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Rush's Best Album in 25 Years?
So, the other day I log onto facebook and see posts from a few friends declaring that the new Rush album has been leaked. It's scheduled for a 6/12/12 release. I couldn't resist and raced to download it. I'm happy to report that the rumors were true and I've been living with the new music for 4 days now. But don't fret. I will be purchasing an official copy this coming Tuesday. Maybe two copies! Because this is the best music the Holy Triumvirate have released in very long time!
Why is this album so good? Because they're BACK! Geddy, Alex, and Neil have returned to a form that we haven't heard from them since the mid to late 80's. I originally felt that CA was their best record since "Power Windows". But after a few days and multiple listens, this might be their best effort since "Moving Pictures." Yes, I'm going that far.
Now, I'm a tad Rush biased as a good collection of my FB friends also are. They can nearly do no wrong in my book. That said, I'm still able to delineate greatness from within the greatness that is the Rush discography. What makes this album so good is how they've each managed to play to their strengths on a level they've never achieved before.
Geddy must have broken the Rickenbacker back out! His bass sound on CA is the Moving Pictures sound on massive steroids. And he's playing like a melodic monster all over this thing! Not that fast one finger, chicken picking he's adopted since "Counterparts". Don't get me wrong, he throws it in. But he's also back to full on "Hemispheres" mode with sick, tasty melodies that add as much, if not more, to the hooks as the vocal and guitar.
Neil has been playing out of his mind since "Vapor Trails". Not exactly my favorite collection of Rush songs that one. He played angry big on it. "Snakes and Arrows" continued this relentless assault of big sounding drums but in a sort of melancholy way. CA is no doubt Neil Peart's finest recording performance ever because you can now feel the unbridled joy in his playing! The interviews with Freddie Gruber from "Beyond The Lighted Stage" where he and Neil discuss space and movement between hits. Well, you can hear it and feel it on CA. Particularly on the title track during the initial verse. You can feel the air between the hi-hat, snare, and bass drum. Neil is actually grooving! The metronomic terminator of a drummer is no more. Neil has transcended precision into territory that perhaps no other rock drummer has ever gone. He's wildly aggressive, hits like an anvil, and now he has a Stevie Wonder like groove.
Alex has officially taken the ethereal tone to a new level. CA returns Rush to a formula that all fans will recall as their "hey day" feel. The right blend of guitar and keys and killer bass and drums. Except that the ethereal keys aren't keys at all. They're guitar! One of the best parts of being around in 2012 is how fantastic recorded guitars sound. Heck, Toni Iommi has a tone to die for these days. But no one knows how to coax the best tones out of a guitar rig better than Alex Lifeson. Criticize his "instinctual lead playing" all you like. His chord choices, song writing, and guitar sound are unparalleled in music. And for the record, I love his lead playing! His work on "Moving Pictures", amongst other records, is right alongside that of EVH, EJ, YJM, etc... all the greats. I mean is there a more perfect lead than that of "Limelight" or "Red Barchetta"? But I digress... Lifeson has taken his trademark to new heights on CA. His dirty tone on "The Anarchist" is the best I've ever heard on any album. I need to find out how to make my guitar sound like that. His lead work on CA is somewhere between where he was on "Signals" and "Counterparts".
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Okay, so we've established that the playing and quality of sound on this record are beyond reproach. By the way, listening with headphones just blows your mind! It's an intricate recording to say the least! A word of warning. Some of the low notes (Taurus pedals?) may destroy your speaker cabinets. Most audio systems are likely incapable of rendering them. The high end stereophiles will be rewarded greatly when listening to "Clockwork Angels." But what about the songs? I won't bore you by going through each one at length. I'll simply comment on the standout items I've noticed thus far.
I feel cheated having heard "Caravan" and "BU2B" after their release in 2010. They are updated on CA however. A neat intro to "BU2B" makes it that much more impactful. Some bass flange on Caravan keeps it new. Great tunes!
"Clockwork Angels": OMG! The first verse with Neil grooving and Alex filling space with airy, chorus and reverb color gave me immediate, two story goosebumps. As all great Rush tunes do. Neil's hi-hat and lazy snare are excellent. But the song soon breaks into a major heavy riff via Neil with a stick 4 count into psychoness. They dive in and out of 4 or 5 musical themes in this 7:31 mini opus. It's Rush getting back to what made them great in the first place! And the chilling chorus "... as if to fly" Awesome Lifeson lead too!
"The Anarchist": Another OMG! Opens with Neil and Alex shredding. Then into a brief interlude that ends with Geddy ripping out one of his most melodic bass riffs ever! To which Alex answers with an awesome flanged out guitar riff that makes me think of flying rocket ships! Then back into Lifeson's awesome dirty tone underneath which Geddy and Neil do their classic, Rush-centric accents. The composition of the song at this point is phenomenal. But then they tease you with the chorus to which Geddy adds goosebump inducing keys in the background. His note choice is utterly perfect here and they tease you with this awesome chorus through the tune only repeating it at the end. And it floors you with Ged's vocal over the keys with Lifeson's thick tone in the back and Neil holding it down on the ride. This is a standout song for me. Love it!
"Carnies": Sorry dear reader, I think I may be going through every tune. Because every tune is awesome! "Carnies" opens with awesome Lifeson riff complete with "DWAAAAAAaaaasss" Neil and Geddy hit the guitar part with what sounds to me like "The Grand Finale" from 2112. Same opening. They quickly break it off though and take you through a fantastic chorus section. It's Rush magic with a great middle section jam.
"Halo Effect": After all the bashing you take from the first 4 songs this one brings it down. Fantastic song opening with acoustic and bass guitars. Rush once again influences themselves by repeating the guitar and bass part from "Half The World". It's almost like they went back and remade "Half The World" the way that they should have done it in the first place. Not that I don't love that song. But it's pretty basic and simple for a Rush tune. "Halo Effect" totally corrects that. If you like HTW you will totally fall in love with "Halo Effect". It's all the good parts and then some.
"Seven Cities Of Gold": This tune will cause priaprism in Rush fans. It opens with a blistering Geddy Lee bass groove. Under which Lifeson is toning it up and Neil is playing around. From which they break into a fat, Cream style heavy guitar riff. They hit you with this until breaking into a classic Rush pre-chorus and then the main chorus, "Seven Cities of Gold". It totally jams! You will bang your head! As a bonus the solo section features Geddy totally tearing it up. Toward the end, for a brief 5 seconds, we are in "Freewill" solo territory on the bass.
"The Wreckers": Preceeded by the interlude of "BU2B2", this is arguably the best song on the album. It opens with a "Counterparts" style intro. But heads into one of the most beautiful verses ever. Lifeson is shining on this! TONE! I can't comprehend whatever it is he's doing back there. It sounds so airy and big! And from that verse the Holy Triumvirate break into a chorus that WILL go down amongst they best they've ever written! Hair was shooting off my arms like a porcupine when I heard this. The goosebumps! The goosebumps!
"All I know is that sometimes you have to be wary, of a miracle too good to be true.
All I know is that sometimes the truth is contrary, everything you thought you knew.
All I know is that sometimes you have to be wary, because sometimes the target is you."
I cannot say enough good things about this song. It is an immediate Rush classic.
"Headlong Flight": It's great! It's a jam. Another one I wish I hadn't heard in advance. I can't imagine how blown away I'd be by this record if Rush hadn't released 3 songs ahead of the album. I think they were showing a form of mercy to their fans. Heads would have been exploding all over the planet had they not pre-released some of the material.
"Wish Them Well": Worst song on the album. And it's friggin great! Would have been a standout song on their recent releases. But it's surrounded by such sickness that you hear it and think, "Meh". It opens with the chorus. It's kinda formula. But the song makes up for its relative short comings with a friggin awesome solo section! Again, great Rush song. Just surrounded by utter sickness!
"The Garden": I gotta admit something. This song made me cry. I cried when I heard it. Tears of joy streaming down my cheeks. In the great tradition of Rush album closers "The Garden" may be the ultimate masterpiece. Think "Losin It"(not a closer I know), "Mystic Rhthyms", "Available Light", etc... Okay, it's not "Natural Science". But my god, it is a piece of genius and better than the former 3 songs I mentioned! There's a piano interlude in the middle of it that is followed by Alex Lifeson demonstrating why he is and always will be my favorite guitar player ever! I broke into tears when I heard the opening of his lead. It's amongst his best work. The song ends with big keyboards and the classic Rush ending experience that leaves you gasping for breath.
Did I mention how strong Geddy's vocals are throughout?
My friends. Rush is back. This is the album we've all been waiting for. Maybe for 25 years. It's not another "Snakes and Arrows" that stirs you a bit, you appreciate a lot, you internalize, maybe force it a little. "Clockwork Angels" requires no such effort. It is one of those Rush albums in which your appreciation will grow with every listen and without limit. True Rush fans know what I'm talking about.
It's amazing to me how Rush reinvents the supposed Prog Rock category. They truly do not fit into that mold. Because they recast that mold with everything they write. I listen to "Clockwork Angels" and can't help but think of how inferior bands like Dream Theater, Fates Warning, and Symphony X are to the Holy Triumvirate. Rush create songs and feeling and emotion using god like chops and playing. All other progressive rock is mere scale exercises by comparison. Rush are on another level entirely. With "Clockwork Angels" they've moved that bar even higher. And I haven't even figured out the concept story yet!
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Thank you Ron Samartino for forcing me to love this band some 25+ years ago. It's one of the best gifts anyone has ever given me!