I like Clockwork Angels, musically. I think it needs better production, but it's by no means a bad album. I'd like to see Kevin Shirley producing Rush again. He made Counterparts a great-sounding album.
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The Rush Pendulum Has Swung Too Far
- Thread starter Altitude
- Start date
I like CA much more than S&A, however I dont like their current "wall of noise" that is in every song. Sounds like there are 10 guitars strumming away on almost every part. The OP is right, there is no room to breathe on most of the songs. Back on MP, there was guitar but not 50 overdubs. You could hear each instrument clearly. Now its fatiguing to listen to.
He did, and I also think the Jazz bass sounds its best on that album. There's just enough hair on it. What they are doing now is too much of a good thing, to my ears.
I'm one of those strange individuals who likes every song that Rush has ever put out (Yes, even "Rivendell" 
). I certainly like some less than others. I have been listening to them since Fly By Night and there have been albums along the way that I have had to get used to (Signals) and ones that I really had a hard time with due to production style such as, Hold Your Fire and especially Vapor Trails and now Clockwork Angels. Watching the concert DVDs (I've not gotten a chance to see them live since Roll The Bones), I notice that songs from those albums sound great.
I've also noticed that, sadly, Geddy's voice is about played out. This is a real shame because as players they are at the top of their game. I hope he can get some help for that, no one else can sing for Rush.
They have always changed and tried different things and sometimes have gone too far (synths). I think that they are doing it again by going too far with the "10,000 tracks of guitar" approach they have been using since Vapor Trails. But one thing you can depend on with Rush is that they will change it up again.
). I certainly like some less than others. I have been listening to them since Fly By Night and there have been albums along the way that I have had to get used to (Signals) and ones that I really had a hard time with due to production style such as, Hold Your Fire and especially Vapor Trails and now Clockwork Angels. Watching the concert DVDs (I've not gotten a chance to see them live since Roll The Bones), I notice that songs from those albums sound great.I've also noticed that, sadly, Geddy's voice is about played out. This is a real shame because as players they are at the top of their game. I hope he can get some help for that, no one else can sing for Rush.
They have always changed and tried different things and sometimes have gone too far (synths). I think that they are doing it again by going too far with the "10,000 tracks of guitar" approach they have been using since Vapor Trails. But one thing you can depend on with Rush is that they will change it up again.
^ also the "choir of 20 Geddys" vocal overdubs, as someone said in another thread.
I do think Geddy's voice sounds horrible now. He is singing in the back of his throat so much in order to protect it that it sounds very odd. I can't really listen to recent live Rush. They take care of it on the records a little more, or else he just lets it go for the recording sessions.
I remember in the mid-80s there was a story about how he sought some attention for his voice, and he received guidance to change his vocal approach or else do irreparable damage to his vocal chords.
Although I might be making all that up because I can't find anything about it on the internet now. But he definitely did change the way he uses his voice in the 80s - I think it bought him 15 or 20 years, and now the piper has presented the invoice.
I do think Geddy's voice sounds horrible now. He is singing in the back of his throat so much in order to protect it that it sounds very odd. I can't really listen to recent live Rush. They take care of it on the records a little more, or else he just lets it go for the recording sessions.
I remember in the mid-80s there was a story about how he sought some attention for his voice, and he received guidance to change his vocal approach or else do irreparable damage to his vocal chords.
Although I might be making all that up because I can't find anything about it on the internet now. But he definitely did change the way he uses his voice in the 80s - I think it bought him 15 or 20 years, and now the piper has presented the invoice.
Terry Brown was Rush's best ever producer IMHO.
I agree that Rush has been overproduced since around Grace Under Pressure (their first without Brown at the board). I'm not a fan of the 50 guitar overdubs or the choir of Geddy's either. BUT - I still like all their albums
I don't think Rush have put out anything worthwhile SINCE Presto, and that has its share of stinkers as well!
Sadly, I don't think they'll ever recapture the magic of the Hemispheres/Permanent Waves/Moving Pictures era.
to me Exit Stage Left is just an amazing account of where Rush were at the time and what they'd achieved. I still listen to it and enjoy it, a life changing album for me. And by far my favourite. Not to say the non-live versions were not great, but this was my first exposure to Rush so it still holds the most resonance for me.
Hate to say it, but you can count me in as well. I'm not a huge fan of the over-produced wall-of-noise that the band has been doing for a while now. It just sounds dissonant and really grinds me in the wrong way. I could deal with Counterparts, but it went downhill from their. Between that and the constant steampunk imagery (and Geddy's newer vocal approach) I've just been less inclined to listen. Not to say that there aren't some greats on the newest two albums (Headlong Flight, Caravan, and Far Cry come to mind), but it just doesn't scream RUSH to me.
I understand that Geddy can't do the scream that he use to (my favorite era being the first album up to Hemispheres, with an emphasis on 2112 and AFtK, and a tie between Permanent Waves - Moving Pictures and GUP-Power Windows for second), but I miss that progressive inspiration and musical diversity that was in those albums. If they could bring back that musicality and diversity, it would be great. They have the hard rock drive, but they are missing the experimental/technical spark that the old albums had.
I understand that Geddy can't do the scream that he use to (my favorite era being the first album up to Hemispheres, with an emphasis on 2112 and AFtK, and a tie between Permanent Waves - Moving Pictures and GUP-Power Windows for second), but I miss that progressive inspiration and musical diversity that was in those albums. If they could bring back that musicality and diversity, it would be great. They have the hard rock drive, but they are missing the experimental/technical spark that the old albums had.
Couldn't agree more. Here's what I see happening with a lot of bands nowadays and I think it explains what is going on with these bands.
In the early years, these guys spend all their time together. Songs come from constant jamming and playing together. Bands actually would write entire songs all together in one place, just working it out until it was right. These days, band members, like Alex, Geddy and Neil live their own separate lives. Most of the tunes are written by the guys recording ideas they come up with, usually in bits and pieces, that they send back and forth over the internet, where they then piece things together in Pro Tools to make the arrangements for the songs. I can remember years back seeing an interview with Geddy and he talked about this. The fact that they would record sound checks and then at a later date sit down and piece things together in the computer to come up with he songs.
To me this really kills the creative experience. What you loose is that tightness that comes from guys spending night and day together, writing music in their hotel rooms and tour buses. There's a magic that comes from the tight bond these guys share as musicians and there's something special that happens when three guys spend time in one room writing music as one. For me personally, I haven't felt that magic form the Rush for along time and I can trace it all back to the point where the computer became "this amazing new technology to help create music". I for one would love to see them write an entire album together the way they did in the old days. Just because the computer gives you the ability to lay down endless tracks, that doesn't mean that you actually have to use them. I miss albums like Farewell to Kings where there were just a few guitar tracks, maybe a couple bass tracks, some keys and drums and that was it. Listen to how well you can hear every detail of their playing on that album, because they KEPT IT SIMPLE! The sound of Clockwork Angels is just a mess, if you ask me. And for God's sake, someone please tell Alex his tone just sucks these days!
+1 Saw the clockwork tour in Bridgeport, Connecticut-awesome show, do not care for the album.
I'm a true Rush fan, I like all their stuff ! Each album is unique, not repetative or predictable like many other bands. I haven't seen them live since Counterparts, but getting my fix on YT ain't so bad. To me, the best sounding albums are PW and MP. That's what I have in my car; Side A, PW and Side B, MP. Yeah...that's right, on cassette !!! Those albums sound as if they are in the same room (or backseat) as you playing those songs. Guitar, bass and drums, nothing else ! You can almost hear them breathe.
If Forest Gump was a Rush fan he might say, "Rush is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get."
If Forest Gump was a Rush fan he might say, "Rush is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get."
You can only sing/scream like that for so long before you do damage. Same thing with Bon Jovi - who is singing a lot differently these days - and a ton of others.
I agree with OP Clockwork Angels and HYF are my 2 least favorite albums, but i like and listen to both of them.
The Clockwork Angels DVD is UN-WATCHABLE in my opinion. The strings are so corny, rock bands and a string section is so hard to pull off. Metallica & Kiss put this awfulness in a new category tho!
The Clockwork Angels DVD is UN-WATCHABLE in my opinion. The strings are so corny, rock bands and a string section is so hard to pull off. Metallica & Kiss put this awfulness in a new category tho!
I didn't like clockwork angels too much, but caravan and BU2B were actually really good IMO. My personal favourite album of all time though is hemispheres, with permanent waves, presto, farewell to kings, and RUSH next on my favourite Rush-specific albums.
how about a thread "post your favorite lyrics from vapor trails!"?
it'd be a really short thread. Where is the genius who wrote "natural science", the trees, subdivisions, emotion detector, mission, etc. . .
I like clockwork angels for songs like "the wreckers" -- imaginative story to it, more hooky than anything on vapor trails. I bought the remix of vapor trails, listened once straight through. Can't slog my way through VT anymore.
I really liked seeing Clockwork Angels tour live and I liked the way the songs sounded better than on the album.
it'd be a really short thread. Where is the genius who wrote "natural science", the trees, subdivisions, emotion detector, mission, etc. . .
I like clockwork angels for songs like "the wreckers" -- imaginative story to it, more hooky than anything on vapor trails. I bought the remix of vapor trails, listened once straight through. Can't slog my way through VT anymore.
I really liked seeing Clockwork Angels tour live and I liked the way the songs sounded better than on the album.
The low point of all Rush lyrics:
"Net boy, net girl - put your message in a modem and throw it into the cyber sea."
I agree about Clockwork Angels being a bit of a mess. It's just too loud and too dense. I was listening to the Foo Fighters last album and you can definitely tell that Nick R. did the production. It sounds exactly the same way. Every instrument is pushed way up in the mix until they're almost clipping and there's no sonic space. I can see why they like Nick, since he pushed them to try different things and sparked some creativity in them. I would just like to hear CA remastered by someone else. I remember Alex saying that Snakes & Arrows was too dense, that they had too many guitars on there. I like S&A's better than CA's overall. Though I think Headlong Flight and Caravan really rock. You'd think with so many people talking about the "wall of sound" and how they hate it that it would have gotten back to the guys somehow. Or maybe it has and they don't care. Hard to tell. I was thinking on the way home tonight when I was in the car listening to some songs from Counterparts that I bet that some of the issues with the "wall of sound" do have something to do with Geddy's voice. Like someone said above that his declining voice may have led them to fill the space with more instruments to hide the fact that his vocals are going downhill.
RUSH is one of history's greatest iconic bands. Geddy's lost his high note, though. The first 5 or six albums they did imo compare to the Beatles' legacy.
