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CA Album Battle 19: Clockwork Angels vs. Snakes And Arrows


Segue Myles
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47 members have voted

  1. 1. Which Is Best?

    • Clockwork Angels
    • Snakes And Arrows


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Easy.

 

I consider SA a musical enema with barbed wire. Only slow, ponderous and ultimately more painful than one might even expect from that description.

 

Great production?

 

Check.

 

Great playing?

 

Arguably, check.

 

Fun?

 

No.

 

SA is one of the most boring albums I have ever heard, but to give it some credit, it is one of the best written bad albums ever.

 

Sure, it has its fans. But I like it only a smidge more than Yes' Union, or Styx's Kilroy Was Here. I really loathe it.

 

Oddly enough, live the songs are good to phenomenal. But for whatever reason, I really cannot stand the album.

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but to give it some credit, it is one of the best written bad albums ever.

 

:P

 

There's a back-handed compliment, if I've ever heard one. Haha!

 

Overall, I like S&A more than a lot of people here. But CA still wins.

Edited by Blue J
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I thought Snakes and Arrows was a decent effort, until the day Clockwork Angels came out. Nick came late to this project, so his contributions aren't that obvious. With CA, Nick took the band to their destination in grand style and focus.

 

The songs just aren't that captivating, unlike CA.

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I thought Snakes and Arrows was a decent effort, until the day Clockwork Angels came out. Nick came late to this project, so his contributions aren't that obvious. With CA, Nick took the band to their destination in grand style and focus.

 

The songs just aren't that captivating, unlike CA.

 

To my ears, CA has six captivating tracks.

 

SA hasn't one. But like all albums, I like some a little less less than others.

 

SA is BORING. I try and try, even putting it on shuffle, but it is one of the dullest experiences I have ever had with an album. It's beautifully played, I won't say this is terrible, because on paper this has all the ingredients for a real winner. But its stunningly middle of the road, and woefully overlong.

 

Let's say that all the crazy talk ones blame me of having towards Topographic Oceans, well its what I think whenever this record gets high praise. I want so much to enjoy it, and as with all Rush albums I struggle with, I revisit it from time to time, but as with Counterparts, which I played two days ago, it seems to get worse and worse every time!

 

For all the flack Geddy's vocals get around here for the CA album, I personally think he improved astronomically from SA. He whines through all these songs, which to be fair is not his fault. I mean, have you read the lyrics?

 

I will try SA. For some reason, live I really appreciate some of these songs, but the album, for all its surface improvements from what went wrong with VT, sounds and feels unbearably flat.

 

But Lerxt has some great acoustic moments. Thats an aspect of this album I will praise highly, and I hope one day they revisit this style with superior songs.

 

Playing SA has honestly provided me with a newfound respect for CA. As I said in my evaluation of VT, production quality is NOT the be all and end all, if the songs are great the quality shines through. VT and CA trump CP and SA, and the shiniest, most robust production cannot improve these songs any more than glitter and tinsle on a turd.

Edited by Segue Myles
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S&A's on the basis of production alone, it's the clear winner. I can actually listen to it for more than 5 minutes and not get ear fatigue.
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CA and S&A are two albums with very different sounds. I think CA is more of their Prog sound, while S&A has a Beatle-esque feeling to it (As do parts of CA).

 

 

They both only have one absolute loser track - CA with Halo Effect, and S&A with The Main Monkey Business.

 

 

As far as S&A songs that I love, there are -

 

Malignant Narcissism

Far Cry

Bravest Face

Good News First

The Way The Wind Blows

The Larger Bowl

Faithless

Workin' Them Angels

 

Then There is the few tracks that I don't love, but I don't dislike, which are -

 

Armor and Sword

Spindrift

Hope

We Hold On

 

----

As far as Clockwork Angels goes, I love a good chunk of the album -

 

Caravan

BU2B

Clockwork Angels

The Anarchist

Carnies

Seven Cities of Gold

The Wreckers

Headlong FLight

The Garden

 

 

 

Then there is the songs that I like, but don't love and don't dislike -

 

Wish Them Well

BU2B2

-----------

 

 

 

So overall it's Clockwork Angels for the win, although I would listen to either album....

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Well, well, well. Snakes & Arrows. :) S&A is like a rotten child you love despite their rottenness. :) The thing about Rush is that even on their worst albums there is a saving grace. Or two. Snakes is one of those albums. Some really good songs. Unfortunately, one tends to nod off at the half-way point. Unless, of course, you've packed a lunch. Then you can have a mini picnic at the mid-way point in listening to it.

 

I voted for CA.

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Hey Segue! No Feedback? :laughing guy:

 

Erm...I did Feedback lol http://www.therushforum.com/index.php?/topic/94205-ca-album-battle-18-clockwork-angels-vs-feedback/

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Hey Segue! No Feedback? :laughing guy:

 

Erm...I did Feedback lol http://www.therushfo...ls-vs-feedback/

 

Sorry.

 

This OK...I did it purely to avoid the normal "where's Feedback?" babble...I rushed to the next one quite quickly!

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Clockwork Angels :martini: :martini: :martini: :martini: :martini: :martini: :martini: :martini: :martini: :martini: :martini: :martini: :martini: :martini: :martini:
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Do people actually sit down and listen to an album all the way through anymore? I usually pick and choose songs now with the digital format. It's a bit different than putting a needle to the record and letting it play.
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Do people actually sit down and listen to an album all the way through anymore? I usually pick and choose songs now with the digital format. It's a bit different than putting a needle to the record and letting it play.

 

It depends on the album. It's easier to skip around on a CD than an actual album. On vinyls, you had to get the needle in just the right groove.

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Do people actually sit down and listen to an album all the way through anymore? I usually pick and choose songs now with the digital format. It's a bit different than putting a needle to the record and letting it play.

Yes. Right now I am listening to In It For the Money by Supergrass all the way thru.

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