CrossedSignals

QUOTE (rushgoober @ Jun 16 2012, 09:55 PM) Ok, it is with some embarrassment that I am actually thoroughly enjoying Caravan & BU2B now. I didn't until very recently. Two years ago my thoughts on the songs were this: Caravan - great introduction, great instrumental breakdown, but I found the lyrics uninspiring, especially in the aftermath of the much more universal and inspiring lyrics of Far Cry. The lyrics just weren't connecting with me. BU2B - Basically I thought it was Faithless part 2 - another annoying, seething, preachy song on those who have faith. For two years everyone said these are part of a concept album, and wait until you hear them in context before passing judgment. Now that I actually have heard them IN CONTEXT, they do make perfect sense in the concept. Caravan wasn't necessarily meant to be inspiring, but filled with youthful hope. BU2B's Watchmaker is much more of an amorphously definied character than seeming to have the more religious/spiritual connotation it seemed to. IN MY DEFENSE, Rush probably didn't handle this very well. I highly doubt they intended to have these songs released a full two years prior to the album. Really, I felt like I had absolutely no choice but to take the songs at face value. I knew they were part of a concept, but what was I supposed to do, not take the songs at face value and enjoy the songs in the context of a concept without the concept? It was hard to enjoy them the way they were intended to be if I had no clue what that intention was, so I did the only thing that made sense, I took them literally, and in that regards, I didn't like what I heard. Anyway, I admit I was wrong, and I'm grateful I was. Like I've said many times, I never want to NOT like or love a Rush song - it is always with sadness when I don't. And oh yeah, the improved mixes of the songs didn't hurt any. You pay too much attention to lyrics.

Clockwork Angels? More like Clockwork DIE!

QUOTE (BeOhBe Bob @ Jun 16 2012, 04:55 AM) QUOTE (CrossedSignals @ Jun 15 2012, 04:13 PM)Get ready for four years of disappointment, isolation, social anxiety, and acne. Hey maybe we oughta introduce Nate to our "guide to being a teenager" huh? Or how looking your best is more important than anything else http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h3ee7LMVbXM&feature=related Congratulations Nate! you young adult you! And Nate, don't forget to have fun and just B Natural!

Hey MSTies, check out this AWESOME site, The Annotated MST ! It explains every reference from almost every episode! (Amazing!) It looks like they're adding new episodes on a pretty regular basis too, working towards a complete collection. This is perfect for those times Tom drops an obscure literary reference or Crow mentions some obscure character actor from the 70s!

QUOTE (ReGorLaTroy @ Jun 15 2012, 01:33 PM) God I Love Tacos http://www.brain-confetti.com/images/cheesytaco%20copy.jpg *wipes tear* I don't know why that made me laugh so hard, but I haven't laughed like that at something online in a good while. Thanks for that!

God I like turtles

QUOTE (presto123 @ Jun 15 2012, 01:21 PM) I would use this method if I were a Gaga fan. Except the radio would be plugged into the wall. Radio Gaga?

QUOTE (treeduck @ Jun 15 2012, 11:21 AM)Happy Birthday to Kelly my mum! Yes I'm her young son! Isn't that amazing? I always thought you had the personality of a 4-year old. But with the intelligence of a 12-year old. Truly a miracle of modern science! Oh and happy birthday, Kelly D! Cheers to the only Rush fan under 25 who's been to 17 shows!

Get ready for four years of disappointment, isolation, social anxiety, and acne.

Yep, there's definitely pitch-correction going on, but really who knows whether it's genuine or just faked to stir up some controversy? I actually don't mind at all when Auto-Tune is used as an artistic tool, and we're meant to hear and notice it. I DO mind when it's used subversively to correct a performance that I expect to be natural, as it (allegedly) is in this case.

QUOTE (GeminiRising79 @ Jun 15 2012, 08:36 AM) I found Counterparts depressing and uncharacteristically Rush I found your usage of the word 'uncharacteristically' to be characteristically incorrect.

QUOTE (ThinkingBig @ Jun 14 2012, 07:03 PM) QUOTE (Jmo2112 @ Jun 14 2012, 07:15 PM) I have been a hardcore Rush fan since 1983 when at age 13 I was blown away upon hearing Tom Sawyer while at summer camp. I was fortunate enough to get to see Rush at Radio City Music Hall that year when Rush was previewing songs that would end up on the Grace Under Pressure album. I remained a rabid fan up to and including Counterparts (even though I felt queasy about Presto along the way). Test for Echo is where the band lost me. Vapor Trails didn't win me back either, but Snakes and Arrows came along and yanked me back onto the train. For the most part. And now we have Clockwork Angels which is growing on me literally by the minute (have Headlong Flight in the headphones as I type this). But a few things nag at me from the recesses of my subconscious. What's keeping me from fully loving the recent output and feeling that deeper connection with my favorite band ever? I believe it boils down to the following points: 1. Rush are no longer giving me a *Rush*. In other words the chills I used to get upon hearing a new song/album aren't there. Not a one. I love the music, admire the musicianship and respect the songwriting but something is still missing. I attribute this in part to the fact that (as Neil admitted in his recent Rolling Stone interview) the boys are making music for different reasons these days. They need to make albums without necessarily wanting to so much. To my mind these leads into issue #2 2. Lack of experimentation. Not to be confused with lack of progressiveness. The boys still kill it with odd time signatures and concepts but where's the experimentation? Whether it be Neil's fills, Alex's solos or Geddy's vocals I'm not hearing the boundary pushing. Maybe this is connected to point #3... 3. KEYBOARDS! Where are they and will they ever make a comeback??? From 2112-Counterparts keyboards played a *crucial* role in defining Rush's sound. That leaves Rush-COS and Test For Echo-Clockwork Angels keyboard-less. Their catalog is kind of like meat lined with fat in this respect. 4. Production: call me a curmudgeon but I miss Terry Brown. Henderson did a bang up job on GUP but outside of that I can't say that I've heard a non-Broon produced Rush album that comes close to Permanent Waves. If anything the production value has deteriorated into a digital mess that peaked with Vapor Trails but is still present on the later albums. Alex's solos, Neil's snare drum and even Geddy's bass tone have all suffered as a result. Being back Geddy's Rick, Alex's Gibson hollow bodies and give Neil some analog love! That's my assessment. Many will disagree but let me end on an up note. Rush on a bad day (or album) are still better then the vast majority of bands in the galaxy. I wouldn't nit pick or take the time to write this if I didn't care. I have loved these guys for close to 30 years and will always love them. I just hope that they will produce one more album to 2" tape using keyboards with Terry Brown at the board! Wishful thinking, I know. But this is a band that inspires hope in many interesting ways! Peace. Jeremy IMO You're not a RUSH fan. You were a RUSH fan, but no longer. IMO Wow.... that's a pretty dick reply to the most eloquent, balanced, and enjoyable criticism of modern-day Rush I've read since I joined TRF.

QUOTE (VampireBiscuits @ Jun 14 2012, 04:07 PM)QUOTE (CrossedSignals @ Jun 13 2012, 01:19 PM)QUOTE (VampireBiscuits @ Jun 10 2012, 06:17 PM) I love Mystery Science Theater 3000, I have since I was a kid when I used to watch the show with my dad and sisters. I started watching them when Mike was the host, so I'd have to say he is my favorite. It would be almost impossible to pick a favorite episode, but the ones I've seen the most are MST3K: The Movie and Werewolf. "Now that I can drive, those caribou don't stand a chance!" "It's just that so many things have happened since we discovered those remains." "Not things again!" http://i893.photobucket.com/albums/ac133/AmokTime85/wheresmy.jpg Big Mike fan here too! Gotta give Joel his respect, but Mike is way funnier IMO. And Werewolf is such a hilarious episode! "Skin-walker." "Skin-walker?" Mike: "Texas skin-ranger." Awesome! I actually just watched 'Manos: The Hands of Fate' after seeing so much love for it here, I was embarrassed that I'd never seen it. But Joel had some pretty funny moments in that one, I like his dry sense of humor but I like the back and forth between Mike, Crow and Tom Servo more. Werewolf is hilarious, I think I'm going to have to watch it again! "Look Noel, I'm not superstitious." "I'm stupid." "This really isn't any kind of conventional animal I'm familiar with." "It's not a bunny!" I'm going to bump it up to the top of my queue and watch again too. Oh yeah Manos is classssic! Joel has a lot of great moments. I was in the same boat as you.... I only watched it recently after hearing it's so popular. I've watched almost every Mike episode, by my Joel-era knowledge is a little lacking. The history behind Manos is crazy too.... the actor who played Torgo was left permanently crippled by improperly worn leg braces (remember how he walks funny the whole time?). Manos is not merely the worst film ever made.... it actually ruined lives.

QUOTE (Enemy Within 77 @ Jun 14 2012, 10:21 PM)The band sucks, but Simone is a fukking goddess!!!!! Agreed. I was expecting great things when I first found out about them, but the songwriting is lame and the sound is pretty canned. Nightwish smacks them out of the water when it comes to symphonic metal. Then again, I don't know the first thing about symphonic metal apart from Nightwish, so my opinion isn't very informed.

QUOTE (Your_Lion @ Jun 14 2012, 06:13 AM) The Classic Rock magazine with the Fan Pack was an informative and enjoyable read, but one part in particular had me scratching my head and going "huh?". It's from the page on Counterparts. "Sandwiched between two albums - Roll The Bones and Test For Echo - that hardcore fans often discuss with great affection, 1993's Counterparts tends to get written out of Rush history." Really? Judging by what I've read here on TRF, the exact opposite is true!

QUOTE (maxdistortion @ Jun 14 2012, 05:31 AM)its mostly the mastering... they squashed the hell out of the entire mix and beefed up the bottom end to an overexagurated extent. I've heard albums mixed worse than this one, sadly. If you guys compare the 2010 version of Bu2b and Caravan, to this one...its sad... Shame too really cus the more I listen to this album the more I absolutely love it...including trying desperately to adjust my ears to the mix if nothing else lol The mix does sound "squashed". There isn't a good use of the whole frequency spectrum. It's weird because this isn't a necessary result of "brickwalling" or "over-compression".... it's just poorly mixed. I agree, the 2010 mixes of Caravan and BU2B sound WAY better now that I've gone back and listened. I like some of the creative choices in the new mixes, but it terms of sound quality it's not even close.

QUOTE (treeduck @ Jun 14 2012, 12:25 AM)What gives? It can't be technology can it? Are they making albums just to sound good for Ipods? Do some of them even sound good in an Ipod?? There are 3 factors that play into this, as far as I can tell. One of them is indeed technology. 1) Prevalence of shitty speaker setups. Many albums nowadays are engineered to sound good on cheap, tinny laptop speakers, iPod earbuds, and other shitty speaker setups, because that's how most people do their casual listening. A loud, compressed track sounds better (and is actually audible) on cheap, tinny speakers. 2) Loudness wars. Fortunately, the loudness wars are winding down, as we've pretty much reached maximum loudness ("brickwalling" is about as loud as you can get). 3) Dominance of electronic music. Most electronic music sounds a hell of lot better with a healthy dose of compression and maximization (when applied correctly), and electronic music is the rising mainstream genre right now. Rock music is not. I bet a lot of rock producers feel they need to apply these same mixing/mastering techniques in order to keep up and be noticed, which is a damn shame, because it usually doesn't sound very good. Rock and electronica are different musical worlds, and should be treated as such.

Ghost Of A Chance on Retrospective III is just awesome.

QUOTE (Cyclonus X-1 @ Jun 13 2012, 06:08 PM)I agree: there's no detritus on this record. Whoa! There's an SAT word for ya.

QUOTE (YYZrocks @ Jun 1 2012, 12:46 PM) QUOTE (SchemingDemon @ May 31 2012, 06:35 PM)QUOTE (yaoi_myantidrug @ May 31 2012, 04:59 AM) And now for the silly one(s) Did you ever wonder where all those meme pics came from? http://i328.photobucket.com/albums/l348/yaoi_myantidrug/geddyface.jpg That is FUNNY! Haha! I didn't know he made the Me Gusta face. I thought he only caused us to make it. Holy crap, Geddy invented the internet!

QUOTE (JohnnyBlaze @ Jun 13 2012, 04:47 AM) QUOTE (CrossedSignals @ Jun 13 2012, 02:57 AM) I love washing dishes. I mean, I wouldn't just stand around and do it all day, but it's actually kind of nice. It's warm and soapy and it builds those biceps. My biceps are big enough. But you can come on over any evening after the gf and I eat dinner and have one hell of a workout. We've got glasses, plates, saucers, pots, pans, and all sorts of utensils that you can have a ball with every night! Hell yeah, I'd love to! Just mail me airfare to some exotic land.

QUOTE (J2112YYZ @ Jun 13 2012, 05:33 AM) QUOTE (ShlappinDahBass @ Jun 12 2012, 10:37 PM) While we're on the subject of different TV shows. Have any of you seen Dexter, The Walking Dead, or Breaking Bad? Fantastic shows. All of them have their own threads in this section, unless you're too lazy too look for them. Now to get back on topic I feel I should let you know that there's always money in the banana stand Why go to a banana stand when we can make your banana stand?