Yeah but not working man or finding my way
Those aren't even dust or budgie or prog at all
― usic for 18 magicians (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Monday, 12 August 2013 12:48 (ten years ago) link
Well, yeah, I think we all agree that there is enough to distinguish them from classic European symphonic prog bands.
I have to say, though, I never though of the 1st album as a great one. They were still finding their way imo.
― EveningStar (Sund4r), Monday, 12 August 2013 13:22 (ten years ago) link
I dunno, I think "Working Man" would've sounded just fine on the first Budgie album
― Sir Lord Baltimora (Myonga Vön Bontee), Monday, 12 August 2013 16:37 (ten years ago) link
POX euro-symph rush jams
"hemispheres""natural science""la villa strangiato""xanadu""the fountains of lamneth""jacob's ladder""cygnus x-1""2112""the necromancer""the camera eye"
― reggie (qualmsley), Monday, 12 August 2013 18:18 (ten years ago) link
Even most of those have more of a heavy rock/proto-metal element than you find in most symphonic prog + they weren't really coming out of a utopian countercultural perspective. Like, the point is just that they were a later band from a different place who were influenced by symphonic prog but also by heavy rock.
― EveningStar (Sund4r), Monday, 12 August 2013 18:29 (ten years ago) link
Anyone else ever find it odd that the two Farewell To Kings epics are the only ones in that entire era to do without individual names for their various movements? Maybe they were just rushed (ouch) to complete that record?
― Sir Lord Baltimora (Myonga Vön Bontee), Monday, 12 August 2013 18:37 (ten years ago) link
Does "Xanadu" have individual movements?
― EveningStar (Sund4r), Monday, 12 August 2013 18:45 (ten years ago) link
prog is not a four letter word
― reggie (qualmsley), Monday, 12 August 2013 18:51 (ten years ago) link
(I'm a huge prog fan btw.)
― EveningStar (Sund4r), Monday, 12 August 2013 18:53 (ten years ago) link
Well "Xanadu" has that long free-form instrumental introduction, same deal w/"Cygnus". But I see that "Cygnus" has been retroactively broken down into "Prologue" and parts 1-3. And retroactively retitled "Book One: The Voyage", like it was "Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope" or something.
― Sir Lord Baltimora (Myonga Vön Bontee), Monday, 12 August 2013 19:02 (ten years ago) link
there was the whole "Fear" trilogy too
― usic for 18 magicians (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Tuesday, 13 August 2013 18:08 (ten years ago) link
been listening to 80's Rush again a lot this week and it's still by far my favorite period of the band. Signals and Grace Under Pressure in particular. Signals is a great sounding album; everything is so balanced mix-wise, nothing is overpowering anything else. Probably my favorite one by far.
― akm, Tuesday, 13 August 2013 18:16 (ten years ago) link
Re: Raymond Scott/"Powerhouse"/"La Villa Strangiato":
The segments titled "Monsters!" and "Monsters! (Reprise)" are an adaptation of Raymond Scott's popular composition "Powerhouse".[2] Though Scott's publishers did not attempt to take legal action until the statute of limitations had run out, Rush's management, feeling it was the right thing to do, gave some monetary compensation to Mr. and Mrs. Scott.[3]
― Shart Week (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Saturday, 17 August 2013 20:39 (ten years ago) link
Nicest band ever.
― Josh in Chicago, Saturday, 17 August 2013 21:37 (ten years ago) link
some?
― j., Sunday, 18 August 2013 02:21 (ten years ago) link
http://gs1.wac.edgecastcdn.net/8019B6/data.tumblr.com/e486b96a11230aab31af69fb75e242be/tumblr_mtq8ag5l2h1qzex9io1_500.jpg
― mookieproof, Monday, 30 September 2013 02:11 (ten years ago) link
Remixed _Vapor Trails_In "Ceiling Unlimited"new guitar solo
― Edward Bax, Wednesday, 16 October 2013 18:16 (ten years ago) link
More haikus! Yay!
― Loud guitars shit all over "Bette Davis Eyes" (NYCNative), Wednesday, 16 October 2013 21:45 (ten years ago) link
Live album comingRush with a string section, dudeNovember 19
― Humorist (horse) (誤訳侮辱), Wednesday, 16 October 2013 21:59 (ten years ago) link
Can't feel the pyroOn a live Rush recordingBut you can hear it
― Josh in Chicago, Wednesday, 16 October 2013 22:18 (ten years ago) link
No need to line upWhen Peart takes his sweet soloWith cold beer on hand.
― Josh in Chicago, Wednesday, 16 October 2013 22:21 (ten years ago) link
Nothing but the hits?Every Rush song is a hitWhen you are a fan.
― Josh in Chicago, Wednesday, 16 October 2013 22:22 (ten years ago) link
Every song a hit?Yes, "I Think I'm Going Bald"Is, to me, a hit
― Addison Doug (Matt #2), Wednesday, 16 October 2013 22:24 (ten years ago) link
Hits are not songs sungHits are what Neil's drum kit takesHis sticks take the breaks
― Sir Lord Baltimora (Myonga Vön Bontee), Wednesday, 16 October 2013 22:49 (ten years ago) link
I don't understandRush being trendy right nowBut it's cool with me
― Loud guitars shit all over "Bette Davis Eyes" (NYCNative), Wednesday, 16 October 2013 23:00 (ten years ago) link
Rush was always coolIt's better cool than cast outThe world admits
― Josh in Chicago, Thursday, 17 October 2013 01:50 (ten years ago) link
Huh:
http://www.2112.net/powerwindows/transcripts/19961200request.htm
― Josh in Chicago, Friday, 18 October 2013 18:37 (ten years ago) link
"There are elites that form on both sides. There is the elite of the guy who can play all these notes and scales, and then there's the elite of, 'Fuck off, he's a wanker. Why can't you have both [the Sex Pistols'] 'God Save the Queen' and [Rush's] 'Tom Sawyer'? Both songs changed my life."
― reggie (qualmsley), Friday, 18 October 2013 19:24 (ten years ago) link
What's weird about that is that by the time "Tom Sawyer" came out, Reid was already a pretty hardcore jazzbo. I mean, he put out that album with Bill Frisell not long after, I think. Of course, Frisell is another guy whose tastes run the gamut, but I find it hard to believe - though I guess not that hard - that Reid's mind was blown by 'Tom Sawyer" while he was out shredding harmolodically with Ronald Shannon Jackson or whomever. But maybe! It's cool, anyway, that he would say it.
I always heard that Reid lifted a note for note bit of Lifeson for his "Time's Up" solo...
― Josh in Chicago, Friday, 18 October 2013 19:41 (ten years ago) link
reid always seems pretty cool even if i don't always dig his music
― lorde willin' (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Friday, 18 October 2013 21:30 (ten years ago) link
his sister was doing census work when i was living in crown heights, his home neighborhood. i don't remember how living colour came up while she was interviewing me; once i found out who her brother was, though, i remember nearly falling off my stoop
― reggie (qualmsley), Friday, 18 October 2013 22:09 (ten years ago) link
So I wrote a Rush thing for Stereogum. A 16,000 word Rush thing.
http://www.stereogum.com/1685666/rush-albums-from-worst-to-best/list/
― A. Begrand, Tuesday, 10 June 2014 15:54 (nine years ago) link
:D cannot wait
― a chap could lose his bearings in weather like this (Jon Lewis), Tuesday, 10 June 2014 16:17 (nine years ago) link
awesome list! i rate 'presto' higher but really nice to see 'hemispheres' get some love
― reggie (qualmsley), Tuesday, 10 June 2014 16:26 (nine years ago) link
Looking forward to this, have to wait until I'm home from work to read it
― nitro-burning funny car (Moodles), Tuesday, 10 June 2014 17:21 (nine years ago) link
Time Machine 2011: Live In Cleveland (2011)
― did click through tho on the money (Eazy), Tuesday, 10 June 2014 17:27 (nine years ago) link
I read this article-while at work. Even if i disagree with some of the rankings, this is one of the best pieces of rock journalism ive read in a long time.Nice job, A. !!
― Prince Kajuku (Bill Magill), Tuesday, 10 June 2014 19:15 (nine years ago) link
Thanks , Bill!
― A. Begrand, Tuesday, 10 June 2014 19:44 (nine years ago) link
Glad to see Hold Your Fire get some love, unfairly maligned era imo
― sinister porpoise (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Wednesday, 11 June 2014 13:12 (nine years ago) link
Great write up, still working through the whole thing.
Albums I'd bump up higher in my own personal list: Test For Echo (I still prefer it over Caress and Roll The Bones), Vapor Trails, Counterparts, Power Windows, Grace Under Pressure
Albums I'd bump down: Roll The Bones, Hold Your Fire, Snakes & Arrows, A Farewell To Kings, 2112
I agree that the Time Machine tour album is pretty bad, Geddy's vocals sound terrible. It's a shame because it was an excellent tour. Weirdly, I find the DVD much more palatable.
I'd rank Different Stages much higher, it's my favorite of their live albums. The version of 2112 is absolutely brutal, improving on the original studio recording, and the bonus 70s concert is a lot of fun.
― nitro-burning funny car (Moodles), Wednesday, 11 June 2014 13:56 (nine years ago) link
Good choices.
Was Roll The Bones "monstrously" successful though? Yeah, it went platinum and debuted in the top five, but in the end still sold less than the much more successful early eighties albums that also produced charting Hot 100 singles.
― guess that bundt gettin eaten (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 11 June 2014 13:58 (nine years ago) link
The album's chart success was astonishing. Dreamline was a massive single, I don't think anyone saw that coming. Maybe not quite the right word there, but that initial reaction to the album and single was a big surprise.
― A. Begrand, Wednesday, 11 June 2014 14:16 (nine years ago) link
A massive single on the AOR chart though, not on pop radio.
― guess that bundt gettin eaten (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 11 June 2014 14:17 (nine years ago) link
What a band. I fucking love this band.
― Toni Braxton-Hicks (Turrican), Wednesday, 11 June 2014 14:23 (nine years ago) link
"Dreamline" was everywhere I went in 1991. But then again I lived in AOR country.
― A. Begrand, Wednesday, 11 June 2014 14:56 (nine years ago) link
didn't have a clear perspective on it at the time because everything Rush did seemed huge to me. Roll The Bones was the first time I saw them live and also the only tour my wife saw until hooking up with me.
― nitro-burning funny car (Moodles), Wednesday, 11 June 2014 15:00 (nine years ago) link
The only time I've seen 'em was the RTB tour.
― guess that bundt gettin eaten (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 11 June 2014 15:03 (nine years ago) link
Rush has had a long history of ignoring Western Canada. I finally got to see them in person in 2008 and 2012.
― A. Begrand, Wednesday, 11 June 2014 15:11 (nine years ago) link
Was Roll The Bones "monstrously" successful though?
"Roll the Bones" was a big deal in the circle of Rush fans/theater tech dorks/computer nerds I knew, it was a crucial car stereo jam I was oft subjected to as I didn't have a ride of my own.
― chr1sb3singer, Wednesday, 11 June 2014 15:21 (nine years ago) link
I have mostly erased the rap section of the title track from my memory thanks to many yrs of intensive psychotherapy
― chr1sb3singer, Wednesday, 11 June 2014 15:22 (nine years ago) link