vital signz

Great video Brad. Thanks for making it! Y'all get your Kleenex's before you click on the link. You will need them. I sure did! Here you go:

I feel like I lost someone in my own family....

If you listen to it carefully what you hear is: Geddy sounds clear and better than he has in ages. His bass notes are clean, the amp he is using is phenomenal. Geddy's voice is amazing on this record. Much better than VT or S&A. Neil sounds amazing. Incredible. Now comes the problem: Alex is a wall of sound. He has been this way since Hughes and Kettner became his go to amplifier. I think there is just too much distortion and thickness to his sound to mix well with the other stuff going on. Add to that that on many of the songs he has three different channels going--right center and left, with leslie speakers added in three songs, then the thinning out of the solos with high midrange mixed in, and what is there is this wall of thick sound. Just my opinion, but I think with the digital processing and the approach he is using it makes for an album that is hard to engineer.

I would go The Wreckers > Halo Effect >>>>>>>>>> Wish Them Well

Liam was phenomenal in Taken. One of my very favorite movies. I hope this is as good.

Well we missed the obvious ones: Chuck Norris Steven Seagal Bruce Lee http://smileys.on-my-web.com/repository/MSN_Emoticons/MSN-Emoticon-karate-102.gif

QUOTE (Tony R @ Jun 25 2012, 05:02 PM) Anyone who thinks ADKOT is a good Van Halen album is deluding themselves. It's like clapping when your grandad sings one of his old army songs, you clap because you love him not because he is good. May be the second time I have ever agreed with you on anything... ADKOT is pitiful. Dave has lost it. He can't sing. It's awful singing, God awful, next to decent, tolerable music. Ed is great, but, that's it. I was terribly disappointed.

I have been monitoring folks' favorites and least favorites here... Lots of folks are placing it in their bottom tier. That is mind-blowing to me. This song has such a cool intro, huge build-up, then KA-BLAM, KA-BLAM, KA-BLAM, KA-BLAM, KA-BLAM, KA-BLAM, KA-BLAM, KA-BLAM, KA-BLAM, KA-BLAM, KA-BLAM, KA-BLAM, KA-BLAM, KA-BLAM, KA-BLAM, KA-BLAM, KA-BLAM, KA-BLAM, KA-BLAM, KA-BLAM, KA-BLAM, KA-BLAM, KA-BLAM, KA-BLAM, KA-BLAM, KA-BLAM, KA-BLAM, KA-BLAM, KA-BLAM, KA-BLAM, KA-BLAM, KA-BLAM, KA-BLAM, KA-BLAM, KA-BLAM, KA-BLAM.......... Geddy hits high notes of old. His bass has an incredible sound. Alex plays some great riffs and has some awesome tremolo work, and has a nice emotive solo. Neil, well is Neil. Is it the lyric, the music, the theme? What turns people off?

QUOTE (Babycat @ Jul 1 2012, 11:03 AM) Is there anything down in the basement that he can sense? My own cat is crackers for Tuna, and she's half your kitty's age. Maybe someone was killed down there.

QUOTE (nappy2112 @ Jun 30 2012, 08:35 PM) QUOTE (J2112YYZ @ Jun 30 2012, 07:52 PM) QUOTE (xx2112xx @ Jun 30 2012, 05:13 PM) QUOTE (J2112YYZ @ Jun 29 2012, 07:42 AM) Portnoy. But this choice is extemely bias because Dream Theater has been on of my favorite bands for almost 20 years now and Portnoy is one of my favorite drummers ever. I never even heard of the other guy until he was mentioned in that other thread. Then you have been seriously missing out my friend. Go listen to 'anesthetize' right now. Is 'Anesthetize' a Porcupine Tree song/album or someting else? It's a PT song from the Fear of a Blank Planet album. With an Alex Lifeson guitar solo if I am not mistaken!

It wasn't Tai Shan that got cast away on that cassette....it was High Water!

QUOTE (pedro2112 @ Jun 29 2012, 09:00 PM) QUOTE (Ya_Big_Tree @ Jun 29 2012, 02:03 PM) About time she woke up. That girl gave up so much to be with him and they even had a baby. He must have f*cked up royally. No, it's just about raising Suri Catholic. Yep..... this is about not being able to put up with the Scientology anymore where Suri is concerned, and probably wanting to revert to Catholicism. I actually know some people who know them...they are close, so much so they have their own kids call them Uncle Tom and Aunt Katie...they have told me this has been coming for a while. They tried to make it work, but it's like trying to fit a square peg in a round hole. It will be interesting to see what Cruise does now. The word is, he loves them more than anything...lets see if he is willing to change who he is to reconcile.

QUOTE (beherit @ Jun 28 2012, 07:51 PM) lar$ ulrich is the bes!!!

Lots of talent here. Music is tight, creative and really good. Excellent work with the drum programming. You sound a ton like Jon Anderson. As a listener I have some advice for you if you want it. I really feel you have the talent to do something with this, but the jamming quality of your songs is all over the place. As a listener it is fun but not something I would want to necessarily listen to repeatedly. I think you need to work on song structure and lyrics. I think you could go places with a little less expression of yourselves and a little mire direction.

I feel you all...but I have to respectfully disagree. I do not feel there is a less than perfect song on Moving Pictures or Permanent Waves either. The playing is superb on all three, the songs are perfect on all three, the production/mastering is perfect on all three, and the latter two are far more listenable than Hemispheres. I routinely shift between the three based on my mood/preferences/how long it's been between listens for all three of these albums which are all three 10/10 in my book.

QUOTE (Merely Space @ Jun 26 2012, 09:43 PM) I suspect the people who don't like it feel sickened by all the positive response, and feel the need to be all the more vocal to provide a counterpoint. I also suspect some folks feel the need to go against anything that is popular, even if it is only popular on this board. Here's the thing though...The critics pretty much all are going crazy for this record. That was absolutely not the case for VT or S&A. So folks that aren't getting this, though entitled to their opinions of course, are by and large in a minority. I would say safely that 80-90% of folks who hear this are very impressed, pleased, moved in some way by it's brilliance.

I love it.

I like this song a lot. That being said it's my second least favorite song on the album!

QUOTE (robertrobyn @ Jun 26 2012, 09:57 AM) Album of the year! I like the sound of that. .....and all you naysayers had a go at me when I hinted they would win a grammy with this one....

Awesome link!

QUOTE (D3strukt @ Jun 26 2012, 06:44 AM) Especially considering alex is PLAYING his guitar during the piano part. You can clearly hear it. the staccatto or whatever you wanna call it, before and during the individual notes, is guitar, and piano. Listen again....those notes are piano notes, not the guitar. But certainly could be played by acoustic guitar in concert. It would just be slightly different.

I have a theory on this. I think Alex will play it. I seriously doubt that Jason Sniderman will be touring with them. Geddy usually plays synths on tour. I have never heard him play the piano. It has been reported by Nick R. that Alex wrote this piano piece and showed Jason how the part went and he came in on the album to record the piece. I feel that Alex will play his guitar piece on his Axcess right up until the piano comes in, give a final strum on the guitar, play the piano piece, then come in on the solo. I could be wrong, Geddy could play it, but I doubt it will be Jason. I don't think I have ever been more excited to see Rush play a song live before as I am to see them perform The Garden. This will be probably the best thing we will ever see them do....at least dating back to Xanadu with the doublenecks. Maybe ever. Seriously. This entire album gives me this vibe. I certainly did not have it with Vapor Trails, or Snakes and Arrows. And I haven't had it since the 80's. The early 80's. Every song is tailor made for live performance. Oh hell, I have another erection thinking about all of this. My wife is gonna think I am surfing porno. Geezus!

QUOTE (The Lofty Oaks @ Jun 25 2012, 09:41 PM) Finally finished the 12 individual song reviews. Now working on the overall Clockwork Angels summary review. Please check them out and feel free to leave comments. Summary of Links TheLoftyOaks.com I mean this sincerely: I think you are the best writer/reviewer I have had the pleasure of reading! I loved every word you wrote and I just want to express my gratitude to you for writing so eloquently how I feel about every song on the album. I think you nailed it all beautifully and fairly. Cheers!

QUOTE (Mandalorian Hunter @ Jun 25 2012, 09:50 PM) QUOTE (vital signz @ Jun 26 2012, 01:40 AM) Hmmm. 80%. That's a B minus. Almost a C. So you feel it's just a tiny bit above average? Mag rating systems are completely different. Once you're hitting the 80's, it's getting good. For context, our rating system is 60%'s - Decent, 70%'s - Good, 80%'s - Great/Top 15 Album of the Year material, 90%'s Excellent/Top 5 ALbum of the Year + In a decade list, 100% - Perfect Thanks for explaining that to me!