Dscrapre

Rutsey? A very good drummer? I would say so. Just from a playing standpoint, he's the kind of drummer that a lot of people would want. He had solid time, he could groove, and he didn't overplay. That's like, the trifecta of good drumming traits. I think that he probably could've had a decent career in drumming if he would have kept it up. He could only groove to the simplest rock music though. I remember reading an interview with Geddy where he said Alex and him tried jamming Anthem with Rutsey and he couldn't groove to it whatsoever. He did play well on the debut, very respectable. But I wouldn't go so far as to say he was "very good". John Bonham is "great", Rutsey was very good. Fixed. I guess I should say very good at what he did. He was 20 years old and his chops were not at the level of Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson. If he had stuck with music I'm sure he would have been an accomplished drummer. Maybe they just didn't agree on the groove Anthem had. Yeah, being able to naturally groove to Anthem is not really what I would call a litmus test for drumming quality at all. That song is right in Neil's wheelhouse. Not a whole lot of conventionally good drummers, especially in the 70's, could have cut it on a track like that. Besides, simple rock is what most people want. Look at AC/DC! In a band like that Rutsey would've done just fine.

Rutsey? A very good drummer? I would say so. Just from a playing standpoint, he's the kind of drummer that a lot of people would want. He had solid time, he could groove, and he didn't overplay. That's like, the trifecta of good drumming traits. I think that he probably could've had a decent career in drumming if he would have kept it up.

The guy who has the Neil's First Rush set is a really great guy named Dean. He tours the set around with the proceeds going to the American cancer society. I managed to actually see it three times and played all of those times. As for playing it, he gives you about 2 minutes, which is definitely enough to bust out a decent solo if you're so inclined. He doesn't seem to worry about anybody breaking anything. Hell, after I got done playing it the last time he actually asked me to play again, and I hit hard! A great experience.http://i58.tinypic.com/s48bh0.jpg

Ceiling Unlimited is top tier Rush in my book. Tremendous song. Much of VT is in the same boat for me. Earthshine, Vapor Trail, How It Is, Secret Touch, Freeze are all classics to me. I love Vapor Trails. Ceiling Unlimited is good, but the lyrics keep me from considering it to be great. What does that mean, "ceiling unlimited"? WEBSTER ceiling unlimited (noun) : a cloudless or nearly cloudless sky : a sky less than half obscured by clouds at levels lower than an arbitrary fixed altitude When you think about the rest of the lyrics especially "the time is now again" sections, it paints an excellent picture of Neil's state of mind at the time.

Ceiling Unlimited is top tier Rush in my book. Tremendous song. Much of VT is in the same boat for me. Earthshine, Vapor Trail, How It Is, Secret Touch, Freeze are all classics to me.

I thought the album sounded pretty good... until I spent some time away from it and started listening to a lot of other music. When I came back to CA, I immediately could hear how awful the production was. Everything is all on top of everything else, there is no definition to any of the sounds and much of the album is a sonic blob. I ended up actually liking the original production on Vapor Trails more than CA.

He doesn't have a "lead singer" voice, but his background vocals sound just fine. He's a way better singer than I'll ever be! I think that Alex should get put a bit higher in the live mix. That way they can rely less on the prerecorded Geddy choir.

Apparently he really, really loves singing, but he's just not very good at it. So he's probably singing his brains out, but they turn off his microphone to spare the audience. Although he used to do a lot more actual background vocals.

I'll just leave this here.

I liked how Alex sounded playing it on the last tour on the 355. It's interesting to watch the DVD and hear how much better that guitar sounds then the LP.

I just watched the one where he asks the audience if they've ever heard him play drums. I was so heartbroken when he didn't do it.

"The Paris Hilton Song" officially confirmed for next album.

Most of the complaints I see here amount to nothing more than a failure to see the forest for the trees. Getting all anal about miniscule details is a waste of time. Alex is a bit sloppy? So what? He's always been a bit sloppy live, there is evidence of this throughout their career. Everybody slobs all over ATWAS's knob all of the time and look at how "sloppy" that performance was! They are at a point of their career where they are playing more tightly and more cohesively as a unit than ever before. So what if Alex flubs a few notes here and there, or if Neil isn't playing every single tom hit in the Freewill drum fills. They are human beings not jukeboxes. These things happen in live performance. The band still sounds good as a unit which should be the most important thing. It's slightly off topic, but I feel relevant: I think that some fans like to believe that Rush were the greatest, most technically proficient musicians in the world at some point. They never were. They're a rock band who plays music that happens to be more complex than most other rock or pop music played on the radio. This isn't Mozart.

He was also "sloppy & slipshod" at Pinkpop in 1979. And? You seem to imply that him being sloppy is some recent development. Every performance I've seen of La Villa Strangiato has had "sloppy" moments. He's been playing like that forever.

He was also "sloppy & slipshod" at Pinkpop in 1979.

Yeah, because this totally sucks: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VoTxTM6kBuU You said it. If you think that performance was bad, then you are officially unpleasable.

I don't get that feeling from Neil at all. Watching him play back in the day is almost painful. His technique was so stiff and he just pounded directly through his drums. He's gotten so much better in terms of economy of motion. Now he's better able to get volume through technique instead of brute force. His soloing is not quite what it used to be, but that has more to do with the composistion of his solos than his technique. Alex is still a strong guitar player. Maybe a little less precise than he once was, but I sometimes like that. I'm not loving all of his studio work on Clockwork Angels though. He's still a world-class performer live. To say that they are playing "badly" though is just simply untrue.

Yeah, because this totally sucks:

For the most part they still put on a solid show. Ged's voice isn't what it once was but he more than makes up for it with his great and still improving bass playing abilities. Al and Neil still sound very good as well. I know I wasn't around for the 70's and 80's tours but I've heard various bootlegs and all of the official live stuff from that time. They've definitely still got it,.

Good riddance.

This. Seriously, do the mods on here actually ever ban people? I haven't read a single thing out of this guy that was even slightly constructive.

Can everybody just put Spaghetti Lee on their ingore lists already?

The title track would be an excellent choice. If you want to do something rare and unexpected, Red Tide.

He's facing the same direction in your avatar.

I'm not a huge fan of Limelight. That one and Freewill are the "big hits" that I can take or leave for the most part. I'm not really sure why that is. They are both fine songs, but I just don't really care about them too much. I still haven't gotten sick of Tom Sawyer though. I still really love that song.