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Permanent Waves VS Moving Pictures


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78 members have voted

  1. 1. Permanent Waves VS Moving Pictures



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I really wanted to vote for Moving Pictures because it has so many great songs, but Natural Science is a better song than any good song on Moving Pictures. So, I voted for Permanent Waves. Edited by Lorraine
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Really really tough choice. Ultimately I decided to go with Moving Pictures even though I'm a little tired of hearing some of the songs on it they're all classics.
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Both are perfect masterpieces with not any single bit I would change, but I chose PeW mainly because of Jacob's Ladder and Natural Science. I'm just a sucker for epics. And I guess I also prefer the somewhat more experimental style of the album. MP seems more straightforward to me mostly.
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Wow, I seriously thought MP would be winning by a ton on this one, but I was totally wrong. Pew Pew Pew all the way!

 

In my list of favs, Pew comes 2nd, and MP comes 2nd and a half so...yeah.

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This is an amazingly hard choice. It could truthfully go either way.

 

Permanent Waves, c'mon, it's an amazingly great album. "Natural Science" is absolutely one of their best songs, and it easily eclipses nearly everything on Moving Pictures, especially "The Camera Eye" and "Witch Hunt" which are both good tracks...but "Natural Science" is nearly on par with "Xanadu." The LAST true glimpse of the OLD Rush...that's "Natural Science."

 

Permanent Waves has the overplayed-but-still-amazing nearly perfect radio song, "The Spirit of Radio" followed by the even more amazing "Freewill" with one of the best mid-sections ever recorded by anyone along with a perfect Rickenbacker tone. "Jacob's Ladder," a strange tune, not on par with "Natural Science" but terrific in its own moody way, is a bit plodding. But that's the point of it; i.e., to get the "feel" of the lyrics actually felt. It accomplishes that. But, alot of "old" Rush fans when it came out didn't care for it...but it's unlike anything the band did before or after. However, it's a bit slow...as are the next TWO songs. "Entre Nous" is the low-point of the album, and it's still a good tune. It's a bit of a throw-away, and a bit TOO happy. But again, it's not bad. Things improve with the next slow song, the great and moody "Different Strings" which is a cruelly overlooked gem. It has amazingly simple but effective finessed drums toward the end (and great hi-hat work), impassioned vocals, great bass harmonics, and a freaky noise-solo from Alex at the end. It's an AMAZING song, and the perfect intro to the band's last true epic...the aforementioned "Natural Science."

 

But, the glut of amazing back-to-back songs on Moving Pictures gives it an edge. What they accomplished with this album was truly legendary and should NOT be taken lightly. They made complex, complicated, cerebral music that was truly enjoyable by the masses. The difficulty of accomplishing such a feat is SUPER rare to actually achieve and absolutely can NOT be overlooked. True, most of such songs on Moving Pictures have been played to death and that definitely diminishes the luster of the album. But, you have GOT to realize that you can't use that against the album. And, that's tough to do. I never really want to hear "Tom Sawyer" again. But, I could listen to "Red Barchetta" for the rest of my life; it is just a PERFECT song. It's short (not that there is anything bad about long songs), it's catchy as hell so that "normal" people get it, but it's ALSO super complicated: the true gift of the song is that the complications encased therein absolutely do NOT in ANY way detract from the enjoyment by a casual listener. It has distorted Rickenbacker solos, an amazing guitar solo section with perfect odd time signatures that actually ADD to the song, some of the Neil's best and most musical drum parts I've EVER heard that TOTALLY fit, it's recorded perfectly, and it SOUNDS like what it's about; it builds and falls where appropriate, it builds tension, and it also flat out rocks. It's one of their best songs.

 

"YYZ" accomplishes the impossible; it makes an instrumental enjoyable by the populace; people don't usually skip it. For budding musicians, it is a stepping stone, an accomplishment to aspire to to be able to play properly. Ultimately it's overplayed, and people have grown tired of it. But, again, you can't justifiably use that against it. It's a great instrumental. "Limelight," while not quite as overplayed as some other songs from the album, is STILL a great song, elevated exponentially by the haunting solo section for which the bass line is just as important as the solo itself; Geddy's wah-like "sing-y" bassline gives me chills. "Limelight" is another example of a mainstream song that's also complicated to the point that it doesn't detract from casual enjoyment...something a band like Dream Theater could never accomplish.

 

After the first half (what us older people used to call "side 1") of Moving Pictures, the album DOES lose steam, as side 2 is completely different. It's great, but when albums were on LP, side 2 literally sounded like a different album, and it is NOT as accessible just by nature of the three songs on that side. But, that's not a BAD thing. "The Camera Eye" is more an acquired taste which Rush fans seem to appreciate more as time goes on, and "Witch Hunt" wouldn't be fully realized until the live version on the Grace Under Pressure VHS release. And, "Vital Signs" was clearly a sign of things to come...but not everyone was onboard with that change. A great, great song, but WAAAAY different than the mastery of side 1, and a song that ultimately hinted to the Rush faithful up to that point that they would soon be shocked and ultimately betrayed...which is something realized through the remaining years and that Rush built a career upon: change...for better or for worse.

 

In that regard, Moving Pictures gets the nod.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Oh, I almost forgot...poop.

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Permanent Waves, hands down. The first Rush album I ever heard, containing one of my all-time favourite songs (TSOR). I LOVE every song on PeW :wub: . MP is good, too, but it doesn't have the emotional connection that PeW does for me, and there's one song on MP I don't care for.
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This is the cruellest poll by a mile!

 

I adore both, but in all honesty any album with Red Barchetta and Witch Hunt comes up trumps.

 

I love Permanent Pictures...I mean Moving Waves...dang it I meant Moving Permanent...

 

I give up.

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I picked Permanent Waves and I'm glad to see it's doing so well. While Moving Pictures is indeed great there is some kind of unique cohesiveness and energy to PW that edges it over MP. And it is my #1 Rush album.
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MP's weakest point is Witch Hunt, while PeW has Jacob's Ladder (good, not great), Natural Science (ditto) and Different Strings (at best just ok). MP is the clear winner.
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