Rush: Classic or Dud?

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.

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.

The art looks pretty cool though.

Is there any greater several minutes of Lifeson than the middle section of "La Villa Strangiato"?

No-that song is a work of genius

I can't stop listening to it

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...

aerosmith band outing to the Rush show on our night off in Philly tonight, fuck yes

lucky

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)

what Moodles said

So sorry I missed this leg. Stupid camping trip ...

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

oh yeah, which is exactly why i bought it! but its really not that great.

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.

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

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.

aero going to see Rush after complaining about them on the Rush/Dead/Yes thread??

That's the thing about Rush: complain all you want, but when someone gives you tickets, any sensible person says "yes."

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

they don't call themselves a progressive band. but yes, the new 1 is a throwback. also, the band first concept album.

Circumstances is such a jam

plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose

I might be interviewing Alex Lifeson next Saturday. Not confirmed yet. Definitely going to the show (Newark, NJ) though.

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?

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!!

music should be like business. efficient. how dare bands "waste" notes!

Glad you got your money's worth aero! :D

Aero, did they do a medley? Haven't seen Rush in a number of years and am just curious if they still do this.

Ticket for Rush on Saturday night in Newark, NJ: CONFIRMED. Request for interview with Alex Lifeson: still pending...

cool!

This really was one of the best shows I've seen in a long time. Bit of a dream setlist really.

More haikus!

music should be like
business. efficient. how dare
bands waste any notes!

The voice is the gate
To keep out smarmy hipsters
Like Stephen Malkmus

By efficient I
Meant that the band fits so much
Into so little

i am bummed clockwork
angels the novel doesn't
rule like the album

What if Geddy Lee
played drums and Neil Peart sang lead?
(Alex is Alex.)

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.

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.

Wanna see my photos from Saturday night's show? Here you go.

won't load :(

The website was going in and out this afternoon, but it should be fine now.

Great photos! And I'm glad you dug the new show.

Amazing set - tons of mid-80s material

I'm seeing the show in both Dallas and Atlanta. This does not bode well.

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.

I have 1 and 3, so thanks for the tip!

I plan on getting all three. At $5 a disc you can't beat it.

Is this worth getting if you have the original CDs? Is there a substantial difference?

My understanding is yes, but hopefully Adrien or someone who owns them can confirm.