RUSH vs. YES vs. THE GRATEFUL DEAD

Bill, you really need to check out Counterparts if you haven't. That album rules.

i love everything from Fly By Night thru Hold Your Fire, after that it starts to get patchy

i almost wish there were more records of the pre-synthesizer fantasy jams like on fly by night and caress of steel. i suspect there are other good 70s bands to turn to for crisp d&d-rock (uriah heep comes to mind?) but i haven't found much

Starcastle

Are Starcastle any good? I never heard them but got the impression from reviews that they were second-string Kansas/Styx (which makes them, what third-string Zeppelin/Yes?)? I'm curious though.

I am listening to Signals for maybe the first time ever? I don't know why I avoided this album, first two songs are great

I think "2112" and "Hemispheres" rely too heavily on their narratives to work. This would be OK if the narratives weren't so dopey: as such, they got old for me whereas Yes's 15:00+ epics work entirely on a sonic level for me. Weirdly, I kind of like "Fountain of Lamneth" as a series of tableaux.

xpost "Losing It" is classic imo.

Starcastle were super Yes-influenced. There's a lot to like about them - very light overall feeling, cool band sound, super chops.

The last bunch of albums Rush has released have all been pretty solid, especially Counterparts, Vapor Trails, and Clockwork Angels.

Also, their tours since the late 90s have all been incredible.

i love everything from Fly By Night thru Hold Your Fire, after that it starts to get patchy

Me too. I'd probably even go so far as "Presto" or "Roll the Bones" (each of which features one of my fave Rush album openers, and plenty more I like, including Rush's most credible power ballads "The Pass" and "Ghost of a Chance"). But "Snakes & Arrows" is the only of the recent batch of renewed Rush I love unabashedly, though each has their moments.

i need to listen to "Roll the Bones" again...the title track is so dorky (even for rush) i think it kind of tainted the memory of the album for me

The Time Machine tour was what converted me from being a just-know-the-radio-hits guy to a need-everything-now fan. Can't wait to see them again in October.

I thought their 30th anniversary tour did a good job giving a little taste of every era, including "Between the Wheels," possibly the darkest song they've done. "You know how that rabbit feels, going under your spinning wheels..."

yeah i saw them about 4 years ago and they did between the wheels because i love that song so much, grace under pressure is one of my favorites

Thanks for the Counterparts recommendation above (insert Chinese symbols here(I believe its Phil)). I'll check that out.

I have tix for Rush in both Atl and Dallas (where I'll be on business in Dallas). Pumped.

did anybody see the Rush documentary that came out a year or two back? fucking incredible stuff, they have film of, like, early band meetings at their parents' dinner table.

That documentary is THE #1 starting point for any new fan.

Yeah, it's great. Wild that both that and the Anvil doc delve into the fact that two of these linchpins of Canadian hard rock acts are children of Holocaust survivors (Geddy is the nickname he earned from his mom calling him to come home - Gary! - in her thick accent). The story of the Anvil guy and his parents is so beautiful, like the most supportive dad ever.

That footage of Lifeson as a teenager arguing with his parents is from this documentary (although I'd imagined a scenario along the lines of, "Dude, Alex is totally fighting with his folks! Bring your Super-8!")

xp

Dashed this off in honor of Jerry's birthday tomorrow. Hoping it affects voting. :)

http://www.deadjournalist.com/DJdc/2012/07/31/boots-in-transit-an-appreciation-of-the-dead-on-cassette/

That footage of Lifeson as a teenager arguing with his parents is from this documentary (although I'd imagined a scenario along the lines of, "Dude, Alex is totally fighting with his folks! Bring your Super-8!")

xp

― Sun? Sun? It's your cousin, Marvin Ra (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Tuesday, July 31, 2012 5:40 PM (1 hour ago)

Wow, I bet Alex Lifeson is one of the only people who's been on Trailer Park Boys AND a Criterion Collection documentary.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eh_9NY56Sxw&feature=related

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KHPD7DfXIcM

Boring answer:

1967-70 - Dead
1970-74 - Yes
1974-84 - Rush

Airports, that is a nice piece. I was never a Deadhead nor a tape trader, but I have a few bequeathed to me by an east coast buddy, replete with hand drawn cover art. I hang onto them as artifacts.

On another note, I think I have found the first Rush song I enjoy: "Bastille Day."

Played "Moving Pictures" last night for the first time in I don't know how many years. Every little part of each song came back to me like a long lost friend - except for Geddy Lee's voice. Shriiilll - and the way he enunciates irritates me now. I couldn't deal with it. Sad.

try the Time Machine live album version of those Moving Pictures tracks. Geddy's voice has changed enough that I think many who found him too shrill will find him more palatable these days.

Oh! Good to know. I will.

I love shrill Geddy. Middle-register Geddy, though, is one of the main reasons I haven't been able to get into any post-mid-80s Rush.

Yes was pretty good last night. Heavy the longer cuts (Awaken, Heart of the Sunrise, one suite from their new album I'm not sure the name of). This might not have been so popular with the crowd looking for some of the bigger "hits". The new singer looks and sounds just like Jon Anderson, and his name is in fact "John Davidson".

Nothing from CTTE or Relayer. Star of the show is definitely Steve Howe, the guy is spectacular, even though he looks like an old English professor.

Steve Howe kind of reminds me of Elrond

http://npknet.com/images/Jackvynil/1011albums051.jpg

They really couldn't have gotten a better replacement than John Davidson. In fact if you're not much of a Yeshead you probably wouldn't even remember that the singer's name is supposed to be Jon Anderson. And Howe, I dunno why we have to keep commenting on his looks, I mean is it really necessahttp://www.splotchy.com/images/blog/howe01.jpg

Where's the rest of him?

sucked into the same wormhole as the rest of his guitar

Looks just like fucking Elrond

i kinda want to start a Steinberger Swag Thread.

I have a theory that the LotR films based their characters on Yes. Frodo looks suspiciously like 70s Jon Anderson.

Howe used about 8 different guitars last night. Sometimes wearing two with a pedal steel in front of him.

Looks just like fucking Elrond

Looks like what would have been born had Elron been fucking Gollum,

Howe used about 8 different guitars last night.

Always a deceptive gauge, since so many guitarists have guitars in certain tunings. In fact, that's kind of modest! I mean, the Edge tours with something like 43 guitars, and he's the anti-Howe.

I'm happy to say ive never had the pleasure of seeing any of those 43 guitars!

Howe may look funny, but he is so fucking good.

Oh yeah, I mean Relayer is a 2 and a half star record without Howe and like 4 and a half stars with him

Oh I like Howe. I like Tomorrow! My White Bicycle is a freakbeat fave.

new Rush album is 99 cents on Amazon MP3 today

I would say Yes > Rush > a lot of bands I don't listen to at all including the Grateful Dead

Yes imo just writes better melodies, has better singing. Yes could sound like the Beatles at points, and Henry Cow at others, and Rush never had that kind of range, even in their mid-70s, early 80s glory years. Rush probably does maintain a more consistent level of quality from album to album, but also can be a lot blander.

I suppose I can agree with that. Consistency vs. range. I guess one larger problem I have with Yes is that they can be both pretentious and dopey, whereas Rush is usually at worst just the former. I get some unintentional "silly" vibes from Yes that I don't get from Rush.

This is as good as a time to recall one of the best one-line put downs I've ever heard, when my friend described a band as "kind of like Yes, but no."

Yes at its best is better than Rush or Grateful Dead at their best. Go buy another copy of Fragile... (seeds tend to bust up the spine)

did you Deadheads see this?

Spring 1990

Yeah, got the email about that from dead.net. As usual with this stuff, looks awesome, but so expensive.

the only version of the full "Hey Jude" the band attempted in the modern era
heard this and it is a treat. a terrible treat.