Dscrapre

Official 2013 TRF Thread of the Year

http://www.outsidethebeltway.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/fonzie-jumps-shark.jpg

It's an impersonation of a Yes cover. Nothing to do with Rush.

To the original question: Vapor Trails is in my top spot. I like the guitar, beautiful vocal layering (yeah I love the Geddy Choirs) and overall sound of Snakes and Arrows. For those reasons, it edges out the somewhat less interesting Counterparts and Clockwork Angels, both of which I consider equals. Test for Echo is my least favorite Rush album.

For me, it definitely is a good thing. The "wrongness" is what I like about it. Something about it seems completely disconnected from time and everything else. It's impossible to actually explain. The Remix, I feel, actually does the album something of a disservice in that regard. Sure it sounds "better" but that quality comes with a price. I think that Mr. Botrill kinda nailed the album to a specific, "2000's" kind of feel. I think that might be the problem. I don't want Rush to say "hey lets just make a modern album". I feel like that's kinda what they did here. Being "Modern" and being "Forward-Thinking" are 2 very different things. Not to bury CA. I'm a big fan. I just feel like the album doesn't really tell us anything about Rush that we didn't already know.

I agree with much of this. CA is good, but it doesn't feel very forward thinking. Vapor Trails, on the other hand is one of the band's most original sounding albums. I'm especially fond of the writing style: jam sessions that were chopped up and arranged into songs after the fact. Ceiling Unlimited is the sound of triumphant return. How It Is is equal parts defeat and hope. Freeze is unlike any song I've heard before, anywhere. It's noisy, manic, and incredibly gorgeous. There really aren't enough good things to say about Vapor Trails. My favorite Rush album since at least Power Windows. None of the others are even close.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gvdf5n-zI14 You say that like it's a fact or something. I find the 70's to be kind of "meh" compared to what they did throughout the 80's. For me, Permanent Waves is the when Rush became more than just a stonerish Prog band. Don't get me wrong, I still love a lot of the earlier stuff, but most of it pales in comparison to what came afterwards. I'd listen to POW and HYF over AFTK and Hemispheres. Not to be super sensitive or critical but the last two words in my sentence were "I believe". I would never use the "fact" word with things that are open to varying opinions. Just because I think it's better, doesn't make it "fact". My honest opinion as always.... :) Allow me to clarify. The way that your original quote was phrased seemed to suggest that the early music was unequivocally better than everything that came afterwards and that you believe that most other people are aware of that fact. (I'm aware that you never used the "f-word" but it was strongly implied by the tone of the sentence) The problem is that the "I believe" part was too late in the sentence. Had it been earlier, it would have been modifying the correct part of the sentence to show that your opinion was on the quality of the music and not the rest of the board's views. I know what you mean now. Sorry about the sentence structure rant. Lets just throw on Caress of Steel and forget the whole thing even happened. :haz:

You say that like it's a fact or something. I find the 70's to be kind of "meh" compared to what they did throughout the 80's. For me, Permanent Waves is the when Rush became more than just a stonerish Prog band. Don't get me wrong, I still love a lot of the earlier stuff, but most of it pales in comparison to what came afterwards. I'd listen to POW and HYF over AFTK and Hemispheres.

Well, Alex plays his 355 at least once every show (This tour it was for Far Cry). Neil isn't going back. He's happy with what he is using now. The great thing about DW is that they make a solid, workhorse drum. An older kit will not be nearly as reliable. Besides, he doesn't even own his old drum kits. They were all given away. So, he'd have to get a different old school drum kit to use and it wouldn't really be authentic. But, it doesn't matter what equipment they use. So long as they're having fun.

To pull up my ratings from "The Rush Ratings Project" thread: Test For Echo 8 Driven 7 Half The World 5 The Colour Of Right 5 Time And Motion 7 Totem 7 Dog Years 2 Virtuality 5 Resist 6 Limbo 3 Carve Away The Stone 3 Additionally I had this to say: "I found that Test for Echo was the hardest of these albums to rate, just because I can't really remember a lot of the tracks. Totem is in particular a tough one to rate because it contains a solid 9 part ("lunatics and monsters") but that part is surrounded by such mediocrity." That pretty much sums up my entire view of the album. Very little stands out. It's such a "meh" album. Sure, Limbo probably doesn't deserve a 3 (Maybe a 5) and Resist is probably better than a 3 also, but still, they are nothing more than average. It's my least favorite album by Rush. Your mileage may vary. EDIT: Listening to Limbo again. It's better than I remember it being. Very atmospheric, surprisingly interesting. Definitely not a 3, but probably no more than a 6.

That grungy sound is a big part of the reason I don't like it, I'll admit. I hated the entire grunge era I've passionately hated that era/sound as well. The same CP grunge-sound still negatively taints Rush's new music to this day. Its like they're stuck in a loop, and much of the reason I refuse to digest anything new from them. At least they stopped ripping off Neal Schon.

Rush Finding My Way 6 Need Some Love 5 Take A Friend 4 Here Again 5 What You're Doing 5 In The Mood 7 Before And After 8 Working Man 8 Fly By Night Anthem 9 Best I Can 5 Beneath, Between & Behind 6 By-Tor And The Snow Dog 8 Fly By Night 8 Making Memories 7 Rivendell 2 In The End 8 Caress Of Steel Bastille Day 8 I Think I'm Going Bald 6 Lakeside Park 3 The Necromancer 8 The Fountain Of Lamneth 4 2112 2112 9 A Passage To Bangkok 7 The Twilight Zone 7 Lessons 6 Tears 7 Something For Nothing 8 A Farewell To Kings A Farewell To Kings 8 Xanadu 9 Closer To The Heart 10 Cinderella Man 8 Madrigal 6 Cygnus X-1 8 Hemispheres Hemispheres 7 Circumstances 8 The Trees 8 La Villa Strangiato 9 Permanent Waves The Spirit Of Radio 10 Free Will 9 Jacob's Ladder 6 Entre Nous 7 Different Strings 8 Natural Science 10 Moving Pictures Tom Sawyer 9 Red Barchetta 10 YYZ 9 Limelight 9 The Camera Eye 9 Witch Hunt 9 Vital Signs 9 Signals Subdivisions 9 The Analog Kid 10 Chemistry 6 Digital Man 9 The Weapon 8 New World Man 7 Losing It 9 Countdown 6 Grace Under Pressure Distant Early Warning 8 Afterimage 7 Red Sector A 7 The Enemy Within 8 The Body Electric 7 Kid Gloves 7 Red Lenses 5 Between The Wheels 9 Power Windows The Big Money 9 Grand Designs 8 Manhattan Project 7 Marathon 9 Territories 7 Middletown Dreams 9 Emotion Detector 7 Mystic Rhythms 6 Hold Your Fire Force Ten 9 Time Stand Still 9 Open Secrets 7 Second Nature 9 Prime Mover 8 Lock And Key 7 Mission 9 Turn The Page 8 Tai Shan 6 High Water 6 Presto Show Don't Tell 7 Chain Lightning 7 The Pass 9 War Paint 7 Scars 6 Presto 9 Superconductor 6 Anagram (for Mongo) 6 Red Tide 7 Hand Over Fist 6 Available Light 8 Roll The Bones Dreamline 8 Bravado 9 Roll The Bones 8 Face Up 6 Where's My Thing? 8 The Big Wheel 7 Heresy 7 Ghost Of A Chance 5 Neurotica 7 You Bet Your Life 8 Counterparts Animate 8 Stick It Out 6 Cut To The Chase 7 Nobody's Hero 6 Between Sun & Moon 9 Alien Shore 6 The Speed Of Love 5 Double Agent 9 Leave That Thing Alone 9 Cold Fire 6 Everyday Glory 6 Test For Echo Test For Echo 8 Driven 7 Half The World 5 The Colour Of Right 5 Time And Motion 7 Totem 7 Dog Years 2 Virtuality 5 Resist 6 Limbo 3 Carve Away The Stone 3 Vapor Trails One Little Victory 8 Ceiling Unlimited 9 Ghost Rider 9 Peaceable Kingdom 7 The Stars Look Down 7 How It Is 9 Vapor Trail 9 Secret Touch 8 Earthshine 8 Sweet Miracle 5 Nocturne 8 Freeze 9 Out Of The Cradle 8 Snakes And Arrows Far Cry 9 Armor And Sword 7 Workin' Them Angels 7 The Larger Bowl 8 Spindrift 5 The Main Monkey Business 8 The Way The Wind Blows 6 Hope 7 Faithless 8 Bravest Face 8 Good News First 7 Malignant Narcissism 8 We Hold On 7 Clockwork Angels Caravan 8 BU2B 6 Clockwork Angels 7 The Anarchist 9 Carnies 8 Halo Effect 8 Seven Cities Of Gold 6 The Wreckers 9 Headlong Flight 7 BU2B2 6 Wish Them Well 5 The Garden 9 I found that Test for Echo was the hardest of these albums to rate, just because I can't really remember a lot of the tracks. Totem is in particular a tough one to rate because it contains a solid 9 part ("lunatics and monsters") but that part is surrounded by such mediocrity. I also may have been too generous with the 8's and 9's throughout my reviews but I made sure to only give a handful of 10's to songs that really deserved it. This was hard.

I think you might be just a tad naive into what goes into writing comics/graphic novels. You aren't writing the way you write a book, you write a script closer to the way you would a movie. It's not easy, and you'd probably suck at it. Firstly, I am not remotely interested in what goes into the making of a graphic novel (masqeurading as a book) nor it's relevance to film stucture. I have a problem with it being considered an "art form" So, you are saying that you want to just ignorantly dismiss an entire art form without bothering to know what goes into it? Good thing you are a mature adult.

I recently listened to The Money Store and by the third time through I started to enjoy it. It's good stuff once you "get it." The Money Store is pretty steadily considered their best work. I didn't like it as much as Exmilitary or No Love Deep Web (WARNING: Album cover is a Penis) but it's still pretty great. Two weeks ago they just randomly released an LP for free download called Government Plates and it's pretty good too.

Pretty light. The general public was not into it. Even the more "hardcore" looking fans were kinda drifting in and out. Pretty much the whole show was like that both times. After Force Ten and until YYZ the reaction was pretty mild. Damn Casuals...

Who are two artists that you like equally that you feel represent opposite ends of the musical spectrum? For instance my spread is: Fleetwood Mac - Pop rock/blues. Radio friendly, pleasant rock music. and Death Grips - Experimental Hip-Hop. Described by many (including myself) as "Screaming Hobo Rap".

I recently asked somebody what music they liked. The response I got was "I Like All Music". I then asked them what their "spread" was (two artists that you like equally who represent totally opposite ends of the musical spectrum). They said Taylor Swift and Drake :/

Rock Band 2 has an alternate version of The Trees. The guitar solo is different.

More instrumentals and more instrumental versions of older songs. Our buddy Losingit2k's old idea about an "instrumental" tour is along the right lines, but they don't need to play ALL of their instrumentals (sorry Limbo) but most of them would be cool. Where's My Thing was great this tour. Add an instrumental rendition of a song like Xanadu or something really rare (Fly By Night? Before and After?) and you have the potential for something really cool. Another thing that I would like to see is an atmospheric jam between Geddy and Al. Sort of an expansion of Alex's solo from this tour with Geddy joining in on bass. No more entire albums live. Moving Pictures live was a one off. Moving Pictures is special. The songs are perfect and their sequencing is perfect. No other Rush album (not even Permanent Waves ) would ever work nearly as well in that format. I love Clockwork Angels and I loved it's involvement in the show, but you could sense the audience's lack of interest by the time The Garden rolled around. Casual fans just weren't into it. Mainly though, if this is the last go around, variety is key. They should play as much material as possible from as many different eras as possible. EDIT: I almost forgot, the 1993-2007 period was grossly underrepresented on this tour. One or 2 songs from Counterparts or Vapor Trails would be nice.

too many notes? I guess you can say that. All of that open chord strumming Alex does is not very pleasant sounding, especially on the title track and BU2B. There are a lot of moments where it just sounds like static. If he would have come up with better parts and the whole thing would've been mixed better, this would've been a much better album. For me, this album is better than some of their albums (T4E, Presto, Fly by Night etc.) but not as good as most (HYF, Vapor Trails, Counterparts etc.)

Too much guitar

The "Schon thing" sounds like an excuse. Break away... Not an excuse, but nearly the final straw. The last 12 years of lackluster material, poor directional decisions (w/over-reliance on 3rd parties) and endless DVDs/cashgrabs. Then the shock of realizing Alex' trademark sound is anothers'. Maybe its time for me to evolve and retire from following the band. Nearly the final straw? Just let it end. Does it take you 12 years to break up with a woman? 12 years to decide you hate asparagus? Good god, be a man and just end it already! The "Schon thing" sounds like an excuse. Break away... Not an excuse, but nearly the final straw. The last 12 years of lackluster material, poor directional decisions (w/over-reliance on 3rd parties) and endless DVDs/cashgrabs. Then the shock of realizing Alex' trademark sound is anothers'. Maybe its time for me to evolve and retire from following the band. Nearly the final straw? Just let it end. Does it take you 12 years to break up with a woman? 12 years to decide you hate asparagus? Good god, be a man and just end it already! I was always hopeful they would turn it around eventually, but they've essentially been in the same vein, musically, for a whole decade, imo. Rush is lackluster, cashgrabbing and unturnaroundable. f**k hope and end it! Resign from TRF. That's your first step to your own personal salvation! Do it!! Done I'm going to print out this post and hang it on my wall.

This shouldn't even need to be explained: Neal Schon did not invent the Arpeggio. Arpeggio's have been around since music left the hands of Monks in monasteries, as have most chords. Its not only the arpeggiation, its the powerchord that precedes, combined with the chorus effect. It is staggering to hear, and is no coincidence. Maybe it is no coincidence. Maybe Alex liked the way it sounded. Did you ever think that maybe he was inspired by it? What was a one-off part to Neal Schon may have become the inspiration for one of Alex's signature styles. That is how music works. Nothing in music is completely original, it can't be. All the parts have already been written. Every sequence of chords has been played already. If you were to pick up a guitar and start playing, you would end up playing something that some one else already played. If you were to write music, all you would be doing is combining elements that you've heard before in new ways. That is how influence works. So what if Neal Schon wrote and performed that Zanadu riff first? He didn't actually write Zanadu. At most he planted a seed in Alex's head that, when combined with all of his other influences led to Zanadu. Every artist does this. This is how people come up with new ideas, by filtering old ideas through their own heads and replicating them. If this makes you not like Rush anymore (even though you never did like them anyway based on all of your other posts) then you also have to hate EVERY OTHER ARTIST IN HISTORY BECAUSE THEY ARE ALL GUILTY OF THIS. If you don't understand this, then you don't understand music. EDIT: I'm gonna expand upon this. What if when Alex first heard that song it just filled his head with ideas? He started imagining variations and other parts that might fit well with them. Things like Cyngus X-1 part 2 or Spirit of Radio. Should he have taken those incredible ideas and just thrown them away purely because they were based on something he's heard before? I don't think so. He went on to make great music that we all love using that style. Besides as I said earlier he was already using the sweeping arpeggios as early as Fly by Night, specifically on Anthem during the verses. Agreed. Like I said before, Neal had a gold nugget in his hand, didn't realize it and placed it back in the river. Alex knew better and snatched it right up. The rest is history. Oh What's a Zanadu? WOW, Oops! It was 5 in the morning where I am so give me a break.

This shouldn't even need to be explained: Neal Schon did not invent the Arpeggio. Arpeggio's have been around since music left the hands of Monks in monasteries, as have most chords. Its not only the arpeggiation, its the powerchord that precedes, combined with the chorus effect. It is staggering to hear, and is no coincidence. Maybe it is no coincidence. Maybe Alex liked the way it sounded. Did you ever think that maybe he was inspired by it? What was a one-off part to Neal Schon may have become the inspiration for one of Alex's signature styles. That is how music works. Nothing in music is completely original, it can't be. All the parts have already been written. Every sequence of chords has been played already. If you were to pick up a guitar and start playing, you would end up playing something that some one else already played. If you were to write music, all you would be doing is combining elements that you've heard before in new ways. That is how influence works. So what if Neal Schon wrote and performed that Zanadu riff first? He didn't actually write Zanadu. At most he planted a seed in Alex's head that, when combined with all of his other influences led to Zanadu. Every artist does this. This is how people come up with new ideas, by filtering old ideas through their own heads and replicating them. If this makes you not like Rush anymore (even though you never did like them anyway based on all of your other posts) then you also have to hate EVERY OTHER ARTIST IN HISTORY BECAUSE THEY ARE ALL GUILTY OF THIS. If you don't understand this, then you don't understand music. EDIT: I'm gonna expand upon this. What if when Alex first heard that song it just filled his head with ideas? He started imagining variations and other parts that might fit well with them. Things like Cyngus X-1 part 2 or Spirit of Radio. Should he have taken those incredible ideas and just thrown them away purely because they were based on something he's heard before? I don't think so. He went on to make great music that we all love using that style. Besides as I said earlier he was already using the sweeping arpeggios as early as Fly by Night, specifically on Anthem during the verses.

Seriously, Alex was doing similar things as early as Fly by Night.