Rush: Classic or Dud?

Mine looks like this, guess my preference for 80s over 70s really shows:

Moving Pictures
Power Windows
Grace Under Pressure
Counterparts
Signals
Permanent Waves
Hemispheres
Clockwork Angels
A Farewell To Kings
2112
Vapor Trails
Presto
Snakes & Arrows
Test For Echo
Fly By Night
Rush
Hold Your Fire
Caress of Steel
Roll The Bones

when i was in 5th grade (which would be 1982, i think) i went on a week-long school trip to this academic competition in georgia. wedged between the seats of my greyhound bus was a c-60 -- no case -- with R U S H inked on the label of both sides in the style of the debut. it was taped off the radio, and the first song was the 'exit' version of 'the trees' and the second was 'working man'. i don't remember the rest, but that is how i became a rush fan. that cassette is probably still at my dad's house somewhere

One of the kids who hung out at my high school's computer lab had a cassette copy of Exit... that he played *all* the time. It may have been the only album he owned. I liked New Wave Rush a lot and ended up seeing them three times - GUP, RTB, and Counterparts tours.

Honestly, I never really got why ppl like Counterparts so much.

Also I feel a Caress of Steel challops coming on.... Might have to pull that up, been way more than a decade but I remember digging it

Also, was on their Spotify page today and ho lee fuck have they released 15 live albums since 95?

they basically do one for each tour now, which is definitely excessive, but I've enjoyed all the HD tour DVDs

yeah i mean i was just shocked...i guess i knew about rush in rio, but god i thought they had that and maybe one other one after show of hands

The most recent one, Clockwork Angels Tour, is great.

rush is a great live band but i dunno they usually stick so close to the originals i've never listened to a ton of their live stuff, except show of hands which i had as a kid

On the last tour, they added a live string section for about 2/3 of the set. It really transforms some of the older songs.

oh cool, that's different for them using outside musicians...that must be a first to have any backing musicians right?

Yeah, first time ever. I saw the show in Newark - it was really amazing.

I saw it in Dallas. It was fantastic. I think that was the show in the dvd

Yeah, that tour was incredible. Wonderful setlist.

I'm majorly disagreeing with the low assessment of Caress Of Steel. I think "Fountain Of Lamneth" is one of the best things Rush ever did. I just wish the Didacts And Narpets section was 5 minutes longer, it rocks the fuck out and I think they didn't fully exploit the brilliance of the ideas in it. I think "Necromancer" is really dull though.

But I'm glad Signals was high up, some of their best stuff on that. But I have to say I feel no Rush album is totally classic from start to finish.

there isn't a song on 'hemispheres', 'permanent waves', or 'moving pictures' i don't love. i'm more fond of "natural science" than say "different strings" but still, i wouldn't change a thing. three classic albums as strong as any other band's best three

Hemispheres still does it for me in the same way as it did on my first listen. If I had to choose one, and only one Rush album, then that one would definitely be it.

I might say Hemispheres too.

Don't get me wrong, they are one of my favourite bands and they have more great albums than most great bands do but I always think there is a substantially weaker track (or two or three) on their albums, which makes it difficult for me to know which album to recommend to other people as a starter.
But all I have is all the albums from 1975 to 1984. I've got catching up to do but I doubt anything will top that period.

http://37.media.tumblr.com/614e0c938a770837e8f78d92127eeca3/tumblr_n8yonqm6Di1thoekio1_1280.jpg

they posted this today....a 1974 school assembly performance with original rutsey lineup doing a previous unreleased song called "i've been running"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZYvJ3XmrHF4

good stuff! i love the first album a lot

I never had school assemblies like that.

"This video is private.":(

weird i watched it twice

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJqxiWmH76E

Nice stuff here, too:

http://music.cbc.ca/#!/blogs/2014/11/Neil-Peart-on-the-10-best-Rush-songs-ever

Neil Peart doing publicity? I think i just saw a pig fly out my window.

His list is good on my end. I know it's cool on ILM for people to say that Rush's best stuff is on synth heavy albums like Grace Under Pressure and Power Windows, but I truly dont like that stuff. I dont even like Signals.

Im sure Geddy's list would be completely different.

I think Neil's reasons are really kind of lovely.

His list is good on my end. I know it's cool on ILM for people to say that Rush's best stuff is on synth heavy albums like Grace Under Pressure and Power Windows, but I truly dont like that stuff. I dont even like Signals.

― Prince Kajuku (Bill Magill), Wednesday, November 19, 2014 1:10 PM (3 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

i dunno i feel like all the eras are good and they are true to the band no matter the instrumentation. some are better than others, but like grace i think is just great songs....but at the same time hemispheres, which is their heaviest progged out math rock record is awesome too. i don't feel the need to choose between eras. but like i dunno, i wouldn't say caress of steel is necessarily better than grace under pressure because it's more guitar, any more than i'd say hold your fire is better than 2112.

Its over for me after Moving Pictures. I'm not saying Caress of Steel is Close to the Edge or Exile on Main Street or anything, but i'd rather listen to something that sounds like Bastille Day than something that sounds like Emotion Detector.

R40 Tour.

already eyeing the May 16 show in Austin, should be awesome

For me the choice is Prudential Center (saw 'em there in 2013), MSG (saw 'em there in 2011), or...both?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g7tsXHkLf9w

http://www.metalinjection.net/latest-news/rush-reveals-drummer-neal-peart-has-chronic-tendonitis-next-tour-is-the-last-tour

yeah, that sucks, but I guess not surprising seeing how much he has to push his body night after night.

Seeing them on Saturday, not quite reconciled with the fact that this is probably the last time.

Not surprised, tbh. His movements were incredibly stiff until the mid-90s, when he started studying with Freddie Gruber. And even lately, he sits hunched over, and though he plays with much less rigidity, he still positions many of the components of his kit almost comically out-of-reach. You shouldn't have to almost stand up to hit a cymbal.

an old friend who i was rush dorks w/in junior high hit me up on facebook, has free tickets through his job for tonight, gonna be fun to see them

very weird to think this will be the last time

aw man

i will cherish their show at the great minnesota get together a few years ago

he should get into programming-heavy film score writing now like stewart copeland did

Sad news. May never tour UK again? Really glad I got to see them on the Clockwork Angels tour now.

yeah sounds like the big touring days are done and anything from now on will be special one-offs, or like they mention something like a 5 night stand at madison square garden or things of that nature

amazing show last night, really cool selection of songs and a sweet retrospective concept to go along with them.

they make me laugh now as my co worker listens to all RUSH all the time -and even HE admits Lee's voice sux

amazing show last night, really cool selection of songs and a sweet retrospective concept to go along with them.

― too young for seapunk (Moodles), Sunday, May 17, 2015 2:07 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

yeah was cool the reverse chronological order

without spoiling too much, the way the stage changed during the show was really neat

yeah very clever and the very last set up was very cute and nostalgic

crushed that I can't see them on this tour. closest show is on a day where I have something else at the same time.

guh. maybe I can sneak to the Atlanta one