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The Rush Pendulum Has Swung Too Far

#81
i love RUSH! may i just say this: I am happy to still have them around to go see!
I saw CA tour twice.... I loved it! I like the CD.... but, I like the album live better!

it's still a great RUSH album! i miss some of the 80's RUSH "Magic" though!!
 
#82
I bought CA, and saw them on that tour. First time I saw them was 1977, and had not seen them live since around 1980. Anyway, glad to see them, but I don't like the newer material much. Give me Xanadu any day. The coolest thing about seeing them on the CA tour, was that I had my son with me. He was the same age as me, when I saw them in '77. How cool is that?
 
#84
I am also 42, and I used to be a big Rushhead. I was also glad when Presto departed from the course of previous albums with its more back-to-basics rockin' sound. But to be honest...it paled in comparison to Moving Pictures, Permanent Waves, and all the classics. The last album I bought was Roll the Bones, and it really seemed with that one that they were just going through the motions. And I have not bought any Rush since, and heard very little Rush since. I don't believe I've heard anything from Clockwork Angels, and I'm not all that interested in hearing it. IMO, they could have quit recording 20-30 years ago and become strictly a touring band.
 
#86
It must be tough to be in an older band that had so many fans years ago, and so many of them want you to stop trying anything new. Most of us have the benefit of not being famous, so we can literally do anything we want with music and no one will hate on us because no one cares anyway.

I hear the 70s prog fans, feel their pain, but one of the things I love about Rush is that they don't sit on their laurels and try to relive the glory days over and over again. Literally every album is different and new. I bacame a Rush fan 30 years ago (it hurts to admit that), and even then their "old" fans were trashing them for using too many synths and "selling out".

Now they are all 60 or 61 years old and still rocking, still a coherent unit, still writing fresh stuff that's outside the mainstream.

Too bad about Geddy's voice. I saw them on like the second night of the CA tour and he sounded great, but the clips I've seen from the DVD were not so good. It will be interesting to see how they deal with that going forward. Maybe focus more on instrumentals? Best wishes to them.
 
#88
There is no right or wrong. Different Rush fans have different favorite albums! I thought Clockwork Angels was their best album since Signals. I was a big fan of Snakes and Arrows, but when I listened to it again after a few months of Clockwork Angels, I was stunned at how much more of a cohesive, front-to-back album statement Clockwork Angels is. IMO, YMMV, etc. I love the way they've referenced sounds and riffs from past eras on the last two albums, while still sounding fresh.
Like a lot of people, my favorite era of Rush on record is A Farewell to Kings through Moving Pictures. I love Signals to death, but it's definitely a different sound.
 
#89
Demon_Hunter said:
You think Clockwork Angels is too far?!?!?!

If so, what did you say when they were rapping on Roll the bones and Presto???
http://youtu.be/8tNLvNOu9Mw?t=3m20s
http://youtu.be/1if66GHVnUA
Click to expand...
I didn't like that either. Let's face it, the guys are geeks and now and then, it shows. ;)

Let me be clear - I didn't start this thread to bemoan Rush as a band and claim that they "aren't as good as they used to be." Like you guys say, I'm thrilled they are still making music. I like the part of "Headlong Flight" that sounds like By-Tor as much as anyone does.

There are two things about Rush's current musical direction that I don't like, though, and this is different than saying I don't want them to try anything new:

  • I miss the synthesizers a little. Before they took them too far in the late 80s, I thought they were a good dimension to Rush's music.
  • The production has gotten crazy. Too many guitar layers, too many vocal layers, too many effects on the bass - it just sounds murky.

^
This is mainly the CA album. I went back recently and listened to the Caravan single. It sounds a lot better than it does on Clockwork Angels. Somewhere along the way they turned up the suck knob on that mix.

Geddy's voice is gone. That's the other thing. He's singing in the top of his throat because it won't work any other way for any length of time. This is less prevalent on the albums, but it's gotten so bad live that I doubt I will go again.
 
#90
I'm 55 years old and have been a Rush fan since 1976 and have seen every tour starting with Hemispheres. Geddy is one of the reasons I play bass, which puts me in a huge cadre of low-enders lol

I love these guys to death, but I have tried and tried to love their latest works and I can't. I like them, but they don't have the same impact or feeling as the first albums.

My personal indicator to show that I like a Rush song is if I play "air bass" or "air drums" along with it. I only do that with a couple songs from CA and their post Counterparts albums. I loved the CA concert but I think I have only listened to the CD maybe 6 times.

I love that they haven't rested on past success and sound but nothing gets me going like CoS, 2112, AFTK and Hemispheres. The only way I can describe their later works is too mechanical, and too similar in sound and production.

I am in no way saying they have lost their creativity or anything. I would like to see them go back to Terry Brown on their next album to see if he could get some of the old Mojo back. :hiding:
 
#91
I got into Rush sort of backwards from a lot of people. The first I ever saw or heard of them was "A Show of Hands" from 1987...recorded on the "Hold Your Fire" tour.

I simply loved that sound. The black Wal sound on that recording was simply sublime---and, 20 years later, I finally obtained a replica!

After that initial exposure, I went back and got into all the seventies prog stuff---and now that is my favorite (and I'm in a Rush cover band that does only Rush through Moving Pictures).

I never liked Geddy switching back to the Jazz bass from the Wals---seems like he should be playing something much more top-of-the-line like Wal (IMO).

All that being said, the chronologically last album of theirs I got was Counterparts---and I hated it. To the original post topic: I got the Clockwork DVD for Christmas as a gift, and the whole thing seems a little overblown.

All that being said, I'll take the worst Rush (Roll the Bones) over the best of almost anyone else!
 
#92
I agree about Clockwork Angels. Absolutely the WORST album in Rush history.
There ARE glimpses of what 'could have been', but too much compression has ruined it. Even without the low production values, the songs are very generic and forgettable.
The problem is the producer, Nick R.... S&A was OK, mainly 'cos Rush were still 'in charge'. CA sounds like a poor version of what the producer thinks Rush should sound like...
Don't get me started on 'The Garden'... Without doubt one of the worst songs I have ever heard by ANY band... Shocking!!!!!
Advice to Ged and the boys... Get rid of Nick. He's a good producer, but take back the steering wheel and get back to the Rush vibe we all know and love.....
 
#96
I didn't like Snakes & Arrows very much at all. there were 2 good songs on that record as far as I am concerned, and I like CA way more.

Saw the CA tour twice, and loved it.

CA has way more good songs than S&A, probably 8 or 9 great songs.

And yes, the Garden does kinda suck, but it's still way better than Bravest Face or Which Way the Wind Blows.
 
#98
WJGreer said:
Actually I think Moving Pictures is everybody's favorite Rush album, and not for nothing. The songs are great and it has that perfect Rush balance of edgy hard rock and techno-cerebral-whatever. If that's a thing.

I especially like side 2, and the synth doesn't bother me at all. It's a great example of what I still wish I heard in their music.
Click to expand...

No sir, my favourite Rush album is Hemispheres. Moving Pictures is the last album I fully enjoyed, but I can still hear parts in Moving Pictures where they started their decline from their peak, IMO.

Actually though, I do think Clockweork Angels is their best attempt at capturing their original sound since then though. I'm not 100% sold on it either. I want to like it, but it's not the same... I think Geddy's different singing (lower register due to age, and trying to "sing" better - I liked him most when he seemed to screech over the tracks) and one-finger flicking technique has a bit to do with it. He's also not using his Ric anymore, and the recordings are super-compressed. Alex also seems to play a slightly lesser role... All again in my opinion of course.
 
#99
mellowinman said:
For me, Caress of Steel, All the World's a Stage, A Farewell to Kings and Moving Pictures all stand out as the most amazing albums ever done by any band.

From the debut, right up until Signals, Rush was possibly my favorite band, but to me, Signals was a step in the wrong direction, and the Grace Under Pressure tour was the last time I saw them live.

Don't get me wrong; I still love those guys, but Clockwork Angels sits in its CD Case most of the time, and I don't even own Power Windows, Roll the Bones, Vapor Trails, etc.

For me, Geddy got bland as a vocalist when he stopped screaming his head off.

I thought Screaming Geddy was the most unique and interesting vocalist in the history of rock.
Click to expand...

I just want to point out that just because I'm not into their later music, that doesn't mean it's BAD. It's jut not MY style. There are millions of great bands I simply don't enjoy much.

When we talk about the Rush of the early albums, and think about them never being able to go back there, it's not like anybody else could go there, either!

I remember hearing Triumph, and thinking, "wow! There's a Rush-like band I enjoy!" but Triumph doesn't have the depth and songwriting talent of Rush. As good as they were, they were below Rush.

I've heard quite a few Rush-inspired bands, and Rush tribute bands, and I have to say, that original Geddy voice was the most unique sound in the history of rock and roll.

I still really do respect and love these guys, and every now and then, try and listen to their later stuff, just because it's them.

It's not anything about the new stuff not being great; it's about the old stuff being some of the greatest music ever recorded by ANY band ANYWHERE.

Just put on "No One at the Bridge," "Xanadu," or the All the World's a Stage versions of "2112" and "By-Tor."

Holy CRAP!!!!

Even go back to the debut album, and listen to that version of "Working Man," or "Here Again."

Who does music like that?
 
#100
I once again nominate mellowinman for president...even thouh I do like a lot of the newer stuff I agree that early Geddy voice and overall amazing music embodied the youth and energy that was rock and roll to me growing up. No One at the Bridge isone of rock's best-hidden secrets.
 

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