wilb1972

Man, news must be getting close for this thing now ... And just when I had gotten myself to the point of calming down and playing the waiting game, this has me all psyched up again ...

QUOTE Boy, the way that band Rush played Songs Donna spun made the grade Guys in Rush, they had it made Those were the days And you knew what you heard then Prog was prog way back then Mister, we could use a man like T.C. Broonsie again Didn't need no disco, mate Everybody rocked out 'til late Gee, our Rocinante ran great Those were the days! Epic

QUOTE The sound of Rush, to me, was/is the sound of happiness

I was introduced to Rush in HS via a classmate who (believe it or not) was a drummer. It was 11th grade and Presto was the latest album. He made me a mix tape (remember those?) and put stuff from the old days and the new, mixed together. Really went a long way to getting me into them. But I quickly found I loved the older stuff better than the latter years (1982 - 1989) because I had also recently been investigating Yes and so the proggier Rush stuff appealed to me. Then like a perfect dream, Chronicles came out and I bought it, then Presto, on CD. After that, I started working my way through their back catalogue. Within a year, Roll the Bones came out, and I just missed the chance to go see them on that tour; I heard about the show too late. However, within 2 years, Counterparts came out -- my Rush feeding frenzy was being satisfied rather quickly, with both the new releases and my own discovery of older albums. And I managed to find out about Rush playing in Atlanta via a local music store and immediately bought tickets -- scored 14th row seats at the Omni in Atlanta, on Al's side of the stage, directly in front of him. Glorious days! So I guess I became a fan just on the cusp of the years when Rush was still regularly pumping out new material every couple of years, and right before the period of taking years between albums. Its been tough waiting on this latest release, but I know it will be worth it -- this band has for twenty years kept me going in good times and bad, and I have had the opportunity to see them 5 times, twice on the last tour with my wife, who loves them to death too. They really have been the soundtrack to my life.

QUOTE Favorite Yes album! Although I don't think I'd even want to hear modern Yes play that one these days. One of my faves as well, and I agree, I love YES, saw them last summer with Styx, but I am not a fan of the Jon Anderson clone they have now. But it was a special treat to see Howe, Squire and White. They may be old and have lost a little but they are personal musical heroes. Was on the 6th row and got some awesome pics, and memories. But Styx blew 'em away. Anyway, didn't mean to change the subject! I would also love to hear Signals live!

Relayer Does it have to be one of their own? But seriously... Would love to hear PW as well!

You guys are killing me.

QUOTE I still love the mix of SnA. Best mix in years! And great song writing I agree, I just wish the songs had been better. I have been torn over the past two albums -- loved the songs on VT, but of course the production was lacking; then on S&A the album sounded great, but the songwriting was lacking. I am hoping the band can strike a balance on Clockwork Angels between those two.

Over the years I have managed to stumble across everything from the debut through PW on vinyl. Also have ESL. Would love to have everything else!

I agree with everything here - I have my gripes with latter day Rush (most of S&A), but there is so much to love if one just opens one's mind and accepts the fact that Rush is a band that will forever change its sound and move in newer directions. I am sure when the synth-era albums came out, fans lamented that the band was finished, but look how well Marathon, Mission and Force Ten get received by fans during concerts. Even Stick it Out, which gets raked over the coals, seemed to get a rousing acceptance live if you go by the Time Machine DVD. The band is still putting out great music -- in fact I find myself shuffling through their newer stuff lately in anticipation of the new album - Animate, Stick it Out, Driven, Time and Motion, One Little Victory, Earthshine, Secret Touch, Vapor Trail, Far Cry, The Main Monkey Business, Caravan, BU2B .... definitely latter day classics!

Awesome news! Everyone can hate on this all they want - I am psyched for this album. I really like Caravan and BU2B. I was so disappointed in S&A, after the fury and fire of VT (even with its poor production, I would choose VT over S&A any day!) So I have a good feeling about this one. Even if its not the next MP, it already has two songs that are better than 80% of S&A. It's funny, this band has built its reputation on being weird, progressive, ever-changing, doing angular weirdness and crazy arrangements, but everyone dumps on VT and I loved it because even within the framework of what Rush does, its out there, nutty, energetic, emotive and honest. Can't wait until the day that one sees a remaster. So here the band does a song like Caravan that is a little weird, off-kilter and everyone hates it. That is fine. To each his own. As for me, I am just happy to have an album that could possibly hold its own with some of the band's best work. It might not, but I will approach it with an open mind. And I plan to be jamming this album all summer long, cranked up to 11!

QUOTE You Need to get out of the house more.......................

QUOTE Go see a movie..relax...take a nap...drink a beer...go visit a friend...plant a tree...watch it grow...mow your lawn...go visit a sick relative...make some chicken soup....paint a room...wash the car...take another nap. Okay, I can do this ... *deep breath*. See a movie... I Love You, Man is great! I mean, um ... wait... relax, yea Jack, relax, get busy with the -- CRAP! Um ... take a nap, okay, yea I had this dream once about Rush, but, oh, um ... drink a beer, a nice cold beer, cause you see, there's nothing goin' down here. It seems to me I could live my life a lot better than I think I am... you know -- better people, better food, and better beer! Wait, stop it! Ahhh... hm... visit a friend, yea I will take myself a friend and keep em till the -- doh! Wait mow the lawn, yea livin' in Bohemia, no wait um, gosh! Soup, yea soup, love that soup! It's all about the soup! No no no!! Um ... wash the car ... then take it for a nice morning drive.. wind in my hair... mechanical music, adrenaline surge! No wait! Um, plant a tree, yea, like an oak or a maple! DOH!

QUOTE I love how the circle of Rush goes on. Fans grow up listening to Rush, and now the next generation is listening to them and going to see their shows. I hope to help contribute in the next 10 years. Showed my wife the Getty reference, she loved it! I agree, I am subtly contributing as well - my stepdaughters hear Rush around the house when my wife and I listen or watch the DVDs and they are both music fans because of us (they particularly like Styx, Kiss, and The Beatles). Now they are expressing an interesting in Rush. Right now the songs that they are latching onto are Tom Sawyer, The Trees, Closer to the Heart, Stick it Out and One Little Victory. Hopefully they will dig a little deeper, I burned them some "best of" CDs to get them started.

QUOTE Madonna comes out in less than two weeks and hasn't leaked and Garbage hasn't leaked either which comes out mid May. Why are you repeating yourself? Which is it, two weeks or May?? I mean... oh, ok I see...

I told my wife in early February I bet they wait until 3/21/12. My money is still there! (Though I secretly hoped I was wrong!)

Far Cry by miles. I was very disappointed in this album -- after VT I was expecting something similar in heaviness but with better production. Far Cry was promising, so I bought the album after hearing it on YouTube, very pumped. And then found most of the songs to be more along the lines of mid-tempo snooze fests. The album is paced poorly too. But of course, this is my opinion. For what it's worth (about 2 wooden nickles I suppose!) I can't believe more fans don't dig The Main Monkey Business. It's definitely better than Malignant Narcissism, which sounds like a YYZ retread. I never really thought much about Workin' Them Angels until my wife heard the song and fell in love with it, and I started hearing it differently. She has that effect -- some of her fave Rush songs are some that I maybe overlooked not because I hated them but just because there were better tunes on a particular album that grabbed me. That's an example of one. The only other songs on the album I listen to regularly are: The Way the Wind Blows and (sometimes) Armor and Sword. The rest of the album I can do without. If I had to choose between this album or VT, VT would win everytime, despite the production. I am not trying to be a hater, because I have always found something to love about every Rush album, but I feel that the song writing was weaker on this one. It's really more like Test for Echo part II in mood and tone to me. But I like T4E better than S&A by a long shot. So there you go. Ramble mode: off.

I'm anxiously awaiting Goobs re-imagining of this cover.

QUOTE Well, guess certian areas might have different problems than others when it comes to that Yea, my biggest problem is that I live in the south, where anything outside of Zeppelin, The Eagles, AC/DC or Lynyrd Skynyrd gets strange looks from a lot of people when I ask about Rush. "Who?" "No, not the Who, Ruuussshhhhh....." Or they say, "Yea, we had a few, but they sold out." A few??? Meanwhile, I trip over their HUGE display of Lady GaGa CD's on my way out...

I became a fan with Presto, so when RTB came out, I thought they sounded a lot alike (same producer so...) and was disappointed it wasn't heavier than Presto. But having said that, I like Dreamline, Bravado, and Where's My Thing? The rest is sort of in the middle for me depending on my mood. Not particularly fond of the lyrics either.

QUOTE I'm willing to even bet that Target and Walmart will have it on the release date. They won't carry the album for much longer after that but on the day it comes out they more than likely will have it to. When S&A came out, and when the TM live CD came out, neither Wal Mart nor Target had it in my little pissant town. Even Best Buy didnt. So pre-ordering from Amazon is exactly what I will be doing. I get burned by the retail chains every time. And Amazon is good about getting me stuff the day of release.

When I think of cheesy Rush videos, Time Stand Still and Distant Early Warning spring to mind. DEW sticks in my craw everytime I see RED ELERT sprawled across the screen in GREEN font ... um... I like the performance videos like La Villa, Limelight, etc -- I would much rather watch Rush play than pretend to be actors like a lot of artists. At the top of the heap for me as their best would be The Pass, Mystic Rhythms, Subdivisions, and Driven. These all work cause you get to see the band play and they are sort of part of but also seperate from the rest of the video. The band doesnt act within the "plots" of the videos, but they are still well made and well constructed. One thing I have never understood - why no videos for the Permanent Waves album?? Everytime I watch Chronicles its like this missing gap of time jumping from The Trees to Limelight. Wish they had made a video for TSOR or Freewill.

Signals -- Looks like a New Wave album cover. GUP -- Hard to improve on that one, but yours is interesting, although instead of the hot pink being so dominant I might have opted for something like red. PW -- interesting, and of course, having the kid in the set more defined is interesting as well.

QUOTE Why does it have to sound country??? He's asking for video showing Alex's skills. Not Alex's country playing He also specifically mentioned his friend is a country guitar player -- so the assumption would be that he wants something country sounding to lure his friend into the world of the Lerxster.

Hope from S & A.