ibescotty Posted May 13, 2004 Author Share Posted May 13, 2004 Rush is not mainstream and actually that's their thing. It wouldn't be the same if they were. I think that's why they've been around so long. In some respects they are the musician's musicians, if that makes any sense. As for exposure, I think they are just behind KISS in overall record sales. If they keep making albums they are sure to surpass that. I'm kind of glad they never went mainstream. Rush just wouldn't be the same pumping out three chord formula songs. Double Posting since March 2002 Random Post Generator #26797 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super 8 Posted May 13, 2004 Share Posted May 13, 2004 Originally posted by LanceMo: Test For Echo is decent.Yuck! 'Dog Years' has got to be the worst song they have ever written. I think there are maybe two good songs on the whole album. 'Driven' was definitely a keeper. Most of the rest of the songs just made me wonder how much longer till the song was over. Sorry...I know it's a preference thing, and I really am glad you enjoyed it....but I cannot get over how much I thought that album sucked. Presto was the weakest one for me. I could never warm up to Presto either, and that was a bummer because it was like a sister album to Hold Your Fire, which I enjoyed. It marked the beginning of the decline for me. The first Rush album where I started skipping over songs because I didn't really like them. People have mentioned Power Windows. I enjoyed Power Windows, but I have heard that it is actually the album that Rush likes the least. Super 8 Hear my stuff here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super 8 Posted May 13, 2004 Share Posted May 13, 2004 Originally posted by Hendmik: Ok, ok. So no one agrees with me. I'm used to being lonely on Mars?!? But I still stand by my convictions that Rush could've/should've been bigger.Rush is a pretty big and popular band. They pack arenas wherever they go -as long as it isn't here... Funny story about that... There was some fan club in town here that managed to lure Rush into coming here with a petition that had fifty thousand signatures on it...FIFTY THOUSAND. Now the arena holds maybe 13 or 16 thousand people, so you figure that even if half the signee's actually wanted tickets, it would still be a sold-out show. Less than half the seats were filled... It was like having Rush play for 'Rec night' at your highschool! Great concert. I mean, you could pretty much walk right up to the stage and heckle Alex for a guitar pick, but I seriously doubt Rush will ever play here again. Anyway, They had videos out, but really, Rush isn't a 'video kind of band'. There music never translates into vids very well. They get a lot of word-of-mouth promotion. I don't think there is a better kind of promotion than that. Oh, and Alex gets into trouble with the police too. You just know that sells a lot of albums! Super 8 Hear my stuff here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andre Lower Posted May 14, 2004 Share Posted May 14, 2004 Some comments on other people comments: If you ask around, most people (be they die-hard fans as me or the average occasional listener) will tell you that no Rush song sounds very good the first time you hear it. Simply put, it is way too elaborate for that. By the same token, when you happen to like one of their tunes (and I do not like all of them - like most people by the way )after listening to it for three or four times, chances are you will never get tired of it... Therefore, even tough sometimes you might end up wasting some of your listening time with things as Presto (that one is the nadir for me - minus The Pass, which is really good), every Rush song deserves more than a quick, hasty one-shot listening. Now regarding Super 8's comment on Rush being not a video kind of band, they sure ain't trendy or aesthetic, but the musicianship alone should be more than enough to compensate for their usually poorly conceived video ventures. Let's hope the next video productions explore the playing angles better, perhaps cuts of live performances interspersed with the standard face shots and occasional backstage comedy... "I'm ready to sing to the world. If you back me up". (Lennon to his bandmates, in an inspired definition of what it's all about). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timrocker Posted May 14, 2004 Share Posted May 14, 2004 Forgive me for going all nuts and bolts on you, but does anybody else think that "Big Money" is the way it is because the guitar has a capo on the first fret? I seem to remember that's what made that song work. That and a pretty unusual kind of Gallien-Kruegerish amp sound. Or am I trippin? Anyway, back to the bigger Rush picture, I think that what really still amazes me about them is that each instrument and each player seems to contribute exactly one third of the idea of the song, without an audible "seam" in the construction. Songstruction. I just made that word up. You like it? To me, that's different from almost all other songs, in that you can usually tell it was written on guitar or piano and the other instruments added via the studio to flesh it out. Not so with Rush. Somehow, they all three seem to share the idea and the "concept" of the song. To me it sounds as if the entire thing occurred to all three of them simultaneously. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Vector Posted May 15, 2004 Share Posted May 15, 2004 I still tend to favor the albums from Moving Pictures through Hold Your Fire, though there have been some bright moments since (in hindsight, it's amazing that Counterparts was as good of an album as it was given what came immediately before and after it). I consider Vapor Trails a vast improvement over Test for Echo, despite the overcompression and seemingly reactionary exclusion of keyboards or orchestral instruments from which some of the songs might have benefitted. For the first time since the Hold Your Fire tour, though, I don't plan to attend this year. Try as I might, I can't get myself excited over a tour that isn't preceded by a new studio album. I'll be ready and waiting to check back in with them when they release the next one. www.davidvector.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chip Curtis Posted May 15, 2004 Share Posted May 15, 2004 However you may feel about the band, they are important to me for several reasons. They taught me to play two completely different parts independently with each hand. It was easy to think of my left hand as Geddy and Alex the right. One of my fav's is the bass and guitar parts on "The Trees," right before the guitar solo. Rush has been and is one of the greatest influences on my playing style. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deanmass Posted May 16, 2004 Share Posted May 16, 2004 I have been holding my fire on this one thus far ( guffaw!)... I love Rush...as a source of influence early and mid way, they are the cornerstone band that inspired me to play harder than I thought I could. But, like many of you, I simple starting losing interest after Hold Your Fire. They have their flashes now, and I still think they hold a tremendous amount of relevance, but they have been surprassed by the new gen prog rockers. I think it is possible to enjoy Rush and revere them without glomm-ing onto the new tour. I am happy for them, especially considering Neils' losses and Alexs' shitty year thus far and wish them a packed tour. I prefer toi stay home, play my bass, play with my kids and pop in the S. America tour DVD once in a bit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super 8 Posted May 16, 2004 Share Posted May 16, 2004 Originally posted by deanmass: they have been surprassed by the new gen prog rockers. Really? Which prog bands are you refering to? Most of the prog bands I've heard have not impressed me at all. I remember liking Spocks Beard. I have a disk of theirs that I should probably dig out and listen to again. I know a lot of people like Dream Threater, but to me, it's just Metallica in 7/8....and what's the point in that? Most of the "progressive" bands I hear don't sound progressive at all. Rush was progressive. King Crimson was progressive. Yes was progressive. The prog bands I hear sound 'emulative'. I'll probably get flamed now .... Super 8 Hear my stuff here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ibescotty Posted May 16, 2004 Author Share Posted May 16, 2004 Here here super 8!! I agree. Double Posting since March 2002 Random Post Generator #26797 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deanmass Posted May 16, 2004 Share Posted May 16, 2004 I am not saybing there is an EQUAL to Rush, but how can there be, historically? I am thinking Dream Theater, Primus and other music in that vein. The level of complexity has risen. It does not mean I like it better, but Rush does tend to revolve around the same key signatures and times. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikegrijak Posted May 16, 2004 Share Posted May 16, 2004 Originally posted by Hartmann: Some comments on other people comments: If you ask around, most people (be they die-hard fans as me or the average occasional listener) will tell you that no Rush song sounds very good the first time you hear it. Simply put, it is way too elaborate for that. By the same token, when you happen to like one of their tunes (and I do not like all of them - like most people by the way )after listening to it for three or four times, chances are you will never get tired of it... Therefore, even tough sometimes you might end up wasting some of your listening time with things as Presto (that one is the nadir for me - minus The Pass, which is really good), every Rush song deserves more than a quick, hasty one-shot listening. Now regarding Super 8's comment on Rush being not a video kind of band, they sure ain't trendy or aesthetic, but the musicianship alone should be more than enough to compensate for their usually poorly conceived video ventures. Let's hope the next video productions explore the playing angles better, perhaps cuts of live performances interspersed with the standard face shots and occasional backstage comedy...Hartmann, you surely do not mean Presto the song do you? That is a WONDERFULL TUNE! Both Presto and Roll the Bones as complete albums work for me big time! Very well conceived! This way, no, wait, that way! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
knunchucksammy Posted May 17, 2004 Share Posted May 17, 2004 No offense to the fans, but I can't get past his voice. To me it sounds like what you hear outside of an elementary school girl's bathroom during recess. Don't hate me for being honest Back Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super 8 Posted May 17, 2004 Share Posted May 17, 2004 Originally posted by knunchucksammy: No offense to the fans, but I can't get past his voice. It's a unique voice, I'll agree. I don't notice his voice....it just sounds like RUSH to me. If you ever find a way to 'get past his voice', you'll find some really great music waiting for you. It's worth the extra effort, in my opinion. Super 8 Hear my stuff here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lee Flier Posted May 17, 2004 Share Posted May 17, 2004 Originally posted by Super 8: If you ever find a way to 'get past his voice', you'll find some really great music waiting for you. It's worth the extra effort, in my opinion.But then I still have to "get past" Neil's drumming, and his lyrics, and Alex's guitar playing, and... well nevermind. OK I'll stay out of this thread now. Love you guys! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super 8 Posted May 17, 2004 Share Posted May 17, 2004 Careful Lee, or we'll start picking on the Stones... Super 8 Hear my stuff here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
knunchucksammy Posted May 18, 2004 Share Posted May 18, 2004 I have been told that Super 8, I will consider giving it an honest try. Once I get a block in my head on something I have a hard time getting past it, but I will do my best. Thanks for the reply... Matt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D. Gauss Posted May 18, 2004 Share Posted May 18, 2004 aside from the silly, pretentious peart lyrics, neil's grooveless, yet technically correct drumming, and geddy's nails on chalkboard voice (which i admit to having gotten used to over 25 years of classic rock radio)..... i'd say rush were lots of fun on that 'bob and doug' song, "take off you hosers"..... as an aside, i still laugh out loud every time i hear geddy yelp/screeech, "salesmen!" in that song on the radio. if it is on in the car i turn it way up at that point... i will choose free willy! -d. gauss Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super 8 Posted May 18, 2004 Share Posted May 18, 2004 Originally posted by d gauss: aside from the silly, pretentious peart lyrics, neil's grooveless, yet technically correct drumming, Would you like to site some of those "pretentious lyrics" for us? I'd be very interested to see which one's you are referring to. There is nothing 'grooveless' about Neil's drumming. In fact, Tom Sawyer is about as 'in the pocket' as you can get. Neil doesn't shuffle. That's not the same as saying Neil doesn't groove. Neil grooves. Super 8 Hear my stuff here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Vector Posted May 18, 2004 Share Posted May 18, 2004 I think the negative opinions many have of Rush are based on a handful of songs from their peak period of mainstream visibility that continue to get airplay on classic rock radio stations, which means that 90% of what they're hearing is from 1981 or earlier. Criticisms about screeching vocals and such would seem to bear that out, given how much more Lee started singing in his lower registers and toned down his approach subsequently. I can only assume anyone who would suggest the band can't groove has never heard "Alien Shore" from Counterparts or much of anything from Test for Echo, on which Peart made it his mission to adopt a looser and more fluid approach to drumming, influenced by his studies with Freddie Gruber. It's a shame that many casual listeners probably hear "The Spirit of Radio" or "Closer to the Heart" on the radio even now and decide the band isn't their cup of java without ever looking into the vast catalog of very different material they've released since. Can you imagine having people forming an opinion of you as a musician based on what you were doing twenty-five years ago? Several times I've played something like "Force Ten" or "Available Light" for a friend and they've gone, "wow, that's the same band that did 'Tom Sawyer?' That's really different." www.davidvector.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D. Gauss Posted May 18, 2004 Share Posted May 18, 2004 ok, i'll bite. maybe not pretentious in the strictest sense of the word,(see the ayn rand stuff for that), but downright silly comes to mind..... (oh, and i happen to own this on vinyl) "at the tobes of hades The tobes of hades Lit by flickering torchlight The netherworld is gathered in the glare Prince by-tor takes the cavern To the north light The sign of eth is rising in the air By-tor, knight of darkness, Centurion of evil Devils prince Ii. across the styx Across the river styx Out of the lamplight His nemesis is waiting at the gate The snow dog, ermine glowing In the damp night Coal-black eyes shimmering with hate By-tor and the snow dog Square for battle Let the fray begin of the battle The battles over And the dust is clearing Disciples of the snow dog sound the knell Rejoicing echoes As the dawn is nearing By-tor in defeat Retreats to hell Snow dog is victorious The land of the overworld Is saved again" you'd agree they ain't exactly cole porter or john lennon? -d. gauss Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super 8 Posted May 18, 2004 Share Posted May 18, 2004 The BEST you can come up with is 'By-tor and the Snowdog'???? Geeezzzz....that's really scraping the barrel, D Gauss. That was from 'Fly By Night', their first album together. What were they, maybe twenty years old at the time??? Try again... Super 8 Hear my stuff here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KHAN Posted May 18, 2004 Share Posted May 18, 2004 Yes. The lyrics to By-Tor are silly. But that was 30 years ago. In my teens and early 20's, Rush was my main musical influence. For that I'm glad. I feel that learning to play a lot of prog rock stuff like Rush, Yes, Genesis etc made me a much stonger musician than if I would have been into stuff like the Stones or other musical underachievers. Flame suit on. So Many Drummers. So Little Time... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gulliver Posted May 18, 2004 Share Posted May 18, 2004 Originally posted by Super 8: Originally posted by deanmass: they have been surprassed by the new gen prog rockers. Really? Which prog bands are you refering to? Most of the prog bands I've heard have not impressed me at all. I remember liking Spocks Beard. I have a disk of theirs that I should probably dig out and listen to again. Most certainly you should!! Their music deserves several close listens before one could form his/her opinion. BTW, what album of theirs you have? My favorites are Beware of Darkness, The Kindness of Strangers and V, though all their studio recordings are great. Also check out the latest one, Feel Euphoria. It's without their "main" man Neal Morse, and thus sounds completely different (more mainstream, if you will). I know a lot of people like Dream Threater, but to me, it's just Metallica in 7/8....and what's the point in that? The point of it is to make your metal a bit more complex, a bit more intricate. You know, some music fans love that! Most of the "progressive" bands I hear don't sound progressive at all. Rush was progressive. King Crimson was progressive. Yes was progressive. The prog bands I hear sound 'emulative'. I'll probably get flamed now .... Of course you'll get! Speak frankly please... Did you try to give a spin to the latest CD by Crimson, The Power To Believe? If you would still think they sound emulative - go and buy yourself some sweets. I would never agree that Spock's Beard (let's take it as an example) sounds "emulative", never. (Ever paid attention to their guitar sounds for instance? Do they sound like classic Howe'ism or... Hackett'ism? I don't think so!) Of course they are prog band! That means that if they drop some certain level of musical complexity off their songs, they'd loose their fan-base!... So, incorporating odd-time signatures, complex song structures, advanced chord progressions in one's music IS emulative and staying in realms of primitive pop-rock (the same chords over and over again, "unbeatable" 4/4, "together forever" lyrics) is NOT emulative?? Man, let's put it that way: there are emulative (read: second rate) prog bands and there are emulative pop (or rock, or indie, or... whatever) bands out there. My point is - don't generalize and you'll be almost right! I am back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D. Gauss Posted May 19, 2004 Share Posted May 19, 2004 Originally posted by Super 8: The BEST you can come up with is 'By-tor and the Snowdog'???? Geeezzzz....that's really scraping the barrel, D Gauss. That was from 'Fly By Night', their first album together. What were they, maybe twenty years old at the time??? Try again...ok, how 'bout the cliche-fest lyrics to 'Tai Shan'? -d. gauss Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanS Posted May 19, 2004 Share Posted May 19, 2004 Originally posted by timrocker: Forgive me for going all nuts and bolts on you, but does anybody else think that "Big Money" is the way it is because the guitar has a capo on the first fret? I seem to remember that's what made that song work. That and a pretty unusual kind of Gallien-Kruegerish amp sound. Or am I trippin? Anyway, back to the bigger Rush picture, I think that what really still amazes me about them is that each instrument and each player seems to contribute exactly one third of the idea of the song, without an audible "seam" in the construction. Songstruction. I just made that word up. You like it? To me, that's different from almost all other songs, in that you can usually tell it was written on guitar or piano and the other instruments added via the studio to flesh it out. Not so with Rush. Somehow, they all three seem to share the idea and the "concept" of the song. To me it sounds as if the entire thing occurred to all three of them simultaneously. What we record in life, echoes in eternity. MOXF8, Electro 6D, XK1c, Motif XSr, PEKPER, Voyager, Univox MiniKorg. https://www.abandoned-film.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeep Posted May 19, 2004 Share Posted May 19, 2004 Check out their website for up-to-the-minute info, including their 4thcoming album : http://www.rush.com/php/set_flash.php?flash=1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whitefang Posted May 19, 2004 Share Posted May 19, 2004 I have to semi-agree with d gauss about Pert's drumming. I don't think it's totally "grooveless", but it's somewhat pretentious. Sort of like Carl Palmer. Some of us thought Palmer was outstanding, but it was really that his "pyrotechnics" fit the music ELP was doing. I defy! I defy! Anyone to say there was anything impressive about Palmer's drumwork in that God awful "Asia" group(or however the fuck it was spelled)! Back to Rush...back before they were really well known, I(and a few friends)thought that they and a group called "Pavlov's Dog" were one and the same. Just by the vocals. I only have the Rush "Chronicals" on CD. And while I can honestly say that it's hard for me to get into a LOT of Rush's tunes, the ones I DO like more than make up for it. Whitefang I started out with NOTHING...and I still have most of it left! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YourMotherShouldKnow Posted May 19, 2004 Share Posted May 19, 2004 Originally posted by d gauss: ok, i'll bite. maybe not pretentious in the strictest sense of the word,(see the ayn rand stuff for that), but downright silly comes to mind..... (oh, and i happen to own this on vinyl) -d. gaussd gauss, What Ayn Rand books have you read? I'm curious as to what you find pretentious about her via Neil Peart. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KHAN Posted May 19, 2004 Share Posted May 19, 2004 N E W S F L A S H Rush, who's career spans 30 years and 17 studio albums, apparently have some songs with less than stellar lyrics. Remember, you heard it here first. hehe . PS : Red Barchetta kicks ass! So Many Drummers. So Little Time... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.