Clockwork Angels might be the most hard-rocking of all their return to hard rock records. It's got a great heft to it.
― Josh in Chicago, Thursday, 16 January 2020 23:36 (four years ago) link
agreed but it also has great songs and doesn't feel like it's trying to hard to be "heavy" like Vapor Trails
― Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Thursday, 16 January 2020 23:39 (four years ago) link
I prefer Vapor Trails, at least the remixed version. Clockwork Angels has some filler and some embarassing bits to it, IMO, and steampunk makes me cringe.
I spent a lot of time with most of the Rush albums over the past week and have come to the conclusion that Power Windows is my favorite one. It's got the most synths on it and the whole thing has a murky, dark, mysterious and foreboding air about it. If I think of a rush song, two songs immediately come to mind: Tom Sawyer, and the intro to Big Money.
― akm, Friday, 17 January 2020 00:19 (four years ago) link
albums I still can't get into at all: Snakes and Arrows, Test for Echo, most of Roll the Bones. Surprises while revising: how good Presto is. I basically got off the Rush train after Hold your Fire because my tastes went elsewhere and as a result I didn't hear Presto until it's been out for a decade already. It's really good! I love the poppy bits in the Pass.
― akm, Friday, 17 January 2020 00:23 (four years ago) link
Power Windows is their most exuberant album. It's like they are just all going for it all at once through the whole thing.
I also noticed that were really into ending songs on that album. Lots if fade outside and extra codas and ending jams.
It's extra cool how so many songs shift back and forth from these really atmospheric, bottomless reverb parts to gritty rock riffing. And every guitar solo is a cinematic, multi segment composition.
― Mario Meatwagon (Moodles), Friday, 17 January 2020 00:25 (four years ago) link
yeah it's so well done. the one criticism against it could be that the songs are rather samey (which could also be said of Grace) but it's the kind of samey I like so I don't care that much. To me, sonically, it really perfects that lush, thick, heft that started with Tom Sawyer.
― akm, Friday, 17 January 2020 00:30 (four years ago) link
Not samey, cohesive!
― Josh in Chicago, Friday, 17 January 2020 00:55 (four years ago) link
I think Grace Under Pressure is far darker than Power Windows. Power Windows is more day glo, state of the world, while Grace has a dystopian, android feel to it. Very 1984, though this might be the year and Red Sector A talking. I probably like Power Windows better: more distinctive non-single songs. Senior year of high school I did an art project with the lyrics to Manhattan Project.
Presto was the first Rush album I bought in stores when it came out. I still think it's a great album, perhaps hampered only by that thin, crystalline guitar sound.
― The Traveling Wilkes-Barre's (PBKR), Friday, 17 January 2020 00:55 (four years ago) link
Turn around and walk the razors edge, motherfuckers.
― The Traveling Wilkes-Barre's (PBKR), Friday, 17 January 2020 00:56 (four years ago) link
yeah Power Windows is great but "Red Sector A" kinda swings it in favor of GUP
― papa stank (Neanderthal), Friday, 17 January 2020 00:56 (four years ago) link
in terms of darkness
Power Windows might be Peart's best lyrics.
― The Traveling Wilkes-Barre's (PBKR), Friday, 17 January 2020 00:59 (four years ago) link
Presto tour was when I first saw them live, I have a lot of affection for that albumkind of a transitional album maybe why it gets ignored
― Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Friday, 17 January 2020 01:11 (four years ago) link
really wish I'd been into Rush earlier and subsequently seen them sooner. I didn't make my first mad dig into Rush beyond, say, 2112 until 2010. I like a lot of the later 80s stuff too even Hold Your Fire
― papa stank (Neanderthal), Friday, 17 January 2020 01:12 (four years ago) link
PW could only have been released in 1985/86 IMO to my ears...that bright, crystalline sheen to the production and how the synths integrate w/ the guitars
― Master of Treacle, Friday, 17 January 2020 01:20 (four years ago) link
plus power windows were realy popular
― papa stank (Neanderthal), Friday, 17 January 2020 01:22 (four years ago) link
Does anyone else feel like "Snakes and Arrows" and "Clockwork Angels" have too much of an assembled-in-the studio quality to them? All their career long, the three guys went to the studio together for a few weeks to record, and though they laid down their parts separately at least for the later albums, the results still sounded like a band in perfect sync, "live" in a way. But the last two albums, to my ears, have a spliced-together quality about them typical of rock acts whose members are no longer friends or even not on speaking terms with one another.
― Melomane, Friday, 17 January 2020 01:44 (four years ago) link
Presto tour was when I first saw them live, I have a lot of affection for that album
same, but yeah i wish it didn't sound so thin
― mookieproof, Friday, 17 January 2020 02:06 (four years ago) link
Same here and first concert ever for me! 4/24/90 at the Spectrum in Philly. First time I ever got drunk (vodka and Pepsi). I was sheltered.
― The Traveling Wilkes-Barre's (PBKR), Friday, 17 January 2020 02:08 (four years ago) link
two xposts but that may be my issue with those albums. clockwork angels is mostly fine while I listen to it but it's not very memorable to me. I guess I like Rush when they have really strong hooks.
― akm, Friday, 17 January 2020 02:28 (four years ago) link
dud
― a Mets fan who gave up on everything in the mid '80s (Dr Morbius), Friday, 17 January 2020 02:42 (four years ago) link
Power Windows is when the synth presets match the ambitions of those kids with Middletown dreams imo
― TikTok to the (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, 17 January 2020 02:45 (four years ago) link
Ok, I realized Power Windows has no filler.
― The Traveling Wilkes-Barre's (PBKR), Friday, 17 January 2020 02:56 (four years ago) link
A (former?) denizen of these parts weighs in
http://dominiqueleone.com/2020/01/14/rip-neil-peart/
― Ned Raggett, Friday, 17 January 2020 05:50 (four years ago) link
Great read. The graphic showing Peart's drums landing perfectly on the 16th note repeatedly was fantastic
― papa stank (Neanderthal), Friday, 17 January 2020 06:02 (four years ago) link
Same here and first concert ever for me! 4/24/90 at the Spectrum in Philly.
I was at the same show (probably)! Mr. Big opened. They played a song called "Addicted to that Rush."
Power Windows is when the synth presets
I'll try to dig up this list of tech they used on tour for this album. Downright ... progressive.
― Josh in Chicago, Friday, 17 January 2020 12:13 (four years ago) link
Here a 1997 one, I'll keep digging. Still interesting!
http://www.2112.net/powerwindows/transcripts/19970700eq.htm
― Josh in Chicago, Friday, 17 January 2020 12:14 (four years ago) link
OK, it popped up in the text here:
https://books.google.com/books?id=9tCGDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT62&lpg=PT62&dq=rush+samplers+used+power+windows&source=bl&ots=MN39resbme&sig=ACfU3U34dsuchLCa4rSYV8LAfcMvxLSSew&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwijzN_yzYrnAhWYKM0KHZznB2kQ6AEwAnoECAoQAQ#v=onepage&q=rush%20samplers%20used%20power%20windows&f=false
Didn't realize Anne Dudley did the string arrangements on "Power Windows"!
― Josh in Chicago, Friday, 17 January 2020 12:16 (four years ago) link
I've been going back to "Mystic Rhythms" a lot lately. Neil plays such a cool pattern, and it remains one of Rush's most unique pieces.
― A. Begrand, Friday, 17 January 2020 12:27 (four years ago) link
His China accents have always been the best.
― Josh in Chicago, Friday, 17 January 2020 13:27 (four years ago) link
When you say "china"… Sirius has surrendered the Deep Tracks channel (typically the redoubt of mummies like Earl Bailey and Jim Ladd) to the music of Neil. Yesterday, they played "Tai Shan," which I had never heard before and very much liked. Yet I see that Alex and Geddy think that it is completely misconceived…I dunno, I guess it sounds like "Oh chinese classical music is so exotic, let's use it indiscriminately!"
I've thought about staring a rolling Sirius -XM thread, but I dunno if enuff people have it, think anything of it…
― veronica moser, Friday, 17 January 2020 13:59 (four years ago) link
Mr. Big opened.
did billy sheehan do a bass solo with a power drill y/n
― mookieproof, Friday, 17 January 2020 14:06 (four years ago) link
Lol, I believe so.
― The Traveling Wilkes-Barre's (PBKR), Friday, 17 January 2020 14:24 (four years ago) link
When you say "china"…
I think he was referring to Peart's use of China cymbals, not any particular composition.
― shared unit of analysis (unperson), Friday, 17 January 2020 14:30 (four years ago) link
i understand that, but surely you can understand how that could remind me…
― veronica moser, Friday, 17 January 2020 14:33 (four years ago) link
I don't know what you're talking about, tbh, Oh, wait, maybe I get it. No, China cymbals, not a stereotypical "Asian" accent, hah. (Assuming that's what you mean?)
Anyway, check this out:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aQSJPzlIsrI
Weird coincidence, both Neil Peart and Elizabeth Wurtzel are both on the panel. They died the exact same day ...
― Josh in Chicago, Friday, 17 January 2020 14:53 (four years ago) link
Mr. Big def did the power drill thingRush also jammed with them on "Wipeout" at the show I went to
― Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Friday, 17 January 2020 15:01 (four years ago) link
https://youtu.be/0h2eaEpekLk
Lifeson and Peart jam with Sheehan before a show on the ‘90 tour (Geddy was running late in traffic)
― Master of Treacle, Friday, 17 January 2020 15:29 (four years ago) link
For a Danny Carey, Stewart Copeland and Neil Peart jam, this kinda sucks, and not in a "Primus sucks!" sort of way:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=elKAILyE1b8
― Josh in Chicago, Friday, 17 January 2020 15:39 (four years ago) link
Sully Erna from Godsmack divulging some truly tragic details:
"I knew when they were ending the Rush tour [R40, in 2015], that he was sick.
“And then I knew it, even up to a year ago or so, he was in a wheelchair and he couldn’t speak. And it was just becoming more and more sad to me.”
https://www.blabbermouth.net/news/godsmacks-sully-erna-says-neil-peart-was-in-a-wheelchair-and-he-couldnt-speak-in-months-leading-up-to-his-death/
― A. Begrand, Friday, 17 January 2020 16:59 (four years ago) link
Maybe he just didn't want to talk to the Godsmack guy...
― a bevy of supermodels, musicians and Lena Dunham (C. Grisso/McCain), Friday, 17 January 2020 17:19 (four years ago) link
seems kind of shitty to divulge that stuff since Peart was supposed private
― Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Friday, 17 January 2020 17:40 (four years ago) link
SO private
― Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Friday, 17 January 2020 17:43 (four years ago) link
Neil was protective of his private life because intruders on it made him uncomfortable, but he doubted the existence of a hereafter so now that he is gone, by his own standards no discussion of him can hurt him.
If Peart was already diagnosed before the last tour, then his retirement may well have been due to other reasons than just old age making it hard to be a lithe drummer. Already with his death from cancer we have had to re-examime the statements from Alex and Geddy in the meantime, they weren’t giving an entirely accurate picture.
So what the Godsmack frontman said is simply something that will be relevant to potential biographers of the band. Historical figures don’t get a pass on scrutiny into their career and its aftermath just because they protected their privacy while alive.
― Melomane, Friday, 17 January 2020 17:55 (four years ago) link
I'm questioning that timeline/description of 'even up to a year ago or so' from Erna saying Peart in a wheelchair and unable to speak, due to what Kevin Anderson said in one of his posts about Peart: https://www.facebook.com/TheKJA/posts/10158284413957044 -- no specifics about when that last meeting took place beyond "As it became clear that the time was getting close," and that it was specifically last year, referring to his own father's passing in July, so it kinda seems like it was in the latter half of last year. He describes a long conversation over lunch out at a restaurant with Peart, them 'standing' in the doorway of his house saying goodbye, etc. Granted, it could just be Erna in a rush of words not entirely being clear but does seem strange.
― Ned Raggett, Friday, 17 January 2020 18:11 (four years ago) link
I have to say, a funny, weird story has been cropping up in my brain these last few days. At some point in the late 80s -- don't know exactly how, don't know who from -- I remember hearing a classic 'did you hear about' story/rumor about a musician from a friend who also liked Rush and generally spoke from a place of knowledge. What's weird about the story was that my friend was, if not insistent, then sounded certain that Peart was in fact suffering from some form of cancer and that there was a photograph of him in a wheelchair being wheeled about by, of all people, Geddy himself (apparently smoking a cigarette at the time). Real bizarre fucking rumor in context then, now it seems even stranger.
― Ned Raggett, Friday, 17 January 2020 18:14 (four years ago) link
Neil came down with bilharzia during the recording of Counterparts. It was the result of an bad decision to swim in a body of still water during one of his African trips, and it led to some pretty extreme symptoms until he got it identified and treated. I can’t remember where Neil told this story, perhaps it was on his website. Might there be a photograph of him ailing from that time, which an uninformed person might take for a much more serious disease?
― Melomane, Friday, 17 January 2020 18:18 (four years ago) link
I wonder if that was it. Like I said, I thought this was late 80s when I heard it, but it's distant enough now that I could just be shifting it around by a few years.
― Ned Raggett, Friday, 17 January 2020 18:22 (four years ago) link
In the late '80s or so, when he started wearing that little hat, rumors spread that he had cancer and had lost his hair. Not that, you know, he was just losing his hair. I'm pretty sure he addressed it once or twice. Sometimes a hat is just a hat.
― Josh in Chicago, Friday, 17 January 2020 19:04 (four years ago) link
The piece from his book publisher friend upthread suggests that the whole “He was sick as far back as 2015” thing isn’t true. It does seem a little distasteful to be saying that stuff. Great posts here since he passed – very much in keeping with the warmth these guys always conveyed. I’m spending time listening to all these pieces I never had much time for (the Cygnus X-1 epics) or songs I haven’t heard in 30 years. Man, the title track to Roll the Bones – pretty sure no other song in history married the kind wistfulness of the “Why are we here/Because we’re here/Roll the bones” section with the sheer dorkiness of the rap section (which has two verses!). It kind of makes me love them more.
― Naive Teen Idol, Saturday, 18 January 2020 02:02 (four years ago) link