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Geddy Lee since "Counterparts"

#62
Eyesee7 said:
After the AOR of "Presto" and "Roll the Bones", Rush returned to a harder-rocking sound with "Counterparts." However, Geddy introduced a "flamenco" style of playing which he continued through subsequent albums "Test for Echo", "Vapor Trails" and "Snakes and Arrows."

I don't like most of his bass playing on these albums. It sounds like a constant flurry of notes. I'm not even sure what he's playing half the time since he now has a muddy tone which blends with Alex's guitar on lower-register riffs. And the crappy production doesn't help either.

While I like some of the overall songs on these albums, I'm not hearing many bass parts that make me go "wow!", like the old days. Geddy used to construct some killer lines that were like an additional melody playing beneath the vocal melody, a la Paul McCartney. "Closer to the Heart" is a great example. The bass is very distinct in the mix, and there is space between the notes. Now much of what he does today sounds like a machine-gun barrage of sludge.


Your thoughts?
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I totaly agree
 
#66
Eyesee7 said:
After the AOR of "Presto" and "Roll the Bones", Rush returned to a harder-rocking sound with "Counterparts." However, Geddy introduced a "flamenco" style of playing which he continued through subsequent albums "Test for Echo", "Vapor Trails" and "Snakes and Arrows."

I don't like most of his bass playing on these albums. It sounds like a constant flurry of notes. I'm not even sure what he's playing half the time since he now has a muddy tone which blends with Alex's guitar on lower-register riffs. And the crappy production doesn't help either.

While I like some of the overall songs on these albums, I'm not hearing many bass parts that make me go "wow!", like the old days. Geddy used to construct some killer lines that were like an additional melody playing beneath the vocal melody, a la Paul McCartney. "Closer to the Heart" is a great example. The bass is very distinct in the mix, and there is space between the notes. Now much of what he does today sounds like a machine-gun barrage of sludge.


Your thoughts?
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So very true. I love this band but I do NOT understand the die-hards who insist that they were anything more than a poor facsimile of what they once were. The sound of every tour I saw since my first—Moving Pictures—was spectacular. It got messy on Presto and Counterparts it was unlistenable. But every since Counterparts (which did feature some still great bass), the playing became less and less remarkable to the ear.
 
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#69
Eyesee7 said:
I'm not even sure what he's playing half the time since he now has a muddy tone which blends with Alex's guitar on lower-register riffs. And the crappy production doesn't help either.
Click to expand...
+1. Counterparts was exactly the turning point, too - his bass tone is excellent on that record but unusable on everything later.

There are two remixes of "One Little Victory" from Vapor Trails. One appears on the remix of Vapor Trails itself and therefore became the definitive.

The other one was on Retrospective 3, and whomever did it performed surgery on Geddy's tone. Much more midrange and more in the center of the mix - it jumps right out, and as long as Geddy had decided to go back to Fenders forever by that point I think that is the rock J-bass tone he should have been using.

Here 'tis:

 
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#70
IMO it's more about the mixing than the actual bass. Geddy remains my all time #1 bass hero with some very close 2nds. I always wonder why he doesn't play the Wal all the time. If I had a Wal it would be my #1 for eternity.
 
#71
Eyesee7 said:
After the AOR of "Presto" and "Roll the Bones", Rush returned to a harder-rocking sound with "Counterparts." However, Geddy introduced a "flamenco" style of playing which he continued through subsequent albums "Test for Echo", "Vapor Trails" and "Snakes and Arrows."

I don't like most of his bass playing on these albums. It sounds like a constant flurry of notes. I'm not even sure what he's playing half the time since he now has a muddy tone which blends with Alex's guitar on lower-register riffs. And the crappy production doesn't help either.

While I like some of the overall songs on these albums, I'm not hearing many bass parts that make me go "wow!", like the old days. Geddy used to construct some killer lines that were like an additional melody playing beneath the vocal melody, a la Paul McCartney. "Closer to the Heart" is a great example. The bass is very distinct in the mix, and there is space between the notes. Now much of what he does today sounds like a machine-gun barrage of sludge.


Your thoughts?
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It's probaby one of, if not their cheeziest album, but I love his playing and tone on Power Windows.

Signals is my all time favorite album of theirs.
 
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#72
IPA said:
It's probaby one of, if not their cheeziest album, but I love his playing and tone on Power Windows.

Signals is my all time favorite album of theirs.
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Signals has held up very well, IMO. At the time it seemed lime a radical departure in song and production direction; but now it seems to have one foot in each of the "old" and "new" Rush eras. In a good way.

Also, it might have been the last album where they did not massively layer synth and bass parts concurrently on songs. Whatever Geddy recorded he was able to recreate live, without using extra tracks.
 
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