Alchemical

No, as far as epics go I think we'll be seeing Xanadu (And of course 2112) only. The only songs off of PeW that we'll be hearing are Freewill and possibly Jacob's Ladder. Apparently they tried to include JL into the setlist for the TM tour but it just didn't end up working out.

Another review that labels Wish Them Well as the worst song on the album eh?

I really hope they play this. Wasn't it scrapped on the TM tour?

QUOTE (CrossedSignals @ May 10 2012, 12:49 PM) Power Windows. Man.... I did not understand that album at all when I first heard it. I was just getting into Rush and was in love with the earlier albums. So Power Windows just sounded bizarre. But over time, I've gotten into more and more synth-based and electronic music, and Power Windows has grown on me to the point where it's now my second favorite Rush album. Love it!

QUOTE (Gilbertk @ May 10 2012, 09:21 AM) QUOTE (The Mighty Dudad @ May 10 2012, 09:14 AM) No more CA music...but a reference to a "future album special" that it sounded like he and Geddy will be recording later today. Maybe they will premiere the full album and play interviews in between..? Keep dreaming.

European tour in Spring 2013!

"That song's just about a train right?" "Just a choo-choo train, right?"

I'm guessing his interview is starting after HF.

Nice to see this review is more objective. Looks like The Wreckers and Wish Them Well are the weakspots. Still...I'm REALLY interested in hearing Alex's riff on Carnies. Both reviews have given it unanimous praise.

QUOTE (LeaveMyThingAlone @ May 8 2012, 02:27 PM) As far as what I think they may retire, I'd say Red Barchetta, Freewill, YYZ, Working Man. They're probably sick of the Moving Pictures stuff so dont be surprised if they only play Tom Sawyer and Limelight Tommy is getting played no matter what but I'd love if Limelight was replaced with YYZ!

How did you miss the big, fat thread just a few threads down from this one?

QUOTE (LeaveMyThingAlone @ May 8 2012, 03:38 PM) Yah I'm pretty sure Neil has the last word. I think there are certain songs he refuses to play Well then I hope Neil loves The Weapon, The Enemy Within, Kid Gloves, and Middletown Dreams. What I think is a great idea is for the boys to submit a handful of obscure songs that they are ALL okay with playing on a poll on their site/facebook/etc to gauge out what the fans themselves want to hear.

Which of RUSH's more overplayed popular songs are you sick to death of hearing live?

Nope. It's likely that CA will be performed in its entirety though. I'm guessing 3 or so Signals songs will make it into the second set as well.

I got Floor 1 (Geddy's side), Row O in Charlotte! First time seeing RUSH this close and personal.

QUOTE (chefmb @ May 7 2012, 11:11 AM) I can't even pull one ticket for Charlotte???? I had this problem too. Keep refreshing and you'll eventually get something decent.

QUOTE (iglehart @ May 7 2012, 11:08 AM) Front row floor 2 Row A for Charlotte! Yippy. And I thought my FL1 Row O seats were good! Didn't want to risk tossing them for worse seats though! See ya in Charlotte!

http://i.imgur.com/3TKE0.png If is confident enough to play CA in its entirety, it must be a pretty bitchin' album. I just hope we hear one or two (Hopefully NONE but I know I'm in the minority) MP songs tops. Did your friend say anything about Signals being played prominently?

QUOTE (RodrigoAltaf @ May 7 2012, 09:17 AM) What exactly is "an audio trompe l'oiel"? A pretentious way of saying EARGASM!

QUOTE (The Mighty Dudad @ May 7 2012, 08:48 AM) 2. Unless I missread, I didn't see any instrumentals. Didn't every song review include some mention of Geddy's vocals? Not a bad thing, IMO...sounds like there are plenty of instrumental fireworks going on within the structure of the songs. Geddy's vocals were mentioned on every track minus Carnies and Wish Them Well Since the guy is more or less salivating at Lerxst, I could see Carnies being an Alex-heavy instrumental.

QUOTE (ReflectedLight @ May 7 2012, 08:47 AM) the hype has reached astronomical proportions. so that guy didn't find one thing wrong with the entire album? I don't think Roadrunner would allow any negative criticism to leak out until after the album. Many reviewers ARE paid off, lets just hope this guy is sincere in his assessment

QUOTE (EmotionDetector @ May 7 2012, 08:27 AM) Sounds like BU2B is definitely different. I LOVE the original, but I am psyched to hear it in a new light. I mean, even if this new version isn't as good, I still have the original, so that's awesome! From the review though...I'm not sure that Caravan was at all altered. Doesn't sound like it...but who knows?! Surely they were both rerecorded though. It would be very unlike Rush to tinker with JUST BU2B and not at least rerecord Caravan.

Cellos could explain the orchestra they're rumored to be touring with. Looks like they might play CA in its entirety after all?

QUOTE (EmotionDetector @ May 7 2012, 07:52 AM) One of the best things I see on these reviews is that, for almost every song, the reviewer mentions an "Alex solo". It keeps coming up over and over...and that makes me happy! Yes! I knew Alex would shine on this record. Can't wait to hear his supposed "BEST RIFF EVER" on Carnies!

CLOCKWORK ANGELS Stephen Colbert once joked with Rush by asking, "Have you ever written a song so epic that by the end of the song you were actually being influenced by yourself in the beginning of the song?" Which could indeed be the case with this mini classic that works as a self-contained rock opera. It's a lot to take in all at once, but what stays with you are things like Peart's blissful dancing on the hi-hat and Lifeson's bold Townshend-esque revelry. (Can a song have its own overture? It not, it certainly does now.) And then there's Lee's voice, which has never sounded so smooth and unaffected. When the band is hard charging, Peart pounds on his toms with an almost beastly force. By the 4:30 mark, the spotlight hits Lifeson, performing a solo that plays like an aria. It all builds to a playful false ending, an audio trompe l'oiel... which proceeds to a shattering finale. CARNIES Sweet and soul, rude and inviting - this phantasmagoric pounder is fascinating in how everything seems effortlessly, inexplicably right. It also features probably the meanest riff that Alex Lifeson has ever played - on record at least - one which dovetails seamlessly into a brutal mass of a verse. Throughout Carnies, Lifeson keeps upping his game and reaching new heights. His solo is a spiral of patterns both raging and tender. He possesses an extravagant gift for making the perfect sound at the perfect time - bell-like flourishes, scooped-out phased chords, spitfire trills - and his intuition adds to their ceaseless and bewildering beauty. HALO EFFECT Can you possibly tell that a song is destined to become a classic the first time you hear it? Possibly - and if, for some reason, Halo Effect doesn't make it into the pantheon of all-time Rush greats, it'll come damn close. Over a gorgeous, double-tracked acoustic guitar figure, Geddy Lee sings richly, even-tempered and marvelously expressive. The track surges into a section of stomping power trio goodness, but the overall framework is acoustic, soon laced with elegant strings. "What did I do before there were words?" Lee asks, bathed in a breathtaking glow of cellos that carry him - and us - away. THE GARDEN A pastoral delight that comes over you like a daydream. Graceful and buoyant acoustics, tasteful orchestration, and Lee singing in a simple, unaffected style make up the bedrock of The Garden. Peart joins in on a second verse, laying down a soft shuffle, and even when he appears to be doing very little, his sense of composition and movement has a profound impact. His patterns are so natural that it's almost as if the sticks breezed into his hands and started playing him. After a spellbindingly romantic piano interlude, Lifeson reaches in and pulls out a multi-dimensional guitar solo, one which recalls the mysterious epiphanies from Limelight. There's a certain melancholy quality to his phrasing, as is he's pausing briefly to look behind his shoulder. By the end, he's rejoined his bandmates and the three march off intrepidly together. They don't dwell in the moment - there's no needlessly showy flourishes or building the crescendo up as "epic" - but the further away they get the more it becomes apparent that the spell they've cast and the resonance of Clockwork Angels will linger on. I. AM. EXCITED.