Relayer2112

I have never understood why Marillion failed to really impress America: here in Europe their crowds went bigger and bigger and there was a good number of metalheads among them (my case at that time).

 

Marillion got tagged with the "progressive rock" moniker back in the early 80's so American radio stations wouldn't touch them. That led to poor record company promotion since they knew any money spent was wasted.

I think Stairway to Heaven's popularity is mainly a "right place, right time" thing.

 

Well, sure. Like I think I already said - you almost had to be there when it came out. Same way you had to be there when The Doors first showed up. Or Cream.

 

What did we have as a point of reference? It was all new back then. Today you can look back on decades of music to see how a band measure up today. But back then, we didn't have that.

 

Same with Stairway. It made quite the impact.

Does "right place, right time" imply luck? I know luck is part of success, but whenever I see the term "right place, right time" I get the impression it's suggested the success or reputation isn't entirely deserved.

 

I just think that every great song has a window of opportunity, so to speak, to become timeless and Stairway nailed it. The whole acoustic/electric thing, the mysticism in the lyrics, the 70's all played together perfectly. It's not even their best song and none of the others reached this high. There was certainly some luck (or divine intervention) involved.

I think Stairway to Heaven's popularity is mainly a "right place, right time" thing.

TFE could be the Rush album that I think has aged the worst for me. I absolutely loved the album when it was first released. Now, the only songs that I think stand up are Driven, Resist and Limbo. If you take out the "Monster Mash" stuff from Limbo, I think it sounds an awful lot like a modern take on the beginning of 2112. Carve Away the Stone isn't a bad song either, but doesn't rank up there with those that I mentioned previously.

Don't be surprised if the only Rush contained in the movie is some character wearing a t-shirt along with the use of Tom Sawyer in the trailer. Based on the trailer, it looks like they're going to replace most of the book's pop-culture references with things that are Warner Bros. specific. I'm certainly not expecting the book's Rush references to remain.

 

I don't think it's looking good for the movie so far. I loved the book although it's only appeal is the nostalgia, it's no literary masterpiece by any means.

I'm convinced they're going to F-up this movie. It's already obvious that they've replace most, if not all, of the 80's references in the book to things that Warner Bros. doesn't have to pay for (and I'm thinking that anything from the 70's will be left out altogether). The sounds of Tom Sawyer perked me up a little bit, but I have a feeling it's just bait. I'm hoping that the fact that Ernest Cline was involved in the writing for the movie helps keep it a least a little honest.

Secret Treaties, while being a great album (probably their best), couldn't hold AFTK's jockstrap.

It's an incomplete set...there's no color picture of the last Philadelphia Eagles NFL Championship parade.

I think a variety of genres s/b included. Classical, jazz, r&b, rock, and something else.

 

I agree wholeheartedly. My picks are only the tip of the iceberg. I would love to read about other peoples choices.

Very interesting question:

 

Non Rush:

 

- Les Paul and any of his earliest recordings .. The birth and infancy of the art of recording

 

- KISS "Destroyer" .. The band went in on the verge of bankruptcy and Bill Aucoin secured Bob Ezrin with promise of a personal credit card payment .. A few weeks into the sessions, ALIVE! broke and everything changed .. Ezrin brought in orchestration, choirs, calliopes, miked up his kids, and literally, recorded the kitchen sink ( dishes in the intro to Detroit Rock City )

 

- YES "Close To The Edge" .. This was a tough choice between Yes and Hendrix, but even now, 40 some years later, Close To The Edge is this mind boggling collection of some of the greatest music ever recorded .... I cannot even imagine the creative electricity in that studio with each member bringing his own genius ..

 

 

RUSH:

 

- Caress Of Steel ... a band full of the desire to grow, and some of my favorites Rush moments .. Great creative vibe happening, and, I would try my best to convince them that if they put that song called Garden Road on instead of Bald, they would have the best album side of their career ..

 

- Permanent Waves .. Sir Gawain transforms to Natural Science - it would be fascinating to see how that happened .. At what point was "Oh f**k it, this isn't happening" said, and, who said it first ?? .... Would also love to see the way Alex experimented with his sounds, esp in getting The Spirit intro riff .. Similar to Caress, a transformative time for the band ..

 

- A Farewell To Kings .... To see how one of the greatest pieces of music came together, with the narration and intro, and then getting the performances down on tape - esp Geddy's final lines every nerve is torn apart .... The band and Terry Brown were at their best

 

I love your suggestions. I agree that all eras/genres of rock and roll should be represented. I would never have even thought of KISS, but it certainly makes sense. I love CTTE also, this is one of the first examples of symphonic rock that I can think of.

 

As far as the Rush stuff...Caress of Steel is certainly an interesting choice. They were obviously highly energized/inventive when they recorded it. The thing that would be interesting about Farewell to Kings was how they resisted the temptation to just record another side long song again to try and duplicate 2112's success. Hearing them stumble upon the riff to Closer to the Heart would be awesome also.

Imagine that you live in the distant future where, after hundreds of years of nothing but computer generated sounds, the art of human music composition and recording has been lost. You are part of a group that has been tasked with travelling back in time to recover this lost art. Luckily, you personally are slated to recover the art of rock music composition and recording pre 2017. You can attend six recording sessions from that time period before being forced to return to the present. What six recording sessions do you visit and why? Because this is TRF, three of those recording sessions must be for Rush albums.

 

Here's are the sessions I would visit...

 

Rush

 

2112 - I would love to experience the point at which the band decided "F**K it all, we're going to write the music we want to write". There had to be some uneasiness during those sessions as the band didn't know what the future held. I can imagine Ray Danniels visits to the studio asking what commercially viable material the band had come up with.

 

Permanent Waves - Based on Neil's session diary in the tour book, it sounded like they had one hell of a good time at Le Studio while writing/recording this one. Perhaps I could even suggest to the band that they could get some sounds for Natural Science by using oars down at the lake.

 

Signals - There had to be some interesting moments during the sessions for this album. Not my favorite, but this was Rush reinventing themselves and, in the process, determining that Broon wasn't necessarily in their plans from here on out. Another visit to Le Studio would be the icing on the cake.

 

Honorable mention - Vapor Trails - I'd try to talk them out of it.

 

 

Non-Rush

 

The Beatles - Sgt. Pepper - I certainly would want to experience the genius of Lennon and McCartney at a period when they were still (sort of) getting along. A band that has been released from the shackles of live performance to record an album that would be highly influential throughout the remainder of rock music. Experiencing George Martin work his craft would be a bonus also.

 

Pink Floyd - DSOTM - Proof that thought provoking music can also be hugely successful commercially. There was definitely magic that went on during these sessions that I would love to have been a part of. Also, I'd want to know if all the stories are true of Pink Floyd sessions being completely miserable for the members of the band.

 

Queen - A Night at the Opera - The creation of sounds that had never been heard before in rock music (but had been hinted at by the Beatles years before). I would love to see how they pulled it off.

Matthias was a big reason that I wanted to learn how to play the guitar back in the early 80's. I kind of got away from him once my musical tastes matured (and Scorpions started to get more mainstream), but I still appreciate what he's done over the years.

 

He also gets my vote for "biggest influence who's name I have no idea how to pronounce".

Anyone for some GTR?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ARERFbiqCfk

 

This album was godawful. The only positive was that I was buying everything that Hackett and Howe did back then anyway, so I killed two birds with one stone.

 

Having Hackett repackage one of his old instrumentals (originally on Please Don't Touch!, I believe) for this pile of crap was the icing on the frick'n cake for me.

I like that album.

 

It just wasn't my cup of tea. I gave it 3 listens and that's 2 1/2 more than it deserved. Some of my problem with the whole project was that I knew it wouldn't last. How could those two have possibly gotten along other than knowing they'd make a couple bucks and go their separate ways?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cf_K4vBRUc8

 

Thanks for that one...that's my first listen to that song in 25 years.

Anyone for some GTR?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ARERFbiqCfk

 

This album was godawful. The only positive was that I was buying everything that Hackett and Howe did back then anyway, so I killed two birds with one stone.

 

Having Hackett repackage one of his old instrumentals (originally on Please Don't Touch!, I believe) for this pile of crap was the icing on the frick'n cake for me.

They labeled this one wrong too boot. It's Emerson Lake and Powell.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lRsXvZiiNNY

 

I remember watching ELPowell as guests v-jays on MTV back in '86 and suffered through an hour or so of crappy 80's videos only for them not to show "Touch and Go" during the stint.

It blows my mind that Natural Science was gone for so long. For being such a landmark album, it's amazing that PeW was only represented by Freewill and Spirit for 15 years after the MP tour.

 

Also if you look at percentages of songs played on their respective tours, only 60% of HYF was played, 45% of Presto (on that tour - Presto was played later), 50% of RTB, 54% of CP (on that tour - Between Sun & Moon was played later), 63% of TFE, and 38% of VT (on that tour - How It Is was played later). For being so ignored by the band after its release, TFE actually had the highest ratio of songs played on its tour. I guess that's due to the longer set length, but still. Imagine if they began their Evening With... format during the 80's!

 

I think that Natural Science disappeared for a while simply because it took up too much time in the set list when their concerts were shorter (why it wasn't ever part of a medley, I have no idea). I think they fell in love with the song again when they played it again on the TFE tour. I seem to remember a recent interview during which Alex mentioned this song as being one that was really fun to play live.

 

Personally, I'm surprised that Subdivisions became a "must play" song over the years. Although it's a good song, is it really that good? I think that New World Man deserved some more love than it got.

I'll put a mention in for "On Your Feet or On Your Knees" by BOC.

Custom will post Live At Leeds ;) , so I will post this gem which is, in my opinion, the best live album ever:

 

http://youtu.be/vOr6vrIF4D8

 

That one took the popularity of live albums to a whole new level. I remember a friend of mine who insisted that Peter's guitar was speaking.

That was an interesting listen. Even forward it doesn't sound forward. I actually thought it was going to turn out that they just re-used the solo to "Open Secrets" from the previous album and just played it backward on "Chain Lightning".

I've always wondered if they skipped playing "Presto" on the original tour because of the switch between the acoustic and electric guitars and the technology (or lack thereof) that was available back then to duplicate it.

 

I'm assuming that they didn't play "Available Light" because the vocals would have been a little tough for Geddy, even back then. I don't think that either of these songs would have been left off the Presto tour set list unless there was a good reason.

 

As far as "Chain Lightning", I think that would have been a little tough to perform live also, but their not playing it was fine by me. I'm was a big fan of that one back then (it's grown on me since). I've always wondered if the solo on the album for "Chain Lightning" is really backwards or was just recorded to sound backwards.

I think, over the years, Jon Anderson's "new age" lyrics have become a little stale. I still love a lot of their stuff though. I'll take songs about snow dogs and black holes over songs about crystals and Hinduism any day.

I believe that Marillion was more relevant in the Fish era and I was hopeful after "Season's End" when Hogarth came on board, but something got lost in the transition. That being said, I do appreciate both eras. They are just not a band that I feel compelled to listen to very frequently anymore.

He always seemed like a WYSIWYG guy to me. It's sad.

I love both bands, but Rush never completely disappears from my life for more than a week or two at a time. I've gone years without listening to Yes.

 

It's hard to compare the "epics" between the two bands. Yes epics have a more classical/symphonic feel to them which makes them apples to oranges when compared to Rush.