Cygnus Xanadu-1

Working Man.

Next poll please ;)

Manhattan Project.

It's like an intelligent big-budget blockbuster, but for the ears.

I went for Force Ten, but that may be due to my current mood and the fact that it's the most chaotic of the songs on the record.

I love Time Stand Still for its lyrical content and its enthusiasm that lies within the music, and Prime Mover is one of my favourite tracks from any Rush album (I'm surprised though that no one has used it for a Sitcom theme yet), but Force Ten is probably their most focused track on the record.

Geddy doesn't compare to God.

I mean. He's cool and all, but he isn't Geddy Lee.

Dreamland

1. Dreamline

2. Roll the Bones

3. The Pass

4. Bravado

5. Nobodies Hero

6. Stick it Out

7. Chain Lightning

8. Test for Echo

9. Driven

10. Animate

11. Where's My Thing? (followed by 15 minutes of silence with the inclusion of "Leave That Thing Alone" as a bonus track)

The Big Bang

Side One:

1. Between the Wheels

2. Manhattan Project

3. Time Stand Still

4. Distant Early Warning

Side Two:

5. Subdivisions

6. Force Ten

7. Marathon

8. Digital Man

I was listening to Rush the other day, and a thought struck me.

If you arrange certain songs and albums into a certain order, you could effectively create a "mega-album", focusing on a nuclear (or possibly intergalactic) war that ravages the earth and culminates in the destruction of all electrical appliances, leading to the formation of a clockwork totalitarian government that tries to establish an order for all things, which eventually morphs into the "Temples of Syrinx". Some flee the war and seek out the stuff of legend in order to find solitude, but few are truly successful. Once the temples fall, one citizen flees the chaos in order to seek out the black hole of Cygnus X-1, in order to avert the disasters that have plagued mankind. Cue Hemispheres.

Yes, this is crazy and rather idiotic, and this is part of no underlying scheme that the holy triumvirate has concocted, but I still think that it's a pleasant concept, and would make a rather interesting musical.

Listening to the album a sudden thought struck me. Did Neil base the character of the Watchmaker on himself? Let's think about it, both the character and Neil are both described as being "rigid" and "immovable". They create the devices need to keep time in there worlds and both are at the very core of there creations. A drummer such as Peart has to keep time and create devices (musically speaking) that fulfil this task. So does a watchmaker, except in this case, I am speaking in terms of horology. There instruments are always precise, always accurate.

They also appear to have similarities in there philosophical views, since both rigidly keep to there ideologies whilst still finding ways of contemplating and understanding the ideas of others. There rigidity and time-keeping however is what gives it away for us.

This maybe just an insane rant but the similarities are uncanny, so it remains an open possibility...

And so, since everyone appears to have been unable to resist and have listened to the new album Clockwork Angels, I ask you this, what do you think is the best song from the album?

1. A Farewell to Kings

2. Hemispheres

3. Moving Pictures

4. Permanent Waves

5. 2112

6. Clockwork Angels

7. Grace Under Pressure

8. Caress of Steel

9. Signals

10. Power Windows

11. Fly By Night

12. Counterparts

13. Presto

14. Vapor Trails

15. Roll the Bones

16. Hold Your Fire

17. Rush

18. Snakes & Arrows

19. Test For Echo

However, Clockwork Angels is moving up in the world for me at the moment....

Distant Early Warning - One of Rush's finest hours

Wasn't so keen on Presto though...

It would be brilliant if they covered Johnny B. Goode lol

Ummm

1. I Know What I Like (In your wardrobe) - Genesis

2. Rock and Roll - Led Zeppelin

3. Smoke on the Water - Deep Purple

4. Hey Joe - The Jimi Hendrix Experience

5. Baba O' Riley - The Who

6. (I can't get no) Satisfaction - The Rolling Stones

If it reaches No. 1, no matter how much I want it to....

I'll eat my copy of Snakes and Arrows.