80s/Early 90s Rush

[Matt Till]

When my dad passed, I acquired quite a few CDs. Two of which Rush's Power Windows and Roll the Bones... with the exception of a few moments... this is some of THE worst music I've ever heard in my entire life. I love early Rush, I everything I've heard was moving pictures and earlier... then I heard these two albums.

Honestly, there is a lot of music I've heard that I'd call horrible... this is near the top of the list. How was this music popular, did Rush make this music on a dare? Hey Rush, I dare you to make the most complicated wretchedly awful music you can make.

Sorry to be ranty, but it nearly made me ill.

[msquared]

What monkeylover009 said.

[Lowtonejoe]

Originally Posted by Matt Till

When my dad passed, I acquired quite a few CDs. Two of which Rush's Power Windows and Roll the Bones... with the exception of a few moments... this is some of THE worst music I've ever heard in my entire life. I love early Rush, I everything I've heard was moving pictures and earlier... then I heard these two albums.

Honestly, there is a lot of music I've heard that I'd call horrible... this is near the top of the list. How was this music popular, did Rush make this music on a dare? Hey Rush, I dare you to make the most complicated wretchedly awful music you can make.

Sorry to be ranty, but it nearly made me ill.

Dang Matt.

The old Rush and new Rush are definitely worlds apart but to say that new Rush is awful seems pretty harsh to me.

My #1 favorite tune on Power Windows is Manhattan Project. Put on a great set of headphones or an awesome set of speakers and let the tune carry you on it's journey.

If it's not your cup of tea, fine. That's why there are so many kinds of music but new Rush is awesome.

And I started listening to Rush a very long time ago as a kid (around 1980). It seems I remember having a difficult time adjusting to their musical growth (when Power Windows came out). As I grew musically, their stuff began to make more sense. Kind of like James Taylor. I despised him in high school but now I see him as a world class singer/songwriter/musician.

Give it some time.



Joe.

[Matt Till]

Originally Posted by msquared

What monkeylover009 said.

I say just go for it!


I'm sorry, like I said, I like a lot of Rush. And I actually listened to Power Windows all the way through, then halfway through again, and I can't figure out why I think it's so bad. In the past, I've liked Keyboard stuff, in fact, I did like the first track... wasn't it "Big Money" or something like that... but I only liked it enough not to hate it... the rest...

I can't figure it out though...

In my limited experience with James Taylor though... I do like him.

... *my limited experience with him is his brief appearance on the Simpsons... but I dug the tune he was doing*

[Snarf]

Interesting

My favorite Rush album ever is Presto, followed by Power Windows. I LOVE their 80's music that had lots of synth and chorus and the like. That's just my kind of music.

[embellisher]

Roll the Bones is kind of meh to me. But Power Windows has some great songs on it.

[page]

GAWD !!! Roll the Bones is TERRIBLE!!!!! The title track ......................ewwww , what the hell is the damn rap thing in the middle.........is that Neil Peart trying to rap???

[Alvaro Martín Gómez A.]

I'm a BIG Rush fan from the first album up to "Exit... Stage Left" adding "The Analog Kid" from "Signals" (ESL follow-up album) which is an excellent song to me, and the first Rush tune I heard in my life. I don't care about their latter stuff, although Geddy's tone is great in albums like "Power Windows". He played a Wal at that time, right?

When "Counterparts" was released, there was a big hype because "Rush returned to their early guitar-dominated sound". I gave it a listen and didn't impress me. The only track I really liked and still sounds great to me is "Leave That Thing Alone". Have heard the subsequent albums and can't mention anything half as great as "Limelight", for instance. Rush is an awesome band and you can confirm that by watching the "Rush In Rio" DVD, but I watch their post-ESL material because of their great performance and show, not because of the tunes by themselves.

Something I regret nowadays: The first time I heard Rush in my life was in '85 because I was given an album called "Hardrock 84" which was a compilation album (the back cover had pictures of the bands included and Rush's was a picture of Alex and Geddy in concert with Geddy playing a Steinberger). "The Analog Kid" was there along with Thin Lizzy's "Cold Sweat", Black Sabbath's "Trashed", Dio's "Don't Talk To strangers"... The thing is, I already was a big rock/pop fan from way back, but I only knew of radio hits and Rush was never played on the radio, as far as I can recall. Buying LPs was my biggest interest and I was very popular in my town's record stores (My copy of AC/DC's "Back In Black" was the first ever sold in my town). I think it was like 1980 when looking for new music in one of those places I saw this album which I remember perfectly because the band pictured in the cover looked very interesting to me. But I never heard of them, so I kept looking more LPs. As you may know, that album isn't part of the official Rush discography. I'd have a collector's item now .

[Snarf]

Oh yeah, forgot about Counterparts. Definitely their most underrated album. I think that album was about as heavy as they ever got, both in songwriting and in musical style. And boy could they get HEAVY. But, the greatest thing about it is, they always kept it well under control. My god, I forgot how much I love that album.

I'm just a big Rush/80's music in general fanboy.

[msquared]

Counterparts is one of my ten favorite albums ever.

I can't get too abusive Matt, because RTB was the first Rush I ever got and I still never listen to it. It's alright, and I really like the lyrics, but they have done a lot better than that. It's almost like they came up with "Dreamline", figured it was good enough, and then spent the rest of the sessions reading physics textbooks and smoking up. That rap thing is just goofy.

Power Windows has some fantastic stuff on it though. I honestly don't get why anyone wouldn't like it. To me it's one of the classic Rush albums, although I prefer the Show of Hands versions slightly.

I love Presto. It was the first album I ever got into of theirs. I'd written them off entirely after buying RTB and then a friend of mine had "War Paint" on a mixtape she'd made. I used to take Presto everywhere.. to work, in the car, parties, you name it.

[Matt Till]

Originally Posted by Alvaro Martín Gómez A.

I'm a BIG Rush fan from the first album up to "Exit... Stage Left" adding "The Analog Kid" from "Signals" (ESL follow-up album) which is an excellent song to me, and the first Rush tune I heard in my life. I don't care about their latter stuff, although Geddy's tone is great in albums like "Power Windows". He played a Wal at that time, right?

I'd just like to back up the fact that his tone was phenomenal on Power Windows... I think the best he's ever had.

[Red Wonder]

Ged does has such a sweet articulate tone throughout Power Windows.

Honestly Matt give the middle years of Rush a chance. Have you checked out Grace Under Pressure, Presto, Signals or Hold Your Fire? Those albums, IMO, are better than PoW.

Not that PoW is all that bad. I love Alex's finesse and accurate playing on that album. 'Mystic Rhythms' is one of their finest tunes. 'Big Money' showcases Geddy's insane level of ability to sing and play at the same time (that is a tight song!) 'Marathon' is another impressive display.

Also 'Roll the Bones' has its moments too. Over time, that will be one of their most recognizable albums (the RTB tour was a HUGE success and a lot of people saw Rush for the first time on that tour). Again, there's some flat-out remarkable playing by all 3 on that album. Geddy's first true attempt at multiple simultaneous vocal arrangements was a success and he fine tuned his craft on Vapor Trails (to say the least).

[baba]

Originally Posted by Matt Till

Honestly, there is a lot of music I've heard that I'd call horrible... this is near the top of the list. How was this music popular, did Rush make this music on a dare? Hey Rush, I dare you to make the most complicated wretchedly awful music you can make.

Sorry to be ranty, but it nearly made me ill.

I agree with you Matt. Starting with Signals (some of which I liked) they started to synth out and things got way too cheezy. Too bad. I remember racing into my mom's room late at night to get her to listen to this new song i'd been hearing on the radio called Tom Sawyer. From there I listened to the back catalogue but never warmed up to the stuff that followed. I used to spin Moving Pictures, Permanent Waves, and Farewell to Kings on vinyl CONSTANTLY in the early 80s.

[Snarf]

Originally Posted by Red Wonder

Ged does has such a sweet articulate tone throughout Power Windows.

Honestly Matt give the middle years of Rush a chance. Have you checked out Grace Under Pressure, Presto, Signals or Hold Your Fire? Those albums, IMO, are better than PoW.

Not that PoW is all that bad. I love Alex's finesse and accurate playing on that album. 'Mystic Rhythms' is one of their finest tunes. 'Big Money' showcases Geddy's insane level of ability to sing and play at the same time (that is a tight song!) 'Marathon' is another impressive display.

Also 'Roll the Bones' has its moments too. Over time, that will be one of their most recognizable albums (the RTB tour was a HUGE success and a lot of people saw Rush for the first time on that tour). Again, there's some flat-out remarkable playing by all 3 on that album. Geddy's first true attempt at multiple simultaneous vocal arrangements was a success and he fine tuned his craft on Vapor Trails (to say the least).

I have to add Middletown Dreams to the list of Rush's all-time greatest songs.

[whamonkey]

Long time Rush fan chiming in.....to each his own I say. I prefer the earlier stuff (Signals and before) but it's not a fair comparison because the band evolved. They've been together for a long time so the albums are a reflection of them as musicians and friends. The latest (Vapor Trails...not that cover album) was mixed horribly but musically and lyrically it was awesome. I appreciate the fact that they aren't content to sit on past successes and they try new things, etc. Sure, there are the critics....always have been. Rush never got much credit from the press. Rush in Rio is terrific and they cover a wide spectrum of their work...check it out.

[msquared]

That Vapor Trails mix/master job is pathetic. I'm still angry that I paid money for that album, despite it musically being one of my favorite things they've ever done.

You see, record industry? Crap like that is why we have file sharing.

[scourge]

I picked up Power Windows when it came out and it didn't really impress me much at the time. It wasn't until I watched them play some of it live on the Show of Hands vid, that it really hit me. Manhattan Project rocks.
I kind of lost track of Rush after that, until I got Counterparts. I like that one.

[Snarf]

Originally Posted by msquared

That Vapor Trails mix/master job is pathetic. I'm still angry that I paid money for that album, despite it musically being one of my favorite things they've ever done.

You see, record industry? Crap like that is why we have file sharing.

I'm waiting for the remaster. That album definitely needs it.

[whamonkey]

It's interesting, the mix aside, what Geddy is doing tonally on that album. Lots of overdriven fuzziness. I know he was using the Sansamp rackmount but I'm not sure if I like it altogether. His technique is flawless as usual, and he is expanding on the chord tones this time out....it may just be the mastering that turns me off a bit. All in all though, there are few performers who are as interesting and entertaining to watch live than Geddy and company. It's unreal how many tasks Geddy takes on at once. Alex and Neil are amazing as well, it's surprising how much energy they put into the shows. Some of the best concerts I've been to have been Rush shows. (Although Pink Floyd probably takes the title for "Best Show"...I saw them sans Roger Waters in Giants stadium about 10 years ago)

[Matt Till]

Another note... Power Windows made me respect Alex a lot more. His playing on that album did spark my interest more than a few times. He has such a great sense of rhythm and he uses some very unique chords.