Bangster of Goats

Heh, kinda reminds me of one time he and Alex were on Rockline and they kept getting questions about the "Gangster of Boats" Trilogy... "It was a joke, but we've decided tonight that it's not a very funny joke because we keep getting all these serious questions about it..."

If I had the coin, I'd bid on this. Alas, no coin. Coin fail. I haz a sad.

Yup, count Xanadu out for the text tour. Ha ha. I still wish they would work on new songs instead of touring, but who knows what they will really do. Ha ha. Also, ha ha. Ha ha. Ha ha.

A decidedly un-prog theme. Well, heck, I heard a Camel song the other day where he sings about slipping out the back door of a pub with the barmaid or something. ;)

Test For Echo vaguely seems to be about communication, or more specificially, what the title implies: making a statement and seeing if anyone reacts or acknowledges it. A handful of songs seem to fit that theme (The title track, Color of Right, Virtuality, Half the World off the top of my head) but there are others on the album that don't really. To me, Presto seems to be themed around illusions in life and acknowledging them, or in some cases the creation of. Show Don't Tell, War Paint, Available Light, Hand Over FIst, Superconductor, and obviously the title track fit this theme.

Neil has indeed acknowledged the Oscar Wilde quote/inspiration in The Pass.

Haha, cool. I went to SFASU in Nacogdoches. Never realized there was an FM 2112 nearby or I would have driven it myself. :)

Man that pic of Geddy doing the ultra duckface creeps me out every time. :D

Starting off with a piss break song? :D (Disclaimer: I actually like Totem. Not exactly opener material though.)

I think I'm gonna have to go with Hold Your Fire. It's a cerebral, introspective take on human temperament. I once heard Neil joke that he wishes he could disown everything he'd written before 1980. The fantastical scifi stuff and the Randroid ramblings that he no longer subscribes to. Kinda have to agree with him. ;)

Hrrrm... Take A Friend In The End I Think I'm Going Bald (this one was actually tough!) Tears Madrigal (for Hemispheres....zomg, I just can't do it. Too much awesome on the album. Impossible to choose. I guess The Trees by the skinniest hair.) Different Strings Witch Hunt The Weapon Distant Early Warning (this was another toughie) Marathon (and yet another toughie) Second Nature (easy... yes, I think it's worse than Tai Shan ;)) Superconductor (very easy) The entire Roll the Bones album (yup, I went there) The Speed of Love Virtuality How It Is Faithless The Garden (yup, I went there also)

I would hope to have the cops tell me I was playing 2112 too softly.

Presto does sound thin indeed (as do many other Rupert Hine productions), but in this specific case of Presto, I actually don't mind it so much. It makes the album sound crisp and "wintery" to me and it reminds me of the fall/winter of 1989 when I bought it upon release. Those 3 hour drives in the cold wintery weather, from home back up to college after the weekend, playing Presto in the car... and other memories of the time. So yeah, just silly sentimental reasons. ;) Also, bunnehs. But on the other hand, if it had Counterparts' sonics, it would be absolutely teh ballz. The sound of Counterparts is my favorite of everything they've released since 1984 (the remixed/remastered Vapor Trails a close second I must admit.)

That's what I posted on facebook to someone who had these same feelings- I think it's safe to assume that whatever Rush does, is Rush's choice at this point. To think they can be "forced" to tour is hilarious. If anything, they probably "forced" themselves when they had that little meeting. By their admission, they still like touring, and I'm guessing they figure they might as well get in as much touring as they can, while they can, age and health allowing. They can always pull a Beatles and retire from touring while still putting out new studio recordings at their leisure. Ged and Al have home studios so it's not like they *need* to shell out the bucks for studio time (though I suspect they like to do so because it puts them in a "going to work" mode.) and heck, you don't even need a recording contract anymore. Slap 'em on iTunes, done.

Odd that they would be "pushed into touring", as I've gotten the impression that they were very much in the driver's seat as far as what the band does, especially in recent years. Did one of them rack up a huge beer tab or something? :)

My profile name? Hehehe...

Heh, I'd forgotten about this one until I listened to Power Windows recently: Big money leave a mighty wake Big money, little prudence instead of Big money leave a mighty wake Big money leave a bruise Always heard it that way, since 1985, lol.

Good lord, no. The quickest way to cheese up a band is to shoehorn in a horn/wind section. Add the horns, jump the shark. I remember seeing a Who performance of Won't Get Fooled Again that had horns and a little part of me died then. The strings on the CA tour... okay, one tour is fine. That was that tour's schtick. I'm with the other poster who said the only strings I want to see on stage from this point on are the ones on Geddy's and Alex's instruments. ;)

What's kinda interesting about Ged's and Alex's solo albums is that you can hear their individual songwriting elements that they each bring to Rush. Like in "Grace to Grace", you can say "ahh, Geddy's responsible for *that* kind of vibe in Rush" and in "Promise" you can hear the kind of style Alex brings to the Rush songwriting table. Interesting also that their respective solo albums go along with their personalities. Alex's goes from wacky to literally deadly serious ("At The End") and Geddy's is more even-keel and introspective.

I've come to appreciate ITIGB. I used to HATE that song, but now I see it as early evidence that Rush was not quite as serious as they may seem. Dog Years '75 indeed! I think it would be a big ol' tongue-in-cheek hoot if they brought it out for their next tour (if they have one...) I can see Alex hamming it up.

I like these guys (despite "Radioactive" being overplayed everywhere for the last couple years or so, but whatev'...) so I thought it was kinda cool that they gave a Rush song a shot. I've seen much worse covers of Tom Sawyer, believe me...

Bring on Broon. Screw it. Damn the nostalgia, full speed ahead!

"The new Energizer Superconductor!" <Energizer Bunny makes his way across the TV screen *dum dum dum dum dum...*> "Watch his every move!"

Actually, they can be kinda bad about practicing while on break. ;) I know Geddy's said he might pick up a bass once a week and "fool around" and Alex often won't touch a guitar for a month, and then feel really guilty and binge-practice. Taking a little time off from playing can actually be beneficial; you come back refreshed. You might be a little rusty, sure, but in a couple days you're right back where you were.

Power Windows was definitely the first simultaneous new release. My copy of the vinyl (which I bought the day of release) says on the bottom back cover "also available on cassette and compact disc" and I remember thinking "oh man I need to get a CD player one of these days..." A couple years later in late 1987, I finally did get a CD player, and HYF was my first CD (bought a couple months after I had already bought the vinyl but I didn't care. ;) ) I'm pretty sure PoW ended up being my second-ever CD and Moving Pictures was third. By the time I was off to college in 1988 I'm pretty sure I had the whole Rush catalog on CD. A Show of Hands was the first Rush release I didn't get on vinyl.