Powderfinger

Yes, this, very well said. Rush wants to go out on top. They are not a band that would tarnish their legacy of top-notch musicianship by continuing to perform as their skills diminish. Rush has high standards.

Signals, without question.

This particular one was out front and center obvious. It was a plain and simple ripoff of a Marvin Gave song. So with something like the Sam Smith (?)/ Tom Petty similarity, they decided to settle out of court? Where Pharrell Williams and Alan Thicke's kid just being stubborn? Why is it so hard to give credit where credit is due? Yet Tom Petty never sued Red Hot Chili Peppers for ripping off "Mary Jane's Last Dance" in "Dani California" Then The Jayhawks could sue Petty for ripping off "Waiting for the Sun" with "Mary's Jane's Last Dance." (The two tracks even share a keyboard player: Benmont Tench.) There is no end to this, really.

Saw them in Boston during Summer 2013. It was worth it. Old men? Sure. But they are one of my all-time favorite groups, and seeing Mick Taylor with them was an added bonus. Moreover, they still put on a great show. Yes they are guaranteed to play the old warhorses, but they do reserve a few places in the setlist for nightly surprises. For example, at my show in Boston they played "Memory Motel," a real treat. That's more than you're going to get from most bands who trace their roots to the 1960s. It's easy to be cynical about them, but when the lights went down and the opening chords kicked in it was pretty darn exciting to be in the crowd at a Stones concert.

Can't let that one go. Couldn't disagree more and its kind of disappointing to read to be honest... Words can't describe this masterpiece. Love Madrigal, too. And Lifeson's solo on Cinderella Man. Shivers. Precisely. Listening to Madrigal now, have always loved this tune. And Alex's guitar tone and performance on the AFTK album is superb.

I agree with all of you on the prevailing sentiment here that longer albums lend themselves to mediocre album cuts. Most of the great albums are short and sweet, with the exception of the handful of double albums that I'm sure many of us agree on (Quadrophenia, Lamb Lies Down, Exile on Main Street, etc.). But many of you are suggesting that once the format expanded in length Rush and other bands of their pedigree necessarily had to fill it, as though it was compulsory. Is that really true? Especially now that we are back in an era of purchasing singles as opposed to complete albums? Far fewer people have paid for music at all in recent years. So what is the incentive for releasing bloated albums in the modern era? Does it not consume costly studio and production time for songs that many people will not purchase anyway? At best it results in often substandard songs that only uber fans will pay attention to at all. I'm trying to suggest that bands choose to do it. That bands who choose not to edit themselves are the problem, and not the format. But Rush is an album-oriented band with album-oriented fans. Rush and other bands seemed to lose sight of this: quality over quantity--all killer, no filler.

Nothing remotely corny about this assertion. Music has kept me alive too. I would need 500 pages minimum to explain. Just trust that there are others out there who feel the way you do, and as you can see, some of them are right here in the Rush community of friends. And hey, I applaud you for not making another insufferable, interminable poll thread. ;)

Outstanding album, one of my all-time favorites, very underrated.

Favorite in no particular order: Spirit of Radio Entre Nous Vital Signs Limelight Subdivisions Xanadu Hemispheres Analog Kid Necromancer Red Barchetta La Villa Strangiato Least Favorite: Stick it Out Seven Cities of Gold Neurotica Most of Presto through Clockwork Angels, with the exception of The Pass, about half of Roll the Bones, Animate, and a few cuts each from Snakes and Arrows and Clockwork Angels. Edit to add La Villa Strangiato to my favorites list. No idea how that one slipped by initially. No idea what to take away to make room. Perhaps The Necromancer, because I only recently became a big fan of it, whereas the others I have loved for many, many years.

Love it. Total Led Zeppelin ripoff, but that riff is so heavy--such a killer groove. I only recently became a fan of this song, but it's competing with Working Man for my favorite from the debut.

Yes - Close to the Edge The Black Crowes - The Southern Harmony and Musical Companion and Amorica Nick Drake - Bryter Layter Van Morrison - It's Too late to Stop Now, among others The Who - Quadrophenia Steely Dan - Aja Richard Buckner - Devotion and Doubt David Bowie - Hunky Dory Ronnie Lane - Anymore for Anymore Graham Nash - Songs for Beginners Lots of Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Allmans, Rolling Stones, Genesis, Pink Floyd, and Jackson Browne albums. These are the albums and artists that I have carried, and that have carried me, across many years. They are never very far from my mind.

Working Man Fly By Night The Necromancer 2112 Xanadu Hemispheres The Spirit of Radio Vital Signs Subdivisions Between the Wheels Marathon Mission The Pass Dreamline Animate I don't know any of the TFE songs well enough to form a valid opinion Ditto, or perhaps Secret Touch The Seeker Far Cry The Wreckers

I can't conduct my response until "What You're Doing" is properly added to the polling options.

Although they played it on the TM tour, and although they played a significant portion of PW on the CA tour, I wouldn't be surprised if they included it on this tour. It is a fan favorite, and it fits with the retrospective theme of R40 (longevity, stamina) and the final tour of this scale.

I too worship at the altar of Live at Leeds and At Fillmore East, and some days I'll cite one of them as the greatest live album all time. But most days I give the nod to Van Morrison's It's Too Late to Stop Now. Like the aforementioned live sets by The Who and the Allmans, it captures Van at the absolute height of his powers. What I would give to go back in time and catch that set. Finally, while on the topic of official live Who releases, I'm quite fond of Live at the Isle of Wight, which includes previews of material they were working on for Lifehouse: "Water," "I Don't Even Know Myself," "Naked Eye."

There is a distinction between studio (or in this case live, partially) master tracks and mixdown masters. The mastered final mixes, which were used to actually press vinyl, cassettes, compact discs, eight-tracks, etc. are not the same thing as the actual master tapes that captured the live recording. The greater concern is whether or not those are still in good condition and appropriately preserved. The digital master you are referring to is the product of mixed-down tracks initially captured on analog tape.

Do we know that for sure, though? Were the shows recorded with no ambiance mics placed around the room? I just kinda always assumed the sterile sound was a product of the studio. Maybe it was just wishful thinking. That said...if the original recordings do exist and can be remastered to sound live...I'd absolutely buy it!! Til then, I'll just keep listening to my Anaheim bootlegs!! Yes, I'm sure they do have an audience track(s). But you cannot simply add those in during remastering. That's not how mastering works, or what mastering is as a process. Putting the audience track back in would require a remix. So too would removing or altering some of the overdubs that contribute to its polished sheen, and detract from its raw potential. A remix is a much more involved process. It would take more time, money, and energy. So the band would have to collectively care about this as much as they did Vapor Trails, for example, or devoting their time to developing new material. And then, if they did remix it, they would have to remaster it again too, as the standard process dictates. I dunno..."haunted" is a pretty strong word. I realize Geddy can only speak for himself, but I don't see why a complete remix/remaster couldn't theoretically happen. Yes, yes, I agree that it is within the realm of possibility. All I am trying to explain is that what Geddy and some fans are bothered by is not something that can be fixed through remastering. It would require an altogether different process.

Don't agree. Geddy is wrong! 9) Rush 8) Fly By Night 7) 2112 6) Caress of Steel 5) A Farewell to Kings 4) Permanent Waves 3) Moving Pictures 2) Hemispheres 1) Signals

Do we know that for sure, though? Were the shows recorded with no ambiance mics placed around the room? I just kinda always assumed the sterile sound was a product of the studio. Maybe it was just wishful thinking. That said...if the original recordings do exist and can be remastered to sound live...I'd absolutely buy it!! Til then, I'll just keep listening to my Anaheim bootlegs!! Yes, I'm sure they do have an audience track(s). But you cannot simply add those in during remastering. That's not how mastering works, or what mastering is as a process. Putting the audience track back in would require a remix. So too would removing or altering some of the overdubs that contribute to its polished sheen, and detract from its raw potential. A remix is a much more involved process. It would take more time, money, and energy. So the band would have to collectively care about this as much as they did Vapor Trails, for example, or devoting their time to developing new material. And then, if they did remix it, they would have to remaster it again too, as the standard process dictates.

The aspects of ESL that "haunt" Geddy could not be corrected through a mere process of remastering. The audience, or lack thereof, and the polished nature of the recordings is a mixing and overdubbing problem. It would require a much more rigorous intervention to fix the problems Geddy and some Rush fans have with it. That said, this isn't unprecedented for Rush. After all, they did remix Vapor Trails.

Yeah, that was frustrating. Signals is my favorite Rush album. I assumed Geddy would rank it right behind MP, PW, and 2112.

Has it already been shown? Last night after That Metal Show I found it pretty interesting. Almost a short version of BTLS with a little extra (the Le Studio stuff) mixed in..... Yes, I thought the same. The Rock Icons episode seemed to draw heavily on outtakes from interviews that comprised BTLS.

Had they given him more than just the first nine studio albums to work with, I wonder where he would have placed, say, Power Windows and Clockwork Angels. To see him rank the entire studio catalog would have been especially interesting. (But of course there would not have been time. I imagine even Geddy would need to deliberate for a bit.) That said, I am surprised that, just within the first nine albums, he ranked Signals so low, and actually put Caress of Steel ahead of FBN. I assumed COS would be last in his evaluation.

F**k it. AFTK's is still number 1 no matter what he says.... :codger: Yeah, what does he know anyway? LOL. Pretty sure AFTK was ahead of the debut, but still surprising that he put it that high. Not that I'm complaining, I think it's underrated. Yes, you are correct on AFTK being ahead of Rush. I went to edit my initial post and the option to do so is not there.

You seriously don't know?? No I don't, nor do I care after watching that. The 'hosts' were self-absorbed douchebags only interested in spewing out their own ill-informed opinions. The last 20 minutes, Geddy sat smiling politely and wondering why he was here. These ass clowns couldn't get 'clockwork orange' correct and had trouble naming all studio albums. Here's a tip for interviewers...ask the question, shut up and listen, rinse and repeat. It's a TV show on VH1. It's not the Tonight Show with Geddy Lee.