago) Permalink

Can't stress enough how much a new Rush fan will get out of Sam Dunn's new documentary. Watch it asap Iago G :)

― Nate Carson, Wednesday, 2 June 2010 00:09 (2 years ago) Permalink

I want to watch it BADLY but it's not in wide release yet is it???

― it takes a lot to laugh, it takes a crane shot to 'NOOOOOO' (Jon Lewis), Wednesday, 2 June 2010 00:10 (2 years ago) Permalink

Will do, Nate--maybe it's on Netflix I'll check--thks for the tip

― iago g., Wednesday, 2 June 2010 00:17 (2 years ago) Permalink

It's in theaters now. On DVD in a month or so.

As for the new single - LOVE IT. I'm a big Snakes & Arrows guy, and this follows it in the best way (heavy rock, creative songwriting), and leaves out the filler (acoustic instruments, blues jams).

More stoked than ever for Clockwork Angels LP + Time Machine tour.

― Nate Carson, Wednesday, 2 June 2010 00:25 (2 years ago) Permalink

wow Rush excitement! Really want to see the doc, as I was a major Rush head for a while in HS and early college. Liked what I heard of the new single too

― Dominique, Wednesday, 2 June 2010 01:51 (2 years ago) Permalink

I'll be seeing the doc at the Alamo Drafthouse in 1 1/2 weeks. Pretty much the ideal setting for a Rush doc, if you ask me.

― Moodles, Wednesday, 2 June 2010 13:26 (2 years ago) Permalink

A friend went to the Charter One Pavilion box office (only open on show nights) and got us tix for 7/7 show for $49.50, NO SERVICE FEES! I didn't think that was even possible for shows in that venue! Now I can spend what I saved on one 32 ounce can of Bud Light Ultra 64 Lite...

― Fastnbulbous, Friday, 4 June 2010 04:48 (2 years ago) Permalink

Correction, he got these through the LiveNation website, which is having a special on no service fees for certain concerts.

― Fastnbulbous, Friday, 4 June 2010 04:59 (2 years ago) Permalink

Those are lawn seats, right?

― Nate Carson, Friday, 4 June 2010 07:20 (2 years ago) Permalink

I hate to even post what I spent on 2 tickets for the San Antonio concert, it is a truly shocking amount. I love Rush and want an opportunity to go see them and have pretty good seats, but prices are getting way out of control.

― Moodles, Friday, 4 June 2010 13:51 (2 years ago) Permalink

I mean we are talking about $50 dollar tickets as if that is cheap. That's double what tickets cost about 15 years ago, and that represents the absolute least you can spend now, so really ticket prices have tripled or quadrupled in a fairly short amount of time.

― Moodles, Friday, 4 June 2010 13:54 (2 years ago) Permalink

Trying to get press passes. If that fails, I'm looking at $200 seats...

― Nate Carson, Friday, 4 June 2010 18:31 (2 years ago) Permalink

Not even playing in New England. C'mon guys, we're practically Canada up here!

― EZ Snappin, Friday, 4 June 2010 18:38 (2 years ago) Permalink

Unforgettable 2002 São Paulo concert (maybe better than 'Rush in Rio'). Hope they come to Brazil this time.

― Shin Oliva Suzuki, Friday, 4 June 2010 20:18 (2 years ago) Permalink

And Caravan is awesome.

― Shin Oliva Suzuki, Friday, 4 June 2010 20:20 (2 years ago) Permalink

A band like Rush would normally play a much larger outdoor stadium where the tickets would be more like $70 to $100 with fees. I've vowed never to go to those shows again, as they're not very fun, and lousy value. However Charter One Pavilion is smaller. It's all metal fold-out chairs and high school-style bleachers, and it seemed like all seats had a good view of the stage and weren't too far away. I saw Dio w/ Heaven & Hell there last year, and it sounded great.

― Fastnbulbous, Saturday, 5 June 2010 00:32 (2 years ago) Permalink

Yeah, I've seen Tom Petty there, Destiny's Child, Wu-Tang, Stevie Nicks and a couple of other things there, and it's a great place to see a show.

― Josh in Chicago, Saturday, 5 June 2010 01:02 (2 years ago) Permalink

My (modest) feature review of the documentary:

http://wweek.com/editorial/3631/14141/

― Nate Carson, Thursday, 10 June 2010 01:28 (2 years ago) Permalink

Nice work Nate!

― EZ Snappin, Thursday, 10 June 2010 01:40 (2 years ago) Permalink

Even if Geddy Lee’s banshee wail drives you up the wall, one viewing can’t help but bring him a little closer to your heart.
excellent sentence :)

― an outlet to express the dark invocations of (La Lechera), Thursday, 10 June 2010 03:52 (2 years ago) Permalink

the Doc is playing in Chicago (one night only!) at the new Icon theater on Roosevelt at Clark...

only problem is that I have an old high school friend in town that I need to hang out with and I'm pretty sure she isn't a huge Rush fan, and even if she was, there is the free Otis Taylor / Hubert Sumlin thing over at Millennium Park, and I love both those dudes to death. Man there is SO much competing shit in Chicago this weekend it is nuts. the aforementioned conflict on Thursday, then Blues Fest all weekend, Lit Fest all weekend, Cubs/Sox series, Hawks parade on Friday, Dave Holland is in residence at the Jazz Showcase now thru Sunday, and somehow I gotta fit in the USA/England match on Saturday... egads

― Stormy Davis, Thursday, 10 June 2010 05:22 (2 years ago) Permalink

have to say that I'm going back and listening to some of the 80s Rush I never gave a chance to back when I was a fan, and these are *huge* productions. Grace Under Pressure is killing my poor laptop speakers, sound is everywhere.

― Dominique, Thursday, 10 June 2010 17:04 (2 years ago) Permalink

grace under pressure is kinda of a masterpiece IMO

― the dj screwtape letters (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Thursday, 10 June 2010 17:07 (2 years ago) Permalink

Love that record. Always makes me wonder how the fates would have treated the band had the booked producer, one Steve Lillywhite, not backed out at the last minute.

― Josh in Chicago, Thursday, 10 June 2010 18:14 (2 years ago) Permalink

i'm going to see the doc tonight in chicago -- seems like it would be more fun to see it in a theater full of people vs dvd
it's reserved seating!

― an outlet to express the dark invocations of (La Lechera), Thursday, 10 June 2010 18:47 (2 years ago) Permalink

I'm missing the theatrical release to be in Hollywood w/Yob. Can't complain.

― Nate Carson, Thursday, 10 June 2010 21:48 (2 years ago) Permalink

i missed the first ten minutes of the movie, but what a joy it was! i especially loved the lady from WMMS when she talked about how they broke "working man" -- that's one of the stations i grew up listening to and it was fun to hear the discussion of midwestern rock fans. it's SO true.

― an outlet to express the dark invocations of (La Lechera), Friday, 11 June 2010 12:28 (2 years ago) Permalink

This movie is such a blast, I had a big, stupid grin on my face during the whole thing, as did everyone else in the jam-packed theatre tonight.

I'm really glad the doc was so thorough, I was worried they'd gloss over the 82-87 era, which I'm fondest of.

― A. Begrand, Saturday, 12 June 2010 03:32 (2 years ago) Permalink

Caught the docu on Thursday night, and it was brilliant. Can't stop listening to all Rush, now. Sheesh.

― J, Saturday, 12 June 2010 15:52 (2 years ago) Permalink

Rush is so genuinely inspirational. Irony free, but totally with a sense of humor. Utmost respect.

― Nate Carson, Sunday, 13 June 2010 04:38 (2 years ago) Permalink

" I was worried they'd gloss over the 82-87 era, which I'm fondest of."

That's probably my least favorite Rush era. And they are by far one of my favorite bands.

― Chicago to Philadelphia: "Suck It" (Bill Magill), Monday, 14 June 2010 13:23 (2 years ago) Permalink

I've been in northeast Ohio visiting family and I've heard "Tom Sawyer" 2x and "Working Man" once on the radio. <3

― an outlet to express the dark invocations of (La Lechera), Monday, 14 June 2010 18:09 (2 years ago) Permalink

Must be listening to WNCX 98.5!

― I guess for copraphiles this is gonna be awesome (Pancakes Hackman), Monday, 14 June 2010 18:53 (2 years ago) Permalink

I'm seeing the film tonight!!!

― Moodles, Monday, 14 June 2010 19:09 (2 years ago) Permalink

That's the station!!

― an outlet to express the dark invocations of (La Lechera), Monday, 14 June 2010 19:37 (2 years ago) Permalink

The Rush doc is on VH1 Classic at 9 tonight (EST), kids!

― iago g., Sunday, 27 June 2010 00:20 (2 years ago) Permalink

oh man subdivisions

― mookieproof, Sunday, 27 June 2010 00:27 (2 years ago) Permalink

If I only had cable...

― EZ Snappin, Sunday, 27 June 2010 00:30 (2 years ago) Permalink

Oh sweet! Half an hour away!

― Johnny Fever, Sunday, 27 June 2010 00:31 (2 years ago) Permalink

It's also showing on plain ol' VH1, FYI. Watching now.

― Born In A Test Tube, Raised In A Cage (unperson), Sunday, 27 June 2010 01:13 (2 years ago) Permalink

The Rush doc is excellent, except my god were they weird, even weirder than I though

― iago g., Sunday, 27 June 2010 02:16 (2 years ago) Permalink

OK, wow, Neal Peart is freaking me out...I am going to have to read this thread carefully after this things ends.

― iago g., Sunday, 27 June 2010 02:37 (2 years ago) Permalink

lol @ teenage Alex being a little shit at his parents' dinner table.

After that, it got really really good. And I'd forgotten what a demanding listen Hemispheres is. I'm going to have to dig it out asap.

― Johnny Fever, Sunday, 27 June 2010 03:35 (2 years ago) Permalink

lol @ teenage Alex being a little shit at his parents' dinner table.

What killed me was, who thought, "Hey man, Alex is telling his parents he's quitting school; we gotta get this on film!" ?

― Tarfumes The Escape Goat, Sunday, 27 June 2010 04:16 (2 years ago) Permalink

Also got a laugh at the RATM dude being escorted out of the backstage room Neil Peart was in at Neil's request. I can understand shying away from throngs of yelling, grabby fans because it makes you anxious, but what the hell was RATM guy doing that warranted a forceful ejection? Inquiring minds...

― Johnny Fever, Sunday, 27 June 2010 05:08 (2 years ago) Permalink

I'm so pissed I missed it. Again. No listings for it to show again.

― Fastnbulbous, Sunday, 27 June 2010 05:36 (2 years ago) Permalink

I enjoyed it overall (it definitely made me want to listen to a lot more of their music); I just wish it had more hardcore musical discussion. Oh, well.

― Born In A Test Tube, Raised In A Cage (unperson), Sunday, 27 June 2010 14:17 (2 years ago) Permalink

but what the hell was RATM guy doing that warranted a forceful ejection?

"I heard you like that Ayn Rand shit."

"SECURITY!"

― Ned Raggett, Sunday, 27 June 2010 14:24 (2 years ago) Permalink

I think being in RATM is reason enough.

― EZ Snappin, Sunday, 27 June 2010 14:25 (2 years ago) Permalink

I got a lot of enjoyment out of this film, but I am definitely the target audience.

My biggest complaint is that they could have spent more time on the post-Moving Pictures albums. It felt like the 80s to present day piece went by too quickly compared to the 70s portion.

I loved all the celebrity interviews though, especially Billy Corgan, Trent Reznor, Jack Black, and Gene Simmons. It's just great to hear these guys geek out about Rush in the same way that I would. You don't necessarily expect to hear Trent Reznor waxing nostalgic about the synths on Power Windows, but why wouldn't he? I know I do.

― Moodles, Sunday, 27 June 2010 18:11 (2 years ago) Permalink

Also, the clips of Rush playing high school dances and discussion of kimonos was A+.

― Moodles, Sunday, 27 June 2010 18:12 (2 years ago) Permalink

The part about about them playing Caress of Steel for Paul Stanley in the back of the tour van and him not getting it was completely lolz for me, because I can just imagine the dumbfounded look on his face upon hearing something like "The Necromancer."

― Johnny Fever, Sunday, 27 June 2010 19:17 (2 years ago) Permalink

"I'm not quite sure where I'll stop, but it'll probably be somewhere around Presto."

Personally Phil, I'm not so keen on Presto and Roll the Bones as I am on their "return to rock" album Counterparts. I think you'd find some songs you like on that one.

As for wanting more discussion of the music, buy the Popoff book!

You have a lot to look forward to. I recently played 2112 for my brother and his reaction was "wow, this sound like Iron Maiden, only it's from 1976."

― Nate Carson, Sunday, 27 June 2010 19:51 (2 years ago) Permalink

I really like Presto. It was a little more back-to-basics without completely shedding the synthy stuff from the 80s. Counterparts/Test For Echo/Vapour Trails really did nothing for me, but Snakes & Arrows was a huge return to form.

― A. Begrand, Sunday, 27 June 2010 21:33 (2 years ago) Permalink

i don't think they really captured what a cultural landmark album 'moving pictures' was. everyone in my junior high school had that record, not just the rush geeks, everyone. maybe it was a michigan thing, the same as the tragically hip selling out arenas once upon a time. but yeah they are some weird dudes, neil peart most especially, watching him made me feel really uneasy except for maybe during the mullet and handlebar moustache phase.

― keythhtyek, Monday, 28 June 2010 04:55 (2 years ago) Permalink

I finally saw it on the big screen tonight. It's gotten a second run at another cool indie theater in Portland.

Still the most profound part of the film for me is when they describe how 2112 set them free for the rest of their career.

― Nate Carson, Monday, 28 June 2010 09:15 (2 years ago) Permalink

Will be loading the first 12 albums (debut through Hold Your Fire, no live albums) into my iPod today. The Project Begins!

― Born In A Test Tube, Raised In A Cage (unperson), Monday, 28 June 2010 12:21 (2 years ago) Permalink

"My biggest complaint is that they could have spent more time on the post-Moving Pictures albums"

That's because if you watch the movie, most of the interviewees, especially Alex Lifeson, describe those albums as completely sucking, which, for the most part, they do. I'm glad after watching this movie that opinion has been vindicated, none of this "Grace Under Pressure and Power Windows are the two greatest albums ever made" challopsy bullshit.

― Chicago to Philadelphia: "Suck It" (Bill Magill), Monday, 28 June 2010 13:28 (2 years ago) Permalink

I guess I missed the part where Alex Lifeson said "All the albums we've recorded for the last 30 years completely suck."

Not sure where anyone is saying that Grace Under Pressure and Power Windows are two of the greatest albums ever made, but they are both really good. So are Signals, Counterparts, Vapor Trails, and Snakes and Arrows. All the rest have their fair share of great tunes as well.

I don't think that Rush is trying to disown any of these albums. Their live show tends to have quite a lot of songs from the post-Moving Pictures era. It would have been nice to take a little more time with these past 30 years in the film, but it probably would have been a much longer film.

― Moodles, Monday, 28 June 2010 14:18 (2 years ago) Permalink

this reminds me to mention the major larfs in the restaurant when the waitress only recognized geddy lee
i liked that facet of the movie, the "look how NICE these guys are" -- i realize that doesn't have anything to do with the music, like at ALL, but i will listen to rush if i want to think about the music. i really liked the personal aspect of the movie.

i wanted to hug these guys at the end of the movie, i just LOVED them. i never knew much about them beyond their music, so it was all pretty new to me. i knew they were smart, Canadian, and pretty clean cut comparatively, but nothing more than that.

― an outlet to express the dark invocations of (La Lechera), Monday, 28 June 2010 14:24 (2 years ago) Permalink

I guess I missed the part where Alex Lifeson said "All the albums we've recorded for the last 30 years completely suck."

^ You must have seen an edited version of the movie.

― Chicago to Philadelphia: "Suck It" (Bill Magill), Monday, 28 June 2010 15:02 (2 years ago) Permalink

It would have been nice to take a little more time with these past 30 years in the film

^ no, it would have been better to have said what they did, that they made some serious mistakes in the '80s, and then beefed it up with more '70s stuff. If you dont think they were trying to back away from some of their '80s stuff, especially Lifeson, then please send me some of what you were smoking while you were watching it.

― Chicago to Philadelphia: "Suck It" (Bill Magill), Monday, 28 June 2010 15:04 (2 years ago) Permalink

The part in the diner with Lee, Lifeson and the waitress was total gold.

― Chicago to Philadelphia: "Suck It" (Bill Magill), Monday, 28 June 2010 15:05 (2 years ago) Permalink

i will stump for "hold your fire" too...i love 80s rush a lot. signals rules...tons of that stuff rules...i actually prefer their in thrall to the police/synth era stuff....(peart loved ultravox lol, that makes SO MUCH sense in retrospect)

but yeah i watched about half of this last night before i had to go to bed.

was sort of great too see all the different musicians that they touched....i suddenly felt a weird kinship to like, sebastian bach and vinnie paul, like i can relate to what they were saying about it....

rush is really the first band of nerds, like true nerds.

thought the early days stuff with rutsey was great, and i'm glad they didn't ignore rutsey, he gets kind of written out of their history sometimes.

really charming, can't wait to finish it.

also was happy to see a dude from death cab for cutie on there...because their song for the twilight soudntrack sounds SOOOO 80s rush, esp. the beginning. glad i'm not crazy for hearing that

― it's detlef season, you schremps (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Monday, 28 June 2010 15:06 (2 years ago) Permalink

something about the vocal line at the beginning of the song...where he goes "when the sun in perched at its highest peak in the MID-dle of the day"

^^there is something distinctly Rush about how he emphasizes the first syllable of middle and takes it like a note higher than you'd expect, plus the guitar arpeggios under it are SOOO rush....but it's mostly in the intro not the whole song

― it's detlef season, you schremps (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Monday, 28 June 2010 15:09 (2 years ago) Permalink

Bill Magill will now be sad and cry about vampires ruining his rock experience.

― Ned Raggett, Monday, 28 June 2010 15:10 (2 years ago) Permalink

Bill Magill will now be sad and cry about ~~vampires~~ life ruining his rock experience.

― Filmmaker, Author, Radio Host Stephen Baldwin (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 28 June 2010 15:20 (2 years ago) Permalink

also,

i was first suprised to see trent reznor in it, but at the same time it made total sense, i think someone else upthread had the same experience

also, sebastian bach was SOOOOO cuet, he went out and bought the fountainhead when he was 12 awwwwww

― it's detlef season, you schremps (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Monday, 28 June 2010 15:20 (2 years ago) Permalink

Bach looked awful.

Bill Magill will now be sad and cry about vampires life ruining his rock experience.

― Filmmaker, Author, Radio Host Stephen Baldwin (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, June 28, 2010 11:20 AM (3 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

I dont even know what this means. If you dont like 80s Rush, you dont like life? Guilty as charged, I guess.

― Chicago to Philadelphia: "Suck It" (Bill Magill), Monday, 28 June 2010 15:25 (2 years ago) Permalink

bill don't hardman my naive love of canadian rock!!!!!!!!!!! okay???? not today man, i'm feeling all warm and fuzz abt rush!!!!!

― it's detlef season, you schremps (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Monday, 28 June 2010 15:26 (2 years ago) Permalink

Man, I love Rush, and I loved the movie. you guys have my take, no need for me to beat it into the ground.

― Chicago to Philadelphia: "Suck It" (Bill Magill), Monday, 28 June 2010 15:36 (2 years ago) Permalink

I guess I'm just trying to point out that there is a difference between you not liking anything they've done since Moving Pictures and Rush not liking anything they've done since then.

What I got from the movie was that Alex Lifeson was unhappy with how much the synths were taking over their records around Power Windows and that he wanted the records to become more guitar focused, which is exactly what happened. I did not get the impression that he was saying all these albums he created suck and should be erased from everyone's memories.

― Moodles, Monday, 28 June 2010 16:16 (2 years ago) Permalink

He did not like those records. That's my interpretation of what he said. I didnt like them either. If you like them, that's cool.

― Chicago to Philadelphia: "Suck It" (Bill Magill), Monday, 28 June 2010 16:38 (2 years ago) Permalink

Well, the band likes the period enough to still perform quite a few songs.

― Filmmaker, Author, Radio Host Stephen Baldwin (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 28 June 2010 16:41 (2 years ago) Permalink

yeah they did between the wheels off grace under pressure last i saw them and the crowd was loving it

and that's like a weird album cut too, not like some huge single or something that people would expect or that the band would somehow feel obligated to play

― it's detlef season, you schremps (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Monday, 28 June 2010 16:43 (2 years ago) Permalink

Alex was just as guilty of diluting his guitar potency with fx pedals as Geddy was with introducing keyboards into the band, so for him to complain around the time of Power Windows is kind of like pot meet kettle. Anyway, it seems like around the time of Hold Your Fire they brought the guitar back to the forefront (though to say that they'd done away with synths at that point is kind of ridiculous). That whole part of the doc was kind of muddy with its intent, but I can put the pieces together of how things went down just by listening to the records.

― Johnny Fever, Monday, 28 June 2010 16:49 (2 years ago) Permalink

see, i sorta love that era of alex's playing...very weird and fractured type stuff...one of the only OG classic rock dudes that seemed to take anything valuable from new wave/post punk....

they were using synths well before the that era anyway, this idea that using synths or efx is "diluting" Rush seems very odd to me, as if ppl think of Rush as some primal rock dudes like Motorhead or AC/DC or something

― it's detlef season, you schremps (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Monday, 28 June 2010 16:52 (2 years ago) Permalink

Oh no, you misread me (probably because I didn't elaborate). I love fx-heavy guitar, always have. I appreciate that he was all about textures for the Signals/Grace/Windows era. I just meant "diluted" in the traditional rock sense.

― Johnny Fever, Monday, 28 June 2010 16:56 (2 years ago) Permalink

oh okay yeah cuz i have friends that play kinda weird rock now that cite the lifeson of that era as being sorta influential, because we all grew up in nowheresville midwest and that was as close to like "arty" guitar playing as we had heard in comparison to all the metal and classic rock dudes we knew growing up

textural is the perfect word for it

lots of his playing in that era reminds me of the comsat angels

― it's detlef season, you schremps (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Monday, 28 June 2010 17:00 (2 years ago) Permalink

This guitars vs synths polarity is weird. After borrowing a copy of Power Windows last month from a friend, I heard just as much RAWK moments on stuff like "Emotion Detector" and "Manhattan Project" as I would have pre-Moving Pictures. The songs are shorter, though, but denser, more muscular; lots of stuff going on in them.

― Filmmaker, Author, Radio Host Stephen Baldwin (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 28 June 2010 17:00 (2 years ago) Permalink

listening to "Distant Early Warning" right now! this song rules...

― it's detlef season, you schremps (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Monday, 28 June 2010 17:05 (2 years ago) Permalink

Definitely Power Windows has lots of amazing high energy moments form all three of them, including some of Alex's greatest guitar work. I do think though that the synths on that record get a bit too busy and gitzy sounding at times to the point where they draw attention away from the guitar parts, so I can see why it would be a point of contention.

― Moodles, Monday, 28 June 2010 17:21 (2 years ago) Permalink

yeah "mystic rhythms" is a little overboard on the 80s production

― it's detlef season, you schremps (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Monday, 28 June 2010 17:30 (2 years ago) Permalink

I've seen this film 3 times now since I had a screener copy for reviews, and finally saw it in a theater last night and I have to sincerely agree with Moodles' take on this Bill.

Alex does make it clear that he was unhappy with the synths backing the guitars into the corner throughout the 80s. And he does imply that Hold Your Fire was the straw the broke the camel's back. Otherwise, I wouldn't say he really disowned anything and the do represent all of their albums live.

― Nate Carson, Monday, 28 June 2010 19:02 (2 years ago) Permalink

they not the.

― Nate Carson, Monday, 28 June 2010 19:03 (2 years ago) Permalink

then you learn the weapons and the ways of hard knock school
put on your kid gloves put on your kid gloves
then you learn the lesson that it's tough to be so cool

― it's detlef season, you schremps (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Monday, 28 June 2010 20:12 (2 years ago) Permalink

OKAY I FINISHED THIS AM AND HOW COME NO ONE ELSE IS FREAKING OUT ABOUT DRUM ZEN MASTER FREDDY GRUBER??????????

i swear to god that was like a christopher guest thing

― it's detlef season, you schremps (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Tuesday, 29 June 2010 14:09 (2 years ago) Permalink

OK, I managed to solve the mystery of Why Was Alex Lifeson's Argument With His Parents Filmed?: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0269104/

Come On Children was a documentary about Canadian youth directed by Allan King. And here I thought some of Lifeson's pals just wandered into his house with a Super-8.

― Tarfumes The Escape Goat, Tuesday, 29 June 2010 21:27 (2 years ago) Permalink

The original reality tv!

― Johnny Fever, Tuesday, 29 June 2010 21:44 (2 years ago) Permalink

Yeah, what a bizarre and useful bit of archival footage to have. Only in Canada!

― Nate Carson, Tuesday, 29 June 2010 22:47 (2 years ago) Permalink

i'm starting a religion based on the teachings of freddy "the yoda of drums" gruber and you are all invited:

― it's detlef season, you schrempfs (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Tuesday, 29 June 2010 22:52 (2 years ago) Permalink

Freddy obviously likes to hear himself talk, but as a drummer, I can absolutely see what he's getting at.

― Nate Carson, Wednesday, 30 June 2010 09:44 (2 years ago) Permalink

i'm sure that he's great, and yeah it makes sense it's just his delivery is soooooooo much like a christopher guest movie

hey does anyone know anything about max webster?

― Q and Not Gucci (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Thursday, 1 July 2010 15:21 (2 years ago) Permalink

There's a gigantic Canada Day Rush celebration over at Hellbound.ca today:

http://www.hellbound.ca/

It turned out really well. Thanks to Nate for chipping in!

― A. Begrand, Thursday, 1 July 2010 18:13 (2 years ago) Permalink

Great feature! Thanks for including me.

On another note, there's a Mini-RUSHCON in Las Vegas this August. Aaaaaaaaand, it's at Hooters :(

― Nate Carson, Thursday, 1 July 2010 19:07 (2 years ago) Permalink

can you imagine the patience it would take to sit thru a lesson w/freddy gruber? I think I like neil peart more now after that

― Dominique, Thursday, 1 July 2010 22:42 (2 years ago) Permalink

"Grace," "Power" and "Fire" ironically feature some of Lifeson's best guitar playing, IMO, a nice showcase for his lead rhythm player duties with some awesome solos tossed in. But yeah, when you combine synth washes with guitar designed to sound like synth washes, you're bound to get lost in the mix a little.

Saw this interview online:

In recent years, your albums have gotten a lot more guitar-oriented. The ’80s got a little synthy.
Yeah.
The transition, if you want to call it that, to more guitar-oriented albums — where does that come from?
It’s probably a reaction to what we were doing in the ’80s, when we started incorporating keyboards into our sound. It was still a very new thing, and that’s what really connected to us. But I think, once we got though the ’80s, we realized we went as far as we could with that. The real core part of the band is really in the three pieces — and really in the guitar. And in looking back, strictly for scheduling purposes, we put the keyboard down before we put the guitar down. So that made things a lot more restrictive for me and I had to work around a sound spectrum that was already occupied by keyboards. And I think, as a reaction to that, in the ’80s I went for a much wirier, thinner, clear trebly active pickup sound. In that period, I think that was just a response to the density of what the keyboard was doing.
Around the early ’90s, though, we all made this conscious effort to step away from keyboards, especially Geddy, which you would think would be unusual. But I think he’d had it and felt very confined in his area of the stage with keys and stuff. I mean, even with stuff we’re writing now, I have been the one kind of introducing some keyboard lines. Part of that reaction was replacing keyboard stuff with guitar parts — Vapor Trails, for example, has so much layered guitar stuff and it’s fun to do. And even Snakes and Arrows has a lot of layering and it’s great fun to do, and I love listening to it and I love doing it. But it makes it harder to really not depend on a lot of triggers and samples and stuff like that playing it live. But as I was saying, even now, where I want to bring some more keyboard back in, I am getting a lot of resistance from Geddy.

― Josh in Chicago, Friday, 2 July 2010 02:38 (2 years ago) Permalink

hey does anyone know anything about max webster?

― Q and Not Gucci (upper mississippi sh@kedown)

I saw Max Webster open for Rush in '79, but sadly I can't remember a single thing about them.

― Lostandfound, Friday, 2 July 2010 05:02 (2 years ago) Permalink

"The real core part of the band is really in the three pieces — and really in the guitar."

Thank you.

― Chicago to Philadelphia: "Suck It" (Bill Magill), Friday, 2 July 2010 14:03 (2 years ago) Permalink

Total agreement. I wasn't a big fan until I saw them live and realized that Alex Lifeson is the secret weapon.

― Nate Carson, Friday, 2 July 2010 19:12 (2 years ago) Permalink

yeah but bill his view is a lot more nuanced and measured than your ALEX LIFESON PERSONALLY TOLD ME GRACE UNDER PRESSURE SUCKS ASS AND HE WANTS TO DESTROY EVERY KEYBOARD EVER MANUFACTURED GUITAR GUITAR GUITAR I KUT YR HEAD OFF WITH MY FLYING V!!!!!

― the reverend dr. william wiggins (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Friday, 2 July 2010 19:15 (2 years ago) Permalink

I'm kind of surprised that Alex wanted to bring the synths back and Geddy shut him down.

― Moodles, Friday, 2 July 2010 19:42 (2 years ago) Permalink

Well there's plenty of synth on the new singles. So obviously this has worked itself out.

― Nate Carson, Friday, 2 July 2010 20:30 (2 years ago) Permalink

Finally got round to seeing this, glad I was watching it at home on my own so I could air-drum to my heart's content. Dunno why people on this thread are saying they come across as weirdos, a bit standoff-ish maybe but watching the RushCon footage who can blame them? Anyway, what a great film, I really can't think of another megaband where none of the members have drug issues / mental health issues / hate each other, it's nice to see a rock band doc that isn't essentially a Behind The Music horror show. Shame they didn't mention the Alex Lifeson new years eve arrest from a couple of years ago though.

― A prog venn diagram for you to think about (Matt #2), Sunday, 4 July 2010 16:46 (2 years ago) Permalink

For a band currently touring for no good reason, I really wish they weren't playing "Moving Pictures" in its entirety and instead dusted off even more stuff they've rarely if ever played before. But nice to see "Marathon" back in rotation, even if I was hoping for a deep '80s cut like "The Enemy Within."

― Josh in Chicago, Sunday, 4 July 2010 20:00 (2 years ago) Permalink

I've never seen them live, but this looks like a fabulous sample of many of my favorites. Set List from June 29 show in Albuqurque:

Set One
The Spirit Of Radio
Time Stand Still
Presto
Stick It Out
Workin' Them Angels
Leave That Thing Alone
Faithless
BU2B
Freewill
Marathon
Subdivisions

Set Two
Tom Sawyer
Red Barchetta
YYZ
Limelight
The Camera Eye
Witch Hunt
Vital Signs
Caravan
Drum Solo
Closer To The Heart
2112 Part I: Overture
2112 Part II: The Temples Of Syrinx
Far Cry

Encore:
La Villa Strangiato
Working Man

― Fastnbulbous, Sunday, 4 July 2010 20:08 (2 years ago) Permalink

Oh, it's a great setlist, a mix of old and new. I guess I'll see how it plays tomorrow night.

BTW, the shift in guitar sound through the '80s no doubt had a lot to do with Alex's switch to Strat (like every other effects monster in the '80s). These days he's back to Gibsons and a thicker sound. Same with Geddy, for that matter, who is using good ol' Fenders rather than those sci-fi basses he favored in that decade.

― Josh in Chicago, Sunday, 4 July 2010 20:45 (2 years ago) Permalink

Not to be gear dude, but "those sci-fi basses" were Wals, which were fantastic-sounding (in a Fenderish vein) instruments and not fusion toys, and Geddy only switched 'cause Mr. Wallace died.

― Three Word Username, Tuesday, 6 July 2010 12:23 (2 years ago) Permalink

I liked the Wals at the time, but I far prefer the rich, growly tones he gets from his Fender basses, and I love his classic Rickenbacker as well. The Wals and Steinbergers, in retrospect, were a bit too punchy and thin for my taste.

― Moodles, Tuesday, 6 July 2010 12:40 (2 years ago) Permalink

The show last night was incredible. I think I need to find a way to go back on Wednesday

― Stormy Davis, Tuesday, 6 July 2010 18:10 (2 years ago) Permalink

Finally bought the movie this weekend, will be digging in on my day off tomorrow.

Certainly have to offer a big "fuck off" to B3st Buy over this, btw. That was the only local place that had it (other than B@rnes & Nobl3 where it was thirty bucks!) and it was to be on sale for like 15 bucks first week of release. Stopped by on the day of release, said they'd only got one copy in and it sold right away. Since it was right next door to where I was working, I stopped by several times to see if it was in yet. Never showed up, until the day AFTER the sale price ended and suddenly they had 30+ copies. I hate when places pull stuff like that.

[end rant, back to Rush talk]

― he's always been a bit of an anti-climb Max (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Tuesday, 6 July 2010 18:35 (2 years ago) Permalink

Plus those superstores buy product at a discount so the filmmakers get an even smaller cut when you buy that way. Amazon is the same deal. Buy direct whenever you can.

Anyway, yes I studied the set list from opening night and have to say I could not be much more excited. I don't care about seeing Moving Pictures particularly but the rest of the set is an outstanding selection.

― Nate Carson, Tuesday, 6 July 2010 20:09 (2 years ago) Permalink

Alex Lifeson talks about his new amp and the "steampunk" look of the Time Machine stage show.

― Nate Carson, Tuesday, 6 July 2010 20:12 (2 years ago) Permalink

I'm loving the Steampunk look. I can't believe I have to wait until September to see this show! Too long!!!

― Moodles, Tuesday, 6 July 2010 21:58 (2 years ago) Permalink

Show last night was pretty good! Alex was a tad sloppy, but I was shocked by how many more fills and licks Neil and Geddy were fitting into the arrangements. Geddy in particular has gotten better than ever. Neil is so rudiment oriented now that he's super-efficient around the kit, which in turn makes all his extra kit seem that much sillier. Only time he used the electric half was for the solo, and my attitude is: if you have pieces that you just need for the solo, then you don't need it.

End of the show "I Love You, Man" sequel short is really funny, too.

― Josh in Chicago, Tuesday, 6 July 2010 22:15 (2 years ago) Permalink

― Josh in Chicago, Tuesday, 6 July 2010 22:16 (2 years ago) Permalink

I wish they'd come to the Canadian prairies, but they rarely if ever do. Maybe it's because we don't have sheds.

And wow, are those amps ever cool.

― A. Begrand, Tuesday, 6 July 2010 22:38 (2 years ago) Permalink

Seems like they slavishly tour the US and hit a few Canadian mega-markets and that's about it. Like, UK every 8 years, Brazil once ever. Japan once, ever. How weird.

Lucky for me anyway! :)

― Nate Carson, Tuesday, 6 July 2010 23:36 (2 years ago) Permalink

Well, they play Chicago TWICE ... lucky me indeed :)

I am definitely going back tomorrow, by hook or by crook, I'll eat ramen for a month i don't care...

shocked by how many more fills and licks Neil and Geddy were fitting into the arrangements. Geddy in particular has gotten better than ever.

^^ this. of course I've always considered Rush a "musicians" band -- and last night was the third time I've seen them live -- but there was something about last night's show that was particularly, I dunno, "musicianly". Geddy in particular, not so much Neil. But yeah, Geddy was all over that bass in a way I don't really recall him being live. But it wasn't just flash for the sake of flash, it just was super neat playing. At times I thought I was at a Weather Report concert with Jaco or something, not a Rush show .. but all in a good way

― Stormy Davis, Wednesday, 7 July 2010 00:12 (2 years ago) Permalink

"Marathon" was totally the highlight for me. pure bliss

(btw, I didn't even look at that setlist that Fastnbulbous posted ... No spoilers!!)

― Stormy Davis, Wednesday, 7 July 2010 00:23 (2 years ago) Permalink

also, I was sitting directly behind the most awesome family, they'd driven up from mid-Indiana for the show. A couple and their 8 year old daughter. The girl was totally into the show and dancing and singing the whole time.. And she knew most of the words!! it was awesome...

― Stormy Davis, Wednesday, 7 July 2010 00:42 (2 years ago) Permalink

the dad is in the white shirt top-right, looks like I missed him in my pic, oh well ... swell dude, he knew all of the lyrics too. the whole fam had pasted-on smiled for the whole three hours, as did I. good times

― Stormy Davis, Wednesday, 7 July 2010 00:43 (2 years ago) Permalink

I can't believe I get to see Weird Al, Air Supply, and Rush all in the course of 5 days. I am blessed.

― Nate Carson, Wednesday, 7 July 2010 02:02 (2 years ago) Permalink

Sorry, didn't mean to spoil. Here's setlist from 7/3 in Milwaukee, slightly different. I think of it more like having the program to a classical concert that rocks! I also downloaded the songs from the 90s on the setlist that I didn't know. Hard to get into them, but maybe I'll appreciate them more live.

― Fastnbulbous, Wednesday, 7 July 2010 12:33 (2 years ago) Permalink

Plus those superstores buy product at a discount so the filmmakers get an even smaller cut when you buy that way. Amazon is the same deal. Buy direct whenever you can.

Yeah, I know I should have done this, but I was way too impatient for mail order on this one.

― he's always been a bit of an anti-climb Max (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Wednesday, 7 July 2010 13:40 (2 years ago) Permalink

I can't believe I get to see Weird Al, Air Supply, and Rush all in the course of 5 days. I am blessed.

― Nate Carson, Tuesday, July 6, 2010 9:02 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark

How are you wrangling such a monumental feat? I had a fleeting thought of Weird Al and Air Supply collaborating on "All Out of Gloves"

― an outlet to express the dark invocations of (La Lechera), Wednesday, 7 July 2010 13:44 (2 years ago) Permalink

Air Supply is at Spirit Mountain Casino. I'm taking my Mom for her birthday, but also the guitar player of Witch Mountain is equally excited and going with me.

Weird Al is a the Roseland.

Rush is up in the greater Seattle area.

So there's some driving to be done on my part (and I do have to spring for the Air Supply tix). Otherwise, it's just good timing!

― Nate Carson, Wednesday, 7 July 2010 19:19 (2 years ago) Permalink

So it rained really hard from 6:45 to 7:30, then it stopped or sprinkled. Bought an $11 can of beer, got our seat, and at 8:00 they canceled the show, saying the forecast saw thunderstorms in another half hour. That's not what we saw on the weather radar. Sure enough, it's after 10 and still no storms. I thought that venue's policy was rain or shine. They said they would reschedule, but I don't know when they can. What a let down.

― Fastnbulbous, Thursday, 8 July 2010 03:15 (2 years ago) Permalink

That's a real shame...I'd be devastated.

― A. Begrand, Thursday, 8 July 2010 03:26 (2 years ago) Permalink

"I liked the Wals at the time, but I far prefer the rich, growly tones he gets from his Fender basses, and I love his classic Rickenbacker as well. The Wals and Steinbergers, in retrospect, were a bit too punchy and thin for my taste."

Not to be gear dude again, but I'm guessing that you've never played a Steinberger or Wal bass. I suggest that the less impressive bass sound you're hearing was more a result of the synths bogarting all the good frequencies.

― Three Word Username, Thursday, 8 July 2010 06:59 (2 years ago) Permalink

It certainly may have a bit to do with the production of the time. Those late 80s/early 90s Rush albums have a distinctive lack of low-end compared with their more recent recordings.

However, there was definitely a trend at that time toward basses with active pickups, very clean tones, graphite basses with no bodies (Steinbergers), and a twangy/punchy quality. It was all about a sharp clean tone with little or no distortion.

On their last bunch of albums, the bass really fills out the low-end, it sounds fuller and somewhat distorted. Part of this has to do with changes in the way Geddy Lee plays. He used to pick each note with individual fingers, in a more traditional bass style. Now you'll see him strumming the notes in an up and down motion using his whole hand a lot of the time. However, I still contend that the move to Fender basses is a major contributing factor in the overall improvement of the bass sound over the last 10-15 years.

― Moodles, Thursday, 8 July 2010 12:39 (2 years ago) Permalink

Don't know why I know this, but Geddy used to use "Funkmaster" strings, in the '80s, and now I presume does not. Plus, he uses Fender jazz basses, which I also presume it what helps him boost the bottom rather than ride on top.

― Josh in Chicago, Thursday, 8 July 2010 12:48 (2 years ago) Permalink

Taking that as confirmation on never having actually played a Steinberger or Wal, then.

― Three Word Username, Thursday, 8 July 2010 14:12 (2 years ago) Permalink

I'm not exactly sure what your point is. Are you saying Wals and Steinbergers sound exactly like Fenders? Or even like each other? They all have distinctive sounds.

FWIW, I haven't played those basses, although I'd say that my Modulus has a lot in common tonally with Wals. But I'm not really sure why it would matter either way. I have ears and I can tell the difference between these various basses.

I think that both the Steinbergers and the Wals sound good. I prefer the Wals over the Steinbergers and I prefer the Fenders over both. It is my personal opinion that Fenders are better suited for a rock sound. Geddy Lee's move back to Fenders coincided with the band's move back to a more hard rocking sound. I believe he changed for exactly this reason, but feel free to disagree.

― Moodles, Thursday, 8 July 2010 14:30 (2 years ago) Permalink

My point is that your idea of what these instruments sound like is based on reading magazines and listening to records and not on any actual experience with the instruments. I was startled by how "old fashioned" (in a good way) and, well, ROCK the two Wals I have played sounded -- not at all like the Modulii (an M-92 and an old Quantum V) I have played did. Similarly, Steinbergers are not TURBOTWANG IN YER FACE instruments, as their continued use in reggae (and nearly nowhere else) will indicate. Steinberger and Wal no longer make new instruments and no longer have marketing departments, and the availability of a well-made instrument and the strength of a marketing department have much more to do with what instruments a star bassist says he uses or actually uses than you would believe.

― Three Word Username, Thursday, 8 July 2010 15:17 (2 years ago) Permalink

i just saw DEVO last weekend, first time i'd seen a steinberger in a LONG time

― the reverend dr. william wiggins (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Thursday, 8 July 2010 15:25 (2 years ago) Permalink

I get that the sound that ends up on record is a combination of instruments, amps, and recording techniques, and that perhaps in "real life" these basses can sound much better. However, I think there is no denying that the basses on all the Rush albums from Grace Under Pressure through Roll The Bones have a very clean and twangy sound and often lack depth. The fact that these were the albums on which Geddy used the Steinbergers and Wals, leads me to make the (possibly spurious or just plain ignorant) assumption that those basses have something to with the sound as recorded. Am I really off-base here?

Likewise, Alex Lifeson played Signature guitars on a bunch of these albums. I have in fact played these, and they did actual sound every bit as thin and terrible in "real life". I think his change back to Gibsons, PRSs, and Fenders helped fix this. Maybe I'm just smoking crack...

Would their last bunch of albums have sounded better if they just stuck with their late 80s gear?

― Moodles, Thursday, 8 July 2010 15:34 (2 years ago) Permalink

I'm glad DEVO came up on this thread. I wore my 2112 backpatch at the DEVO show last year and got A LOT of love from that crowd. Big-time nerd crossover between those 2 bands.

As for all this bass gear talk--way to take a nerdy thread to new depths. Fancy a game of Magic, anyone? ;)

― Nate Carson, Thursday, 8 July 2010 20:53 (2 years ago) Permalink

I can't help it. I'm a bass nerd and I basically learned how to play by being in a Rush cover band in the late 80s/early 90s and trying to immitate Geddy Lee's sound as much as I could, so it is a passionate topic for me, boring to everyone else.

― Moodles, Thursday, 8 July 2010 20:56 (2 years ago) Permalink

As for another nerdy intersection, I hail from Akron, the not very fabled land of DEVO and former Akron mayor Tom Sawyer, who is...wait for it...

my father.

― ghee hee hee (La Lechera), Thursday, 8 July 2010 21:11 (2 years ago) Permalink

So much for his mind not being for rent by any government, then.

― Ned Raggett, Thursday, 8 July 2010 21:12 (2 years ago) Permalink

you make the joke, i've probably heard it

― ghee hee hee (La Lechera), Thursday, 8 July 2010 21:13 (2 years ago) Permalink

wait La Lechera, I was born in Akron and go there almost every year for the holidays

― "Don't forget to bring a juggalo towel!" (HI DERE), Thursday, 8 July 2010 21:21 (2 years ago) Permalink

You are all part of a secret government project to create Rush/Devo fans.

― Ned Raggett, Thursday, 8 July 2010 21:22 (2 years ago) Permalink

Really? He was mayor from '83-'86 iirc. The guy who was mayor after him has been mayor ever since.
uh oh someone has figured out my secret plot.

― ghee hee hee (La Lechera), Thursday, 8 July 2010 21:24 (2 years ago) Permalink

I'm kind of uncomfortable with Rush new status as a cool band

― Shin Oliva Suzuki, Thursday, 8 July 2010 22:13 (2 years ago) Permalink

??????????????????????????????????????

― Chicago to Philadelphia: "Suck It" (Bill Magill), Thursday, 8 July 2010 22:15 (2 years ago) Permalink

1 month passes...

Rush: Time Machine tour was great last night. Anyone who misses this tour is gonna end up seeing them next time around--and you can bet that half of that set will be Clockwork Angels material. (not that that's a bad thing).

― Nate Carson, Sunday, 8 August 2010 21:59 (2 years ago) Permalink

Looking forward to october!

― Shin Oliva Suzuki, Sunday, 8 August 2010 23:06 (2 years ago) Permalink

how was weird al!?!

― ghee hee hee (La Lechera), Monday, 9 August 2010 00:09 (2 years ago) Permalink

Weird Al was GREAT! I saw Styx the same week. What a week! Air Supply I had to pass on :(

― Nate Carson, Monday, 9 August 2010 01:41 (2 years ago) Permalink

Nate was all out of love for Air Supply :(

― EZ Snappin, Monday, 9 August 2010 01:55 (2 years ago) Permalink

Exactly two weeks left until the "makeup" date in Chicago for the show that was rained out last month ... can't fucking wait

― Stormy Davis, Monday, 9 August 2010 03:41 (2 years ago) Permalink

Don't remind me. I have a fucking wedding to go to that day, so I will miss Rush yet AGAIN. So pissed that they chose that date.

― he's always been a bit of an anti-climb Max (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Monday, 9 August 2010 03:45 (2 years ago) Permalink

Nate was all out of ~~love~~$ for Air Supply :(

― Nate Carson, Tuesday, 10 August 2010 21:29 (2 years ago) Permalink

Things I didn't know:

As a group, Rush possesses 24 gold records and 14 platinum (3 multi-platinum) records, placing them fourth behind the Beatles, Rolling Stones and Kiss for the most gold and platinum albums by a band in music history.[1] According to the RIAA, Rush's sales statistics also place them third behind The Beatles, and The Rolling Stones for the most consecutive gold or platinum albums by a rock band.

― How could you forget the crazy hooker? (HI DERE), Friday, 13 August 2010 18:56 (2 years ago) Permalink

Actually their most current press kit has them in the #3 spot now. A few years back they were #5.

I think they plan to live/record long enough to hit the #1 slot.

Of course, having "consecutive" gold/platinum records is fairly specific distinction (though it's still profound).

― Nate Carson, Sunday, 15 August 2010 17:42 (2 years ago) Permalink

Oh, nevermind. That's clearly indicated in your post. That's what I get for skimming info I already know. D'oh!

― Nate Carson, Sunday, 15 August 2010 17:43 (2 years ago) Permalink

http://news.2112.net/

Last night Rush returned to Chicago after the July 7th rain out, which led to one fan suing the band seeking reimbursement for the ticket but also his airfare and other travel expenses (story below). As a thank you for standing in the downpour on July 7th, RUSH gave fans attending the August 23rd makeup performance an exclusive baseball hat which includes the stitching ""The Rain Date Chicago-2010"

― A. Begrand, Wednesday, 25 August 2010 07:21 (2 years ago) Permalink

Such good Canadian boys!

― Nate Carson, Wednesday, 25 August 2010 09:05 (2 years ago) Permalink

yep ... I got my hat ... very nice, very cool .. and the show ruled as expected. Geddy said something like "let's try this again" in re: the rainout

― Stormy Davis, Wednesday, 25 August 2010 14:52 (2 years ago) Permalink

Yeah I thought about all the people who had traveled a long way and booked hotels for that show in July. The fucked up thing was that the rain had stopped right around 7 that night, and no other thunderstorms were nowhere near downtown Chicago. The tickets said rain or shine. It was certainly a great night though (who has weddings on a Monday??). Geddy's voice was crack-a-lackin' at the start of "Spirit Of The Radio" -- they must be tired after a long tour. But later he'd nail the notes like on "Freewill." Awesome performance, never thought I'd get to see "The Camera Eye" live. I don't wear those hats, still deciding what to do with it. Eight are currently on sale on eBay. One is asking $150 -- probably trying to recoup hotel expenses, ha ha.

― Fastnbulbous, Wednesday, 25 August 2010 15:10 (2 years ago) Permalink

They have a documentary movie that just came out. It aired on VH1 a couple times and is on dvd. Really entertaining and they all come across as nice down to Earth guys.

The funniest part was when Geddy and Alex are together at a diner and the waitress recognizes Geddy. She gets him to sign about ten autographs, while completely ignoring Alex, even at one point leaning awkwardly over him to get closer to Geddy.

― kornrulez6969, Wednesday, 25 August 2010 15:16 (2 years ago) Permalink

I'm still blown away at how much attention my Rush t-shirt, backpatch, and keychain get. Grocery store clerks get excited, dudes on bikes, guys in airports. People sing to me and congratulate me for being a fan. Such a crazy cult. Love it.

― Nate Carson, Monday, 30 August 2010 00:36 (2 years ago) Permalink

nice revive, Nate. I actually just finished listened to my vinyl copy of 'Power Windows' a few minutes. wanted to relive how fucking AWESOME it was to hear "Marathon" live. God, I can't believe I'll only get to see them two times on this tour. I'd see them every night if I had the money and means. best band ever

― Stormy Davis, Monday, 30 August 2010 01:04 (2 years ago) Permalink

listenING .. a few minutes AGO

sorry, been drinking beer too...

― Stormy Davis, Monday, 30 August 2010 01:05 (2 years ago) Permalink

I wanna know if the guys actually write the script/dialogue for the intro movies ... the thing with the "fat" Alex eating the sausage, then working the time machine box is hilarious

― Stormy Davis, Monday, 30 August 2010 01:10 (2 years ago) Permalink

wore my "rainout" hat out on the town with pride last night, btw

― Stormy Davis, Monday, 30 August 2010 01:12 (2 years ago) Permalink

who has weddings on a Monday??

That was my mistake, I thought the show was rescheduled for the 21st. Didn't matter since I was in Michigan for family visits after the wedding through the whole week. So bummed I missed it.

― he's always been a bit of an anti-climb Max (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Monday, 30 August 2010 02:15 (2 years ago) Permalink

3 weeks pass...

Revive!

Just saw them this weekend and they played the Fastnbulbous setlist. It was a great show -- I had almost an identical take on Geddy's vocals (rough at first, yet somehow nailed "Freewill"). I forgot how incredible things like "La Villa Strangiato" were. "The Camera Eye" live was incredible -- and the whole Time Machine stage design was outstanding.

It was my second time seeing them -- but I'd forgotten what a special vibe they have with their audience, which was about 85% 40 year-old guys in Zildjian t-shirts for whom "Subdivisions" was essentially their autobiography. Tons of inside jokes and in-references from the band -- just a very nice feeling.

I'd gotten excited about seeing them after watching the documentary and the Classic Albums episode on 2112 and Moving Pictures (as part of VH-1 Classic's "Rushashana" weekend, lol). And I'm with Al -- I'm a big fan of Power Windows. You can prefer the 70s material all you want (I personally think their classic is Exit Stage Left, which captures many of their best 70s moments) -- you can dig the sound of Lifeson's guitar more than the synths. But you can't deny the tunes or inventiveness of the arrangements on those 80s records.

― Naive Teen Idol, Tuesday, 21 September 2010 03:27 (2 years ago) Permalink

******SPOILERS********

Saw them last night. Camera Eye gave me chills. A couple songs like Vital Signs and Far Cry were a bit chaotic and hard to parse because it was all so loud, and the guitar solo in Working Man completely shattered my eardrums. Otherwise a particularly nice concert. Other highlights: Presto and Marathon both came off really well. Lots of really smooth guitar solos. Insane light show/stage setup/videos/etc.

I noticed they had a little "Atheist" portion of their set with Faithless, Brought Up To Believe, and Freewill all in a row. I think they were trying to tell us something.

― Moodles, Friday, 24 September 2010 21:44 (2 years ago) Permalink

About Geddy's vocals: sounded a bit shaky on the first song, but got into a groove after that with some hiccups here and there. However, he was mixed really loud, probably louder than he should have been.

The sound quality overall was pretty good, but not great. Not nearly as clear a mix as their show in Austin a couple years ago.

― Moodles, Friday, 24 September 2010 21:47 (2 years ago) Permalink

Having now dug into their back catalog as a result of this tour, a few quick impressions:

I've always liked the uber-synth production on Power Windows -- but "Territories" may be my favorite song on there. Lifeson is doing his level best to channel The Edge on that one.

I think most fans view "Time Stands Still" as kind of the sell-out/"hit" from Hold Your Fire -- but that's one cut that really seems to transcend the "Rush = dudes" factor. As my friend at the show said, "This one is for the female fans" -- of whom there were actually quite a few. Great, rousing chorus on this one.

― Naive Teen Idol, Tuesday, 28 September 2010 12:30 (2 years ago) Permalink

It's also a really bittersweet lyric given what happened to Neil's wife and daughter.

― Ned Raggett, Tuesday, 28 September 2010 12:39 (2 years ago) Permalink

I read his Ghost Rider book just recently, so sad.

― disastrous sixth series (MaresNest), Tuesday, 28 September 2010 12:55 (2 years ago) Permalink

yeah i will stan for "time stands still" all day long, it's a wonderful, sad little pop song

― who's got the (platform) 9 3/4ths? (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Tuesday, 28 September 2010 16:28 (2 years ago) Permalink

I also just like the fact it has Aimee Mann on it, utterly randomly.

― Ned Raggett, Tuesday, 28 September 2010 16:36 (2 years ago) Permalink

yeah like for a minute i thought maybe it was a canadian thing, but she's not canadian iirc....

though i could imagine her being canadian for some reason.

― who's got the (platform) 9 3/4ths? (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Tuesday, 28 September 2010 16:40 (2 years ago) Permalink

"Time Stand Still" is not one of my favorite Rush tracks, but it came across really well in concert. Same with "Presto". The production on these is really thin and poppy sounding. I think the massive, modern live sound tends to compensate for this.

― Moodles, Wednesday, 29 September 2010 14:41 (2 years ago) Permalink

I've always liked the uber-synth production on Power Windows -- but "Territories" may be my favorite song on there. Lifeson is doing his level best to channel The Edge on that one.

I agree with all this. Watching the DVD with a buddy this weekend and noting the 10-minute debate about their use of synths, I was perplexed by how momentous the band (and fans) made what looks to me like a logical retooling of arrangements.

― raging hetero lifechill (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 29 September 2010 14:45 (2 years ago) Permalink

the video for time stand still is some A+ 'oh god how did this get here i am not good with computers' shit

― ciderpress, Wednesday, 29 September 2010 14:52 (2 years ago) Permalink

I think there was a definite drop in quality from Hold Your Fire through Roll The Bones, and for a lot of people the shorthand for that is "synths".

To me, it really wasn't about the synths, but rather bad 80s production values and a move from Prog Rock to catchy Pop. I think they went a little too far in the pop direction and it didn't really work for them because it didn't play to their core strengths.

Right now, I wouldn't mind if the brought back some of the bubbly synths, so long as they still have the massive guitar, bass, and drums.

― Moodles, Wednesday, 29 September 2010 14:53 (2 years ago) Permalink

I don't notice a songwriting decline so much as an exhaustion of their always silly themes, which dovetailed with, yeah, the trendy production.

― raging hetero lifechill (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 29 September 2010 14:59 (2 years ago) Permalink

The Big Money is quite possibly the most 80s sounding song of the entire 80s.

― kornrulez6969, Wednesday, 29 September 2010 15:05 (2 years ago) Permalink

is it bad that i can recite the 'rap' on roll the bones from memory?

― ciderpress, Wednesday, 29 September 2010 15:08 (2 years ago) Permalink

I can too!

― raging hetero lifechill (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 29 September 2010 15:09 (2 years ago) Permalink

Actually, if anything "Presto" featured some of their best "songs," in the formal sense - as in, I can imagine a dude with a guitar singing a lot of them. I mean, "The Pass" is lovely. But the thin production really did let the material down, though of course, the band as ever recognized this and bounced back. There's a great bit in the doc where that one "Caveman" producer explained how he refused to let Alex use a lot of his effects, but for all the apparent conflict, Alex knew it was best to go along with the plan.

For the record, Rush hasn't been terribly "prog" since the late '70s, or very early '80s at the latest. In fact, I've always been impressed by the band's economy, which sounds nuts given the amount of playing they squeeze into each song, but the arrangements are so tight it never seems indulgent.

― Josh in Chicago, Wednesday, 29 September 2010 15:10 (2 years ago) Permalink

Defend the Indefensible: Rap in the Middle of "Roll the Bones" (Rush)

― ciderpress, Wednesday, 29 September 2010 15:12 (2 years ago) Permalink

I enjoy the excessiveness and exuberance of it. It's really over-the-top in every way. I don't mind when they indulge in 80s sounds but take it to the nth degree.

I get more put off by later records like Roll The Bones, where they really pare everything down. The songwriting is catchy, but unadventurous. Many of the songs lack all the exciting instrumental hooks and floureshes that are Rush's trademark. And where are the epic guitar solos?

The Big Money indulges in all that great stuff and more, and I love it for that.

various xposts...

― Moodles, Wednesday, 29 September 2010 15:12 (2 years ago) Permalink

I can recite that rap too. It's still awful.

― Moodles, Wednesday, 29 September 2010 15:12 (2 years ago) Permalink

Fax the facts from Nome to Rome boy

― raging hetero lifechill (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 29 September 2010 15:13 (2 years ago) Permalink

it's a parallax, you dig?
it's a rig
the small get big

^^the realest shit peart ever wrote

― who's got the (platform) 9 3/4ths? (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Wednesday, 29 September 2010 15:16 (2 years ago) Permalink

i think roll the bones may be the weakest rush album but 'dreamline' is a pretty underrated song imo

― ciderpress, Wednesday, 29 September 2010 15:18 (2 years ago) Permalink

Ghost of a Chance and Bravado are pretty great too. There are live recordings of all of these songs that are vast improvements on the originals though.

― Moodles, Wednesday, 29 September 2010 15:20 (2 years ago) Permalink

Another attribute of the band seen in that doc is its ability to recognize transitional periods for what they are. Like, they're not mistakes it they help the group get where it's going.

― Josh in Chicago, Wednesday, 29 September 2010 17:37 (2 years ago) Permalink

I adore "Ghost of a Chance" – the way the chorus dangles in the air, with those huge block synth chords in the background.

― raging hetero lifechill (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 29 September 2010 17:39 (2 years ago) Permalink

ghost of a chance might be the closest rush ever got to a love song, and yet it's still a meta-love song

― ciderpress, Wednesday, 29 September 2010 17:43 (2 years ago) Permalink

I dig the songs on Chronicles a lot but I've never been able to get into the albums---prob. could if I really worked at it but haven't ever felt the need. But I would love to hear a comp of Rush songs that are in the neighborhood of "Time Stands Still", or at least just get a few names of their songs, if any, in this neighborhood.

― Euler, Wednesday, 29 September 2010 17:47 (2 years ago) Permalink

pretty much the whole Hold Your Fire album is big pretty synth-rock songs like that. Power Windows also has the same production/arrangement style, though its songs are less sentimental

― ciderpress, Wednesday, 29 September 2010 17:51 (2 years ago) Permalink

hmm also "chain lightning" from presto and maybe the aforementioned "ghost of a chance"

― ciderpress, Wednesday, 29 September 2010 17:52 (2 years ago) Permalink

I remember Peart saying somewhere how he gets choked up every time he plays "The Pass" live. Love that song.

― A. Begrand, Wednesday, 29 September 2010 17:57 (2 years ago) Permalink

― -hot-dean ge-fever- (buzza), Wednesday, 29 September 2010 18:08 (2 years ago) Permalink

Some loosely sentimental power-ballads a la "Time Stand Still:"

"Losing It"
"Marathon"
"Emotion Detector"
"Grand Designs"
"Mission"
"The Pass"
"Ghost of a Chance"
"Ghost Rider"
"The Larger Bowl"

― Josh in Chicago, Wednesday, 29 September 2010 18:19 (2 years ago) Permalink

"The Larger Bowl"

I thought they were drug free.

― raging hetero lifechill (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 29 September 2010 18:24 (2 years ago) Permalink

Ha. They do joke in the movie that they must have been pretty high when they wrote their '70s prog epics.

― Josh in Chicago, Wednesday, 29 September 2010 18:27 (2 years ago) Permalink

Just noticed one of the deleted scenes on the DVD is about the rap part in "Roll the Bones." Geddy Lee claims it was just a joke, a couple fans express their displeasure, and even Les Claypool pops up to say "it was a bit hard to take, even for me."

― Josh in Chicago, Wednesday, 29 September 2010 19:47 (2 years ago) Permalink

i for real get goosebumps from "mission" tho i recognize how cheezy it is...

― who's got the (platform) 9 3/4ths? (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Wednesday, 29 September 2010 19:49 (2 years ago) Permalink

Not exactly 80s synthy, but I'd also recommend "Entre Nous" and "Different Strings" as great Rush sentimental power ballads.

― Moodles, Wednesday, 29 September 2010 19:53 (2 years ago) Permalink

I had a quote from "The Pass" in my high school senior yearbook.

― Moodles, Wednesday, 29 September 2010 19:54 (2 years ago) Permalink

Also in the movie (see the movie!) Billy Corgan says young withdrawn Billy Corgan once sat his mom down to play her "Entre Nous" to try to teach her how music connected with him. He also says at one point he knew how to play the first side of "2112" from start to finish.

― Josh in Chicago, Wednesday, 29 September 2010 20:01 (2 years ago) Permalink

Some loosely sentimental power-ballads a la "Time Stand Still:"

...no "Closer to the Heart"?

― Ned Raggett, Wednesday, 29 September 2010 20:26 (2 years ago) Permalink

"Rush goes pop!" impromptu POX

New World Man
Big Money
Manhattan Project (if you ignore Geddy, this is basically a Siouxsie song)
Time Stand Still
The Pass
War Paint
Dreamline
Ghost Of A Chance
Nobody's Hero
Earthshine

― Stockhausen's Helicopter Quartet (Elvis Telecom), Wednesday, 29 September 2010 21:13 (2 years ago) Permalink

New World Man

I remember hearing this as some sort of theme for a bio of an athlete on Wide World of Sports or something in 1986. I suppose it works as that!

― Ned Raggett, Wednesday, 29 September 2010 21:14 (2 years ago) Permalink

Manhattan Project (if you ignore Geddy, this is basically a Siouxsie song)

The middle section -- so expensive for 1985! -- is awesome.

― raging hetero lifechill (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 29 September 2010 21:21 (2 years ago) Permalink

One week to see the Time Machine show. Very excited

― Shin Oliva Suzuki, Wednesday, 29 September 2010 21:27 (2 years ago) Permalink

Pretty much every track on Power Windows has an epic and beautiful middle section.

― Moodles, Wednesday, 29 September 2010 21:31 (2 years ago) Permalink

One week to see the Time Machine show. Very excited

― Shin Oliva Suzuki, Wednesday, September 29, 2010 5:27 PM (8 minutes ago) Bookmark

Saw it recently in VA. I won't spoil it for you, but I'll say this much: Rush should have their own weekly sketch-comedy show.

― Sterling, Cooper, Nash & Young (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Wednesday, 29 September 2010 21:38 (2 years ago) Permalink

― Josh in Chicago, Wednesday, 29 September 2010 21:54 (2 years ago) Permalink

That second one is a gem and a half.

― Josh in Chicago, Wednesday, 29 September 2010 21:55 (2 years ago) Permalink

― Josh in Chicago, Wednesday, 29 September 2010 21:56 (2 years ago) Permalink

― Josh in Chicago, Wednesday, 29 September 2010 21:58 (2 years ago) Permalink

That tobogganing safety video is hilarious.

― EveningStar (Sund4r), Wednesday, 29 September 2010 22:13 (2 years ago) Permalink

People should really be talking more about the new single Caravan. It's so awesome.

Also look at this: Rush gets major love from Brendon Small and Guitar Hero et al:

http://www.cnn.com/2010/TECH/gaming.gadgets/09/29/warriors.of.rock.nerds/index.html?cid=mkt_face_tech&t=128579038698872

― Nate Carson, Thursday, 30 September 2010 07:24 (2 years ago) Permalink

Hah, Geddy's "scream" while tobogganing (sp?) is totally musical. What a pro.

― grandavis, Thursday, 30 September 2010 15:15 (2 years ago) Permalink

"We need someone to talk to
and someone to sweep the floors"

^rush otm

― who's got the (platform) 9 3/4ths? (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Friday, 1 October 2010 19:56 (2 years ago) Permalink

3 months pass...

2nd leg of Time Machine tour just announced and tickets going on sale tomorrow! Pretty sure I'll be seeing them in Austin and Seattle. I highly recommend this tour to anyone with an interest in Rush, it's an amazing show.

Woot!

― Moodles, Tuesday, 18 January 2011 18:35 (2 years ago) Permalink

Kinda cool:

As a tribute to the U.S. city that first played their music on the radio, the Cleveland performance at The Quicken Loans Arena on April 15, 2011 will be filmed for full-length release, making it the first full-length live performance filming of Rush on US soil.

― one pretty obvious guy in the obvious (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Tuesday, 18 January 2011 18:48 (2 years ago) Permalink

omg ne ohio is totally gonna flip out -- i have never lived an area more densely packed with rush fans than northeast ohio

― ergonomically chromium plated fish slice (La Lechera), Tuesday, 18 January 2011 18:55 (2 years ago) Permalink

I'm amazed that they haven't filmed a US show in all these years.

― Moodles, Tuesday, 18 January 2011 19:26 (2 years ago) Permalink

Yeah, but their live releases are outnumbering their studio albums by a 4-1 margin over the last few years. Seriously, dudes, maybe come up with a concept record where the concept isn't something like "the first live Rush album since Thursday!"

― Son of Sisyphus of Reaganing (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Tuesday, 18 January 2011 19:51 (2 years ago) Permalink

I think this happens because they are in marketing overdrive and are trying to cash in in the biggest way possible while they still can. I'm pretty sure the tour DVDs sell way more copies than their actual studio albums.

― Moodles, Tuesday, 18 January 2011 19:58 (2 years ago) Permalink

omg ne ohio is totally gonna flip out -- i have never lived an area more densely packed with rush fans than northeast ohio

― ergonomically chromium plated fish slice (La Lechera), Tuesday, January 18, 2011 1:55 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark

I think they are pretty huge throughout the Great Lakes, upper midwest. I grew up in Chicago, and they were utterly huge there. Cant imagine much has changed.

― The Curse of Dennis Stratton (Bill Magill), Tuesday, 18 January 2011 20:01 (2 years ago) Permalink

What the fuck is that guy doing in my post.

― The Curse of Dennis Stratton (Bill Magill), Tuesday, 18 January 2011 20:01 (2 years ago) Permalink

According to Neil Peart, studio albums have basically become vanity projects for them that they just break even on, while they rake in ridiculous sums of money for touring.

Still, yeah I agree with you Tarfumes, I'd be much more excited to hear Clockwork Angels than another tour album.

― Moodles, Tuesday, 18 January 2011 20:02 (2 years ago) Permalink

i was wondering the same thing

― ergonomically chromium plated fish slice (La Lechera), Tuesday, 18 January 2011 20:02 (2 years ago) Permalink

― normal_fantasy-unicorns (contenderizer), Tuesday, 18 January 2011 20:05 (2 years ago) Permalink

today's variation...

― normal_fantasy-unicorns (contenderizer), Tuesday, 18 January 2011 20:05 (2 years ago) Permalink

i'm just wondering what region "uppermdet" refers to

― normal_fantasy-unicorns (contenderizer), Tuesday, 18 January 2011 20:06 (2 years ago) Permalink

hacked the sub out. Uppper what, Bill Magill?

― Krap$ha (Pashmina), Tuesday, 18 January 2011 20:07 (2 years ago) Permalink

midwest?

― brownie, Tuesday, 18 January 2011 20:09 (2 years ago) Permalink

Yeah it must be. Fixed.

― clang honk tweet (Pashmina), Tuesday, 18 January 2011 20:14 (2 years ago) Permalink

my der beek

― normal_fantasy-unicorns (contenderizer), Tuesday, 18 January 2011 20:14 (2 years ago) Permalink

I want more haikus.

― NYCNative, Tuesday, 18 January 2011 20:21 (2 years ago) Permalink

According to Neil Peart, studio albums have basically become vanity projects for them that they just break even on, while they rake in ridiculous sums of money for touring.

Still, yeah I agree with you Tarfumes, I'd be much more excited to hear Clockwork Angels than another tour album.

― Moodles, Tuesday, January 18, 2011 3:02 PM (28 minutes ago) Bookmark

I totally get that (about the studio albums), but pretty soon they're gonna run out of studio recordings to recycle live ("It's the first time they're doing all of Hold Your FIre live!"). And it's not like the live shows are much different from the studio recordings. Lifeson has said that, when he saw Cream live as a teenager, he was disappointed that they didn't play the same solos as on the records; as such, he's tried to never (or barely) stray from the recordings when playing live.

― Son of Sisyphus of Reaganing (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Tuesday, 18 January 2011 20:36 (2 years ago) Permalink

That's true, Rush is never going to deviate much from the studio recordings in their live performances. They are all about trying to recreate those songs as faithfully as possible right down to doing the same drum fills and guitar solos. It's an unusual approach, but also interensting in a way because it becomes this challenge to play the songs in an extremely specific way, and part of the joy of seeing them is being able to confirm that yes indeed, they do play all of those songs exactly as you would imagine they would.

I'm pretty down with this approach with one big exception: they've taken up the practice of playing canned backing vocals and extra guitar tracks on lots of their newer songs. I think it's an unnecessary step that doesn't really add much.

― Moodles, Tuesday, 18 January 2011 20:46 (2 years ago) Permalink

Canned, perhaps, but still triggered live, no? Foot pedals and whatnot?

― Josh in Chicago, Tuesday, 18 January 2011 20:57 (2 years ago) Permalink

Possibly, not really sure, not sure that there really is a difference if they are triggered by Rush or not. I'm not real thrilled when Alex Lifeson lipsyncs vocals.

― Moodles, Tuesday, 18 January 2011 20:59 (2 years ago) Permalink

Two dates in my neck of the woods. Thanks for this great news!

― Nate Carson, Tuesday, 18 January 2011 21:16 (2 years ago) Permalink

3 weeks pass...

looks like the production on Vapor Trails is finally going to be fixed

http://ww2.richardchycki.com/archives/166

― Edward Bax, Sunday, 13 February 2011 06:34 (2 years ago) Permalink

Oh cool!

― Stockhausen's Ekranoplan Quartet (Elvis Telecom), Sunday, 13 February 2011 06:37 (2 years ago) Permalink

also Moving Pictures in surround (but I'm more interested in seeing Vapor Trails fixed...)

http://ww2.richardchycki.com/archives/167

― Edward Bax, Sunday, 13 February 2011 06:48 (2 years ago) Permalink

Sweet!

Songwise Vapor Trails is a great album, but the over-loud and distorted mix makes it a very difficult listen.

― Moodles, Sunday, 13 February 2011 06:48 (2 years ago) Permalink

Rush: tank(a) or haiku?

― t**t, Sunday, 13 February 2011 19:02 (2 years ago) Permalink

My wife loves The Cure
Played her new wave-era Rush
Still, she hates them so

― NYCNative, Sunday, 13 February 2011 19:07 (2 years ago) Permalink

very interested in this remix of vapor trails!

― he do the waka lyfe (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Sunday, 13 February 2011 21:42 (2 years ago) Permalink

3 months pass...

Those synths on Signals?
That "trapped in Tron" atmosphere?
Rush revival looms.

― Clarke B., Wednesday, 25 May 2011 20:19 (1 year ago) Permalink

So it sounds like we won't see Clockwork Angels this year after all:

In January 2011, Lifeson told in an interview with Guitarist Magazine that, due to the extension of the Time Machine Tour, the release of the album will be delayed. Writing the final 2 or 3 songs required will resume in early 2011, with recording resuming after summer.

― 'what are you, the Hymen Protection League of America?' (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Wednesday, 25 May 2011 20:23 (1 year ago) Permalink

All these years and albums later and I still have no idea how this band actually writes songs. Is this one of the few acts with no outtakes or demos bootlegs?

― Josh in Chicago, Wednesday, 25 May 2011 20:32 (1 year ago) Permalink

This site:

http://www.rushtrader.com/news.htm

...seems to be all live shows but maybe something's tucked away in there.

― Ned Raggett, Wednesday, 25 May 2011 20:36 (1 year ago) Permalink

Some quick googling reveals Rush as virtually nil in the leftovers and rarities department. If it gets recorded, it gets on the record. There's some quote from Geddy about the record company being really disappointed if they all die in a plane crash, because there's nothing in the vaults.

Still, I'm surprised there are no alternate versions floating around.

― Josh in Chicago, Wednesday, 25 May 2011 20:37 (1 year ago) Permalink

― Josh in Chicago, Wednesday, 25 May 2011 20:39 (1 year ago) Permalink

Actually, come to think of it, I recall the Rush doc featuring a snippet of "Tom Sawyer" done at twice the speed.

― Josh in Chicago, Wednesday, 25 May 2011 20:40 (1 year ago) Permalink

― Josh in Chicago, Wednesday, 25 May 2011 20:42 (1 year ago) Permalink

They were playing a polka version of Closer To The Heart after the show in London tonight, maybe that'll turn up somewhere for the collectors.

― Bass Solo (Matt #2), Wednesday, 25 May 2011 23:25 (1 year ago) Permalink

Over the PA I mean, they weren't playing it live, although there was a polka-ish intro to La Villa Strangiato

― Bass Solo (Matt #2), Wednesday, 25 May 2011 23:26 (1 year ago) Permalink

Wow, the tempo on that pre-release "Tom Sawyer" is lurching all over the place. Surprising.

― Dodo Lurker (Slim and Slam), Thursday, 26 May 2011 02:05 (1 year ago) Permalink

We have tickets for the June 26th Time Machine show in Concord...weee I'm so excited, my first Rush concert!

― Janet Snakehole (VegemiteGrrl), Thursday, 26 May 2011 02:33 (1 year ago) Permalink

Wow, really weird to hear a different guitar solo on "Tom Sawyer." I know Lifeson's thing was to always do the same solo as on the record, so without a record as such, it's interesting to hear him wing it.

― shake it, shake it, sugary pee (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Thursday, 26 May 2011 04:57 (1 year ago) Permalink

Saw my first Rush show in Dublin two weeks ago. I went in only knowing the hits (y'know, Spirit and Radio and all that) but I came out a fan. Wish we didn't have standing tickets, though - 3 hours on my feet was rough.

― wronger than 100 geir posts (MacDara), Thursday, 26 May 2011 09:58 (1 year ago) Permalink

Spirit AND Radio? Where's my head today? Of course that AND should be an OF.

― wronger than 100 geir posts (MacDara), Thursday, 26 May 2011 09:58 (1 year ago) Permalink

Yeah, they won me over in a big way when I saw 'em at MSG a little while back.

― that's not funny. (unperson), Thursday, 26 May 2011 12:31 (1 year ago) Permalink

Great chatterbox interview and track-by-track evaluation of Moving Pictures by the oft recalcitrant Neil Peart:

http://www.cbc.ca/strombo/show-music/neil-peart-on-moving-pictures-track-by-track.html

― EZ Snappin, Friday, 3 June 2011 23:49 (1 year ago) Permalink

saw them two nights in a row during one of those 90s tours. it was religious

― reggie (qualmsley), Saturday, 4 June 2011 00:22 (1 year ago) Permalink

Wow, that's a great interview with Peart. Rush=class acts.

― Josh in Chicago, Saturday, 4 June 2011 00:43 (1 year ago) Permalink

My best friend from high school will be flying in to Austin from Seattle this weekend and we are going to see Rush at the Frank Erwin Center Sunday night. During the 90s, we were in a band together which started off as a Rush cover band back in HS.

― Moodles, Friday, 10 June 2011 18:20 (1 year ago) Permalink

Letterman last night:

― Moodles, Friday, 10 June 2011 18:25 (1 year ago) Permalink

Having seen the band live several times now, I'm convinced that at least 50% of his set exists for the (very composed) solo. When you see how he approaches the songs proper, you can see how he's become a very efficient player.

― Josh in Chicago, Friday, 10 June 2011 18:38 (1 year ago) Permalink

holy moly

― reggie (qualmsley), Friday, 10 June 2011 19:22 (1 year ago) Permalink

that sucked

― coffeetripperspillerslyricmakeruppers (Latham Green), Friday, 10 June 2011 19:34 (1 year ago) Permalink

sure if you hate drum train one man jazz bands

― reggie (qualmsley), Friday, 10 June 2011 19:35 (1 year ago) Permalink

Honestly, I think he could just ditch all the extra stuff that he only uses for the solo. Doesn't seem like there's much point to it. I'm sure he could still do a fine drum solo without it all.

― Moodles, Friday, 10 June 2011 19:39 (1 year ago) Permalink

Totes. His solo exemplifies the guitar-synth axiom: why would a first rate guitarist want to sound like a third rate sax player?

― Josh in Chicago, Friday, 10 June 2011 19:44 (1 year ago) Permalink

To me, the excitement of the video I posted is less "OMG! A Neil Peart drum solo!" and more "OMG! Neil Peart is on David Letterman!"

I like his drum solos, but they rank kind of low on the list of things I love about Rush.

― Moodles, Friday, 10 June 2011 19:48 (1 year ago) Permalink

Yeah I kind of mentally drifted off to the bar during the drum solo when I saw them recently. Are there any rock drummers that can play a decent solo? I can't think of one, unless it's avant types like Charles Hayward or Chris Cutler messing around w/ drums & electronics which doesn't really count.

― Bass Solo (Matt #2), Friday, 10 June 2011 20:38 (1 year ago) Permalink

2 weeks pass...

what rush alb wld ppl say is the most guitar solo-heavy/most ROCK?

― Ward Fowler, Saturday, 25 June 2011 21:36 (1 year ago) Permalink

fly by night!

― ciderpress, Saturday, 25 June 2011 21:45 (1 year ago) Permalink

except for that acoustic lord of the rings song at the end i guess

― ciderpress, Saturday, 25 June 2011 21:46 (1 year ago) Permalink

The first album, maybe?

― A. Begrand, Saturday, 25 June 2011 21:52 (1 year ago) Permalink

these dudes played for 3.5 hours when i saw them the other week. the whole idea was that they're supposed to play moving pictures in its entirety and after 90 mins and no tom sawyer in sight i was like oh shit. intermission, then tom sawyer and the rest of mp. then i thought oh ok cool they'll play a few more hits and call it a night. they play a few more hits, peart does his solo, lifeson comes on with a 12-string and plays his own solo eventually resolving into the opening of closer to the heart. THEN i was all PERFECT it's a huge hit and it has CLOSER right in the NAME. then an hour after that the show ended with a lengthy video vignette starring paul rudd and jason segel.

― adam, Saturday, 25 June 2011 22:09 (1 year ago) Permalink

wanted to see them tonight but when I finally got around to looking for tickets, completely sold out.

― akm, Sunday, 26 June 2011 16:16 (1 year ago) Permalink

2 months pass...

'clockwork angels' delayed till 2012

http://www.billboard.com/news/rush-signs-with-roadrunner-preps-new-album-1005333222.story

― reggie (qualmsley), Wednesday, 31 August 2011 21:35 (1 year ago) Permalink

not surpised by this, but I wish they'd hurry up and get it done. Time Machine tour wrapped up almost 2 months ago and I'm going through Rush withdrawl.

― Moodles, Thursday, 1 September 2011 01:13 (1 year ago) Permalink

no kidding. the putative lead single for this album came out last year

― reggie (qualmsley), Thursday, 1 September 2011 01:57 (1 year ago) Permalink

and it was awesome

― Moodles, Thursday, 1 September 2011 19:18 (1 year ago) Permalink

Wasn't that the first time the band ever toured behind nothing in particular? No new release or anything?

― Josh in Chicago, Thursday, 1 September 2011 20:24 (1 year ago) Permalink

2 new songs on the Caravan single, but yeah it was really the tribute to Moving Pictures tour.

― Moodles, Thursday, 1 September 2011 21:03 (1 year ago) Permalink

Definitely classic from "2112" until "Signals", with "Hemispheres" being my favourite. I'm also fond of several tracks from the first three albums: 'Anthem', 'Bastille Day', 'Lakeside Park', 'Beneath, Between and Behind' and the epics 'By-Tor And The Snow Dog' and 'The Fountain Of Lamneth'. I will confess to not having heard anything from "Grace Under Pressure" onwards, am I missing out on much? I've heard that "Power Windows" in particular is meant to be a stinker.

― Turrican, Monday, 5 September 2011 14:40 (1 year ago) Permalink

Grace Under Pressure is one of their best. Power Windows is very good, but maybe just a notch less so.

Then there were a few not-so-great ones.

More recent Rush albums that I enjoy: Counterparts, Vapor Trails.

― Moodles, Monday, 5 September 2011 14:59 (1 year ago) Permalink

'presto' might appeal to you, turrican

'hemispheres' is my desert island pick too. the title suite kicks major ass and "la villa strangiato" is one of my favorite instrumental rock songs ever

― reggie (qualmsley), Monday, 5 September 2011 15:02 (1 year ago) Permalink

So I've just given "Grace Under Pressure" a listen and I enjoyed it for the most part - standout tracks were definitely the first three, and I love the riff on "Kid Gloves", but I can't ever see me ever liking "Red Lenses". The album sounded like a continuation of "Signals", but possibly more accessible. Going to give it a few more listens though before I decide where it ranks in Rush's discography, mind. Will try Presto also sometime this week!

― Turrican, Monday, 5 September 2011 16:04 (1 year ago) Permalink

I can't listen to the entire "Hemispheres" suite anymore. The prelude is really nice but I don't think the whole composition really hangs together formally: they just seem to repeat material without developing it iirc. "La Villa Strangiato" is pretty cool though.

― EveningStar (Sund4r), Monday, 5 September 2011 17:46 (1 year ago) Permalink

Oh, I think it hangs together really well. You're right though, they do repeat various themes here and there but I've always thought that made the piece feel more 'whole'. I also love the bit in the middle with the ambient washes of keyboards, and on headphones you can hear parts of 'Cygnus X-1' going from ear to ear, as well as incorporating little riffs and chord progressions from 'Cygnus X-1' into the composition itself (I know it's meant to be a follow-up piece, but I always liked the way they did it and I much prefer it to 'Cygnus X-1'.

― Turrican, Monday, 5 September 2011 18:08 (1 year ago) Permalink

In the extras on the documentary DVD they talk about how arduous the writing/recording of Hemispheres was (they tried eleven times to record "La Villa Stratiago" straight through before admitting defeat, and stitching together different takes), and then how they realized with horror that the music was pitched too high for Geddy to sing. It's not clear if they re-did everything, or if Lee just went for it anyway.

― shake it, shake it, sugary pee (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Monday, 5 September 2011 18:24 (1 year ago) Permalink

Yeah, I remember reading something somewhere about the writing process of "Hemispheres" being difficult - apparently the the title track and 'La Villa Strangiato' weren't completely fully formed when they went into the studio? I don't know if that's true or not. I definitely know 'Natural Science' from "Permanent Waves" was sort of a last-minute thing that they put together in the studio from riffs that they had lying around at the time. All I can say to that is that they must have worked well under pressure, because I couldn't praise that track highly enough!

― Turrican, Monday, 5 September 2011 18:37 (1 year ago) Permalink

I got the impression that all of Hemispheres was written in the studio, but except for Vapor Trails, they've never said if they generally write in the studio, in rehearsal, or some combination of the two. "Tom Sawyer" and "Subdivisions" were definitely written before they were recorded, as I've heard bootlegs that predate the albums those were on (and those live arrangements are slightly different).

― shake it, shake it, sugary pee (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Monday, 5 September 2011 18:44 (1 year ago) Permalink

Power Windows is the best post-Moving Pictures Rush record imo. Vapor Trails is a pretty close runner-up though, and Hold Your Fire is a major guilty pleasure

― ciderpress, Monday, 5 September 2011 18:47 (1 year ago) Permalink

I'll check out both Power Windows and Vapour Trails after I've checked out Presto simply based on recommendations here - I've heard a few things about Vapour Trails mastering though, is it really that bad?

― Turrican, Monday, 5 September 2011 18:58 (1 year ago) Permalink

its mastered very loud, yes. it's kind of annoying but the songs themselves are very good and don't really suffer from the loss of dynamics that you get from overmastering. it's their most in-your-face record.

― ciderpress, Monday, 5 September 2011 19:07 (1 year ago) Permalink

In fact, I've decided to leave "Presto" for the time being and went straight to "Power Windows" because it's discographically the next album along from "Grace Under Pressure" - I'm only three tracks in at the moment, so it's a bit too early to say really, but I'm actually surprised by what I've heard so far. The material sounds stronger than that of "Grace Under Pressure", but I don't think I'm too taken with the production. These are songs I can imagine would sound incredible live, though!

― Turrican, Monday, 5 September 2011 19:16 (1 year ago) Permalink

Didn't the band properly remix "Vapour Trails," admitting defeat?

"Presto" might be the band's most restrained, most song-oriented album. That and "Roll the Bones," I guess. This period of the band is pretty underrated. My fave is the techno-pop-prog of "Signals," "Grace" and "Power WIndows." And there's no reason at all to feel guilty about "Hold Your Fire." Good songs, great playing. "Power Windows" and "Fire" songs sound great on "A Show of Hands."

To this day, "Test for Echo" is the only Rush album I've literally never heard. No idea why.

― Josh in Chicago, Monday, 5 September 2011 19:26 (1 year ago) Permalink

Test for Echo is actually the best of the three 90s ones but that's not saying much

― ciderpress, Monday, 5 September 2011 19:42 (1 year ago) Permalink

though i think "Sound and Motion" is pretty neat

― ciderpress, Monday, 5 September 2011 19:43 (1 year ago) Permalink

err "Time and Motion"

― ciderpress, Monday, 5 September 2011 19:53 (1 year ago) Permalink

I've given "Grace Under Pressure" another spin, and now I'm listening again to "Power Windows", and I quite like both. I do think "Power Windows" is the better of the two and I'm finding myself suddenly excited to go further into their discography :)

― Turrican, Monday, 5 September 2011 20:25 (1 year ago) Permalink

I'm more attached to Grace Under Pressure, but Power Windows is a great album. "Marathon", especially. I couldn't stand "Mystic Rhythms" when I was 15, but over the course of 25 years it's grown on me quite a lot.

― A. Begrand, Monday, 5 September 2011 20:51 (1 year ago) Permalink

Yeah, 'Marathon' came across to be a definite standout of the record, but I also thought 'Grand Designs' and 'Manhattan Project' were great also. The only one that I found myself feeling a bit 'meh' over was 'Territories'. With "Grace Under Pressure", the only one I heard that I could consider to be a real stinker was 'Red Lenses'... but bear in mind I've only just heard these two albums today after spending years listening to everything up to and including "Signals", they're definitely records I need to spend more time with - but I do like them enough to listen to them more and investigate Rush's discography further!

― Turrican, Monday, 5 September 2011 21:03 (1 year ago) Permalink

"Territories" has that awesome spooky coda, though. It's the peak of Peart's arranging skills, that mix of electronic triggers that sound like acoustic drums and acoustic drums produced to sound like electronic drums.

― Josh in Chicago, Monday, 5 September 2011 21:05 (1 year ago) Permalink

Gotta love Neil Peart, sometimes I listen to his drumming on 'The Weapon' and I just think "how on earth is he doing that?"

― Turrican, Monday, 5 September 2011 21:35 (1 year ago) Permalink

I think I read somewhere that the drum part in The Weapon was based on a drum machine part that either Geddy or Alex came up with kind of as a challenge to Neil. They were daring him to play something really unintuitive and mechanistic and took the bait.

― Moodles, Tuesday, 6 September 2011 00:55 (1 year ago) Permalink

*he took the bait

― Moodles, Tuesday, 6 September 2011 00:55 (1 year ago) Permalink

That's awesome. Always been one of my favorites.

― Naive Teen Idol, Tuesday, 6 September 2011 01:10 (1 year ago) Permalink

King on Peart (2007)

---

Ethan Iverson: Dave, tonight we played Massey Hall. What is "YYZ"?

David King: It is the airport code of Toronto and the "Giant Steps" of rock and roll.

EI: What band played "YYZ"?

DK: Rush.

EI: What were they famous for?

DK: They are a prog-rock power trio that uses iconoclastic playing to create a sound much bigger than three guys. They also made wizard hats sexy.

EI: Who was the drummer of Rush?

DK: Neil Peart was the second and most famous drummer, but on the first record it was John Rutsey.

EI: But Peart is who we mean when we talk about odd-meter mayhem, right?

DK: He was a loud Joe Morello with gongs.

EI: Does Peart have good technique at the drums?

DK: Does the new Pope drink umbilical-cord blood from a satanic chalice?

EI: Yes. Can anyone play faster in seven than Peart?

DK: Probably some obscure doumbek player, but not many in rock. The thing about Neil Peart that appealed to me (and probably a lot of drummers of my generation) is that he was an active force in creating the sound of the band he was in. He wasn't just a timekeeper. Rush represented a certain freedom of ideas for the drum as a lead instrument in rock and roll.

EI: What are the quintessential Peart performances?

DK: This could be controversial, but my favorite period of Rush and Peart is from 1979's Permanent Waves through 1984's Grace Under Pressure. This was a period of Peart's most progressive playing. From the merging of electronic and acoustic drums to the dark themes of the music, this period represented the most complete realization of Peart's concepts. (This is just my opinion, of course. I don't know much of their music after this period.) There is a fill in the song "Natural Science" that is truly some avant-garde shit. It makes no rational sense in the composition. It reminds me of an interpretation of Chinese box drumming or something.

EI: Why do some people hate Rush?

DK: Because they stole their girlfriends. Seriously, though, I think that any music that doesn't belong to any scene and follows its own path without being concerned with what's cool will naturally turn off a great hunk of the masses. I suppose some people think it's kind of geeky and kind of masturbatory, but I believe it's pretty ballsy to do your own shit without apology.

EI: The Bad Plus is now playing "Tom Sawyer," and you play the Peart drum fill just like on the record.

DK: I play the four-piece kit version. Peart had a 37-piece kit with nine bass-drums when he recorded it, so my version is a little small in comparison. But the intention is strong. I felt you had to pay homage to one of the most recognizable drum solos in recorded history. It's almost like a song in itself. It's like if you covered "In the Air Tonight" by Phil Collins and didn't do "the fill that brings in the big chorus." You'd get your ass kicked on the street if word got out that you were the doof that thought you could do better. Phil Collins fans are fucking vicious and they will shank you without thinking twice

― Crackle Box, Tuesday, 6 September 2011 11:56 (1 year ago) Permalink

awesome

― Moodles, Tuesday, 6 September 2011 13:59 (1 year ago) Permalink

Funnily enough, I would agree with him - the span between "Permanent Waves" to "Grace Under Pressure" does feature some of my absolute favourite Peart drumming. Sure, he was much more... 'energetic', for want of a better term on stuff like 'Anthem' from "Fly By Night", but he was far more intricate on those first few '80s albums - while still keeping rock solid time and retaining the energy.

― Turrican, Tuesday, 6 September 2011 14:03 (1 year ago) Permalink

Any true Rush nerd knows that Permanent Waves is from 1980.

― Naive Teen Idol, Wednesday, 7 September 2011 03:11 (1 year ago) Permalink

Yeah, I love the drumming on Grace Under Pressure. Signals, too. So much more subtlety going on.

― A. Begrand, Wednesday, 7 September 2011 03:17 (1 year ago) Permalink

Yeah, completely. Like, superficially it can sometimes sound like Peart is playing it straight and then you really listen to what he's doing with the hi-hat or ride cymbal at the same time and it's like "how are you DOING that"?

― Turrican, Wednesday, 7 September 2011 03:27 (1 year ago) Permalink

2 months pass...

Feeling pretty disappointed with the Time Machine tour CDs. They are really poorly mixed and Geddy's voice sounds completely shredded. Does not do justice to their recent live shows at all.

― Moodles, Wednesday, 16 November 2011 17:17 (1 year ago) Permalink

now you tell me (my copy's in the post as I type) :(

― Jeff W, Wednesday, 16 November 2011 19:10 (1 year ago) Permalink

^ hmm with a bit of effort, I could have made that a haiku

― Jeff W, Wednesday, 16 November 2011 19:12 (1 year ago) Permalink

His voice is showing age on this one, definitely, but it's not atrocious. I'm really enjoying the DVD, not surprisingly.

― A. Begrand, Wednesday, 16 November 2011 19:14 (1 year ago) Permalink

True, but his singing was also much better in the concerts I saw on this tour than on the recording, as was the overall sound mix.

I'm still eagerly anticipating the blu ray release, plus I'd like to get the new Neil Peart dvd that shows the entire Time Machine concert from an all-drums perspective.

― Moodles, Thursday, 17 November 2011 20:47 (1 year ago) Permalink

2 months pass...

Happy Rushgiving everybody!

It's 2-1-12

― EZ Snappin, Wednesday, 1 February 2012 13:50 (1 year ago) Permalink

hell yeah! listening now!

this is one of the best opening sequences to an album ever

― the 500 gats of bartholomew thuggins (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Wednesday, 1 February 2012 16:52 (1 year ago) Permalink

2 months pass...

Man, they kick so much ass.

― EZ Snappin, Tuesday, 3 April 2012 02:29 (1 year ago) Permalink

New single "Headlong Flight" is coming out 4/19 and the Clockwork Angels album will be out on 5/29!

― Moodles, Tuesday, 3 April 2012 13:58 (1 year ago) Permalink

That's great news! Was chatting just yesterday with Turrican and I was wondering if the new album was actually coming out this year.

― EZ Snappin, Tuesday, 3 April 2012 14:12 (1 year ago) Permalink

I've heard "Headlong Flight." It kicks a whole lot of ass. It sounds very much like their '70s work (no synths) and I have been informed that the radio edit (which I've heard) is about two and a half minutes shorter than the album version (which I haven't heard).

― 誤訳侮辱, Tuesday, 3 April 2012 15:11 (1 year ago) Permalink

oh cool. i just listened to snakes & arrows seriously for the first time a couple months ago and was pretty impressed, best thing they've done since god presto or something

― the penultimate prophets (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Tuesday, 3 April 2012 15:15 (1 year ago) Permalink

Have you heard "Caravan" and "BU2B", the tracks from Clockwork Angels that were released last year? For me, those are two of the best tracks that Rush has ever done, which makes me think this new record is going to be very good indeed.

― Moodles, Tuesday, 3 April 2012 15:22 (1 year ago) Permalink

I think so? Were they instrumentals? I loved the instrumentals on the last album, nice to hear them flex their chops a bit

― the penultimate prophets (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Tuesday, 3 April 2012 16:00 (1 year ago) Permalink

Nope, not instrumentals. I definitely recommend you check them out if you can.

― Moodles, Tuesday, 3 April 2012 16:12 (1 year ago) Permalink

I assume this means another summer tour is imminent? I believe the "Time Machine" tour was the first time the band ever toured behind nothing.

― Josh in Chicago, Tuesday, 3 April 2012 18:38 (1 year ago) Permalink

There will be a tour, but not in the summer. I can't really say more than that, 'cause I don't have specific dates yet, but it's gonna be in the fall.

― 誤訳侮辱, Tuesday, 3 April 2012 19:11 (1 year ago) Permalink

think I'm going to drag my son along to the concert this time around

― Moodles, Tuesday, 3 April 2012 19:21 (1 year ago) Permalink

I might like them more
If their new songs were faster
And Geddy screamed some

― SongOfSam, Tuesday, 3 April 2012 20:37 (1 year ago) Permalink

Don't know about fast but the "Caravan"/"BU2B" single has to be the heaviest thing they ever did.

― EveningStar (Sund4r), Tuesday, 3 April 2012 20:53 (1 year ago) Permalink

Is that the one that sounded like Primus?

― Josh in Chicago, Tuesday, 3 April 2012 21:36 (1 year ago) Permalink

Ha, we discussed it earlier on the thread. You did compare it to Primus! I think the Cathedral comparisons were probably closer to the mark tbh.

― EveningStar (Sund4r), Tuesday, 3 April 2012 21:53 (1 year ago) Permalink

2 weeks pass...

As always, Ned points out the good stuff (this via his twitter). New Rush! Streaming at Rolling Stone! WTF? Rolling Stone? Whatever, it sounds great.

http://www1.rollingstone.com/hearitnow/player/rush.html

― EZ Snappin, Wednesday, 18 April 2012 18:41 (1 year ago) Permalink

yeah it's pretty heavy!

― Mississippi Butt Hurt (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Wednesday, 18 April 2012 18:58 (1 year ago) Permalink

Old man metal.

― EZ Snappin, Wednesday, 18 April 2012 19:04 (1 year ago) Permalink

ha, according to the amazon product page they are apparently signed to Roadrunner now.

http://www.amazon.com/Clockwork-Angels-Rush/dp/B007I2BZIE/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1334776849&sr=1-1

Two months away from the release date, and it's #18 on the amazon best sellers!

― Stormy Davis, Wednesday, 18 April 2012 19:23 (1 year ago) Permalink

Lyrically, CLOCKWORK ANGELS chronicles a young man's quest across a lavish and colorful world of steampunk and alchemy as he attempts to follow his dreams. The story features lost cities, pirates, anarchists, exotic carnival, and a rigid Watchmaker who imposes precision on every aspect of daily life.

― Stormy Davis, Wednesday, 18 April 2012 19:24 (1 year ago) Permalink

only Rush would allow me to move past that rmde concept and still be anxious for the music

― heated debate over derpy hooves (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Wednesday, 18 April 2012 19:26 (1 year ago) Permalink

That concept - in their hands, but few others - actually gets me more excited for the music.

― EZ Snappin, Wednesday, 18 April 2012 19:27 (1 year ago) Permalink

Not only is it a concept album (their first since 2112, right?)...there's gonna be a novelization.

― 誤訳侮辱, Wednesday, 18 April 2012 20:11 (1 year ago) Permalink

who is writing it?

― EZ Snappin, Wednesday, 18 April 2012 20:15 (1 year ago) Permalink

margaret atwood

― mookieproof, Wednesday, 18 April 2012 20:16 (1 year ago) Permalink

j/k

― mookieproof, Wednesday, 18 April 2012 20:16 (1 year ago) Permalink

ayn rand

― heated debate over derpy hooves (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Wednesday, 18 April 2012 20:18 (1 year ago) Permalink

This guy. Never read a word by him as far as I know.

― 誤訳侮辱, Wednesday, 18 April 2012 20:22 (1 year ago) Permalink

lol i actually read one of his Star Wars books, a bunch of short stories about the bounty hunters.

― heated debate over derpy hooves (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Wednesday, 18 April 2012 20:24 (1 year ago) Permalink

I've read a couple of the Saga Of Sevens Suns books. Nothing too notable, but not bad at all.

― EZ Snappin, Wednesday, 18 April 2012 20:36 (1 year ago) Permalink

This is really good. It reminds me of a metal band but I can't put my finger on which one. Their production has gotten much better since Vapour Trails.

― EveningStar (Sund4r), Wednesday, 18 April 2012 23:24 (1 year ago) Permalink

cool and remote like dancing girls!

― Exile in lolville (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 18 April 2012 23:26 (1 year ago) Permalink

Hmm, if this weren't Geddy it really could be lots of people, but this is still pretty cool. Are they three for three for the new stuff released thus far?

― Josh in Chicago, Thursday, 19 April 2012 00:35 (1 year ago) Permalink

Geddy's vocals are definitely my favorite part of this new one

― Moodles, Thursday, 19 April 2012 00:45 (1 year ago) Permalink

That opening reminds me of Hawkwind. Excited for this and however ridiculous it all ends up being.

This and the new Van Halen album are like bat signals for the return of suburban trash boredom. We're all going to smoke out at the In And Out Burger on Foothill Blvd. Pick up some Strohs if you don't mind. Oh yeah, check out my sweet wheels:

― Reality Check Cashing Services (Elvis Telecom), Thursday, 19 April 2012 00:59 (1 year ago) Permalink

Great song if you ask me!

― A. Begrand, Thursday, 19 April 2012 07:47 (1 year ago) Permalink

Going to check all this out later!

― The Jupiter 8 (Turrican), Thursday, 19 April 2012 07:58 (1 year ago) Permalink

North American tour dates just announced. They'll be in town a few days after my 40th birthday. I know what I'm asking for!

― EZ Snappin, Thursday, 19 April 2012 13:21 (1 year ago) Permalink

Whiskey?

― Josh in Chicago, Thursday, 19 April 2012 13:28 (1 year ago) Permalink

yes. And tickets.

― EZ Snappin, Thursday, 19 April 2012 13:35 (1 year ago) Permalink

Rush has started a pattern on their last couple tours where they play San Antonio, Dallas, and Houston, and then several months later do a follow-up tour where they play Austin. I don't understand why they can't just hit Austin as part of the main tour. I'd really appreciate it if they did so I don't have to drag my ass down to San Antonio.

― Moodles, Thursday, 19 April 2012 13:57 (1 year ago) Permalink

Drag your ass up to Dallas and celebrate with me!

― EZ Snappin, Thursday, 19 April 2012 14:03 (1 year ago) Permalink

let me rephrase that: You could drag your ass up to Dallas and celebrate with me if you wanted.

― EZ Snappin, Thursday, 19 April 2012 14:05 (1 year ago) Permalink

Full tour dates, plus a lyric video for the long version of the single. I'll be at the Newark show.

― 誤訳侮辱, Thursday, 19 April 2012 14:10 (1 year ago) Permalink

Saskatoon for the first time since the Permanent Waves tour. I'll be there!

― A. Begrand, Thursday, 19 April 2012 14:46 (1 year ago) Permalink

Unfortunately I can't go to Dallas in the middle of the week because of work.

― Moodles, Friday, 20 April 2012 00:42 (1 year ago) Permalink

Saskatoon for the first time since the Permanent Waves tour.

ridiculous

― mookieproof, Friday, 20 April 2012 00:47 (1 year ago) Permalink

Fair enough Moodles. Maybe another time.

― EZ Snappin, Friday, 20 April 2012 01:00 (1 year ago) Permalink

Heard the new album this morning, all 66 minutes of it. It's really good. There are keyboards on a few songs, but they're never the dominant carriers of the melody - this is a return to late '70s heavy guitar Rush. I don't know what the general opinion of Snakes & Arrows is in this thread, but I found it very boring. This album is not boring. There aren't that many super-amped songs; "Headlong Flight" is definitely the fastest thing on it, but there are some seriously soaring melodies and I can already kinda predict which songs will be in the live set (aside from "Headlong Flight" and the two they've been playing for a while now).

― 誤訳侮辱, Wednesday, 25 April 2012 15:31 (1 year ago) Permalink

Snakes & Arrows didn't really click for me beyond a couple tracks. Vapor Trails, otoh, I think is way underrated.

Headlong Flight is now up on Spotify. Definitely some echoes back to Fly By Night and Carress of Steel days.

― Moodles, Wednesday, 25 April 2012 15:36 (1 year ago) Permalink

Awesome. Like I said above, Rush is one of the few bands that rarely ignores the new stuff, and the same goes for Rush fans. (Other observation: one of the few bands that draws people back from the beer line for the drum solo!)

― Josh in Chicago, Wednesday, 25 April 2012 15:37 (1 year ago) Permalink

Haven't they been in "return to heavy" mode since Counterparts?

― Josh in Chicago, Wednesday, 25 April 2012 15:37 (1 year ago) Permalink

Pretty much yeah.

It seems like the critical response on each album since Counterparts has been "a return to form" or "back to basics".

I don't really get this.

― Moodles, Wednesday, 25 April 2012 15:41 (1 year ago) Permalink

Especially since the "Counterparts" era was the closest I've ever come to losing interest.

― Josh in Chicago, Wednesday, 25 April 2012 15:49 (1 year ago) Permalink

Roll The bones was a low point for me, Counterparts brought me back.

― Moodles, Wednesday, 25 April 2012 15:51 (1 year ago) Permalink

Sweet, they're playing Verizon Wireless in Atlanta (actually northern suburbs), which is like two miles from my house

― One Way Ticket on the 1277 Express (Bill Magill), Wednesday, 25 April 2012 15:57 (1 year ago) Permalink

I'm gonna see them in Newark October 2. I like that arena a lot - saw Metallica there a couple of years ago.

― 誤訳侮辱, Wednesday, 25 April 2012 15:59 (1 year ago) Permalink

I'm glad Geddy hasn't completely abandoned the keyboards.

― A. Begrand, Wednesday, 25 April 2012 16:05 (1 year ago) Permalink

Roll The bones was a low point for me, Counterparts brought me back.

Eh, I like synth Rush, and that was sort of the last blast of that. I suppose "Vapor Trails" took me back. Still haven't heard "Test for Echo."

― Josh in Chicago, Wednesday, 25 April 2012 16:06 (1 year ago) Permalink

I love synth Rush, the only thing that bothers me about those records is that tinny super-digital guitar sound Lifeson was favoring for a while.

― til the sound of my voice will haint u (Jon Lewis), Wednesday, 25 April 2012 16:21 (1 year ago) Permalink

I don't mind the synths, but for me Roll The Bones just sounded way too thin overall and had too many weak song. Also was my least favorite for Alex Lifeson guitars. Basically what Jon Lewis just said.

Test For Echo has some good songs and some corny ones.

For me, their output from the 90s onward pans out like this:
Counterparts > Vapor Trails > Snakes & Arrows > Test For Echo > Roll The Bones

― Moodles, Wednesday, 25 April 2012 16:25 (1 year ago) Permalink

What WAS he putting on that thing? Chorus plus some kind of digital stereo delay thing plus...? He should have just replicated Andy Summers' rack top to bottom.

― til the sound of my voice will haint u (Jon Lewis), Wednesday, 25 April 2012 16:29 (1 year ago) Permalink

Perhaps more importantly, Lifeson also switched from Gibsons to some kind of PRS or something around that time as well.

― Naive Teen Idol, Wednesday, 25 April 2012 16:31 (1 year ago) Permalink

Xpost

Probably everything and the kitchen sink. I think he still uses tons of efx, but has also learned the value of running it all through a battery of big ass tube stacks.

― Moodles, Wednesday, 25 April 2012 16:32 (1 year ago) Permalink

PRS! Never a good sign.

― bit.ly sno cone maker (Jon Lewis), Wednesday, 25 April 2012 16:33 (1 year ago) Permalink

Sting iirc

― bit.ly sno cone maker (Jon Lewis), Wednesday, 25 April 2012 16:33 (1 year ago) Permalink

He still uses PRS a lot.

― Moodles, Wednesday, 25 April 2012 16:34 (1 year ago) Permalink

Never listened to the '90s albums; pulled up Counterparts on Spotify now. Liking it.

― 誤訳侮辱, Wednesday, 25 April 2012 16:43 (1 year ago) Permalink

Counterparts is kind of their take on Pearl Jam style grunge, but much more enjoyable. Lots of really ballsy stripped down drum grooves.

― Moodles, Wednesday, 25 April 2012 16:46 (1 year ago) Permalink

I love Lifeson's playing on "Power Windows" and "Hold Your Fire!" He's playing the hell all over those things, making the most of that thin (but not really) sound.

― Josh in Chicago, Wednesday, 25 April 2012 18:19 (1 year ago) Permalink

I love his playing on Hold Your Fire too! Just think the timbre could be better. A remaster could do the job, actually...

― bit.ly sno cone maker (Jon Lewis), Wednesday, 25 April 2012 18:28 (1 year ago) Permalink

I'm really only complaining about him on Roll The Bones, I love those others too.

― Moodles, Wednesday, 25 April 2012 18:30 (1 year ago) Permalink

They did remaster them, though. Mostly beefed up the drums. His guitar sound is really sort of like Andy Summers if Summers were allowed a whole bunch of shit-hot soloing. I guess this era of the band had a lot of the synth parts so worked out that Lifeson sort of came in at the end to find spaces for his solos. But frankly I find his soling really awesome in the late '80s. I mean, "Turn the Page" and "Mission" have some incredible guitar parts. They're part shading, part flash.

― Josh in Chicago, Wednesday, 25 April 2012 18:35 (1 year ago) Permalink

I don't think I have the remasters of any of those. Will check em out.

― bit.ly sno cone maker (Jon Lewis), Wednesday, 25 April 2012 18:41 (1 year ago) Permalink

"Ghost of a Chance" is my favorite Rush song directed at a woman.

― Exile in lolville (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 30 April 2012 23:40 (1 year ago) Permalink

also: the keyboards (Prophets?) and Aimee Mann's vocal on "Time Stands Still" quite consciously evokes mid eighties Kate Bush imo.

― Exile in lolville (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 30 April 2012 23:44 (1 year ago) Permalink

well, one thing is for sure... there new single sucks.

― UnderControl, Monday, 30 April 2012 23:57 (1 year ago) Permalink

new single is great! You're crazy.

― EZ Snappin, Tuesday, 1 May 2012 00:11 (1 year ago) Permalink

Snakes & Arr

― Nate Carson, Tuesday, 1 May 2012 17:00 (1 year ago) Permalink

ows is one of my absolute favorite Rush albums.

Ps - fuck you iPhone.

― Nate Carson, Tuesday, 1 May 2012 17:01 (1 year ago) Permalink

Snakes & Arr was the pirated version that appeared on the net.

― EZ Snappin, Tuesday, 1 May 2012 17:18 (1 year ago) Permalink

I love R

ush

― Peppermint Patty Hearst (VegemiteGrrl), Tuesday, 1 May 2012 17:20 (1 year ago) Permalink

Saw a kid today wearing a "Got Geddy?" shirt, and I'm guessing he was around 15 or 16. So that's still around the time Rush is its most potent, I see.

― Johnny Fever, Tuesday, 1 May 2012 17:22 (1 year ago) Permalink

I just got Presto today; I've been digging back into Rush a lot these past few months. "The Pass" sounds like Strange Times-era Chameleons!

― Clarke B., Thursday, 10 May 2012 02:49 (1 year ago) Permalink

also: the keyboards (Prophets?) and Aimee Mann's vocal on "Time Stands Still" quite consciously evokes mid eighties Kate Bush imo.

According to http://rush.wikia.com/wiki/Geddy_Lee_equipment, he had for the album:
Prophet VS
Roland D-50
Yamaha DX-7
Yamaha DX-7 II

And for the tour:
Roland D-50
Korg MIDI Pedals (1)
Roland Super Jupiter

― Vini Reilly Invasion (Elvis Telecom), Thursday, 10 May 2012 03:19 (1 year ago) Permalink

Pretty psyched for June 12th!

― Nate Carson, Tuesday, 15 May 2012 07:31 (1 year ago) Permalink

3 weeks pass...

I reviewed Clockwork Angels at MSN today...

― A. Begrand, Friday, 8 June 2012 17:25 (11 months ago) Permalink

So excited to hear this! Great write-up.

― heated debate over derpy hooves (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Friday, 8 June 2012 17:28 (11 months ago) Permalink

Great review!

I'm really loving the title track and Headlong Flight right now, can't wait to hear the rest

― Moodles, Friday, 8 June 2012 17:29 (11 months ago) Permalink

"Spirit of Radio" came on yesterday, and for a split second it struck me how much more irrationally sad I'll be when one of these guys vs. when any number of living legends I love dies.

― Josh in Chicago, Friday, 8 June 2012 18:14 (11 months ago) Permalink

That review and all the word I'm hearing from others wh have heard it have me amped. Next week, right?

― EZ Snappin, Friday, 8 June 2012 18:58 (11 months ago) Permalink

That is certainly one of the band's least ambitious album covers.

― Josh in Chicago, Friday, 8 June 2012 19:01 (11 months ago) Permalink

they haven't had a good album cover in sooooo long :(

wait except that covers EP was a kinda decent winterland poster knockoff type thing

― wack nerd zinging in the dead of night (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Friday, 8 June 2012 19:32 (11 months ago) Permalink

When Rush met Pete.

Around that time I had a high-school science teacher who was exasperated by my constant finger-tapping on my desk. When I said I couldn’t help it, he said, “What are you—some kind of retard?”
Seriously.
He sentenced me to a detention in which I would have to sit and tap on a desk for one hour. I played Tommy from memory; the teacher had to leave the room.

― Tarfumes The Escape Goat, Friday, 8 June 2012 19:44 (11 months ago) Permalink

I didn't realize until just now that 2112 is based on the retarded philosophy of Ayn Rand.

― Poliopolice, Friday, 8 June 2012 20:04 (11 months ago) Permalink

peart's been working in randian stuff for years, iirc

― Peppermint Patty Hearst (VegemiteGrrl), Friday, 8 June 2012 20:19 (11 months ago) Permalink

never liked rush, but now i hate rush

― Poliopolice, Friday, 8 June 2012 20:41 (11 months ago) Permalink

Rush hasn't been Rand_y in 35 years, dudes.

― Josh in Chicago, Friday, 8 June 2012 20:50 (11 months ago) Permalink

But don't let that stop you from enjoying the haterade.

― EZ Snappin, Friday, 8 June 2012 20:53 (11 months ago) Permalink

in roadshow with drums, he doesn't mention rand at all, but peart talks about how some of his roadies and bus drivers watch fox news, and he goes off on a big rant about fox news and george w bush (who was prez when the book was written)

so it's not like dude is a super hard righty or something

― wack nerd zinging in the dead of night (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Friday, 8 June 2012 20:53 (11 months ago) Permalink

I like peart just fine, I always thought the Rand stuff was a thing that everyone knew

― Peppermint Patty Hearst (VegemiteGrrl), Friday, 8 June 2012 21:02 (11 months ago) Permalink

I don't think you need to be a right winger to like Randian philosophy, but I do think you need to cultivate a certain level of abject ignorance about the world to think it's a good philosophy, and that instituting it will solve more problems than it will create.

― Poliopolice, Friday, 8 June 2012 21:27 (11 months ago) Permalink

well who knows? dudes tastes might have changed in, you know NEARLY 40 YEARS

― wack nerd zinging in the dead of night (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Friday, 8 June 2012 21:34 (11 months ago) Permalink

Peart has always called his politics something like liberal libertarianism. Which is basically, you know, the Canadian/English system of gov. There is a safety net, health care, socially liberal laws, that sort of thing. Hardly conservative. But again, you doofuses, "2112" was 35 years ago. Dude was 25. The album is about a future where art is illegal, and a guy discovers a guitar, which sparks a rebellion. The people win. There's your Rand for you. As I'm sure I've noted repeatedly on this thread, he soon moves on to John Dos Passos. Guy reads a lot of books.

― Josh in Chicago, Friday, 8 June 2012 21:49 (11 months ago) Permalink

I heard this as anti-Bush song: http://www.songmeanings.net/songs/view/3530822107858660806/ . The band has recorded at least one environmentalist song that I can think of.

In this DVD, Peart discusses the motivation behind 2112. After the commercial failure of Caress of Steel, there was a great deal of pressure from the record company to make a more accessible album, which he saw as an "injustice" since he was a "child of the 60s". Peart had just been reading Rand and felt that this pressure on him (the creative individual) from the corporation (the 'faceless mass') was equivalent to what Rand was depicting, which suggests that his reading of Rand was not very informed by political context. He states himself: "I was not thinking about politics. I was not thinking about global oppression. I was thinking 'these people are messing with me!'" Lee stresses that what interested the band was the emphasis on creative and artistic freedom in Rand. (As the son of Holocaust survivors, he was offended when the NME started associating Rush with extreme right views.)

For some context, btw, this was the leader of the more right-wing party in Canada in 1976: not exactly a conservative by US standards, particularly when you consider his work later on foreign affairs.

― EveningStar (Sund4r), Friday, 8 June 2012 22:27 (11 months ago) Permalink

"by present-day US standards"

― EveningStar (Sund4r), Friday, 8 June 2012 22:29 (11 months ago) Permalink

(Still, I would never describe our system of government as liberal libertarianism [or "left-wing libertarianism", which is the term Wikipedia attributes to Peart]!)

― EveningStar (Sund4r), Friday, 8 June 2012 22:31 (11 months ago) Permalink

Well, it is liberal when you consider all the things people take for granted, from education to civil liberties (short freedom of speech, the one front where the US rules) to health care, high taxes, drug laws, etc. (Relatively speaking, by US standards). There are liberals and conservatives, and right wingers and left wingers, but the above is sort of the system within which people operate. Right?

― Josh in Chicago, Friday, 8 June 2012 22:47 (11 months ago) Permalink

Rand is a huge political boogeywoman in 2012, but back in 1974 I'd wager she was nearly as widely read but hardly as affiliated with the right-wing. And perhaps taken more seriously, too.

― Josh in Chicago, Friday, 8 June 2012 22:49 (11 months ago) Permalink

Well yeah, it's the "libertarianism" part of it that threw me.

― EveningStar (Sund4r), Friday, 8 June 2012 22:51 (11 months ago) Permalink

Well, I think that's why he appends the "left-wing" part to it. To differentiate it from the strident, tea party sort of asshole libertarianism.

― Josh in Chicago, Friday, 8 June 2012 23:31 (11 months ago) Permalink

OK, right. I guess "left-wing libertarianism" always makes me think of this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Libertarian_Socialism . What you said probably makes more sense as far as Peart's views are concerned.

― EveningStar (Sund4r), Saturday, 9 June 2012 00:07 (11 months ago) Permalink

Great review that only further whets my anticipation Adrien!

But psst--it's Kevin J Anderson, not Robert ;)

I know. Rush nerd alert!

Ps - to Rand haters--I sincerely hope you don't listen to U2 as they reference the bible or Nick Cave when he sings about Milton. Let's keep literature & philosophy out of rock! Sheesh.

― Nate Carson, Sunday, 10 June 2012 00:10 (11 months ago) Permalink

i remember sometime in the early 80s before going into a rush concert at msg and there were some rand devotees (don't really remember the specific group) handing out leaflets on the street hoping to recruit some new members.

― buzza, Sunday, 10 June 2012 00:24 (11 months ago) Permalink

Goddamned parking lot Ayn Rand bootleggers!

― Nate Carson, Sunday, 10 June 2012 02:32 (11 months ago) Permalink

Thanks Nate! Fix made.

― A. Begrand, Sunday, 10 June 2012 03:43 (11 months ago) Permalink

Bought the new album this evening.

I'm surprised at how different the album versions of Caravan and BU2B are from the single. I didn't realize these would be completely re-recorded.

― Moodles, Wednesday, 13 June 2012 02:11 (11 months ago) Permalink

"The band has recorded at least one environmentalist song that I can think of"

The Trees? that always struck me as an anti-union or anti-communism song.

― akm, Wednesday, 13 June 2012 03:04 (11 months ago) Permalink

anyway I still like rush, although I always like sissy 80's rush more than anything else. pictures through hold your fire, and particularly Grace and Power Windows. I'm excited about the new record though.

― akm, Wednesday, 13 June 2012 03:05 (11 months ago) Permalink

The Trees is about Quebecois separatists, dude. I like the Pictures (well, Waves) through Hold Your Fire span best, too.

― Josh in Chicago, Wednesday, 13 June 2012 03:15 (11 months ago) Permalink

I think Red Tide might be an environmentalist song

― Moodles, Wednesday, 13 June 2012 03:19 (11 months ago) Permalink

Red Tide totally is. I'm sure the band has at least one or two others, too.

― Josh in Chicago, Wednesday, 13 June 2012 03:21 (11 months ago) Permalink

Huh, wtf?

― Josh in Chicago, Wednesday, 13 June 2012 03:24 (11 months ago) Permalink

I was thinking of "Natural Science", definitely not "The Trees". Is there any quote to suggest that "The Trees" is about Quebec separatism? Because I don't get that from the lyrics at all otherwise. Anti-communist/collectivist sounds nearer the mark to me.

― EveningStar (Sund4r), Wednesday, 13 June 2012 03:29 (11 months ago) Permalink

Dunno. Seem to recall coming across that at some point years ago. Meanwhile, in Rolling Stone:

This is somewhat random, but you were interested in the writings of Ayn Rand decades ago. Do her words still speak to you?
Oh, no. That was 40 years ago. But it was important to me at the time in a transition of finding myself and having faith that what I believed was worthwhile. I had come up with that moral attitude about music, and then in my late teens I moved to England to seek fame and fortune and all that, and I was kind of stunned by the cynicism and the factory-like atmosphere of the music world over there, and it shook me. I'm thinking, "Am I wrong? Am I stupid and naïve? This is the way that everybody does everything and, had I better get with the program?"
For me, it was an affirmation that it's all right to totally believe in something and live for it and not compromise. It was a simple as that. On that 2112 album, again, I was in my early twenties. I was a kid. Now I call myself a bleeding heart libertarian. Because I do believe in the principles of Libertarianism as an ideal – because I'm an idealist. Paul Theroux's definition of a cynic is a disappointed idealist. So as you go through past your twenties, your idealism is going to be disappointed many many times. And so, I've brought my view and also – I've just realized this – Libertarianism as I understood it was very good and pure and we're all going to be successful and generous to the less fortunate and it was, to me, not dark or cynical. But then I soon saw, of course, the way that it gets twisted by the flaws of humanity. And that's when I evolve now into . . . a bleeding heart Libertarian. That'll do.

― Josh in Chicago, Thursday, 14 June 2012 03:01 (11 months ago) Permalink

Cool thanks for posting that

― wack nerd zinging in the dead of night (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Thursday, 14 June 2012 03:25 (11 months ago) Permalink

Another nice bit:

I feel like Rush has gotten more attention in the past few years than any time I can remember. How do you feel about that? Does it feel like vindication? Do you care at all?
It is a vindication. I'm ambivalent, personally. Too much attention and hoopla doesn't agree with my temperament. I'm more introverted and I like to be an observer, so I'm ambivalent about that part, but it is a great vindication . . . and for our fans. Because as much as we're been vilified over the years, they were, too. It was always like, "Oh, what do you know? You're a Rush fan." You could definitely hear that in the schoolyard.
Honestly, it wouldn't make our day any sweeter or not, but for the whole spirit of Rush – for our fans and everything – you chose the right word. It's a vindication. We've been doing what we think is right this whole time . . . and that's part of it too. There's a bit of personal pride there, too. It's self-evident that we're hardly calculating and commercial with our music, but we've really tried to do everything the right way, or what I perceive to be the right way. It's kind of a vindication of that principle too. People can look at us and see that you can do things your way and still succeed.

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/q-a-neil-peart-on-rushs-new-lp-and-being-a-bleeding-heart-libertarian-20120612

― Josh in Chicago, Thursday, 14 June 2012 13:52 (11 months ago) Permalink

pretty good album, certainly the first rush album since Counterparts that I've listened to a lot.

― akm, Saturday, 16 June 2012 00:37 (11 months ago) Permalink

so is PolioPolice still butthurt that his villains aren't reading Alan Greenspan tweets

― a regina spektor is haunting europe (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Saturday, 16 June 2012 00:52 (11 months ago) Permalink

Wow:
http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/arts-and-life/entertainment/music/clockwork-angels-by-rush-tops-hmv-canada-cd-sales-chart-159082445.html

― EveningStar (Sund4r), Saturday, 16 June 2012 02:23 (11 months ago) Permalink

Not surprised they topped the Canadian charts. If they top the US charts I'll be surprised.

― EZ Snappin, Saturday, 16 June 2012 02:45 (11 months ago) Permalink

Yeah, and it's just one chain (they don't seem to turn up on this Soundscan chart: http://jam.canoe.ca/Music/Charts/ALBUMS.html), but still, it's Rush in 2012!

(Listening on Youtube. It's sounding pretty good. The title track is a standout so far imo. Someone pointed out that the clock on the cover is set to 21:12.)

― EveningStar (Sund4r), Saturday, 16 June 2012 02:49 (11 months ago) Permalink

OK, the Soundscan chart is for the week ending on the 13th. The album was only released on the 12th.

― EveningStar (Sund4r), Saturday, 16 June 2012 02:50 (11 months ago) Permalink

It's a solid album. Not sure if it's great yet, but a few listens in it's good to very good.

― EZ Snappin, Saturday, 16 June 2012 02:51 (11 months ago) Permalink

At No. 2 on the Billboard 200, rock band Rush clocks its best sales week in 10 years as "Clockwork Angels" debuts with 103,000. The group last sold more when 2002's "Vapor Trails" bowed at No. 6 with 110,000. "Clockwork Angels" is Rush's second album to hit No. 2 following 1993's "Counterparts." A No. 1 album continues to elude the act.

― a regina spektor is haunting europe (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 20 June 2012 15:33 (11 months ago) Permalink

P impressive to sell the same first week numbers as 2002

― wack nerd zinging in the dead of night (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Wednesday, 20 June 2012 15:53 (11 months ago) Permalink

Yeah, in this day and age that's a pretty big achievement.

― A. Begrand, Wednesday, 20 June 2012 15:57 (11 months ago) Permalink

I find that I get bored about halfway through this album and then go to check out the house/techno bobbins thread or something. The first three songs are classic though.

― EveningStar (Sund4r), Wednesday, 20 June 2012 16:28 (11 months ago) Permalink

That's #2 on Billboard's general albums chart, not a hard rock chart or something, right? That's pretty amazing then. (And apparently, they did top the Canadian charts this week: http://www.bravewords.com/news/185652 )

― EveningStar (Sund4r), Wednesday, 20 June 2012 16:32 (11 months ago) Permalink

the songs after the first three are good too. but the album is a bit much to take in all at once which I think is a side effect of the mixing choices; basically the songs are just packed with sounds and it gets kind of tiring. i miss the more stripped down sounds of Signals, certainly.

― akm, Wednesday, 20 June 2012 16:41 (11 months ago) Permalink

That might be it.

I feel like there's something odd about Geddy's pronunciation on this album. He has been doing this warbly, melismatic thing all decade. (I compared it to Tori Amos around the time of Vapour Trails.) But at times it actually sounds like he's singing with some bizarre accent I can't place on this, e.g. the way he sings "angels" or "carry". One thing I like about his vocals on the classic material is the preciseness of the enunciation.

― EveningStar (Sund4r), Wednesday, 20 June 2012 17:12 (11 months ago) Permalink

Sounds like they are taking a string section with them on tour for a bunch of songs both old and new

― Moodles, Wednesday, 20 June 2012 17:22 (11 months ago) Permalink

xpost

He has to sing differently now to be able to still reach the higher notes. You could hear clearly on last year's live album how that meant compromising a bit on the enunciation. (In a way, that made me appreciate all the more what a good singer he was in his youth.)

I've only heard Clockwork Angels once so far and that was on headphones during a train journey. So I'll comment later when I've had a chance to listen to properly.

― Jeff W, Wednesday, 20 June 2012 17:28 (11 months ago) Permalink

I bought the new one, but on first background listen I miss the hooks of "Snakes & Arrows." It does sound a bit more consciously ... proggy than I am used to from Rush. Still, I'm looking forward to spending some time with it!

― Josh in Chicago, Wednesday, 20 June 2012 20:45 (11 months ago) Permalink

Wow, how did I not know there were strings all over this?

― Josh in Chicago, Thursday, 21 June 2012 22:33 (11 months ago) Permalink

Still haven't gotten back to the CD yet but am enjoying the 1-2-1 interviews in the Classic Rock Mag fan pack edition.

Here's the link to the online bonus content (about 6 minutes of video: Geddy speaks and a bit of him and Neil laying down stuff in the studio).

watchmaker.classicrockmagazine.com

― Jeff W, Friday, 22 June 2012 17:21 (10 months ago) Permalink

enjoying this!

― ciderpress, Sunday, 24 June 2012 03:34 (10 months ago) Permalink

1 month passes...

I'm really digging Clockwork Angels, makes me happy to be this genuinely enthusiastic about a new Rush album.

― Elrond Hubbard (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Wednesday, 8 August 2012 16:36 (9 months ago) Permalink

the "Thank your stars you're not that way/turn you back and walk away" part of Wishing Them Well is a nice little throwback to 80s Rush, melodically

― Elrond Hubbard (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Wednesday, 8 August 2012 16:37 (9 months ago) Permalink

I love it too, though I'm still waiting for it to exceed Snakes and Arrows in my esteem. It could happen over time...

Overall, heavy, conceptual, and the least filler of any Rush album.

― Nate Carson, Wednesday, 8 August 2012 16:39 (9 months ago) Permalink

Wish Them Well kind of reminds me of Sugar.

― Moodles, Wednesday, 8 August 2012 17:44 (9 months ago) Permalink

haha yeah kinda! never would have thought sugar wrt to rush but i see it.

― Elrond Hubbard (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Wednesday, 8 August 2012 17:45 (9 months ago) Permalink

Also, it's one of my favorite tracks on the album. Very catchy!

― Moodles, Wednesday, 8 August 2012 17:48 (9 months ago) Permalink

I love Geddy's wailing vocals on Seven Cities of Gold

― Moodles, Wednesday, 8 August 2012 17:52 (9 months ago) Permalink

"The Garden" is a pretty serious epic. And for strange references, parts of that one remind me of NYC prog-poppers Extra Life.

― Nate Carson, Wednesday, 8 August 2012 20:30 (9 months ago) Permalink

I've had a lot of trouble getting into this one, for some reason.

― Josh in Chicago, Wednesday, 8 August 2012 20:43 (9 months ago) Permalink

Maybe you need to read the novel first.

― Nate Carson, Thursday, 9 August 2012 20:19 (9 months ago) Permalink

Is the book out yet?

― EZ Snappin, Thursday, 9 August 2012 20:27 (9 months ago) Permalink

Next month, I think.

― 誤訳侮辱, Thursday, 9 August 2012 20:50 (9 months ago) Permalink

thanks!

― EZ Snappin, Thursday, 9 August 2012 22:34 (9 months ago) Permalink

Interviewed the author of the novelization, Kevin J. Anderson, today. It was a really interesting conversation - I asked him about the book and co-writing with Neil Peart, obviously, but I also asked a bunch of questions about his personal working methods, writing books in series owned by other creators (he's written a shit-ton of Star Wars novels and co-written a bunch of Dune sequels and stuff like that), etc., etc. It'll be on Roadrunner's website in a couple of weeks.

― 誤訳侮辱, Thursday, 16 August 2012 01:09 (9 months ago) Permalink

Cool post a link when it runs

― Jandek at the Disco (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Thursday, 16 August 2012 14:04 (9 months ago) Permalink

3 weeks pass...

Set list for the current tour (which kicked off last night):

Set One

01. Subdivisions
02. The Big Money
03. Force Ten
04. Grand Designs
05. The Body Electric
06. Territories
07. The Analog Kid
08. Bravado
09. Where's My Thing?
10. Far Cry

Set Two (with string section)

11. Caravan
12. Clockwork Angels
13. The Anarchist
14. Carnies
15. The Wreckers
16. Headlong Flight
17. Halo Effect
18. Wish Them Well
19. The Garden
20. Manhattan Project
21. Red Sector A
22. YYZ
23. Working Man

Encore:

24. Tom Sawyer
25. The Spirit of Radio

Eight songs from the new album. And a main set jammed with mid- to late '80s stuff. I am seriously excited.

― 誤訳侮辱, Saturday, 8 September 2012 15:11 (8 months ago) Permalink

Wow, I'm psyched to hear Grand Designs and Body Electric.

― Moodles, Saturday, 8 September 2012 15:50 (8 months ago) Permalink

Man, what a bummer I was roped into a lame camping trip instead of catching this tour. I hope they come back to Chicago, which they often seem to do.

― Josh in Chicago, Saturday, 8 September 2012 18:35 (8 months ago) Permalink

Love "Grand Designs" ...

― Josh in Chicago, Saturday, 8 September 2012 18:39 (8 months ago) Permalink

sounds like they're giving the mid eighties a serious look!

― a regina spektor is haunting europe (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Saturday, 8 September 2012 18:41 (8 months ago) Permalink

About time.

― Ned Raggett, Saturday, 8 September 2012 18:45 (8 months ago) Permalink

Eh. they've been peppering their sets with '80s stuff since, well, the '80s. If anything I've noticed they'd phased out much of the '70s stuff.

― Josh in Chicago, Saturday, 8 September 2012 18:48 (8 months ago) Permalink

Is this the first time Rush has ever featured any musicians onstage aside from the core trio?

― Josh in Chicago, Saturday, 8 September 2012 18:51 (8 months ago) Permalink

I imagine so?
Hey Bill, guess lifeson must be seething with rage playing all these songs he hates....but I mean, the public would riot if they didn't do the hits like body electric & grand designs

― Jandek at the Disco (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Saturday, 8 September 2012 18:58 (8 months ago) Permalink

playing all these songs he hates

maybe they can cover Sonic Youth's "Youth Against Fascism."

― a regina spektor is haunting europe (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Saturday, 8 September 2012 18:59 (8 months ago) Permalink

Is this the first time Rush has ever featured any musicians onstage aside from the core trio?

I think so... Closest that I'm aware of previously was the film of Aimee Mann singing the b-vox on "Time Stand Still"

set-list looks killer.

― Elvis Telecom, Saturday, 8 September 2012 19:00 (8 months ago) Permalink

Oh wait when I saw then Mr.Big came out for the encore & the played ”Wipeout” and pretended to surf and stuff

― Jandek at the Disco (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Saturday, 8 September 2012 19:24 (8 months ago) Permalink

This setlist feels like it was created just for me. It's a "Time Stand Still" or "The Pass" away from being perfect. "Red Sector A" and "The Body Electric"...wow! And I've always loved "Bravado".

― A. Begrand, Saturday, 8 September 2012 19:38 (8 months ago) Permalink

super-glad I realized that the thread-revive was a setlist before my eyes processed any of what was written there. I can't understand why anyone attending one of the shows would want to know that beforehand.

I do realize I need to start cramming the new album before next Saturday..

― Stormy Davis, Saturday, 8 September 2012 21:50 (8 months ago) Permalink

I happily read it but still think that a spoiler alert is in order

― Moodles, Saturday, 8 September 2012 21:56 (8 months ago) Permalink

I do appreciate the fact that a Rush setlist is literally a set list. No messing around with these guys. I saw Springsteen Friday and Saturday night, and the second show featured 15 songs not played the first. But Rush? They're all about a snapshot of a particular time on a particular tour, which I think is kind of cool.

― Josh in Chicago, Sunday, 9 September 2012 13:40 (8 months ago) Permalink

I like the 80s stuff more than Bill does but, wow, is ILM this typical of the Rush fanbase? Are that many people really going to Rush shows to see mid- to late-80s album tracks? One song from Moving Pictures, one from Permanent Waves, one song from the SIX previous albums put together!

― EveningStar (Sund4r), Sunday, 9 September 2012 16:05 (8 months ago) Permalink

Especially surprising since the new album seems to harken back to their 70s material more than anything they've done in ages.

I guess they recently toured Moving Pictures in its entirety? Maybe that's what this is about?

― EveningStar (Sund4r), Sunday, 9 September 2012 16:05 (8 months ago) Permalink

Oh, with the encore, I guess that's two from MP.

― EveningStar (Sund4r), Sunday, 9 September 2012 16:09 (8 months ago) Permalink

With the Time Capsule tour all last year (or was it the year before?) I'm sure they feel they've done that stuff enough for now. Maybe they'll start alternating new & old like Iron Maiden does.

― EZ Snappin, Sunday, 9 September 2012 16:10 (8 months ago) Permalink

OK, I looked up the Time Machine setlist. I see what you're saying.

― EveningStar (Sund4r), Sunday, 9 September 2012 16:12 (8 months ago) Permalink

It's pretty unusual for them to be doing no Limelight, Freewill, 2112, or Closer to the Heart, to name just a few popular favorites.

― Moodles, Sunday, 9 September 2012 16:16 (8 months ago) Permalink

(I do like the idea of mid-to late-80s stuff being "new" though!)

― EveningStar (Sund4r), Sunday, 9 September 2012 16:19 (8 months ago) Permalink

Closer to the Heart they haven't done for years.

― Josh in Chicago, Sunday, 9 September 2012 16:31 (8 months ago) Permalink

They played it on the time machine tour

― Moodles, Sunday, 9 September 2012 16:38 (8 months ago) Permalink

I also saw them do it at this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Molson_Canadian_Rocks_for_Toronto

I suppose even that is 9 years ago now!

― EveningStar (Sund4r), Sunday, 9 September 2012 17:24 (8 months ago) Permalink

I saw the Time Machine tour and for the life of me don't remember Closer to the Heart, but yeah, I guess they did play it. Anyway, regardless, it hadn't really been played for a long time before that. Same with a lot of other older nuggets, which they sort of scatter throughout each tour. But the focus for a while has been on the early '80s, a smattering of '90s, and whatever latest record they are touring.

― Josh in Chicago, Sunday, 9 September 2012 18:09 (8 months ago) Permalink

Interesting that they are focusing on this one fairly short period of a very long career. Marathon was one of the highlights for me on the last tour, so I guess it's pretty cool that they are doubling down on the Power Windows love. I suspect they look at it as an opportunity to rework those very 80s tunes with contemporary sonics.

― Moodles, Sunday, 9 September 2012 18:25 (8 months ago) Permalink

It's corny as fuck but I love ”Mission”

― Jandek at the Disco (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Sunday, 9 September 2012 18:51 (8 months ago) Permalink

Damn this is exciting. I would say that after this tour, it's time to revisit the 70s again...

― Nate Carson, Sunday, 9 September 2012 19:00 (8 months ago) Permalink

I agree. I was predicting they'd bring back stuff like Xanadu and Hemispheres this time around, but maybe that will be the next tour.

― Moodles, Sunday, 9 September 2012 19:03 (8 months ago) Permalink

Pretty sure Geddy can't sing either of those anymore (well, maybe "Xanadu," but definitely not "Hemispheres").

― Sunn? Sunn? It's your cousin, Marvin O))) (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Sunday, 9 September 2012 20:14 (8 months ago) Permalink

His singing was a bit shrieky, but it was still pretty amazing when they played Hemispheres on the Counterparts tour:

― Moodles, Monday, 10 September 2012 00:28 (8 months ago) Permalink

So they've tweaked the setlist tonight, which is interesting. Won't say what was played, but I like it.

― A. Begrand, Monday, 10 September 2012 02:49 (8 months ago) Permalink

Man, looked at the tweaked set and now I'm even more bummed to miss it. :(

― Josh in Chicago, Monday, 10 September 2012 15:19 (8 months ago) Permalink

Not sure which I like better, both look pretty amazing.

― Moodles, Monday, 10 September 2012 15:23 (8 months ago) Permalink

They're gonna be A/B-ing those two set lists all tour, apparently. I am now thinking hard about going to both the Newark and Brooklyn shows, or Newark and Philadelphia, in order to see both.

― 誤訳侮辱, Monday, 10 September 2012 15:54 (8 months ago) Permalink

Because you might know, is the band planning to tour the US again after Europe?

― Josh in Chicago, Monday, 10 September 2012 16:10 (8 months ago) Permalink

I don't know, actually. I wouldn't be surprised if they do, though, given that they've got a new record to promote for the first time in five years.

― 誤訳侮辱, Monday, 10 September 2012 16:40 (8 months ago) Permalink

3 weeks pass...

Picked up the Clockwork Angels book for some airplane reading this week, interested to see how it stands up.

― HAPPY BDAY TOOTS (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Monday, 1 October 2012 15:05 (7 months ago) Permalink

I'm looking forward to your review, haven't checked it out yet.

― Moodles, Monday, 1 October 2012 15:13 (7 months ago) Permalink

I reviewed Sunday's Rush show for MSN:

http://social.entertainment.msn.com/music/blogs/live-music-blogpost.aspx?post=1efe1a16-81a7-45d3-807a-0dc3f9349123

― A. Begrand, Wednesday, 3 October 2012 23:49 (7 months ago) Permalink

why does rush hate saskatchewan

― mookieproof, Wednesday, 3 October 2012 23:58 (7 months ago) Permalink

Nice review!

― ~ (Matt #2), Thursday, 4 October 2012 00:03 (7 months ago) Permalink

Great review! I can't believe I still have nearly 2 months before I get to see them.

The new issue of Guitar Player has a really nice cover feature on Alex Lifeson.

― Moodles, Thursday, 4 October 2012 00:05 (7 months ago) Permalink

Wow "Clockwork Angels" even got a positive review in the Wire. a) Would not have expected it to get reviewed in the Wire b) and yeah, they dug it.

― grandavis, Thursday, 4 October 2012 00:08 (7 months ago) Permalink

Rush song on a car commercial yesterday. It was a little jarring, I wouldnt think Peart would be up for that.

― One Way Ticket on the 1277 Express (Bill Magill), Thursday, 4 October 2012 14:16 (7 months ago) Permalink

yeah my roommate was watching football and suddenly i heard FLY BY NIGHT AWAY FROM HERE from the other room and i was like whaaaat

― ciderpress, Thursday, 4 October 2012 14:18 (7 months ago) Permalink

"Tom Sawyer" was used in a Nissan ad about 6-8 years ago.

― 5-Hour Enmity (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Thursday, 4 October 2012 14:19 (7 months ago) Permalink

yeah but at least that one is a classic rock radio staple, 'fly by night' is pretty deep digging commercial-usage-wise

― ciderpress, Thursday, 4 October 2012 14:22 (7 months ago) Permalink

"Fly By Night" was a classic rock staple in MN when I was growing up and to my knowledge is still one of Rush's better known songs

― Technology of the Big Muff (DJP), Thursday, 4 October 2012 14:28 (7 months ago) Permalink

Yeah, heard that one quite a bit on the classic rock station I listened to in the late eighties.

― Ned Raggett, Thursday, 4 October 2012 14:29 (7 months ago) Permalink

ok i guess its just not played on the stations here then

― ciderpress, Thursday, 4 October 2012 14:30 (7 months ago) Permalink

might have to go see them this time out, I never have, and I like the new album a lot, and haven't liked a rush album since Power Windows.

― akm, Thursday, 4 October 2012 15:45 (7 months ago) Permalink

Yeah, "Fly By Night" is one of the half dozen Rush songs I knew before seeing them live for the first time in 2011, and it was all based on radio airplay.

― 誤訳侮辱, Thursday, 4 October 2012 15:48 (7 months ago) Permalink

akm, you should absolutely go. I've seen them many times starting with the Roll the Bones tour and can honestly say that their live show just keeps getting better and better in every way: song selection, sound quality, musicianship, overall spectacle.

― Moodles, Thursday, 4 October 2012 16:08 (7 months ago) Permalink

I'm looking forward to your review, haven't checked it out yet.

So I gotta go with a "meh" on the Clockwork Angels novel. It does help get a better understanding of the album and the lyrics, a lot of the lyrics I was unsure about snapped into place, but as a sci-fi novel its pretty bland. The story is your fairly standard "lonely boy thinkin' baout things goes on a journey" trope and it unfolds fairly predictably (though a couple plot twists near the end spiced it up a tad). The "moral" of the whole thing is pretty hamhanded, but kinda par for the course for Rush I guess. There are a lot of sly references to other Rush albums and lyrics sprinkled throughout, so kind of a bonus for Rush nerds. Thing is, it just doesn't hold up as a good sci-fi novel.

― HAPPY BDAY TOOTS (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Friday, 5 October 2012 19:36 (7 months ago) Permalink

The art looks pretty cool though.

― HAPPY BDAY TOOTS (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Friday, 5 October 2012 19:36 (7 months ago) Permalink

Is there any greater several minutes of Lifeson than the middle section of "La Villa Strangiato"?

― Clarke B., Sunday, 7 October 2012 14:52 (7 months ago) Permalink

No-that song is a work of genius

― One Way Ticket on the 1277 Express (Bill Magill), Sunday, 7 October 2012 15:08 (7 months ago) Permalink

I can't stop listening to it

― Clarke B., Sunday, 7 October 2012 15:19 (7 months ago) Permalink

Hemispheres I just picked up the other day; it was the only record (besides the debut) of theirs up through Presto I didn't have on vinyl, and I've really enjoyed just happily grabbing their stuff when I've found it used rather than rabidly seeking it out. I can easily see this record being the one that pushes me from solid fan into crazed fanboy, though. Something about it clicked with me immediately in a way none of their others did; maybe I'm used enough to their sound, their playing, their themes to where I just heard this one in a more "pure" way. It made me go back to A Farewell to Kings, too, which I feel like I heard with new ears...

― Clarke B., Sunday, 7 October 2012 15:25 (7 months ago) Permalink

aerosmith band outing to the Rush show on our night off in Philly tonight, fuck yes

― Inconceivable (to the entire world) (underrated aerosmith bootlegs I have owned), Friday, 12 October 2012 20:40 (7 months ago) Permalink

lucky

― Moodles, Friday, 12 October 2012 20:57 (7 months ago) Permalink

Rush's live medleys are some of my favorite concert experiences ever (I mean the whole shows have been great, but the medleys are like all-time live highlights)

― grandavis, Friday, 12 October 2012 21:02 (7 months ago) Permalink

what Moodles said

― The Owls of Ja Rule (DJP), Friday, 12 October 2012 21:03 (7 months ago) Permalink

So sorry I missed this leg. Stupid camping trip ...

― Josh in Chicago, Friday, 12 October 2012 21:27 (7 months ago) Permalink

So I gotta go with a "meh" on the Clockwork Angels novel.

me too. it's way too young adult. i wanted something more steampunk/clockwork orangey, the way it's been billed. i'm only halfway through, but the interminable kid running away and joining the circus episode would be more fitting for a novelization of brain salad surgery ("karn evil 9") than it is for clockwork angels. still, i love the fact that they did this, and there's no way i wouldn't read a novelization of a rush album, even if the world's worst writer wrote it

― reggie (qualmsley), Friday, 12 October 2012 21:30 (7 months ago) Permalink

oh yeah, which is exactly why i bought it! but its really not that great.

― HAPPY BDAY TOOTS (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Friday, 12 October 2012 21:35 (7 months ago) Permalink

why do I keep avoiding and then giving into this thread?

re: Hemispheres and Farewell to Kings above -- these were my favorite records by the band back when I would consider myself a big fan (mostly high school really). In retrospect, along w/2112, they are far and away their proggiest records, which is probably what I was latching onto. I think I even read (or was it in doc?) Alex Lifeson saying that after Hemisphere, they never wanted to make another record like that -- and then came Permanent Waves, which backs him up.

Still think "Xanadu", "la Villa Strangiato", "Cygnus X-1" among the best stuff they ever did.

― Dominique, Friday, 12 October 2012 21:49 (7 months ago) Permalink

hemispheres is by far my favorite of their albums. it's too bad prog has such a bad rep because people are really missing out. the sidelong suite is a major highlight for me in all their stuff

― reggie (qualmsley), Friday, 12 October 2012 21:53 (7 months ago) Permalink

Yeah,.I'm amazed Rush still gets pegged a prog act. It's been decades since they fully embodied the traits people associate with the term. I think the band wanted to move on for the same reason Metallica did. Songs got too long.

― Josh in Chicago, Friday, 12 October 2012 22:01 (7 months ago) Permalink

aero going to see Rush after complaining about them on the Rush/Dead/Yes thread??

― Faster than food (Myonga Vön Bontee), Friday, 12 October 2012 22:13 (7 months ago) Permalink

That's the thing about Rush: complain all you want, but when someone gives you tickets, any sensible person says "yes."

― Josh in Chicago, Friday, 12 October 2012 22:24 (7 months ago) Permalink

rush peg themselves a prog act. they just released a concept album with a novel tie-in. that's pretty proggy!

geddy lee's favorite album list is pretty telling

http://thequietus.com/articles/09210-rush-geddy-lee-interview-favourite-albums

― reggie (qualmsley), Friday, 12 October 2012 22:26 (7 months ago) Permalink

they don't call themselves a progressive band. but yes, the new 1 is a throwback. also, the band first concept album.

― Josh in Chicago, Friday, 12 October 2012 22:42 (7 months ago) Permalink

Circumstances is such a jam

― rap game klaus nomi (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Friday, 12 October 2012 22:51 (7 months ago) Permalink

plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose

― reggie (qualmsley), Friday, 12 October 2012 23:09 (7 months ago) Permalink

I might be interviewing Alex Lifeson next Saturday. Not confirmed yet. Definitely going to the show (Newark, NJ) though.

― 誤訳侮辱, Saturday, 13 October 2012 01:06 (7 months ago) Permalink

Lifeson seems like such a chill interview. You should ask him about the lightbulb moment that lead to his shift from flashier lead stuff to more subtle shading and Andy Summers-y stuff. Also, Rush may be the most mysterious songwriters outside of New Order; I'm just not sure how their tracks come together, and they're one of the very few bands that has not left behind a trail of demos. Ask him how songs with so many different parts come together as cohesive 5-minute compositions. I've always thought sprawling 3o-minute prog epics were, ironically, sort of easy, because there's the luxury of time and space. But Rush's stuff, busy though it may get, has always been remarkably efficient.

Man, "La Villa Strangiato" really is some sort of apotheosis, isn't it?

― Josh in Chicago, Saturday, 13 October 2012 02:22 (7 months ago) Permalink

aero going to see Rush after complaining about them on the Rush/Dead/Yes thread??

lol I think I just said Peart's philosophy was gross which I got corrected on. show was really something, really fun

That's the thing about Rush: complain all you want, but when someone gives you tickets, any sensible person says "yes."

lol I paid for these seats myself!!

― Inconceivable (to the entire world) (underrated aerosmith bootlegs I have owned), Saturday, 13 October 2012 03:04 (7 months ago) Permalink

music should be like business. efficient. how dare bands "waste" notes!

― reggie (qualmsley), Saturday, 13 October 2012 03:23 (7 months ago) Permalink

Glad you got your money's worth aero! :D

― Faster than food (Myonga Vön Bontee), Monday, 15 October 2012 15:17 (7 months ago) Permalink

Aero, did they do a medley? Haven't seen Rush in a number of years and am just curious if they still do this.

― grandavis, Monday, 15 October 2012 17:41 (7 months ago) Permalink

Ticket for Rush on Saturday night in Newark, NJ: CONFIRMED. Request for interview with Alex Lifeson: still pending...

― 誤訳侮辱, Tuesday, 16 October 2012 21:47 (7 months ago) Permalink

cool!

― rap game klaus nomi (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Tuesday, 16 October 2012 21:56 (7 months ago) Permalink

This really was one of the best shows I've seen in a long time. Bit of a dream setlist really.

― A. Begrand, Tuesday, 16 October 2012 22:02 (7 months ago) Permalink

More haikus!

― Loud guitars shit all over "Bette Davis Eyes" (NYCNative), Friday, 19 October 2012 00:48 (7 months ago) Permalink

music should be like
business. efficient. how dare
bands waste any notes!

― reggie (qualmsley), Friday, 19 October 2012 02:40 (7 months ago) Permalink

The voice is the gate
To keep out smarmy hipsters
Like Stephen Malkmus

― Clarke B., Friday, 19 October 2012 03:01 (7 months ago) Permalink

By efficient I
Meant that the band fits so much
Into so little

― Josh in Chicago, Friday, 19 October 2012 03:05 (7 months ago) Permalink

i am bummed clockwork
angels the novel doesn't
rule like the album

― reggie (qualmsley), Friday, 19 October 2012 03:27 (7 months ago) Permalink

What if Geddy Lee
played drums and Neil Peart sang lead?
(Alex is Alex.)

― a worthy pioner! (weatheringdaleson), Friday, 19 October 2012 03:37 (7 months ago) Permalink

Saw them last night in Newark. Amazing set - tons of mid-80s material, nine songs from the new album (everyone at work is fucking thrilled about that)...the one thing that was hugely apparent to me is that Peart continues to evolve as a drummer - his playing is much looser and more human-feeling than it was in 2011, and he wasn't wearing the huge gun-range headphones he did that time, so I feel like he was definitely listening to and playing off the other two much more than in the recent past. Also, rather than take one epic solo mid-set he took three shorter solos at various points, and that really kept the show moving with much greater momentum and overall energy. And between what he was doing, and the addition of the string players (who mostly added surges in the background), it was really intensely rhythmic, all about driving forward at all times. The version of "YYZ" at the end of the second set almost sounded like metal. (And by the way, it is sort of more than a little impressive that one of Rush's most beloved live moments is an extended, berserk instrumental.) When Lifeson stepped forward for HIS solos, that was when the songs really came to a frozen halt for a minute or so.

― 誤訳侮辱, Sunday, 21 October 2012 15:17 (7 months ago) Permalink

Possibly because as awesome as he is, guitar heroes are generally more dime a dozen than bass heroes or drum heroes. I've said before that one of the funniest things about Rush concerts is watching fans frantically air drum, air guitar and air bass at the same time.

― Josh in Chicago, Sunday, 21 October 2012 16:12 (7 months ago) Permalink

Wanna see my photos from Saturday night's show? Here you go.

― 誤訳侮辱, Monday, 22 October 2012 21:32 (6 months ago) Permalink

won't load :(

― terrell sug (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Monday, 22 October 2012 22:04 (6 months ago) Permalink

The website was going in and out this afternoon, but it should be fine now.

― 誤訳侮辱, Tuesday, 23 October 2012 01:44 (6 months ago) Permalink

Great photos! And I'm glad you dug the new show.

― A. Begrand, Tuesday, 23 October 2012 01:51 (6 months ago) Permalink

Amazing set - tons of mid-80s material

I'm seeing the show in both Dallas and Atlanta. This does not bode well.

― One Way Ticket on the 1277 Express (Bill Magill), Tuesday, 23 October 2012 13:49 (6 months ago) Permalink

1 month passes...

I don't know if everyone already picked up the three Sector boxes (I didn't have the funds), but they're all on sale this week for $25.49 each via the Amazon Cyber Monday deals week. Sector 1 tomorrow morning, and Sectors 2 & 3 on Saturday. Crazy cheap.

― EZ Snappin, Monday, 26 November 2012 21:57 (5 months ago) Permalink

I have 1 and 3, so thanks for the tip!

― A. Begrand, Tuesday, 27 November 2012 02:57 (5 months ago) Permalink

I plan on getting all three. At $5 a disc you can't beat it.

― EZ Snappin, Tuesday, 27 November 2012 03:07 (5 months ago) Permalink

Is this worth getting if you have the original CDs? Is there a substantial difference?

― Moodles, Tuesday, 27 November 2012 03:40 (5 months ago) Permalink

My understanding is yes, but hopefully Adrien or someone who owns them can confirm.

― EZ Snappin, Tuesday, 27 November 2012 04:06 (5 months ago) Permalink

Sector 3 is ace, tremendous remasters of the '80s albums in my opinion. 1 and 2 had problems a year ago, a couple discs were sloppily reproduced, but have since been fixed.

― A. Begrand, Tuesday, 27 November 2012 04:16 (5 months ago) Permalink

Not seeing this for sale on Amazon right now. But I suppose I'd be most inclined to buy the third one as well ... if I hadn't bought those albums several times already.

― Josh in Chicago, Tuesday, 27 November 2012 04:22 (5 months ago) Permalink

You have to look at the Cyber Monday Week deals in music. Only on sale for a couple of hours on the days mentioned above.

― EZ Snappin, Tuesday, 27 November 2012 04:24 (5 months ago) Permalink

Dammit! slept in and Sector 1 sold out.

― EZ Snappin, Tuesday, 27 November 2012 13:32 (5 months ago) Permalink

Just fucked around on there for awhile, am I correct that the deal for Sector 3 has expired?

― you only write about... pleassssure (Jon Lewis), Tuesday, 27 November 2012 16:48 (5 months ago) Permalink

the deals for Sector 2 & 3 don't go live until Saturday. Sector 1 sold out within 30 minutes this morning.

― EZ Snappin, Tuesday, 27 November 2012 18:32 (5 months ago) Permalink

Oh! Then I'm buyin' me Sector 3 on Saturday morning. Those are the only Rush records where I really crave a remaster.

― you only write about... pleassssure (Jon Lewis), Tuesday, 27 November 2012 18:34 (5 months ago) Permalink

Deal goes live Saturday at 11 am PST.

― EZ Snappin, Tuesday, 27 November 2012 18:36 (5 months ago) Permalink

finger on trigger...

― my other pug is a stillsuit (Jon Lewis), Saturday, 1 December 2012 18:55 (5 months ago) Permalink

Wow that was insane. 70% of Sector 2 and Sector 3 were claimed in less than 1 minute. Managed to get both for $59 total w/shipping.

― my other pug is a stillsuit (Jon Lewis), Saturday, 1 December 2012 19:03 (5 months ago) Permalink

100% gone in less than four minutes, unreal. I got Sector 2, thankfully.

― A. Begrand, Saturday, 1 December 2012 19:06 (5 months ago) Permalink

Gonna have to keep these at work for awhile so my wife doesn't know i spent the money. That's ok-- I do 90% of my listening there anyway.

― my other pug is a stillsuit (Jon Lewis), Saturday, 1 December 2012 19:14 (5 months ago) Permalink

I missed out on the sectors deal, but my consolation prize is that I got to see them live in San Antonio last night with my wife and son and it was awesome!

I'm still amazed that they did 5 tracks off of Power Windows: a dream come true. Really loved the strings and the whole run of Clockwork Angels songs and oldies plus strings.

― Moodles, Saturday, 1 December 2012 19:50 (5 months ago) Permalink

I saw Rush in Dallas the other nite. Apparently they filmed it for a DVD. This was a good choice of a gig to do so, because the place was PACKED. Not my favorite setlist (I would prefer a heavy dose of 70s), but overall a great show.

― One Way Ticket on the 1277 Express (Bill Magill), Monday, 3 December 2012 15:41 (5 months ago) Permalink

Looks like they're off to England. Hopefully they'll tour America again. They usually do a couple per album.

― Josh in Chicago, Monday, 3 December 2012 17:11 (5 months ago) Permalink

Rush finally got into the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame!

And yes, they've already announced that they will have more US dates in the Spring and Summer.

― Moodles, Tuesday, 11 December 2012 20:16 (5 months ago) Permalink

Public Enemy, Heart, Randy Newman, Albert King, and Donna Summer. Lou Adler and Quincy Jones

Best all-star jam ever!

― Josh in Chicago, Tuesday, 11 December 2012 21:26 (5 months ago) Permalink

Minus Donna, RIP.

― Josh in Chicago, Tuesday, 11 December 2012 21:26 (5 months ago) Permalink

Bassist/vocalist Geddy Lee told Rolling Stone, "It's a terrific honor and we'll show up smiling...It made my mom happy, so that's worth it." He added, "It was a cause [Rush fans] championed," he says. "I'm very relieved for them and we share this honor with them, for sure."
The band also issued an official statement: "We are honored to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The 3 of us are especially appreciative of our loyal fans whose support and dedication has gone a long way to making this possible. P.S. And special thanks to our moms for voting 6000 times!"

― Josh in Chicago, Tuesday, 11 December 2012 21:28 (5 months ago) Permalink

Mixed feelings. Love Rush, hate the Hall of Fame. If they're happy, I'm good.

― One Way Ticket on the 1277 Express (Bill Magill), Tuesday, 11 December 2012 22:00 (5 months ago) Permalink

Does Rutsey get in?

― One Way Ticket on the 1277 Express (Bill Magill), Tuesday, 11 December 2012 22:01 (5 months ago) Permalink

The Hall of Fame is ridiculous, but it still felt like a massive injustice that Rush was overlooked for such a long time.

― Moodles, Tuesday, 11 December 2012 22:03 (5 months ago) Permalink

Does Rutsey get in?

― One Way Ticket on the 1277 Express (Bill Magill), Tuesday, December 11, 2012 4:01 PM (41 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

not sure, i think all members get in? at least the chili peppers had the older members onstage and mentioned frusciente even though he didn't show up

― Andrew WKRP (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Tuesday, 11 December 2012 22:43 (5 months ago) Permalink

Fleetwood Mac didn't include everyone.

― Josh in Chicago, Tuesday, 11 December 2012 22:56 (5 months ago) Permalink

I think it's up to the bands themselves. Heart's had tons of lineup changes, and I don't think they're on the best of terms with some of the original members, so it'll be interesting to see who gets in.

(also, John Rutsey passed away in 2008, but yeah, it'd be a nice gesture if they let him in)

― Tarfumes The Escape Goat, Tuesday, 11 December 2012 23:03 (5 months ago) Permalink

A very long wait.
Eligible fourteen years.
Rush is in at last.

― Edward Bax, Wednesday, 12 December 2012 05:44 (5 months ago) Permalink

Fuck the Hall of Fame.
They can have them if they want
But Rush is still ours.

― Josh in Chicago, Wednesday, 12 December 2012 12:39 (5 months ago) Permalink

I think when Sabbath got in, it was only the 4 originals. No Dio, sadly.

― One Way Ticket on the 1277 Express (Bill Magill), Wednesday, 12 December 2012 14:34 (5 months ago) Permalink

I can't wait to hear
Public Enemy rapping
The words to Limelight

― SongOfSam, Wednesday, 12 December 2012 15:49 (5 months ago) Permalink

"...For the words of the prophets were written on the studio walls/Rock fame halls" *cheers*

― Faster than food (Myonga Vön Bontee), Wednesday, 12 December 2012 18:16 (5 months ago) Permalink

Looking forward to Geddy Lee singing "I Feel Love"!!!

― the little prince of inane false binary hype (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 12 December 2012 19:19 (5 months ago) Permalink

hoping for "MacArthur Park" personally

― I loves you, PORGI (DJP), Wednesday, 12 December 2012 19:21 (5 months ago) Permalink

Geddy doing "911 is a Joke" would rule.

― EZ Snappin, Wednesday, 12 December 2012 19:21 (5 months ago) Permalink

public enemy doing 'roll the bones'

― mookieproof, Wednesday, 12 December 2012 19:22 (5 months ago) Permalink

"I work hard for the money/They call me the working man"

― Faster than food (Myonga Vön Bontee), Wednesday, 12 December 2012 19:26 (5 months ago) Permalink

hah, both of those songs were on my labor day playlist this year!

― Moodles, Wednesday, 12 December 2012 19:27 (5 months ago) Permalink

"Uncle Tom Sawyer/Mean mean pride"

― EZ Snappin, Wednesday, 12 December 2012 19:28 (5 months ago) Permalink

On the (Spirit of the) Radio would be kinda pleasantly weird

― passion it person (La Lechera), Wednesday, 12 December 2012 19:28 (5 months ago) Permalink

oh man: Chuck D rapping the "Roll The Bones" part.

― the little prince of inane false binary hype (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 12 December 2012 19:29 (5 months ago) Permalink

i could kinda hear it in chuck's post-terrordome type flow

Jack, relax.
Get busy with the facts.
No zodiacs or almanacs,
No maniacs in polyester slacks.
Just the facts.
Gonna kick some gluteus max.
It's a paralax, you dig? (Flavor does this line)
You move around
The small gets big. It's a rig
It's action -- reaction
Random interaction.
So who's afraid
Of little abstraction
Can't get no satisfaction
From the facts?
You'd better run, homeboy (Flavor does this line)
A fact's a fact
From Nome to Rome, boy.

― Andrew WKRP (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Wednesday, 12 December 2012 19:35 (5 months ago) Permalink

It's a paralax, you dig? (Flavor does this line)

laughed so hard at this

― emo canon in twee major (BradNelson), Wednesday, 12 December 2012 19:49 (5 months ago) Permalink

LOL

― the little prince of inane false binary hype (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 12 December 2012 19:52 (5 months ago) Permalink

It must happen!

― grandavis, Wednesday, 12 December 2012 20:12 (5 months ago) Permalink

1 month passes...

Intriguingly, the Rush installment of the "Rockabye Baby!" series credits the guys with their given names: N. Peart, G. Weinrib, A. Zivojinovich.

― Josh in Chicago, Thursday, 7 February 2013 01:22 (3 months ago) Permalink

2 months pass...

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/20/arts/music/rock-hall-of-fame-embraces-randy-newman-public-enemy-and-others.html?hpw

As the night went on, the mood continued to lighten. Flavor Flav of Public Enemy no doubt assumed he had given the longest, most haphazard speech when he went on about his children and the clock he wears around his neck (among other subjects) until even his band mate, Chuck D, was giving him wrap-it-up signals on the stage.
“I only get to be in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame one time in my life,” Flavor Flav said. “I’m enjoying this.”
Not to be outdone, Alex Lifeson, Rush’s singer and guitarist, then gave an acceptance speech in which he repeated “blah blah” over and over for several minutes while aggressively gesticulating, leaving the crowd in hysterics.

― j., Saturday, 20 April 2013 16:36 (1 month ago) Permalink

I'm so psyched for this collab:

― Moodles, Saturday, 20 April 2013 17:19 (1 month ago) Permalink

apparently Rush fans behaved boorishly?

― the little prince of inane false binary hype (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Saturday, 20 April 2013 17:22 (1 month ago) Permalink

who are all those old men standing next to geddy lee

― j., Saturday, 20 April 2013 17:42 (1 month ago) Permalink

the universal dream, for those who wish to seem

― reggie (qualmsley), Saturday, 20 April 2013 19:25 (1 month ago) Permalink

tom hanks accepted on behalf of the band

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=7M7AEi68a20#!

― reggie (qualmsley), Saturday, 20 April 2013 19:39 (1 month ago) Permalink

apparently Rush fans behaved boorishly?

― the little prince of inane false binary hype (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Saturday, April 20, 2013 1:22 PM (2 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

i imagine many of them were socialized at hockey games

― some dude, Saturday, 20 April 2013 19:49 (1 month ago) Permalink

― Josh in Chicago, Saturday, 20 April 2013 22:17 (1 month ago) Permalink

i imagine many of them were socialized at hockey games

you meant subdivisions

― the little prince of inane false binary hype (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Saturday, 20 April 2013 22:18 (1 month ago) Permalink

any escape might help to mellow the unattractive truth

― reggie (qualmsley), Saturday, 20 April 2013 22:21 (1 month ago) Permalink

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QLOUgvsfDtg

― Josh in Chicago, Sunday, 21 April 2013 01:09 (1 month ago) Permalink

This so should have been a roast of Rush.

― Josh in Chicago, Sunday, 21 April 2013 01:10 (1 month ago) Permalink

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x-xEr489gHY

― Josh in Chicago, Sunday, 21 April 2013 01:12 (1 month ago) Permalink

miles of smiles

― I have many lovely lacy nightgowns (contenderizer), Sunday, 21 April 2013 03:10 (1 month ago) Permalink

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