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Edward Mass
Sep 14, 2011

𝅘𝅥𝅮 I wanna go home with the armadillo
Good country music from Amarillo and Abilene
Friendliest people and the prettiest women you've ever seen
𝅘𝅥𝅮


The Holy Triumvirate. Three men, Ontario born, who have inspired countless musicians with their blend of progressive and hard rock. 19 studio albums, an EP, nine live albums, one American Top 40 hit. This is the thread to discuss Rush.

I imagine these would be FAQs:

What's so good about Rush?
Rush is regarded as having excellent musicianship; Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson are both members of Guitar Player's Hall of Fame while Neil Peart is regarded by Rolling Stone as the greatest drummer who ever lived. They're the rock band other rock bands go see.

Where should I start with Rush?
I would suggest Moving Pictures, but that's what everyone says. Nevertheless, it's their strongest album, and their highest-selling. Actually, get the Sector 2 Box Set, which showcases Rush's transformation from a band that makes musical suites to more radio-friendly singles.

Where should I NOT start with Rush?
Caress of Steel is regarded as their worst album. Hold Your Fire is also a bad place to start. Mission is probably the lamest song in Rush's oeuvre.

What about their 90's/00's stuff?
It's OK, but you should listen to their late 70's/early 80's stuff first.

Why are you making this thread now? There's no new album on the horizon, and they finished touring earlier this month!
Good question. It' because of this:



For Rush fans, this is a day long-awaited. When Vapor Trails first came out, critics and fans criticized the production and mixing as being too 'loud'. A few years back, two tracks were remixed for a Greatest Hits compilation, giving fans the hope that Vapor Trails would be completely remixed. On October 1st, this dream becomes a reality, when Rush's 17th album is given the remaster treatment to fix the over 100(!) instances of clipping on the album. It will also be available in a box set containing Rush's studio material from Presto to Snakes & Arrows (their Atlantic Records years). Having gotten on the Rush train sometime around 2005, I purposely never picked up the album, knowing they'd have to remaster it. My foolishness has paid off!

WATCH THIS VIDEO EVERY JULY FIRST
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XxlEqO_MA04

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trilobite terror
Oct 20, 2007
BUT MY LIVELIHOOD DEPENDS ON THE FORUMS!
Regarding that unmentionable thing in your title, isn't the point kind of moot? I thought Neil Peart publicly disavowed all that stuff years ago.

NuclearPotato
Oct 27, 2011

CaptainYesterday posted:

Mission is probably the lamest song in Rush's oeuvre.

Presto would like to have a word with you about that title. :colbert:

That said, no matter how good or bad the album is overall, there's always going to be at least one or two good songs on there (Caress of Steel, for instance, has Bastille Day, while Hold Your Fire's got Force Ten and Time Stand Still).

Edward Mass
Sep 14, 2011

𝅘𝅥𝅮 I wanna go home with the armadillo
Good country music from Amarillo and Abilene
Friendliest people and the prettiest women you've ever seen
𝅘𝅥𝅮

Electric Bugaloo posted:

Regarding that unmentionable thing in your title, isn't the point kind of moot? I thought Neil Peart publicly disavowed all that stuff years ago.

I'm just covering my bases.

Sydney Bottocks
Oct 15, 2004
Probation
Can't post for 60 days!
I got to see Rush live in London, during the Roll the Bones tour (Primus was the opening act, as well). Still one of my favorite shows of all time, and Rush is still one of my favorite bands. :)

het
Nov 14, 2002

A dark black past
is my most valued
possession

NuclearPotato posted:

Presto would like to have a word with you about that title. :colbert:

That said, no matter how good or bad the album is overall, there's always going to be at least one or two good songs on there (Caress of Steel, for instance, has Bastille Day, while Hold Your Fire's got Force Ten and Time Stand Still).
Also Lock and Key and Turn the Page are decent tracks on Hold Your Fire imho. Caress of Steel gets a bad rap but it's definitely a low point in the 70s output. That said, Bastille Day is arguably their most rocking song.

Also yeah Presto kind of sucks, both the song and album. There's some good tracks, obviously, but it's worse than the surrounding albums (which is saying something given how incredibly embarrassing the Roll the Bones rap is)

Die Sexmonster!
Nov 30, 2005
These guys are so goddamn good. I'm still bitter about the time I got tickets to their Moving Pictures show and my car broke down on the way there. More recently, tickets have been stupidly expensive so I still have yet to see the band live. They're one of the best ever.

Edward Mass
Sep 14, 2011

𝅘𝅥𝅮 I wanna go home with the armadillo
Good country music from Amarillo and Abilene
Friendliest people and the prettiest women you've ever seen
𝅘𝅥𝅮

het posted:

Also Lock and Key and Turn the Page are decent tracks on Hold Your Fire imho. Caress of Steel gets a bad rap but it's definitely a low point in the 70s output. That said, Bastille Day is arguably their most rocking song.

Also yeah Presto kind of sucks, both the song and album. There's some good tracks, obviously, but it's worse than the surrounding albums (which is saying something given how incredibly embarrassing the Roll the Bones rap is)

Turn the Page is my favorite song from Hold Your Fire. It and Prime Mover are really the only songs I really like on that album.

Basically, everything between Signals and Roll the Bones are too synthy for me.

Boner Calhoun
Jun 15, 2005

Silence in the studio!
You all may look at me funny but I really like Power Windows. Yeah the '80s synths are cheesy as hell but I don't mind them, and there's some good songs on that one. Mystic Rhythms is the poo poo!

het
Nov 14, 2002

A dark black past
is my most valued
possession

Boner Calhoun posted:

You all may look at me funny but I really like Power Windows. Yeah the '80s synths are cheesy as hell but I don't mind them, and there's some good songs on that one. Mystic Rhythms is the poo poo!
I like Power Windows but Mystic Rhythms always seemed kind of corny to me lyrically.

stratdax
Sep 14, 2006

People don't like Caress of Steel? Bastille Day is pretty rockin', I Think I'm Going Bald is goofy and has a great cock-rock riff, and The Necromancer's intro instantly transports you to sitting on a bean bag chair, with headphones on, smoking a joint, with lava lamps all around you.

CaptainYesterday I think you should mention the movie Rush - Beyond the Lighted Stage. It's a great look at their entire career and the effect and influence they've had.

Boner Calhoun
Jun 15, 2005

Silence in the studio!

het posted:

I like Power Windows but Mystic Rhythms always seemed kind of corny to me lyrically.

Very true, but I thought that was just kind of expected with Rush. I mean, these are the guys that gave us a ten minute song called "The Necromancer" as well as this this awe-inspiring lyric:
"Net boy, net girl
Send your impulse 'round the world
Put your message in a modem
And throw it in the Cyber Sea"

Come to think of it, can anyone think of any legitimately non-corny Rush songs?

Die Sexmonster!
Nov 30, 2005

Boner Calhoun posted:

Come to think of it, can anyone think of any legitimately non-corny Rush songs?

Not at all. I was going to make this point last night but couldn't word it as well as you did. I like Rush for a lot of reasons, but lyrical content is low on that list. (I do like the premise of 2112, naturally.)

Henchman of Santa
Aug 21, 2010

CaptainYesterday posted:

Where should I NOT start with Rush?
Caress of Steel is regarded as their worst album.
By whom? RateYourMusic has a lower score for Hold Your Fire, Presto, Roll the Bones, Test For Echo and Vapor Trails.

het
Nov 14, 2002

A dark black past
is my most valued
possession

Boner Calhoun posted:

Very true, but I thought that was just kind of expected with Rush. I mean, these are the guys that gave us a ten minute song called "The Necromancer" as well as this this awe-inspiring lyric:
Eh I think Peart's particularly bad when he goes into Eastern mysticism/philosophy.

And yeah, the chorus of Virtuality is really bad. I actually like the sentiment, but at the time it was far more novel, and anchoring himself to contemporary technology was a really bad idea.

Pyroxene Stigma posted:

Not at all. I was going to make this point last night but couldn't word it as well as you did. I like Rush for a lot of reasons, but lyrical content is low on that list. (I do like the premise of 2112, naturally.)
I actually like Peart's wording very much a lot of the time, but he can be a little on-the-nose at times. I think I differ from a lot of fans in that I think 2112 is more than a little dumb, though. Like even setting aside that it's the plot from Anthem, it's pretty lame.

edit: also I would say that Limelight isn't corny. And generally speaking I think his stuff on social distance/isolation is not bad, stuff like Lock and Key, Entre' Nous, The Analog Kid, Middletown Dreams, Subdivisions. Those can fall under the "on-the-nose" criticism though

het fucked around with this message at 06:05 on Sep 1, 2013

Sydney Bottocks
Oct 15, 2004
Probation
Can't post for 60 days!

Boner Calhoun posted:

You all may look at me funny but I really like Power Windows. Yeah the '80s synths are cheesy as hell but I don't mind them, and there's some good songs on that one. Mystic Rhythms is the poo poo!

You'll get no funny looks from me, I really dig 80's synths Rush too. :hfive:

Also, another fond Rush memory: when I was going thru USAF police training in the early 1990s, I bought a "greatest hits of rock"-type compilation tape that had (among other stuff) a Rush song on it. As a result, whenever I hear "New World Man", it never fails to instantly transport me back to my (relatively) carefree SP training days at Lackland AFB, when I was fresh out of basic and the world was still my oyster. :allears:

Edward Mass
Sep 14, 2011

𝅘𝅥𝅮 I wanna go home with the armadillo
Good country music from Amarillo and Abilene
Friendliest people and the prettiest women you've ever seen
𝅘𝅥𝅮

Henchman of Santa posted:

By whom? RateYourMusic has a lower score for Hold Your Fire, Presto, Roll the Bones, Test For Echo and Vapor Trails.

AllMusic gives it two stars, tied with their debut album for worst. Saying their first album is their worst really isn't fair, as they were a very different band then, so I put CoS as the worst.

a dog from hell
Oct 18, 2009

by zen death robot

quote:

Actually, get the Sector 2 Box Set, which showcases Rush's transformation from a band that makes musical suites to more radio-friendly singles.
Pardon my ignorance OP, but what does a musical suite entail?

Edward Mass
Sep 14, 2011

𝅘𝅥𝅮 I wanna go home with the armadillo
Good country music from Amarillo and Abilene
Friendliest people and the prettiest women you've ever seen
𝅘𝅥𝅮

Splurgerwitzl posted:

Pardon my ignorance OP, but what does a musical suite entail?

Songs like the Cygnus X-1 duology, which have multiple sections that are distinct.

SgtScruffy
Dec 27, 2003

Babies.


Rush is the god damned greatest. However, my girlfriend and I have a running joke, because she cannot STAND Rush. I've also found that every woman I've ever met hates Rush as well.


QED, women cannot appreciate good music :colbert:

AARP LARPer
Feb 19, 2005

THE DARK SIDE OF SCIENCE BREEDS A WEAPON OF WAR

Buglord
I'm a big Rush fan since the Moving Picture days and have probably seen them about nine times or so, beginning with their Signals tour when Golden Earring opened for them. I passed on the last tour (Time Machine) because ticket prices were completely ridiculous.

I'm glad that Rush is getting a second wind, because they had some lean years there (Counterparts is a terrible album), but whattayaknow, twenty years after that release, they put out some of their best music with Clockwork Angels.

AARP LARPer fucked around with this message at 22:47 on Sep 3, 2013

Sydney Bottocks
Oct 15, 2004
Probation
Can't post for 60 days!

Do Not Resuscitate posted:

I'm a big Rush fan since the Moving Picture days and have probably seen them about nine times or so, beginning with their Signals tour when Golden Earring opened for them. I passed on the last tour (Time Machine) because ticket prices were completely ridiculous.

I'm glad that Rush is getting a second wind, because they had some lean years there (Counterparts is a terrible album), but whattayaknow, twenty years after that release, they put out some of their best music with Clockwork Angels.

I listened to Clockwork Angels just a little while ago, and I agree, it's definitely up there with their best stuff.

A Winner is Jew
Feb 14, 2008

by exmarx
I can't believe no one has linked there HOF acceptance speech yet.

It's all very emotional and you can clearly tell they are thankful for their fans... but the real magic happens at 4:45.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TKuO1FpCWRI

AARP LARPer
Feb 19, 2005

THE DARK SIDE OF SCIENCE BREEDS A WEAPON OF WAR

Buglord

A Winner is Jew posted:

I can't believe no one has linked there HOF acceptance speech yet.

It's all very emotional and you can clearly tell they are thankful for their fans... but the real magic happens at 4:45.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TKuO1FpCWRI

HAHAHAHA! Wow.

Edward Mass
Sep 14, 2011

𝅘𝅥𝅮 I wanna go home with the armadillo
Good country music from Amarillo and Abilene
Friendliest people and the prettiest women you've ever seen
𝅘𝅥𝅮
If you missed the Clockwork Angels Tour, you can watch/listen to it now in your home!



It comes out November 19th.

Drum solo names:

Here It Is! (after Where's My Thing? Part IV: Gangster of Boats Trilogy)
Drumbastica (after Headlong Flight)
The Percussor/Binary Love Theme/Steambanger's Ball (after Dreamline)

Daenn
Oct 17, 2003

If any day is a good day, today is a good day for disaster.

Do Not Resuscitate posted:

I'm glad that Rush is getting a second wind, because they had some lean years there (Counterparts is a terrible album), but whattayaknow, twenty years after that release, they put out some of their best music with Clockwork Angels.

That's funny, because Counterparts is one of my favorites of theirs. I know it's kind of 90's grunge slop in spots, but I am a sucker for it. That huge drum sound when Animate starts gets me every time.

One thing I don't understand is why everyone seems to place Clockwork Angels way above Snakes and Arrows. As a whole I think it is a better album, but Snakes has some really great music on it and, in my opinion, some of Peart's better lyrics.

pissdude
Jul 15, 2003

(and can't post for 6 years!)

I really enjoyed Snakes & Arrows, and the show they did for the S&A tour in San Antonio years ago was awesome. I like Clockwork Angels but it hasn't really stuck with me as much as other albums. I have a particular distaste for steampunk aesthetic, though, so I'm biased. That being said, it's still a wonderfully crafted album and the songwriting is top form for them.
Also, the 90's stuff was awesome and Counterparts is loving great. So is Roll the Bones - loving Dreamline?? Come on??

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4wJtQzD_lXY

Stryder
Oct 3, 2002
For the curious, Rolling Stone is streaming Vapor Trails Remixed right now: http://www1.rollingstone.com/hearitnow/player/rush1.html

It's like a completely different album, and I think it's pretty freaking great. There's much better balance to the drums, you can make out the harmonies in the backing vocals, and the guitar parts are clear instead of a being a big mushy mess.

Vargatron
Apr 19, 2008

MRAZZLE DAZZLE


Oh come on, Mission is not a bad song! :colbert:

I'd name Farewell to Kings as the best starting point album for Rush, but I'm a 70s prog Rush fan (despite my love for Hold Your Fire).

Edward Mass
Sep 14, 2011

𝅘𝅥𝅮 I wanna go home with the armadillo
Good country music from Amarillo and Abilene
Friendliest people and the prettiest women you've ever seen
𝅘𝅥𝅮

Vargatron posted:

Oh come on, Mission is not a bad song! :colbert:

I'd name Farewell to Kings as the best starting point album for Rush, but I'm a 70s prog Rush fan (despite my love for Hold Your Fire).

"A spirit with a vision is a dream with a mission" is the worst line Peart has ever written, and I stand by this.

AARP LARPer
Feb 19, 2005

THE DARK SIDE OF SCIENCE BREEDS A WEAPON OF WAR

Buglord

Daenn posted:

That's funny, because Counterparts is one of my favorites of theirs. I know it's kind of 90's grunge slop in spots, but I am a sucker for it.

While I appreciate the various musical incarnations of Rush over the years, I found their "grunge phase" to be the least interesting. It's just a personal preference. "Alien Shore" is pretty good, though.

The thing that I didn't care for on Snakes and Arrows was the HEAVY use of... I dunno what the technical term is... but it's, the harmonic doubling of Geddy's voice. I find it really annoying and the producer used it a TON on this album. That's why I prefer the live version of the songs for this one.

I'm excited to get a copy of the remixed Vapor Trails and hear the songs without all that distortion.

het
Nov 14, 2002

A dark black past
is my most valued
possession

CaptainYesterday posted:

"A spirit with a vision is a dream with a mission" is the worst line Peart has ever written, and I stand by this.
Net boy... Net girl...

AARP LARPer
Feb 19, 2005

THE DARK SIDE OF SCIENCE BREEDS A WEAPON OF WAR

Buglord

CaptainYesterday posted:

"A spirit with a vision is a dream with a mission" is the worst line Peart has ever written, and I stand by this.

"If I could wave my magic wand" :colbert:

yeastiality
Dec 20, 2012

Stryder posted:

For the curious, Rolling Stone is streaming Vapor Trails Remixed right now: http://www1.rollingstone.com/hearitnow/player/rush1.html

It's like a completely different album, and I think it's pretty freaking great. There's much better balance to the drums, you can make out the harmonies in the backing vocals, and the guitar parts are clear instead of a being a big mushy mess.

Man, this is awesome! It really brings out the multitracked guitars on Ghost Rider. I heard a little solo/fill thing in Ceiling Unlimited that I haven't noticed before.

I sorta miss the muddiness in a few places...not sure what that says about me but it isn't good.

AlternateAccount
Apr 25, 2005
FYGM
Peart's lyrics are probably at least 30% cringeworthy, but eh, he tries and it usually works. I won't listen to Virtuality though, it causes me physical pain.
Didn't he refer to himself as a "bleeding heart libertarian" once? That's a pretty good roundabout way to say that you're not much into the "rational self-interest" side of things as much.

Anyway, I am super thrilled to be getting a better workover of Vapor Trails though. It does kind of break my heart to hear that Neil can't even bring himself to listen to it.

Stryder
Oct 3, 2002

CaptainYesterday posted:

"A spirit with a vision is a dream with a mission" is the worst line Peart has ever written, and I stand by this.

I'll see your "Mission" and raise you "Dog Years".

As far as the Vapor Trails remix, there's really only one place I miss the "muddiness" so far. There's the guitar solo in Secret Touch, at about 3:55 where Alex is just hammering on these aggressive harmonics. It's pushed back in the mix now, and the bass is much more prominent. There's also this new fuzzy bass distortion in Peaceable Kingdom which I don't really like (yet). Other than, I love everything I've heard.

Stryder fucked around with this message at 14:59 on Sep 28, 2013

het
Nov 14, 2002

A dark black past
is my most valued
possession

AlternateAccount posted:

Peart's lyrics are probably at least 30% cringeworthy, but eh, he tries and it usually works. I won't listen to Virtuality though, it causes me physical pain.
I've always enjoyed his wordplay, even if it's borderline overwrought (or maybe because of that). Honestly, I think Freaks & Geeks really captured Rush fandom the best with this intro:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=taB3U0b9zdA

It's maybe a product of the age (my age, not the general time period) that I became enamored with them, but I always think of them and Peart's lyrics specifically as epitomizing that particular teenage/youthful experience. It's nuanced in a way but it's really more a distillation of those emotions and observations, when everything seemed like an intellectual revelation about the world. I think that's why Permanent Waves will always be my favorite Rush album, it really fits that nerd-figuring-out-the-world mindset so well. Peart's lyrics grew beyond that to an extent but I think they always kind of had that quality to them, at least post-Farewell to Kings.

AlternateAccount
Apr 25, 2005
FYGM
Yeah, as corny as it can get, at least it always feels honest and never really preachy.

Mederlock
Jun 23, 2012

You won't recognize Canada when I'm through with it
Grimey Drawer
Rush is my favourite band, and I got to see them in Edmonton on their Clockwork Angels in November(or December I'm not sure). It was loving fantastic. Their new songs were sooo much better then most of the stuff they've come out with in the last 10 years. If you get a chance to watch the concert video for it when its released, do yourself a favour and do it.

On the topic of favorite songs, I have to say Red Sector A is probably my choice. If I remember correctly, Getty Lee was the one who wrote the lyrics for it (might be wrong here), and the song was inspired by stories from Getty's mother, who was in the nazi concentration camps in Europe. The lyrics are sung with incredible emotion, and the song is just incredible.

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Crube
Feb 16, 2006

“Stop seducing me!”
I find it amusing that the songs that you guys mentioned are some of my favorites. Then again, there really isn't a Rush song that I don't like. I do love the new remix of Vapor Trails, but the original mix has a soft spot for me since it got me through the rough times in high school when it was first released back in '02. To keep this from being a mush of a post, it just kept me going and it was slightly different from what my peers were listening to at the time. (Slipknot, Korn, Linkin Park, and so on.)

What I love about Rush is that they adapt to the sound that dominates the time. It's evident with the synth/new wave/etc. in the 80s and the grunge sound with Counterparts, but imagine if they flirted with nu metal? :psyduck: Not necessarily rapping, but the structure and sound that is common with said subgenre with the Rush sound.

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