MrMan

Love Neal Morse Band's Similitude of a Dream....120 minutes running time and I don't consider a single song filler. And I'm not a Christian and generally Morse's proselytizing turns me off but that album just doesn't miss a note from beginning to end IMO.

Exactly. We can learn from it. The Daily Doug is another really good one. He's a classically trained musician, does a great job of pulling apart the songs. I'd also give a shout out to the Lost In Vegas guys... they're 2 rappers and they get music. The dig into the words and the musicianship like new fans would. It's cool to hear their POV on this stuff. It's not the typical 'oh...yo...look at that kit' garbage. Those are the three I watch as well. Though I've grown tired of the Lost in Vegas guys. But I love Daily Doug bc he'll listen to a song I've heard a thousand times and point out things I've never noticed or didn't grasp / fully understand. He's really, really insightful.

She mentions multiple times in almost every video that you should really enjoy the song without interruption and has stated she usually does that so she can get the real experience. She's a professionally trained singer...I'm pretty sure she understands that hearing songs in parts isn't the optimum way to listen to music.

I've grown to really love her videos. 1. She understand the techinicals parts of singing so well and can articulate them 2. Her unbridled enthusiasm is infectious; her looks of pure unadulterated joy at listening to music is wonderful.

The saying exists "There's no such thing as bad publicity" (meaning any and all attention can catapult someone to fame.) Not contradicting you. IMO the buyers/fans decide whether a band picks up steam & gets a following. Of course the industry is so very different than it was in Rush's heyday. Back on topic to Neil, I kind of wonder if his insults were fueled by Rush being bagged on so heavily by critics. In my mind he must have figured there was little harm in speaking his mind seeing as the band was openly loathed by so many. The classic "f*ck you too" situation. If he was contemptuous of music critics in general (which he was) I'm sure he particularly hated anyone associated with Creem because they seemed to thoroughly enjoy mocking any band that made "serious" music or any heavy / hard rock band. It was their thing.

I read RS, Creem, Circus and Hit Parader back then. Creem's whole things was to have a bunch of smart-ass writers who liked to act like they were cooler than the bands they covered. And it was great! I loved it. They insulted and denigrated all my favorite bands because they generally liked quirky, new-wave, punk bands.....basically adored anyone with short hair and pins in their face and truly hated heavy metal. Yet they would religiously put bands like Van Halen, Pat Benetar, Rush, Led Zeppelin on their cover...then mercilessly mock and ridicule them inside. They even mocked their own readers. The letters section was extensive and every single one would have a smart ass reply from the "editor". Over time it became my favorite of the bunch. Circus and Hit Parader were little more than fanzines with no critical thought. Rolling Stones was always a pretentious bunch of pricks. I'll also say I think Neil comes across as a total prick and I imagine his late-in-life self would absolutely cringe at many of the statements he makes here. But you also see the writer had already he decided he hates the band. Saying they have no humor is ridiculous as is suggesting Paul McCartney is a better bassist than Geddy. Ask anyone today who gets introduced to Rush, especially MP era Rush and they are astounded that three people can create an entire symphony of music...but the writer takes no note of that and instead takes every opportunity to insult and denigrate the band. Must say....had some nostalgia reading that bc it reminds me how at first I hated Creem bc I was a rivet head back then and they made fun of every band I liked while licking the ass of bands like The Clash and Devo. But eventually I understood it was bit and began to enjoy it.

I'm a Power Windows truther. As a teenage "metal head" I was somewhat disappointed by Signal and GUP and had kind of stopped keeping up with a band I had loved most of my life. Then in spring of 1986 I was at an friend's apartment and he put it on and I was blown away. I immediately went out and bought and again fell in love with Rush. I consider it the seminal document of the band's "keyboard" stage, superior to Signals and GUP (both very good) and vastly superior to HYF and Presto (good albums). I love every song. What I most enjoy is how they absolutely mastered the technology of the time and seamlessly worked it all together. Every songs is great and honestly, was the last time where every song was longer than 5 minutes; after PW every Rush album had multiple songs clocked in under 5 minutes. They were still doing extended intros or outros, or extended instrumental sections. Finally, I wasn't happy in general about the ever decreasing presence of Alex's guitar. But on PW I feel her perfected how to compliment the song. His playing is phenomenal throughout, with a heavy emphasis of the staccato guitar work that would come in at weird angles and was very creative and imaginative. Also, it perfectly captured the sterile, corporate, machine-like quality that were the Reagan 80's. Love, love, love PW. Not going to say I like more than any other Rush album but there's not another Rush album I like more.

Even Kiss would be impressed at how Rush have abandoned all pretense of being anything other than a corporate greed machine.

If this has been addressed I apologize; I've searched and didn't find anything. I wanted to get all three Sectors box sets and have managed to get 1 and 2 at reasonable prices. But the Sectors 3 set seems to be very rare and resell marketers charge exorbitant prices. I'm wondering why 1 and 2 are relatively plentiful and affordable but Sectors 3 is so rare and expensive?

I find it interesting you completely ignored this part of my post: Look, I get it. Rush is very popular and their fans will eagerly embrace just about anything the ban puts out. And no one forced me to buy this package. And I could have checked before buying to understand exactly what I was getting. My point was bigger picture really. It's that Rush was once what I considered a "working man's band" and treated their fans fairly. But in the last ten years it's been nothing but one cash grab after another.....pure greed from my perspective. I bought this set almost solely for the 1977 video (I have an extensive video library and wanted to add this). I hoped the rest of the package would demonstrate at least a minimal level of quality. But feel free to insult anyone who dares to express negative opinions. Never mind that my post is the EXACT sort of information you would rely upon to make your oh-so-smart decisions. As for Rush...like I said in my OP I have almost completely avoided any of the repackages and having given in once you can bet I won't be doing it again.

So, as an older person who has paid repeatedly for the some of the old classic albums I've largely avoided most of the Rush re-issues. We all know the band has no "bonus" material the be included with re-issues. They have a long and extensive set of live albums. So...outside of improved sound there's not a lot of compelling reasons, to me, to buy, say the Sector series of the Studio Collection or really any of the re-issues. My Rush CD collection consists entirely of the original CDs. But, I also love video and so I purchased the recent 2112 re-issue specifically for the restored, 45-minute show from 1977. And the video is about what I expected (I'd seen Youtube videos before, so knew what I was getting). I don't really have any complaints about that. But as far as the rest of the package...I find it a bit insulting. What we get is the 2112 album. I'm sure there are those who will claim the sound on this version is superior to others....but I don't hear it. I'm sure they'll use words like "rich" and "deep" to describe how it's better. And for those with an ear or appreciation for that I'm sure it's worthwhile. But I played the CD in my car at loud volume and it sounded great...just as it had the eleventy-billion times I've played it before. But the 2nd CD is what truly bothers me. What we get are: a 19 second clip of Neil saying the "Attention all planets..." piece. Why anyone thought this would be interesting is beyond me. I thought this was an actual SONG when I saw the tracklist. Maybe some reworked version of the Overture / Grand Finale...something like that. Five mediocre covers that I'll listen to mabye 15 times in total (meaning each song 3 times). I've listened to them twice already....there might be a 3rd time but beyond that it's unlikely. As all the previous cover versions of Rush songs prove...they're a hard band to cover. The people doing these covers are high quality musicians. I was particularly interested in Steven Wilson's version of Twilight Zone. But NONE of them work; they simply make me want to hear the original. Two live songs taken from the Massey Hall dates.....that sound pretty much exactly like the versions originally included on All The World's A Stage. An unlistenable bootleg version of Twilight Zone performed live A commercial Look, I get it. Rush is very popular and their fans will eagerly embrace just about anything the ban puts out. And no one forced me to buy this package. And I could have checked before buying to understand exactly what I was getting. But to me....to be putting out bootlegs, commercials and interviews is needlessly exploiting fans love of the band. I just feel the way Rush goes about merchandising all their material the last 10 years or so is desgined to extract maximum revenue from fans....as opposed to being fan-friendly and giving them what they want in a more affordable package. Couldn't the Landover video have been packaged in some way that didn't nearly $30? Couldn't the DVD-Audio mixes from the Sector series been released in a way that didn't cost a fan hundreds of dollars? For a band that long articulated the ideas of balance in life the marketing approach of the last 10 years seems in conflict with the band's overall message. Proably just me.

Is anybody familiar with this: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01N7568N8/ref=pd_luc_rh_sbs_03_02_t_img_lh?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1 It looks like a simple repackaging of a number of broadcast bootlegs...but I can't find anything about it. Which supports my idea that this is nothing more than bootleg prodcut...but I figured I'd put it out here to the experts who know best. Something to look forward to? Or (if you're not a fan of bootleg material) something to avoid?

This is how I feel about Hemisperes. I can recall the first time I heard La Villa Strangiato....a friend played it for me and I went out and bought the album as fast as possible. Arguably the band's most ambitious piece and really the culmination of the most progressive period.

You're right. Geddy is 62 years old. So why he chooses to push his voice into a register that sounds so tortured is anyone's guess. Honestly not meaning to be an a-hole. Just think Geddy has done himself a disservice with the yodel voice. You acknowledge and accept that he's 62, but seemingly can't for the life of you understand why he doesn't sing like a younger Geddy. There is a lot more I could add, but it would seem to be pointless. I kind of feel the analogy of Geddy is the quarterback who threw multiple touchdowns to help his team win the Super Bowl, and all some people will focus on is the few errant passes he made. No. The analogy is of a QB who once was the MVP of the league...but now plays like a 3rd-stringer yet fans still think he's an MVP.

Well, let's just say we have different views on this. I hear this from fans of older bands all the time..."well, they're xty years old, give 'em a break". But I don't evaluate how enjoyable music is based upon how old the musician; I evaluate music based upon how enjoyable the listen. I simply cannot stand listening to Geddy at this point in his career. Those of you who aren't bothered by his current voice...good for you! I'm happy - perplexed - but happy that you're still able to enjoy Rush's great music sung in a completely different manner than for most of their career. But for many of us, that simply isn't true. And telling us what we already know (the band has aged) doesn't change how we feel or think about this.