Relayer2112

Best of luck to you...just remember, deadlines are typically non-negotiable :) ... this coming from a .NET, ASP.NET, classic ASP, SQL server developer.

It's got to be Holy Diver. "Holy Diver", "Last in Line" and "Sacred Heart" are essentially the same album with different lyrics. Since Holy Diver was first, it wins.

So it's not their best song for YOU. But it is their best song. You're confusing favorite with best. Correct...it's my opinion. I think just about everything on Houses of the Holy is more interesting musically than Stairway. That's why I, personally, feel that Stairway is overrated.

It may not even be in their top 10 for me...some of that it is because it has been overplayed to death and I've been sick of it since around 1985. Prior to that, it may have been close to the top.

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.

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.

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

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".

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?

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

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 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.

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.

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.