Rush: Classic or Dud?

xp
much as I like his playing on both Yes and KC records, IMO Bruford seems a bit of priss about some things. He's got a snobbiness that, say, Neal Peart absolutely doesn't.

but I've been trying to have beef with him for some time now so

I think Fripp and his approach are so disciplined that you have to sort of align with his vision to fit in at all, and once you do that (and assuming you have the chops) the rest is relatively "easy," albeit still rigorous. Whereas with Yes, yeah, the challenge is everyone fitting their little bits of the puzzle in, which is how you end up with frantic songs and complicated side-long epics. To Yes's credit (and I'm at best a casual fan) their tracks and epics all sort of cohere despite that, as opposed to a band like, say, Metallica, who is very much A -part, B-part, C-part etc.

Since this is a Rush thread I should say that I've always been amazed at Rush's ability to go compact and concise. All their parts just make sense, and that they can fit so many ideas in 5-minute, hook-filled songs is pretty incredible. But then, I only think of them as a nominal prog band with only a couple of albums that fit the part, imo.

I am 46 and time stands still is making my eyes tear up rn, what can ya do.

So glad I got to see these guys one time but I wish I'd made it to more than that.

xxx-post:

Oh yeah, I have no doubt that Bruford is a little bit of a snob about certain things... I get the feeling that Bruford would find playing in a basic rock band where all the songs are in 4/4 beneath him, whereas Peart would have no problem with the idea.

Early 70s interviews with Bruford are incredibly posh.

Wakeman's speech is hilarious (apart from the bit about his wife). Still puncturing his bandmate's pomposity to the end. And yeah, Geddy was awesome.

Reminds me of the Amadeus film, "I'm a vulgar man but my music is not".

if geddy stepped in as the permanent Yes bassist I'd have no issues with that. I hate Billy Sherwood

Anderson et all released a press release today stating that going forward ARW are known as "Yes featuring Jon Anderson, Trevor kRabin,and Rick Wakeman". We'll see how long before Yes freak out and sue them, although apparently that's how they were being booked and promoted in europe already.

Wish that Sam Dunn documentary had a bigger variety of fans like Stephen Malkmus and Nicky Wire.

He's a metal dude, and doesn't have much knowledge of much outside that scene. But yes, some output from outside metal/hard rock would have been cool to see.

I do like his stuff generally but I wonder if he sometimes pretends to know less than he does. Like in the power metal episode he sounded like he knew absolutely nothing about the genre and that doesn't seem possible.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mT1gmKUoqbY

\m/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GBVya4G8uNQ

I don't know where to see the whole thing, but there are bits of clips and stuff:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AVoEcHudb8w

Wish that Sam Dunn documentary had a bigger variety of fans like Stephen Malkmus and Nicky Wire.

― Robert Adam Gilmour, Saturday, May 6, 2017 8:11 PM (five months ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Ha, yes! Manic Street Preachers got the title of their album Lifeblood from one of the last lyrics on '2112' ("my lifeblood spills over") and the title track of Journal For Plague Lovers is blatantly influenced by 'The Spirit of Radio' ...

Amazing. "Three new species of microbe found in the guts of termites have been named after members of the Canadian prog-rock band Rush, owing to the microbes’ long hair and rhythmic wriggling under the microscope." (h/t @annielogue) https://t.co/dHxzbRQNqy

— Annie Zaleski (@anniezaleski) November 27, 2017

man I've been pretty into rush this past week out of the blue. really a shame I never managed to see them live.

They were good but you didn't miss much, imo. They were famous - and justly so - for replicating the studio versions pretty much perfectly.

You didn't really get much in the way of per se surprises but you did feel the general enthusiasm live for sure -- perfect balance between technical flash and heartland arena rock vibes leavened with a bit of humor as it went. Good working formula!

Actually, the best experience of seeing Rush live was being in a big place surrounded by other dorks really into Rush. That and watching people try to air drum/bass/guitar at the same time.

I'm listening to Counterparts for the first time, at least the reissue on Spotify. I always avoided it because I hated "Nobody's Hero". I still skipped that song, but, otherwise, I'm surprised by how much I actually really like this. Mostly not that different mainstream rock of the early 90s (which I have a nostalgic spot for) but the playing elevates it, pushes the songs ahead, and the sound is clear and muscular. Lifeson esp sounds great. Solos on "Alien Shore" (esp) and "Cold Fire" are great and "Leave That Thing Alone" is up there with the back catalogue.

I think that was a record they did after hearing a lot of the bands they'd inspired, like Primus. I remember hearing the lead single "Stick It Out" and thinking, wow they're finally coming back! iirc album as a whole not *tons* better than the ones preceding it, but it was a kind of "welcome to the 90s" for them.

Counterparts is one of my favorite Rush albums. Thought it was a big step up from Hold Your Fire, Presto, and Roll The Bones.

It was consciously their "return to guitar" record, iirc.

I did a buddy of mine's taxes one year and his payment was taking me to see Rush on the Counterparts tour! They were so good that tour.

I ride hard for Hold Your Fire

also Presto was kinda a return to guitar relatively speaking imo

I ride w/u for HYF

"Force Ten"'s been coming to mind the last few days.

Force Ten's great, but there are a lot of weak tracks after.

Time Stand Still is literally next! But yeah, there are couple lesser tracks before Prime Mover, Mission and Turn the Page. Still love the record, but a step down from Power Windows and a big step up to Presto, the latter of which I would argue is the apex of their songwriting, conventionally speaking.

but a step down from Power Windows and a big step up to Presto, the latter of which I would argue is the apex of their songwriting, conventionally speaking.

― Josh in Chicago, Thursday, January 4, 2018 9:51 PM (yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

the way this is phrased lost me a little in terms of which album is better than which

Power WIndows>Presto>>>Hold Your Fire.

HYF would be a killer 40-minute album. Subtle changes already when looking at the shift towards CD, even from 1985.

(I bet that for many fans at the time, HYF was the Rush album they first bought on CD)

I think A Show of Hands was the first Rush album I bought when it came out, which perhaps explains my affinity for Hold Your Fire.

Presto might be more consistent but the highs on Hold Your Fire are WAY higher and way more memorable than most Presto songs therefore I would take HYF over Presto

I agree. I like HYF slightly more than Presto because the good songs are really good, but there are plenty of not-so-good songs. There are more consistently decent songs on Presto (still plenty of clunkers), but none of them really thrill me. Roll The Bones has about 4 solid tracks and the rest are pretty much garbage. Also, I don't love the production on HYF, but I actively hate the sound of Presto and RTB.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B52bvzudAvQ

I think reaction videos are weird, and that is not the first of these I've seen for YYZ, but awesome to see the enthusiasm, and even better to watch the awestruck reactions coming right when you'd expect them too. And now I am thinking of Michael Jackson, too.

"i feel cool as hell listening to this"

Thanks a lot for sending me down the youtube rabbit hole. This dude covering "Emotion Detector" (maybe my favorite deep cut) is awesome, not least because he focuses on the Moog foot pedals. Not that the foot part is hard or anything, but it's nice to see what someone's, well, feet might be up to during this, and imagine how hard it would be for Geddy to sing, play bass, play synths and do this somewhat syncopated pedal bass part as well, all at the same time:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yPcSC2BHTuU

Needless to say, one of a relatively small handful of songs Rush never played live.

Haha, just found the long list of songs they never played live:

I feel like I post this a lot in this sub, but here's the list of every song that they've never played live.
*Take A Friend
*Before And After
*Making Memories
*Rivendell
*The Fountain Of Lamneth
*Lessons
*Tears
*Madrigal
*Different Strings
*Emotion Detector
*Open Secrets
*Second Nature
*Tai Shan
*High Water
*Chain Lighting
*Anagram
*Red Tide
*Hand Over Fist
*Available Light
*Face Up
*The Big Wheel
*Heresy
*Neurotica
*You Bet Your Life
*Cut To The Chase
*Alien Shore
*Speed Of Love
*Everyday Glory
*The Color Of Right
*Totem
*Dog Years
*Carve Away The Stone
*Peaceable Kingdom
*The Stars Look Down
*How It Is
*Vapor Trail
*Sweet Miracle
*Nocturne
*Freeze
*Out Of The Cradle
*Bravest Face
*Good News First
*We Hold On

And now I am thinking of Michael Jackson, too.

I'd never made that connection before, but yeah, Rush were apparently big fans of Off The Wall.

That "YYZ" video is great. They really nail it when they point out that it doesn't sound like anything else. A large part of Moving Pictures' appeal is that it feels almost completely sui generis. Tracks like "YYZ", and "Tom Sawyer" even more, just feel like they have no antecedent, no previous songs that you can point to as an influence.

Well, I think you can find antecedents. What makes it so ingenious is that in a certain way it's sort of a prog pastiche, but they hide it super well, and a musical sense of humor, rare as that is in the first place, goes a long way. Also, brevity is the soul of wit.

That's a real shame they've never played "The Fountain Of Lamneth" or "Madrigal".

Weirdest was when they didn't play "Losing It" on the tour that had a string section! They did it once or twice on the last tour, I guess.

https://www.ultimate-guitar.com/news/general_music_news/rush_is_over_we_have_no_plans_to_tour_or_record_anymore_were_basically_done.html

Bon voyage!

forget burn out or fade away, the best way to go is just to stop, ideally on top.

surprised they didn't chain lightning on the presto tour, that's one of the best songs on the album imo