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How would Rush's career have gone if...


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I wonder what would the Rush road would have looked like had Terry stayed on and produced all the albums. I think it would have been even more prolific. I always liked those earlier albums, the way they sounded, the way they were engineered, produced...

 

Would Terry have swayed the boys away from the so-called, "synth period" and kept them as a kick-ass power trio, minus the one million guitar and keys tracks per song?

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Interesting question.

 

As much as I disliked the Synth era, as do you, I think it they were at a point where they needed to go into a different direction and they probably felt 'boxed in' to what Terry offered. One thing about Rush is that they are always looking ahead and are eager to try something different, be it right or wrong. Bands that don't try to change become stale. Even if they stuck with Terry, I don't think they would have progressed with the over-the-top Hemi epics that they did before.

 

As I remember, the breaking point for Terry was 'Digital Man' probably because he felt they were trying to be The Police 2.0. I love that track and much of Signals. After the huge success of MP, Terry also probably felt they were selling out to mass popularity too much after getting a taste of it. After Signals, they were obviously flailing around with their direction and going further down the keyboard rabbit hole.

 

On the other hand, if they stuck with Terry, they may have become stale and broken up a long time ago.

 

Sometime you don't realize what you're strengths are and what your direction should be until you screw up.

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Sometime you don't realize what you're strengths are and what your direction should be until you screw up.

 

I don't think the synth era was a "screw up". It was a natural progression using the technology available during the period. I'm sure it influenced their writing, but the results, in my opinion, was a very large and complex sound. I have been a fan since the beginning and the "synth era" continues to be my favorite.

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I doubt Grace Under Pressure would have been the shocking difference of what had come before. I'd like to think it would all be Permanent Waves and Sunshine. They wanted to move on from Prog-Metal could Terry Brown come along??? I think some analys of other artists he worked with would help.
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I liked that they moved on from their older sound; progression is good. Synth era songs to me are definitely the most meaningful and heartfelt.
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They would've ended up like Tool. Extraordinary musicianship, great song writing, legions of fans and every single song sounding exactly the same. BORING!
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I liked that they moved on from their older sound; progression is good. Synth era songs to me are definitely the most meaningful and heartfelt.

 

I totally agree.

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They would have been much better off following their friend Cygnus, Bringer of Balance. To completely abandon the style of music that established their career, gained them a wide, international fanbase, was not their best move after Signals. With the advent of compact discs, they certainly had enough space to mix in a few Terry Brownesque tunes with the Vanilla Synth they were releasing (hey, big mooney aint THAT bad!)
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They would've ended up like Tool. Extraordinary musicianship, great song writing, legions of fans and every single song sounding exactly the same. BORING!

:o
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I think it would have been a good thing if Broon had stayed with them at least for a few more albums. Even if they'd stayed in the same vein as Moving Pictures they would have had some better albums than came afterwards. They could have advanced and made things sound different but the wimpy radio friendly pop rock way they went would have been delayed.
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Considering Geddy was intent on greatly expanding the keyboards, and Neil was intent on being "respectable" (sounding like what he thought was cool in '80s music, clearly distinct what they had done in the '70s, incl PeW by his account --"Rush became Rush with MP"), a continued collaboration with Terry probably wouldn't have been fruitful.

 

Now, if they had been intent on continuing to progress along the Paths of Amazing Awesomeness, as they had from Day One through MP, then Terry's continuing contribution and influence would have likely continued to feed the awesomeness.

 

As far as any idea of Rush "having" to sound this way (synthy) because of the technology or zeitgeist, there were tons of '80s bands that didn't sound like synthy pansies, so I don't think the route they took was at all "necessary." Just as MP didn't sound like PeW, and PeW didn't sound like Hemi, and Hemi didn't ... continuing to make insightful, imaginative power rock wouldn't mean that they had to continue making music that all sounded the same. JMHO.

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I am torn. I love the sonic quality of the Terry Brown era but they needed to push beyond the boundaries that he was comfortable with. They needed to stretch their wings and I love the ideas and song writing of the 80's material, even if I didn't care as much for the synths. I have warmed up to that era now but it is on the strength of the songs. I like to hear the guitar and bass dammit! A little keys are fine as long as they don't over power the strings.

 

So If they could have done the songs but with less synths that would have been the perfect world to me. Maintain the production and move on to different song structures. Is this making any sense? I drove 11 hours today and may be a bit bleary. :zzz:

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I liked that they moved on from their older sound; progression is good......

 

I like how they moved on to whatever direction they wanted.

 

They were pressured to keep playing a certain way in the early 70's. They didn't listen, and made 2112. And then, after Moving Pictures was a smash success, people once again wanted the band to keep playing a certain way. They didn't listen again.

 

If they had done what everyone wanted them to do, they would have broken up years ago.

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I also believe that Signals was Rush maybe trying to sound a bit like The Police. For the life of me I can't figure out why. But it is what it is . I often think if Rush wanted a more synth heavy sound why they didn't bring in a good journeyman player like Eddie Jobson I don't think the fans would of revolted THAT much.I Know Rush is what they are because they remained a trio but I just can't help to wonder.
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I also believe that Signals was Rush maybe trying to sound a bit like The Police. For the life of me I can't figure out why. But it is what it is . I often think if Rush wanted a more synth heavy sound why they didn't bring in a good journeyman player like Eddie Jobson I don't think the fans would of revolted THAT much.I Know Rush is what they are because they remained a trio but I just can't help to wonder.

 

It was "the sound" at the time...and they were trying to stay with it.... Tough to say what Terry would have done going forward...but I think it was time for them to go away from him for a bit... I'm just surprised that he didn't slip back into the "mix" (bad pun) after a while...

 

Terry did a LOT of great stuff, but moving forward, there were a few years where their "sound" was just a little odd...but it was the times....

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Always surprised me that they never went back to him for even just one more album in the 30 odd years since Signals. They do seem to have a good relationship with him.

 

One of the reasons that they dropped Terry (possibly the main one?) was their desire to use Steve Lillywhite on GUP. I wonder how that one would've turned out if he'd not bombed them out?...

Edited by Lurkst
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Let's try this... what if Terry Brown WASN'T Rush producer, and the band changed producers every couple of albums or so in the '70s? Would it be the same Rush we know about?

 

And... what if Terry Brown arrived to Rush, for his first album with them, in 1984?

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Rush would have fizzled after Fly By Night....no 70s producer* would have agreed to the musical direction of COS, much less 2112.

 

*the assumption Rush would have a relatively unknown producer looking for radio hits to help his own career...if they were lucky enough to get a known commodity, Geddy would have been fired as singer :P

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Not sure that Terry was driving the prog sound. I was told by a friend after P/G came out that Terry had listened to some early songs and wanted a more commercial sound, and they balked at that, but later interviews blame the synth transition. A producer isnt really supposed to decide the musical style or direction, but should help to sort out the best songs, and get the best performances from you, while making suggestions to improve the music. Terry might have pushed for a less lush and layered sound but would not have steered them away from synths, just maybe lessened them a bit.

 

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