Calling all synth haters

[Red3angel]

I found myself really enjoying Hyf today even though I like the previous two albums more. Those three albums,GUP PW AND HYF to me are very well made and have great lyrics. That’s the best part of fire is strong lyrics. Gup remains my favorite of all Rush. Those three need more spin time with the old school fans . Also I think PW has geddys best playing as well as the richest sound of the 20

[JohnnyBlaze]

I found myself really enjoying Hyf today even though I like the previous two albums more. Those three albums,GUP PW AND HYF to me are very well made and have great lyrics. That’s the best part of fire is strong lyrics. Gup remains my favorite of all Rush. Those three need more spin time with the old school fans . Also I think PW has geddys best playing as well as the richest sound of the 20

 

Describe “richest sound”

[JohnRogers]

I found myself really enjoying Hyf today even though I like the previous two albums more. Those three albums,GUP PW AND HYF to me are very well made and have great lyrics. That’s the best part of fire is strong lyrics. Gup remains my favorite of all Rush. Those three need more spin time with the old school fans . Also I think PW has geddys best playing as well as the richest sound of the 20

This is a man of excellent taste.

 

Pizza: New York style or Chicago?

[goose]

I found myself really enjoying Hyf today even though I like the previous two albums more. Those three albums,GUP PW AND HYF to me are very well made and have great lyrics. That’s the best part of fire is strong lyrics. Gup remains my favorite of all Rush. Those three need more spin time with the old school fans . Also I think PW has geddys best playing as well as the richest sound of the 20

 

Describe “richest sound”

Strings, choir...?

[laughedatbytime]

Really love p/g.

 

Really started to lose interest with PoW and HYF.

 

And then came the tin album...

[jamie]

GUP rocks. personally i dont like HYF because i think it's not their best musically. i still love synths, sorry Alex.

[JohnnyBlaze]

I found myself really enjoying Hyf today even though I like the previous two albums more. Those three albums,GUP PW AND HYF to me are very well made and have great lyrics. That’s the best part of fire is strong lyrics. Gup remains my favorite of all Rush. Those three need more spin time with the old school fans . Also I think PW has geddys best playing as well as the richest sound of the 20

This is a man of excellent taste.

 

Pizza: New York style or Chicago?

 

You and your trick questions!

 

Don’t answer that Red!

 

It’s a holographic trap!

[jnoble]

I've said many times that HYF would've been such a better album if only they left off Second Nature, Tai Shan and High Water.

The rest of the songs on that album are really good, 80's synths reverbed drums and all.

[thizzellewashington]

Power Windows is the best of three, and very possibly my favorite Rush album overall. I'd argue no Rush album has better choruses.

[JohnnyBlaze]

I've said many times that HYF would've been such a better album if only they left off Second Nature, Tai Shan and High Water.

The rest of the songs on that album are really good, 80's synths reverbed drums and all.

 

Second Nature and Tai Shan are my least liked off HYF but I still don’t dislike them. High Water I actually like.

 

And yeah, there’s plenty of quality with the rest of the songs

[Babycat]

Really love p/g.

 

Really started to lose interest with PoW and HYF.

 

And then came the tin album...

...tin..?

[laughedatbytime]

I found myself really enjoying Hyf today even though I like the previous two albums more. Those three albums,GUP PW AND HYF to me are very well made and have great lyrics. That’s the best part of fire is strong lyrics. Gup remains my favorite of all Rush. Those three need more spin time with the old school fans . Also I think PW has geddys best playing as well as the richest sound of the 20

This is a man of excellent taste.

 

Pizza: New York style or Chicago?

The synth era snoozers are probably played at boring cocktail parties where they serve cheese and crackers, and their pizzalike equivalents. No one wants to be there, but the music is largely inoffensive, if rarely interesting.

 

The prog and PeW and MP classic eras are for those who settle for nothing less than excellence. Chicago style is the pizza equivalent.

[Mosher]

Three very good albums.

 

All have weaker tracks (especially HYF), but all have tracks that always make my Rush playlists. Prime Mover is one of my favorite songs, Grace is full of great songs, and PW has my favorite lyrics on the whole.

 

And there's nothing wrong with synth, but I agree with Alex that he shouldn't have been second to the synth.

[JohnnyBlaze]

I found myself really enjoying Hyf today even though I like the previous two albums more. Those three albums,GUP PW AND HYF to me are very well made and have great lyrics. That’s the best part of fire is strong lyrics. Gup remains my favorite of all Rush. Those three need more spin time with the old school fans . Also I think PW has geddys best playing as well as the richest sound of the 20

This is a man of excellent taste.

 

Pizza: New York style or Chicago?

The synth era snoozers are probably played at boring cocktail parties where they serve cheese and crackers, and their pizzalike equivalents. No one wants to be there, but the music is largely inoffensive, if rarely interesting.

 

The prog and PeW and MP classic eras are for those who settle for nothing less than excellence. Chicago style is the pizza equivalent.

 

PeW and MP are roast pig platters with the succulent meat dripping with juices and surrounded by crunchy, tantalizing pork skin.

 

PoW and HYF are baskets of crispy fish & chips. Lighter and overall, less mouth-watering but worthy of being devoured nonetheless.

 

9 times out of 10 I’ll go with the roast pork but on other occasions I’ll gobble up Power Windows.

[HemiBeers]

I found myself really enjoying Hyf today even though I like the previous two albums more. Those three albums,GUP PW AND HYF to me are very well made and have great lyrics. That’s the best part of fire is strong lyrics. Gup remains my favorite of all Rush. Those three need more spin time with the old school fans . Also I think PW has geddys best playing as well as the richest sound of the 20

This is a man of excellent taste.

 

Pizza: New York style or Chicago?

The synth era snoozers are probably played at boring cocktail parties where they serve cheese and crackers, and their pizzalike equivalents. No one wants to be there, but the music is largely inoffensive, if rarely interesting.

 

The prog and PeW and MP classic eras are for those who settle for nothing less than excellence. Chicago style is the pizza equivalent.

I often refer to HyF as boring mall music. Something that could be played at The Gap without demanding any concentrated listening.

 

For some bands it might be considered excellent. For Rush, it's so below their musical standards.

 

For the few times I listened to it, I anticipated hearing something interesting that inspired me to grab my guitar and figure out how to play it. Then the album ended. Nothing. Completely void.

[Amps211]

i was a casual old school rush fan (ged singing really high and guitar oriented stuff) up to about 4 years ago when my son got me to listen to more of the synth era songs ... and now when i choose a rush record to listen to, it's four out of five times the synth stuff ... maybe it's because I'm getting older i don't know ... but I guess that's the genius that is rush .. they have made music that ages well .. I just love um ... listening to Power Windows now Edited March 28, 2018 by Amps211

[Wil1972]

I've said many times that HYF would've been such a better album if only they left off Second Nature, Tai Shan and High Water.

The rest of the songs on that album are really good, 80's synths reverbed drums and all.

 

Agree, except I like Second Nature. Axe Lock & Key instead.

[Rick N. Backer]

GUP was the first album I bought by them on the day of release and was disappointed. Over time I grew to enjoy it. It would have been a fine experimental album, like Their Satanic Majesties Request. PoW strained our relationship and HYF ended it for a long time. Now, when I go through a Rush binge I listen to them, and I can enjoy them. But the band that recorded those albums isn't the band I fell in love with, the one that recorded PeW.

 

Tomato soup poured into a bread bowl with cheese on top of it isn't pizza.

[goose]

High Water I actually like.

 

Me, too.

[tangy]

Its funny but understandable i suppose that the power windows and hyf fans want to include grace and signals into the synth years. I have never considered grace or signals to be synth. They are different in many ways imo.

 

But that was only my opinion rendered from first hand experience including seeing all those tours. Truth is the only tours i saw them twice was for power windows and hyf.

 

My opinion now seems to be supported by the band. From rush.com

 

 

POWER WINDOWS

 

OCTOBER 1985 . 11TH STUDIO RECORDING

 

ABOUT POWER WINDOWS

 

Power Windows is the band’s 11th studio album, released in 1985. It was the first time the band worked with producer Peter Collins.  The album was recorded at The Manor in England, AIR Studios in Montserrat and at Sarm East Studios in London.

 

Power Windows launched an era in which the band expanded into new sonic directions, and featured synths heavily."

 

Then read their description of gup and signals....

 

Case closed bzitch!

 

[Wil1972]

Its funny but understandable i suppose that the power windows and hyf fans want to include grace and signals into the synth years. I have never considered grace or signals to be synth. They are different in many ways imo.

 

But that was only my opinion rendered from first hand experience including seeing all those tours. Truth is the only tours i saw them twice was for power windows and hyf.

 

My opinion now seems to be supported by the band. From rush.com

 

 

POWER WINDOWS

 

OCTOBER 1985 . 11TH STUDIO RECORDING

 

ABOUT POWER WINDOWS

 

Power Windows is the band’s 11th studio album, released in 1985. It was the first time the band worked with producer Peter Collins. The album was recorded at The Manor in England, AIR Studios in Montserrat and at Sarm East Studios in London.

 

Power Windows launched an era in which the band expanded into new sonic directions, and featured synths heavily."

 

Then read their description of gup and signals....

 

Case closed bzitch!

 

This is also the same band that forgot they played Jacob's Ladder live and included it on a live album. But I see your point. Signals, however, is extremely synth heavy. Ask Alex how he felt about that. GuP has more balance, true, and PoW definitely takes it into heavier synth territory. But I still think the synth years began with Signals. GuP was more Al's overreaction to that album and wanting more guitar in the mix. I think had Ged really gotten his way, GuP would probably have been Signals Part II sound-wise. To some degree, it furthers those synth experiments - Red Sector A is a lot of synth and no bass.

[tangy]

Its funny but understandable i suppose that the power windows and hyf fans want to include grace and signals into the synth years. I have never considered grace or signals to be synth. They are different in many ways imo.

 

But that was only my opinion rendered from first hand experience including seeing all those tours. Truth is the only tours i saw them twice was for power windows and hyf.

 

My opinion now seems to be supported by the band. From rush.com

 

 

POWER WINDOWS

 

OCTOBER 1985 . 11TH STUDIO RECORDING

 

ABOUT POWER WINDOWS

 

Power Windows is the band’s 11th studio album, released in 1985. It was the first time the band worked with producer Peter Collins. The album was recorded at The Manor in England, AIR Studios in Montserrat and at Sarm East Studios in London.

 

Power Windows launched an era in which the band expanded into new sonic directions, and featured synths heavily."

 

Then read their description of gup and signals....

 

Case closed bzitch!

 

This is also the same band that forgot they played Jacob's Ladder live and included it on a live album. But I see your point. Signals, however, is extremely synth heavy. Ask Alex how he felt about that. GuP has more balance, true, and PoW definitely takes it into heavier synth territory. But I still think the synth years began with Signals. GuP was more Al's overreaction to that album and wanting more guitar in the mix. I think had Ged really gotten his way, GuP would probably have been Signals Part II sound-wise. To some degree, it furthers those synth experiments - Red Sector A is a lot of synth and no bass.

 

Gup

 

Largely considered one of the band’s darkest albums, Grace Under Pressure was influenced by the growing tensions in the Cold War in the 1980s. The album’s running theme is “pressure” and how humans act under the influence of it. Despite the dark themes of the record, the band balances out influences from a lot of directions, including reggae and a harder feel of the classic hard rock sound.

 

Signals

 

Stylistically, the album was a continuation of Rush’s foray into the technology-oriented 1980s through increased use of electronic instrumentation such as keyboards, sequencers, and electric violin. 

 

 

Thats how they describe them.

 

 

[Wil1972]

Its funny but understandable i suppose that the power windows and hyf fans want to include grace and signals into the synth years. I have never considered grace or signals to be synth. They are different in many ways imo.

 

But that was only my opinion rendered from first hand experience including seeing all those tours. Truth is the only tours i saw them twice was for power windows and hyf.

 

My opinion now seems to be supported by the band. From rush.com

 

 

POWER WINDOWS

 

OCTOBER 1985 . 11TH STUDIO RECORDING

 

ABOUT POWER WINDOWS

 

Power Windows is the band’s 11th studio album, released in 1985. It was the first time the band worked with producer Peter Collins. The album was recorded at The Manor in England, AIR Studios in Montserrat and at Sarm East Studios in London.

 

Power Windows launched an era in which the band expanded into new sonic directions, and featured synths heavily."

 

Then read their description of gup and signals....

 

Case closed bzitch!

 

This is also the same band that forgot they played Jacob's Ladder live and included it on a live album. But I see your point. Signals, however, is extremely synth heavy. Ask Alex how he felt about that. GuP has more balance, true, and PoW definitely takes it into heavier synth territory. But I still think the synth years began with Signals. GuP was more Al's overreaction to that album and wanting more guitar in the mix. I think had Ged really gotten his way, GuP would probably have been Signals Part II sound-wise. To some degree, it furthers those synth experiments - Red Sector A is a lot of synth and no bass.

 

Gup

 

Largely considered one of the band’s darkest albums, Grace Under Pressure was influenced by the growing tensions in the Cold War in the 1980s. The album’s running theme is “pressure” and how humans act under the influence of it. Despite the dark themes of the record, the band balances out influences from a lot of directions, including reggae and a harder feel of the classic hard rock sound.

 

Signals

 

Stylistically, the album was a continuation of Rush’s foray into the technology-oriented 1980s through increased use of electronic instrumentation such as keyboards, sequencers, and electric violin.

 

 

Thats how they describe them.

 

They note the balance Al wanted in the guitar/synth mix on GuP. Still doesn't mean it is not a synth album. Just means Al wanted more guitar. The guitars are far from hard, except in relation to how they sounded on Signals.

 

That description of Signals pretty much sounds like a synth album to me! :D

Edited March 28, 2018 by Wil1972

[Wil1972]

Its funny but understandable i suppose that the power windows and hyf fans want to include grace and signals into the synth years. I have never considered grace or signals to be synth. They are different in many ways imo.

 

But that was only my opinion rendered from first hand experience including seeing all those tours. Truth is the only tours i saw them twice was for power windows and hyf.

 

My opinion now seems to be supported by the band. From rush.com

 

 

POWER WINDOWS

 

OCTOBER 1985 . 11TH STUDIO RECORDING

 

ABOUT POWER WINDOWS

 

Power Windows is the band’s 11th studio album, released in 1985. It was the first time the band worked with producer Peter Collins. The album was recorded at The Manor in England, AIR Studios in Montserrat and at Sarm East Studios in London.

 

Power Windows launched an era in which the band expanded into new sonic directions, and featured synths heavily."

 

Then read their description of gup and signals....

 

Case closed bzitch!

 

This is also the same band that forgot they played Jacob's Ladder live and included it on a live album. But I see your point. Signals, however, is extremely synth heavy. Ask Alex how he felt about that. GuP has more balance, true, and PoW definitely takes it into heavier synth territory. But I still think the synth years began with Signals. GuP was more Al's overreaction to that album and wanting more guitar in the mix. I think had Ged really gotten his way, GuP would probably have been Signals Part II sound-wise. To some degree, it furthers those synth experiments - Red Sector A is a lot of synth and no bass.

 

Gup

 

Largely considered one of the band’s darkest albums, Grace Under Pressure was influenced by the growing tensions in the Cold War in the 1980s. The album’s running theme is “pressure” and how humans act under the influence of it. Despite the dark themes of the record, the band balances out influences from a lot of directions, including reggae and a harder feel of the classic hard rock sound.

 

Signals

 

Stylistically, the album was a continuation of Rush’s foray into the technology-oriented 1980s through increased use of electronic instrumentation such as keyboards, sequencers, and electric violin.

 

 

Thats how they describe them.

 

They note the balance Al wanted in the guitar/synth mix on GuP. Still doesn't mean it is not a synth album. Just means Al wanted more guitar. The guitars are far from hard, except in relation to how they sounded on Signals.

 

That description of Signals pretty much sounds like a synth album to me! :D

 

From Prog Magazine, Feb 2014:

.. The problem with Signals, from Lifeson's viewpoint at least, lay not with the songs but in an irregular production. "In a couple of key places there was too much emphasis placed on the keyboards," he explains. "The mix of Subdivisions has always been a disappointment for me. I recall leaning over to push up the faders [to increase the guitar levels in the mix] and Terry would smile and push them back down again."

Lifeson tolerated this situation for a while, 'taking one for the team' in today's parlance - though Lee later related how the normally placid Lifeson returned to the studio with fresh perspective following a few days away, storming into the control room with the statement: "There's not enough guitar on this record for Chrissakes!"

"The language was probably more colourful than that," guffaws Lifeson at the memory. "But look, a band operates on consensus. Everybody else felt we were going in the right direction. To my way of thinking there was an imbalance, but I have no regrets. ..."

[bluefox4000]

HYF is my fav Rush album so no argument from this corner.

 

Mick