Bangster of Goats

I'm not hearing the Star Trek thing, but I've always heard the Hammond-y bits. Whether it's an organ/keyboard or some Lerxst-O-Phonic effects illusionism on a guitar overdub, it adds to the kind of 70s flavor of the song.

Yeah that one is awesome, but NOTHING beats this classic

Eh, the first minute and a half or so of the Anarchist is almost a mini-instrumental in itself... good enough for me.

I'll just say that the measly 5-year period of 1977-1982 is just completely mental in the ways Rush changed. I mean, comparing Signals to Hemispheres for example... four short years apart, but they may as well have come from different geologic epochs.

QUOTE (ClassicB @ Sep 22 2012, 08:10 AM) I agree. For Geddy, other than playing the bass, he is on auto pilot for most of the keyboards these days. It's too bad because this is another reason I like to watch the older 80's videos because they were not using nearly as many samples as they do now. They actually played note for note on most stuff. My biggest dissapointment in Geddy was when he retired the Moog Taurus pedals in favor of sampled Taurus. Sorry but these ears can tell the difference. Agree 100%. I didn't catch the Time Machine tour, but when I saw youtube clips for the Camera Eye afterwards, I was a bit disappointed. C'mon Ged, what's next, hit one MIDI pedal and all of Subdivisions plays for you? I miss the older days (ugh can't believe I said that!) where Geddy had that massive Oberheim 8-voice on one side, and also the GuP-HYF period where he was surrounded by keyboard stands piled high with gear. Yum!

You know what the weird thing about Grace Under Pressure is in general? Even though this album was released 28 years ago, it's the one Rush album that sounds like it was recorded 100 years from now. Well, except for the "the Soviets are the blues!" line, that kinda places it in time, but whatev'.

From reading Neil's books, it seems like Neil is a great guy to chat with as long as you don't know who he is. If you're just some random, unknowing, guy at a gas station admiring his BMW bike, or some guy in a diner talking about the nasty weather heading this way, he seems fine lol. A lot of celebs in general seem to really appreciate not being recognized, and having "normal" conversations with someone. Many years ago, my mom had shoulder surgery and was going to a clinic for physical therapy afterwards. As the days went by, she began talking with a polite, gentlemanly, and TALL guy from Nigeria who was also doing some therapy at the same clinic. She had no idea he was Hakeem Olajuwon of the Houston Rockets until I guess a couple weeks in, she finally asked him what he did for a living. They had a good chuckle over that.

Signals is one of my no-particular-order top three, along with MP and PeW. Indispensable for me. Signals has an open, dreamy sound in parts thanks to those big synth pads in songs like Subdivisions, Analog Kid, and Chemistry. Geddy's voice even has a dreamy quality to it on this album. It really captures my imagination, both then (bought the vinyl first in 1984) and now. And of course, Subdivisions is a song that was a major turning point in my development as a Rush fan. Back then, I was aware of Rush and all, but this one time, I think in 1983, my parents took us to one of those planetarium laser shows. This one was supposed to be all classical music, but at the very end of the show, the people running the production had included Subdivisions as the closing track. The moment I heard that opening low F# drone and then those synth chords bursting in, I was floored and it was one of the coolest things I'd ever heard (also helped that there was the cool laser show in sync with it...) It was at that moment the Rush bug was really planted in me.

QUOTE (mmclarney @ Sep 20 2012, 03:44 PM) Seeing these pics makes me wonder if Geddy has ever considered playing a 5-string. Anyone know? He had a 5-string Wal back in the HYF days. I believe Geddy said he played it on Lock and Key.

Actually, the vinyl version *is* two LPs isn't it? Man I need to get a copy... even if I don't have a turntable right now lol.

It was built as a surprise gift for Geddy, commissioned by his bass tech and built at the Fender custom shop. There's a thread about this bass on talkbass where the builder of the bass posted a few times explaining its origin.

Yeah they've used those screens for many many tours, for lyrics and other notifications (and probably ball game score updates depending on the season. ) It's not like Geddy has gone senile and doesn't know the words, it's just that he's up there concentrating on 50 million things at once and it's nice to have a "guide" to keep you in check.

Oh good news, I hope that tweak sticks. I'm perhaps a little tired of TSOR, but I'm WAY tired of Working Man. (...is someone in the band reading this forum?* lol. I see on here a lot of retire-it-I'm-sick-of-it thrown at Working Man and a lot of people missing TSOR, and, viola, setlist tweak! ) *rhetorical question!

Is it generally agreed that the Sector remasters are better than the 1997? I got a few of the 1997's (and other "Rush Remaster" series discs) years ago, and I had foolishly sold off the W German (in the case of older Rush material) and other original release copies those remasters replaced. (Except for Presto (that particular original I bought in 1989 has sentimental value), and I also kept the original Test For Echo because the missing "Sisyphus" in the remaster, though extremely minor, still drives me nuts.) I still have a handful of W Germans and other original releases though, as I had never gotten around to buying the 1997s for those albums, thank goodness!

I always bring earplugs to concerts, just in case. Loud is fun but I don't like damaging my hearing, thanks. At outdoor shows where it's grass seating, I always make sure to plop down where the nearest loudspeaker towers out there in the grass are behind and facing away from me, so I don't get blasted directly.

I'm not shedding a tear over Limelight being dropped. Tom Sawyer, YYZ, and especially Working Man can also go and I wouldn't care. 2112 can stay, but they need to revive that pirate thing they were doing a few tours ago, lol.

I'm sorry, but that's just a horrible idea. It would be a complete travesty. If Rush can't do it themselves, I don't wanna hear it. (The strings thing is a different kettle of fish... it's not the boys themselves playing the strings on the album after all.)

I wouldn't shed a tear if they dropped it. Burned out on seeing it live and the reggae thing has gotten old. I dunno, bring back the pirate motif they had going a couple tours ago and do a swashbuckling version of it, lol. "Avast, they be callin' me the pirate man, I guess that's what I be, me hearties!" And yeah it's funny about how Neil completely overplayed it. That's always kinda bothered me a little. Even back decades ago when I was more of a drooling fanboi who thought Rush could do no wrong when I first got ATWAS and heard the version of WM on it, I was like "hmm maybe that's a little much." It's like he's just shoehorning in a drum solo over some guitar riffs hehe.

All kidding aside, I think I'd rather hear I Think I'm Going Bald than Working Man for the eight hundred millionth time. Actually I think it would be a funny surprise as well as a humorous nod to their advancing ages: "yep, we know we're gettin' old... BUT HEY SO ARE A LOT OF YOU OUT THERE IN THE SEATS! I'M TALKING TO YOU, 60 YEAR OLD GUY IN THE SKULLET WEARING THE TATTERED FADED 2112 SHIRT FROM 1977 THAT BARELY COVERS YOUR BEER GUT"

Actually, I would love to hear Rush cover some Pet Shop Boys... But, actually-actually, somewhat seriously, seeing how 80s Rush was so influenced by the Police and Talking Heads and such, Rush doing some songs of theirs would be cool. Rush doing the Police's Synchronicity II? That song is practically already a Rush song, lol. Burning Down the House from Talking Heads given the Rush treatment would be cool. Lots of room for Neil to go nuts. It's My Life from Talk Talk. Rush would give that song much better treatment than Gwen Stefani did hehe.

I love me some keys. I'm a bass player first and foremost, but I also have a full-fledged synth rig. (My first instrument was piano after all.) I've been rediscovering and revisiting the 80s stuff in recent weeks. It's kinda serendipitous that the setlist for the tour features so much 80s stuff. I'm gonna love it!

I haven't purchased the hardcover version, just read the digital version on a company-loaned e-reader, but I may buy it because it might be an interesting keepsake in 20 years' time. Kinda like my old weathered copy of B-Man's Visions that I bought back in 1992.

YYZ should have won a Grammy, but it lost to Behind My Camel by the Police. No disrespect to Andy Summers (probably my 2nd favorite guitarist after Alex) who wrote Behind My Camel, but it just sucks. Repetitive, meh, bleh. Sting hated the tune and refused to play on it and in fact he went and took the tapes of it and buried it somewhere so he wouldn't have to play on it (until Andy found it and then added the bass part himself.) The Police won that Grammy simply because they were becoming hot stuff at the time. (Again, no disrespect intended because they're one of my favorite bands still... but Rush really deserved that Grammy.)

Yeah it's kinda tough. I definitely prefer The Pass over Bravado. But I prefer Carnies over Seven Cities, and Manhattan Project over Dreamline. The rest are kinda coin flippers and I don't care either way. If the A-B pattern holds up, my town gets a B... but I'm not expecting the pattern to hold really. A C or D setlist could sneak in, or they could just kinda mix A and B after a point and have the same setlist for the remainder of the tour.

QUOTE (pedro2112 @ Sep 9 2012, 10:01 PM) To the OP, there is a very good reason that they haven't played Losing It, ever, in concert. The song is a turd. It is fecal matter. It was expelled out of the sphincter of a bloated, diseased, colon of bad Rush songs that include Tai Shan and Speed of Love. I have to agree. I love the album Signals, don't get me wrong, but I would be about as enthused about hearing Losing It live with strings as I would about hearing Speed of Love live with strings. Which is, very much not at all. I know on paper it sounds like an obvious choice... and I'm sure even the guys in the band must have briefly considered it, and thought "err.... no."