Rush: Classic or Dud?

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.

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.

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

listenING .. a few minutes AGO

sorry, been drinking beer too...

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

wore my "rainout" hat out on the town with pride last night, btw

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.

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.

******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.

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.

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.

It's also a really bittersweet lyric given what happened to Neil's wife and daughter.

I read his Ghost Rider book just recently, so sad.

yeah i will stan for "time stands still" all day long, it's a wonderful, sad little pop song

I also just like the fact it has Aimee Mann on it, utterly randomly.

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.

"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.

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.

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.

the video for time stand still is some A+ 'oh god how did this get here i am not good with computers' shit

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.

I don't notice a songwriting decline so much as an exhaustion of their always silly themes, which dovetailed with, yeah, the trendy production.

The Big Money is quite possibly the most 80s sounding song of the entire 80s.

is it bad that i can recite the 'rap' on roll the bones from memory?

I can too!

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.

Defend the Indefensible: Rap in the Middle of "Roll the Bones" (Rush)

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...

I can recite that rap too. It's still awful.

Fax the facts from Nome to Rome boy

it's a parallax, you dig?
it's a rig
the small get big

^^the realest shit peart ever wrote

i think roll the bones may be the weakest rush album but 'dreamline' is a pretty underrated song imo

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.

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.

I adore "Ghost of a Chance" – the way the chorus dangles in the air, with those huge block synth chords in the background.

ghost of a chance might be the closest rush ever got to a love song, and yet it's still a meta-love song

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.

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

hmm also "chain lightning" from presto and maybe the aforementioned "ghost of a chance"

I remember Peart saying somewhere how he gets choked up every time he plays "The Pass" live. Love that song.

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_B_Rx5hXIEJ0/RsC1YGAYSjI/AAAAAAAAAB0/0hSg2THqZqY/s400/jackrelax!.PNG

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"

"The Larger Bowl"

I thought they were drug free.

Ha. They do joke in the movie that they must have been pretty high when they wrote their '70s prog epics.

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."

i for real get goosebumps from "mission" tho i recognize how cheezy it is...

Not exactly 80s synthy, but I'd also recommend "Entre Nous" and "Different Strings" as great Rush sentimental power ballads.

I had a quote from "The Pass" in my high school senior yearbook.

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.

Some loosely sentimental power-ballads a la "Time Stand Still:"

...no "Closer to the Heart"?

"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