ytserush Posted February 25, 2018 Share Posted February 25, 2018 Every single Rush documentary, or brief written history of the band glosses over the best period of the band like "meh, it happened. Subdivisions was the big radio hit in the early to mid 80s after Tom Sawyer. Geddy's hair looked like a Davy Crockett hat, Whatever. Now let's talk about how great Counterparts is and how it's superior to every record that came out from 82 to 92." Hell, even most Rush tribute bands do a very 90s and 70s heavy show and only do like 2-3 synth era songs at the max. You know what? f**k that. It's time the synth era got the love it deserves from Rush fans. Geddy's bass playing and singing were at it's peak around that period, Geddy was multitasking between two different instruments effortlessly, Alex's chord structure became even more unorthodox and interesting. The music was very similar to the new wave groups of that era, but elevated to a much higher level. It was intricate, palatable, the songs weren't too long or drawn out, it was the perfect era for Rush. I would rather hear all of Grace Under Pressure or Power Windows in it's entirety than Hemispheres. Nearly all tribute bands won't touch anything before Signals and many of those stop at Moving Pictures. so as a rule I won't bother with them because that's not exactly my idea of a good time.. I think you mean after signals? You raise an interesting point about tribute bands. Their reluctance to play the snyth years says something. Not sure what it is though.... Thanks. That's exactly what I mean.(Not a lot after Signals gets played.) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goose Posted February 25, 2018 Share Posted February 25, 2018 Love synth era Rush. While earlier Rush sound is starting to sound more interesting to me than it once was, I do think it's a shame that the band doesn't really talk about it. I think there's a lot of stuff that has gotten any mention. I find enjoyment in the fact that they made a lot of money in the 80s. The documentary was funny. They glossed over almost all of the juicy trivia mentioned about almost disbanding, family drama, etc and went straight to "We started using guitars again on Presto. Now Roll The Bones was..." One reason it got glossed over in the doc was that Sam Dunn was not a fan of that period so it got the short straw.The narrative was very much "they lost me with the keyboards...", with most pro musician fans echoing that sentiment. Personally, I liked the synth era, although some songs/albums have aged better for me than others. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucas Posted February 25, 2018 Share Posted February 25, 2018 Geddy's hair looked like a Davy Crockett hat, Whatever. I'm not sure why, we've heard this a millions times before, but reading it just now struck me as very funny My dog is looking like "WTF is wrong with you ?" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tangy Posted February 25, 2018 Share Posted February 25, 2018 (edited) Love synth era Rush. While earlier Rush sound is starting to sound more interesting to me than it once was, I do think it's a shame that the band doesn't really talk about it. I think there's a lot of stuff that has gotten any mention. I find enjoyment in the fact that they made a lot of money in the 80s. The documentary was funny. They glossed over almost all of the juicy trivia mentioned about almost disbanding, family drama, etc and went straight to "We started using guitars again on Presto. Now Roll The Bones was..." One reason it got glossed over in the doc was that Sam Dunn was not a fan of that period so it got the short straw.The narrative was very much "they lost me with the keyboards...", with most pro musician fans echoing that sentiment. Personally, I liked the synth era, although some songs/albums have aged better for me than others. And i am along those lines. Too much ged and keys. Not enough alex. Perhaps it was no terry brown. I tolerated the synth years but they left a musical void that was filled by other bands. The first of which was megadeth. Edited February 25, 2018 by tangy 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RUSHHEAD666 Posted February 25, 2018 Share Posted February 25, 2018 I completely agree. Growing up as a teen in the "Permanent Waves" and "Moving Pictures" era I must confess and I have told this story many times, i hated "Signals" when it came out on it's original street date! I hopped on my bike after school and raced to Rainbow Records to buy the cassette! I was counting down the second while I sat at my desk all day in school! I couldn't wait!!So when I got home and put the cassette on my Pioneer stereo in my bedroom I remember gazing into my speakers with shock and awe. "Where the hell is the guitar???" I was so upset and disappointed then. So that being said of course I did accept and evolve with Rush into their synth period and heck yes I LOVE THOSE ALBUMS!!!!! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J2112YYZ Posted February 25, 2018 Share Posted February 25, 2018 It was a good thing Rush went with the times and stayed relevant in the 80s by keeping a modern day sound. If they didn't they would have faded into obscurity in the mid 80s like so many other bands from the 70s. This would be a forum dedicated to another band and over in the music of the spheres section Earl would have made a thread saying "Who remembers Rush? Awesome 70s rock! Working Man is my jam!" And the thread would get three responses. Some may have not liked that era but it kept Rush alive and helped grow their fan base. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick N. Backer Posted February 25, 2018 Share Posted February 25, 2018 I think the synth-era began with GUP; that’s when they overwhelmed the songs. It would have been fine as an experiment. PoW, HYF and Presto don’t get enough derision. The real problem is that even after the synth-era, they didn’t release any truly great albums for almost 20 years. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnnyBlaze Posted February 25, 2018 Share Posted February 25, 2018 Hey Fraroc mark this day down. We agree!!!!!! Oh my god. the world IS ending, lol LOVE the synth era. MickDon;t get too excited. The threads not over yet. :P yea your right. he WILL work hair metal into this somehow. lol MickDid someone say "hair"...? http://archives.rickresource.com/oldattachments/69082.jpg The middle-aged gedonna! Except for Christie Brinkley, we all looked like crap in 1985! :P Geddy has ripped this hairstyle himself so even he knows its absurdity. Doesn’t matter. Synth Rush isn’t my favorite but I like it plenty. And I’ll easily take every one of those albums before any 21st century Rush album. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fraroc Posted February 26, 2018 Author Share Posted February 26, 2018 Love synth era Rush. While earlier Rush sound is starting to sound more interesting to me than it once was, I do think it's a shame that the band doesn't really talk about it. I think there's a lot of stuff that has gotten any mention. I find enjoyment in the fact that they made a lot of money in the 80s. The documentary was funny. They glossed over almost all of the juicy trivia mentioned about almost disbanding, family drama, etc and went straight to "We started using guitars again on Presto. Now Roll The Bones was..." One reason it got glossed over in the doc was that Sam Dunn was not a fan of that period so it got the short straw.The narrative was very much "they lost me with the keyboards...", with most pro musician fans echoing that sentiment. Personally, I liked the synth era, although some songs/albums have aged better for me than others. Well those fans can f**k right off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tangy Posted February 26, 2018 Share Posted February 26, 2018 Love synth era Rush. While earlier Rush sound is starting to sound more interesting to me than it once was, I do think it's a shame that the band doesn't really talk about it. I think there's a lot of stuff that has gotten any mention. I find enjoyment in the fact that they made a lot of money in the 80s. The documentary was funny. They glossed over almost all of the juicy trivia mentioned about almost disbanding, family drama, etc and went straight to "We started using guitars again on Presto. Now Roll The Bones was..." One reason it got glossed over in the doc was that Sam Dunn was not a fan of that period so it got the short straw.The narrative was very much "they lost me with the keyboards...", with most pro musician fans echoing that sentiment. Personally, I liked the synth era, although some songs/albums have aged better for me than others. Well those fans can f**k right off. Do we really have to? And right now? Quite honestly the synth years gets half the love because its half as good... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnnyBlaze Posted February 26, 2018 Share Posted February 26, 2018 Love synth era Rush. While earlier Rush sound is starting to sound more interesting to me than it once was, I do think it's a shame that the band doesn't really talk about it. I think there's a lot of stuff that has gotten any mention. I find enjoyment in the fact that they made a lot of money in the 80s. The documentary was funny. They glossed over almost all of the juicy trivia mentioned about almost disbanding, family drama, etc and went straight to "We started using guitars again on Presto. Now Roll The Bones was..." One reason it got glossed over in the doc was that Sam Dunn was not a fan of that period so it got the short straw.The narrative was very much "they lost me with the keyboards...", with most pro musician fans echoing that sentiment. Personally, I liked the synth era, although some songs/albums have aged better for me than others. Well those fans can f**k right off. And many of those fans did! ...and then some of them came back when the synths subsided. And all of that happened before baby fraroc’s birth. Boils down to this: the synth years weren’t satisfying enough for RUSH so THEY stopped using them as much. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RUSHHEAD666 Posted February 26, 2018 Share Posted February 26, 2018 Love synth era Rush. While earlier Rush sound is starting to sound more interesting to me than it once was, I do think it's a shame that the band doesn't really talk about it. I think there's a lot of stuff that has gotten any mention. I find enjoyment in the fact that they made a lot of money in the 80s. The documentary was funny. They glossed over almost all of the juicy trivia mentioned about almost disbanding, family drama, etc and went straight to "We started using guitars again on Presto. Now Roll The Bones was..." One reason it got glossed over in the doc was that Sam Dunn was not a fan of that period so it got the short straw.The narrative was very much "they lost me with the keyboards...", with most pro musician fans echoing that sentiment. Personally, I liked the synth era, although some songs/albums have aged better for me than others. Well those fans can f**k right off. Do we really have to? And right now? Quite honestly the synth years gets half the love because its half as good... Like the terrible tune "Half The World" baby! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RUSHHEAD666 Posted February 26, 2018 Share Posted February 26, 2018 Don't forget about the excellence of Jim Burgess and Anthony Richards on synth arrangements on "Middletown Dreams" and "Emotion Detector." Two songs I will cherish until I die. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HemiBeers Posted February 26, 2018 Share Posted February 26, 2018 That was the period when Geddy required Al to check his balls at the door. The results were similar to mall background musak. Sit quietly and politely kids, I promise they'll start to rock very soon. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RUSHHEAD666 Posted February 26, 2018 Share Posted February 26, 2018 That was the period when Geddy required Al to check his balls at the door. The results were similar to mall background musak. Sit quietly and politely kids, I promise they'll start to rock very soon. Would you consider "Presto" a Rush rock record with more Alex or still a synth heavy record? I think it's more balanced. I love "Presto." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HemiBeers Posted February 26, 2018 Share Posted February 26, 2018 (edited) That was the period when Geddy required Al to check his balls at the door. The results were similar to mall background musak. Sit quietly and politely kids, I promise they'll start to rock very soon. Would you consider "Presto" a Rush rock record with more Alex or still a synth heavy record? I think it's more balanced. I love "Presto."no it's crap. sounds like listening to an am radio. it's well documented that around the late 80s they were considering hanging it up. not surprising since they became closer to 'adult contemporary' than actual rock. it wasn't until Counterparts that Al found his ballsack again and they actually sounded like a rock band. Edited February 26, 2018 by HemiBeers 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RUSHHEAD666 Posted February 26, 2018 Share Posted February 26, 2018 That was the period when Geddy required Al to check his balls at the door. The results were similar to mall background musak. Sit quietly and politely kids, I promise they'll start to rock very soon. Would you consider "Presto" a Rush rock record with more Alex or still a synth heavy record? I think it's more balanced. I love "Presto."no it's crap. sounds like listening to an am radio. it's well documented that around the late 80s they were considering hanging it up. not surprising since they became closer to 'adult contemporary' than actual rock. it wasn't until Counterparts that Al found his ballsack again and they actually sounded like a rock band. I see your point. "Counterparts" kicks ass. It's my last masterpiece Rush record in their canon. The production of "Presto" is very polished and clean but I absolutely love Alex's guitar on the record. You can't deny the solo on "Chain Lightning." Killer shit. Remember the rumor that Alex recorded that solo and then they mastered it backwards on the album. True or False? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goose Posted February 26, 2018 Share Posted February 26, 2018 Don't forget about the excellence of Jim Burgess and Anthony Richards on synth arrangements on "Middletown Dreams" and "Emotion Detector." Two songs I will cherish until I die. Two of my top tracks from PoW. Mystic Rhythms the other. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goose Posted February 26, 2018 Share Posted February 26, 2018 That was the period when Geddy required Al to check his balls at the door. The results were similar to mall background musak. Sit quietly and politely kids, I promise they'll start to rock very soon. Would you consider "Presto" a Rush rock record with more Alex or still a synth heavy record? I think it's more balanced. I love "Presto."no it's crap. sounds like listening to an am radio. it's well documented that around the late 80s they were considering hanging it up. not surprising since they became closer to 'adult contemporary' than actual rock. it wasn't until Counterparts that Al found his ballsack again and they actually sounded like a rock band. I see your point. "Counterparts" kicks ass. It's my last masterpiece Rush record in their canon. The production of "Presto" is very polished and clean but I absolutely love Alex's guitar on the record. Me too. Presto is an album that's better played loud. The production, to my ears, is very much like Synchronicity, which I love. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RUSHHEAD666 Posted February 26, 2018 Share Posted February 26, 2018 Don't forget about the excellence of Jim Burgess and Anthony Richards on synth arrangements on "Middletown Dreams" and "Emotion Detector." Two songs I will cherish until I die. Two of my top tracks from PoW. Mystic Rhythms the other. I may be insane with my opinion of VT but so what! "POWER WINDOWS" IS A MASTERPIECE!!One of the greatest albums ever made! "Marathon" is so complex and fun to play to on the drums! Still a challenge!! I love playing "Mystic Rhythms" on my organic kit too! FUN! I am not a good artist goose but back in high school I excelled in art. I was Art Student Of The Year in 1986. I did a watercolor of GUP and received a Honorable Mention Award.I did an oil painting of "Power Windows" next. My instructor helped me with the lightning in the window but I did everything else. Both are framed.She loved my fire and passion for RUSH and dedicating my entire class time to doing certain album covers. I did a pencil sketch of Van Halen's 1984. I did a color pencil of Motley Crue's "Theater Of Pain." I did the inside sleeve in pencil of ZZ Top's "Afterburner" album. I still have all of them! Mostly framed. Do you see? I've been obsessed with music since I was a kid. I'm still that same guy in a fuckking 50 year young body. Make sense? 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HemiBeers Posted February 26, 2018 Share Posted February 26, 2018 (edited) That was the period when Geddy required Al to check his balls at the door. The results were similar to mall background musak. Sit quietly and politely kids, I promise they'll start to rock very soon. Would you consider "Presto" a Rush rock record with more Alex or still a synth heavy record? I think it's more balanced. I love "Presto."no it's crap. sounds like listening to an am radio. it's well documented that around the late 80s they were considering hanging it up. not surprising since they became closer to 'adult contemporary' than actual rock. it wasn't until Counterparts that Al found his ballsack again and they actually sounded like a rock band. I see your point. "Counterparts" kicks ass. It's my last masterpiece Rush record in their canon. The production of "Presto" is very polished and clean but I absolutely love Alex's guitar on the record. You can't deny the solo on "Chain Lightning." Killer shit. Remember the rumor that Alex recorded that solo and then they mastered it backwards on the album. True or False?Been a while, so I gave Chain Lightening another listen. meh. Just doesn't do anything for me. Even the solo is a bunch of whammy bar dive bombs and noodling nonsense. So each to his own, we'll just disagree on this one. I will give Power Windows it's due, there are many good tracks once you get over the synth overkill. But Hold Your Fire and Presto...when those came out and I gave them a few listens I just tossed them on the pile. There wasn't anything on those albums that I felt excited to learn on guitar because Al was so washed out. I think this gets to why so many don't look fondly on the synth era. Geddy is a bass god. But as a keyboard player, he just fills space...nothing a student with 2-3 years experience couldn't do. The synth era took Geddy away from what he does best...the bass. People will go see Keith Emerson or Rick Wakeman to experience a keyboard god. No one goes to a Rush concert to see Geddy plunk away at some mundane chords on the keyboard. Edited February 26, 2018 by HemiBeers 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stormtron Posted February 26, 2018 Share Posted February 26, 2018 70s Rush is my main shit, but I love Signals through Power Windows too. PoW is basically flawless to me. I like a lot of Hold Your Fire, but they took the synth thing as far as they could and overdid it a bit on that album. Even songs I really enjoy like Force Ten...that shit is like being assaulted by keyboards, with synths and sequencers and all kinds of production tricks flying at you off the jump. That said, I'd still take HYF over anything after it. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ozzy85 Posted February 26, 2018 Share Posted February 26, 2018 Love synth era Rush. While earlier Rush sound is starting to sound more interesting to me than it once was, I do think it's a shame that the band doesn't really talk about it. I think there's a lot of stuff that has gotten any mention. I find enjoyment in the fact that they made a lot of money in the 80s. The documentary was funny. They glossed over almost all of the juicy trivia mentioned about almost disbanding, family drama, etc and went straight to "We started using guitars again on Presto. Now Roll The Bones was..." One reason it got glossed over in the doc was that Sam Dunn was not a fan of that period so it got the short straw.The narrative was very much "they lost me with the keyboards...", with most pro musician fans echoing that sentiment. Personally, I liked the synth era, although some songs/albums have aged better for me than others. And i am along those lines. Too much ged and keys. Not enough alex. Perhaps it was no terry brown. I tolerated the synth years but they left a musical void that was filled by other bands. The first of which was megadeth.This pretty well nails it for me. I was getting into heavier metal at the time also (totally into the Big Four then...) . Only a few years ago I "rediscovered" synth-Rush. Always loved Signals. Been listening to HYF at the gym... pretty good and inspiring during a workout. I still have trouble with Power Windows. I think I'll take it to work with me and see if I can dig into it more. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ultimate Rush Tribute Posted February 26, 2018 Share Posted February 26, 2018 Every single Rush documentary, or brief written history of the band glosses over the best period of the band like "meh, it happened. Subdivisions was the big radio hit in the early to mid 80s after Tom Sawyer. Geddy's hair looked like a Davy Crockett hat, Whatever. Now let's talk about how great Counterparts is and how it's superior to every record that came out from 82 to 92." Hell, even most Rush tribute bands do a very 90s and 70s heavy show and only do like 2-3 synth era songs at the max. You know what? f**k that. It's time the synth era got the love it deserves from Rush fans. Geddy's bass playing and singing were at it's peak around that period, Geddy was multitasking between two different instruments effortlessly, Alex's chord structure became even more unorthodox and interesting. The music was very similar to the new wave groups of that era, but elevated to a much higher level. It was intricate, palatable, the songs weren't too long or drawn out, it was the perfect era for Rush. I would rather hear all of Grace Under Pressure or Power Windows in it's entirety than Hemispheres. Nearly all tribute bands won't touch anything before Signals and many of those stop at Moving Pictures. so as a rule I won't bother with them because that's not exactly my idea of a good time.. I don't understand your statement at all. Won't touch anything before Signal? and stop at moving Pictures? Moving Pictures was before Signals so you already cancelled that out with your first statement. So all tribute bands play Signals and only Signals. LOL I am in a Rush Tribute band and we play MOSTLY songs before Signals. We are looking to add a few of the post Signals songs but the audiences we play to seem to like 2112 through Signals. We can play Dreamline, Distant Early Warning and Red Sector A but that is about as far as I can go. I love our setlist! Set 1Spirit of RadioSubdivisionsLimelightEntrée Nous*Camera Eye*New World ManXYZJacob’s Ladder Set2R30Tom SawyerCloser to the Heart*Broon’s Bain*The Trees*Xanadu**Analog KidFreewillRed BarchettaOverature/Temples (Encore)La Villa Strangiato* Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ultimate Rush Tribute Posted February 26, 2018 Share Posted February 26, 2018 Every single Rush documentary, or brief written history of the band glosses over the best period of the band like "meh, it happened. Subdivisions was the big radio hit in the early to mid 80s after Tom Sawyer. Geddy's hair looked like a Davy Crockett hat, Whatever. Now let's talk about how great Counterparts is and how it's superior to every record that came out from 82 to 92." Hell, even most Rush tribute bands do a very 90s and 70s heavy show and only do like 2-3 synth era songs at the max. You know what? f**k that. It's time the synth era got the love it deserves from Rush fans. Geddy's bass playing and singing were at it's peak around that period, Geddy was multitasking between two different instruments effortlessly, Alex's chord structure became even more unorthodox and interesting. The music was very similar to the new wave groups of that era, but elevated to a much higher level. It was intricate, palatable, the songs weren't too long or drawn out, it was the perfect era for Rush. I would rather hear all of Grace Under Pressure or Power Windows in it's entirety than Hemispheres. Nearly all tribute bands won't touch anything before Signals and many of those stop at Moving Pictures. so as a rule I won't bother with them because that's not exactly my idea of a good time.. I think you mean after signals? You raise an interesting point about tribute bands. Their reluctance to play the snyth years says something. Not sure what it is though.... Means they have taste... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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