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Did Rush Lose Their Melody After "Test For Echo" Or Did The Lose It After "Counterparts?"

RUSHHEAD666

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RUSHHEAD666

RUSHHEAD666

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I'm not a fan of "Test For Echo" but I think a lot of is melodic.

When "Vapor Trails" came out I played the hell out of it yet I could never get it.

I tried to play the album on the drums and despite "One Little Victory" I got totally bored.

I remember when "Snakes & Arrows" came out I raved about it on this forum. I think I wrote that I was in love with it and that it blew "Vapor" and "Test" AWAY!

Well then "Clockwork Angels." "The Wreckers" does have a bit of melody but it seems like the boys just take "Vapor" and "Snakes" and make the "Angels" record.

 

Hmmmmm.

 

The last three albums sound the same? Alex sure tries to keep them melodic.

 

 

"Clockwork Snakes, Angels And Arrows"

 

Please tell me that Rush hasn't lost their melodic drive....................................

 

 

"We Hold On" is great.

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Geddy's Soul Patch

Geddy's Soul Patch

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I think there's been less and less melody on each album since Test for Echo. Vapor Trails is a pretty melodic album IMO. Snakes a bit less so, and CA even less than that...hopefully their next effort is a little more focused on melody
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RUSHHEAD666

RUSHHEAD666

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I think there's been less and less melody on each album since Test for Echo. Vapor Trails is a pretty melodic album IMO. Snakes a bit less so, and CA even less than that...hopefully their next effort is a little more focused on melody

 

Well stated.

 

I just listened to a few cuts of the "Vapor Trails" Remix. Some moments shine on the record. Many fail..

 

"The way out is the way in" says it all.

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Ancient Ways

Ancient Ways

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I agree with everything except your take on CA not being melodic.

Some great parts:

The lenses inside of me that paint the world black...

The glint of iron wheels....

All of halo effect

All of the wreckers

I have stocked the fire on the big steel wheels....

Pretty much all of the garden

 

 

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KennyLee

KennyLee

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Geddy's more restricted range makes vocal melody more challenging. I think that in combination with Alex wanting to play more aggressively and dissonant, melody has not been like it was back in the day.

 

I must say though, that a bunch of the newer stuff is growing on me. What didn't strike me as very good or melodic when it first came out is really strating to sound better.

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EagleMoon

EagleMoon

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I would agree with most everything stated here. I think TFE was still decent with the melodies but after that it went downhill big-time. The only more recent singable melody I can think of offhand is Far Cry, and even that isn't one of their best.
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nicky6

nicky6

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Everyone craves over vapor trails, i was going through a really rough spot in my life when that came out, so it didnt grab me that hard. I did however like a few songs off it. but over all i felt it had too many weak moments.. and overrated.
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bluefox4000

bluefox4000

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And i have to say the loss of melody continued on Ged's MFH. Not really memorable Save for Still. So it's seems Ged is the guy who hit the wall. Forgive me.....i really don't know how much input Alex has.

 

Mick

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toymaker

toymaker

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I'm not sure I'm understanding much of this: what does it take for you folks to find something "melodic"? Does there have to be a certain kind of variable pattern of note intervals, or something? If it has to do with what's "catchy," isn't that about the most subjective thing there is? It's not like Lee is singing some kind of monotone / Gregorian chant sort of thing . . .
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savagegrace26

savagegrace26

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An example of melody on wikipedia is "pop goes the weasel". Take that for what it's worth.

 

I find most of their music during this period to be "melodic"...even if it just means hummable...

Edited by savagegrace26
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Narps

Narps

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I'm not sure I'm understanding much of this: what does it take for you folks to find something "melodic"? Does there have to be a certain kind of variable pattern of note intervals, or something? If it has to do with what's "catchy," isn't that about the most subjective thing there is? It's not like Lee is singing some kind of monotone / Gregorian chant sort of thing . . .

I'm with you..... :blink:
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toymaker

toymaker

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How It Is might be a song that is the most comparable to "pop goes the weasel" out of their entire catalog...

 

It has two successive notes that have an interval comparable to the one between "pop" and "goes"? Then, yeah, very melodic! Not like those tunes on Clockwork Angels . . .

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savagegrace26

savagegrace26

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How It Is might be a song that is the most comparable to "pop goes the weasel" out of their entire catalog...

 

It has two successive notes that have an interval comparable to the one between "pop" and "goes"? Then, yeah, very melodic! Not like those tunes on Clockwork Angels . . .

 

BU2B, CA, Anarchist, Headlong Flight, Halo Effect, Garden, Wreckers, even Wish Them Well all seem pretty melodic to me.

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toymaker

toymaker

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High above the city square

Globes of light float in mid-air

Higher still against the night

Clockworks angels bathed in light

 

This one struck me instantly as being an interesting vocal melody, each line climbing just a bit more - almost hymn-like, in a way, then putting the rock touch on at the end with the heavy electric guitar coming in.

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Geddy's Soul Patch

Geddy's Soul Patch

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Don't get me wrong, every single Rush album has fantastic melodies, but they are not as strong or as frequent as they once were. Edited by Geddy's Soul Patch
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toymaker

toymaker

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Don't get me wrong, every single Rush album has fantastic melodies, but they are not as strong or as frequent as they once were.

 

I wonder if it could be a nostalgia thing, or a repeated listens thing. The more a tune gets absorbed and familiar . . .? When it becomes inextricably fused to your memory . . . ?

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savagegrace26

savagegrace26

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Would Geddy singing "Sweet Chariot, swing low, come for me" at the end of Totem be considered melody?

 

Interesting. I listened to Totem last night then listened to a couple of versions of Swing Low Sweet Chariot.

 

I think all of Totem is very melodic and catchy. Very underrated song.

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EagleMoon

EagleMoon

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One way to distinguish whether a song has a good melody is whether it's easy to sing along to. Is the main melody line of the song remember-able or does it get lost in the song, feel dissonant, or just not fit?
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toymaker

toymaker

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One way to distinguish whether a song has a good melody is whether it's easy to sing along to. Is the main melody line of the song remember-able or does it get lost in the song, feel dissonant, or just not fit?

 

I get what you're saying, but I think that partly has to do with a person's facility with music, maybe. I mean, if I could remember (if I could be bothered to remember) all the words to that "You Bet Your Life" thing, I could sing along to it - but I don't find it particularly melodic, in the way that Closer to the Heart is. It has a rhythmic thing happening, I guess.

 

For me - I'm sure this is true of most of us - after I've heard a song a few times, I can anticipate/remember the vocal melodies or whatever - I can't not anticipate them, if you know what I mean - and I can sing along. I don't know of any examples of vocal melodies that get lost. Is it a question of hearing a song title and not immediately being able to "hear" the vocal lines to the main parts of the song? Is it a question of vocal melodies that only have semi-tone or full tone variations as opposed to melodies that "range all over"? "Half the World" is a song that doesn't range much, but it's pretty memorable (even if people don't like it because of the repeated phrasing or whatever).

 

Is a song more melodic if, over four lines of lyric, it has a clearly structured pattern that doesn't have too much repetition and has a "plot" like a story? It rises and descends and perhaps resolves in some way? I'm not a music theory dude, so I don't really know the right terms - but I'm really interested in knowing not only what people find melodic, but why.

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toymaker

toymaker

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I find Geddy very hard to sing along with for some reason.

Depends on what it is - "My uncle has a country place that no one knows about" is fun to sing.

 

"Like a spiral sea unending" - not so much!

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