diatribein

I haven't logged on this board in a few months, but I did today after hearing the news, just to say: Rest In Peace my reluctant friend. I know that your relationship with instant fanatic friends was always something that you never wanted thrust upon you, but I always liked your words and thought that I could have brought a little joy to your life had we had the chance. It would have been the least I could do, since you have brought me so much joy that I could never repay. Thank you for having the courage to be your unique self under the weight of the demands of people who only ever got to know you through your art. These things, your things, will live for a very long time. Thank you for leaving them here for us to enjoy. My best wishes are with the family you leave behind.

My preference would be for another album, because I feel like Clockwork Angels is their weakest effort in over 30 years. So if there is never going to be another album, I would have preferred Snakes & Arrows be the conclusion to a fine career. To me that is their strongest album since the 80s and a true creative high to go out on.

In fact, the FIRST EVER VIDEO on MuchMusic when it went live (not the demo loop) was The Body Electric. And that pre-live loop I mentioned... one of the (5???) videos on the loop was Distant Early Warning. It was a great time to be a preteen discovering music in Canada! I remember the Mystic Rhythms video being almost constantly on in early 1986.

Grace Under Pressure Power Windows Snakes & Arrows Bonus: Geddy Lee - My Favourite Headache

I would be ALL OVER a 40th Anniversary Roll The Bones Box!!!

Finally the battle of what I consider to be the best post 80s RUSH album against the one that sadly eliminated synthesizers entirely from RUSH music. It is no secret which one of these I like better, but I know the general sentiment on the board is the opposite. I put "Remixed" in parenthesis because for the purpose of this battle a song from Vapor Trails is from either release. Here we go: One Little Victory < Far Cry Ceiling Unlimited > Armor and Sword Ghost Rider < Workin' Them Angels Peaceable Kingdom < The Larger Bowl The Stars Look Down > Spindrift How It Is > The Main Monkey Business Vapor Trail < The Way The Wind Blows Secret Touch > Hope Earthshine < Faithless Sweet Miracle < Bravest Face Nocturne > Good News First Freeze (Part IV of "Fear") > Malignant Narcissism Out Of The Cradle < We Hold On Win for Snakes & Arrows, but closer than expected at 7-6. The closest battle for me was at #3 where my favourite song from Vapor Trails loses to one of my favourites from Snakes & Arrows. That really illustrates how this battle format doesn't show the complete picture. On the surface the two albums appear close, but my favourite song from Vapor Trails wouldn't beat my fifth favourite off of Snakes & Arrows. Only one battle was won by a song I dislike and that is at #12, where Fear defeats instrumental #3. I just find instrumentals boring, and that for me is the one weakness of Snakes & Arrows. Lastly, since this is a thread created by me, I would appreciate not reading any more Bravest Face bashing. It is one of my all time (not just from this album or era) favourite RUSH songs. Those who hate it have made their opinions abundantly clear over and over and over again, so how about if you dislike the song just vote for Sweet Miracle and leave it at that. Parish notes on battle #10 expounding hate are not required.

The answer you are looking for is SNAKES & ARROWS!!!

I was all set to do a Rush vs. Fly By Night battle because I wanted to get in some earlier albums, but then the 3-way was posted. So I think I'll keep that in the can for later once the 3-way isn't so fresh. The classic albums are a little more difficult due to the few number of tracks. With that in mind, I got a little creative with this Caress Of Steel vs. 2112 match-up. In this battle, every section of an epic is considered a song that can win/lose a battle! Here we go: 01. Bastille Day > 2112: I. Overture 02. I Think I'm Going Bald < 2112: II. The Temples Of Syrinx 03. Lakeside Park > 2112: III: Discovery 04. The Necromancer: I. Into The Darkness < 2112: IV: Presentation 05. The Necromancer: II. Under The Shadow < 2112: V. Oracle: The Dream 06. The Necromancer: III. Return Of The Prince < 2112: VI. Soliloquy 07. The Fountain of Lamneth: I. In The Valley < 2112: VII. Grand Finale 08. The Fountain of Lamneth: II. Didacts And Narpets < A Passage to Bangkok 09. The Fountain of Lamneth: III. No One At The Bridge < The Twilight Zone 10. The Fountain of Lamneth: IV. Panacea < Lessons 11. The Fountain of Lamneth: V. Bacchus Plateau < Tears 12. The Fountain of Lamneth: VI. The Fountain < Something For Nothing 10 - 2 for 2112. My results are really boring since I do not like anything on Caress Of Steel other than my two winners. One thing that lines up nicely though is that my favourite from Caress does battle with my least favourite part of 2112. I don't actually like The Twilight Zone, Lessons, or Tears, but almost anything trounces any part of The Fountain of Lamneth for me. Sorry Caress Of Steel lovers, this is not the kind of RUSH music I am into. The closest battle was #1 for me. I do like Overture despite it being an instrumental and Bastille Day isn't my favourite from Caress Of Steel, but in the end I still feel like it is a little better.

Way to steal my thunder, man! :tsk: I was working up to doing some battles with these albums, but I wanted to space it out a little so we can enjoy the battles for a bit longer. Either way, I like this game so: Finding My Way | Anthem < Subdivisions Need Some Love | Best I Can < Analog Kid Take a Friend < Beneath, Between, & Behind > Chemistry Here Again < By-Tor & the Snow Dog ≥ Digital Man What You’re Doing < Fly By Night < The Weapon In The Mood | Making Memories < New World Man Before and After | Rivendell < Losing It Working Man > In the End | Countdown It really is not a contest when any 70s RUSH album goes against anything from the 80s onward so this result was never in doubt. 1 for Rush, 2 for Fly By Night, and 5 for the win for Signals. It wasn't even that close, because Digital Man vs. By-Tor & The Snow Dog was a toss up for me. Convenient that the only song I really love from the first album goes up against one of the two I do not like on Signals so it doesn't go scoreless.

I have the same score as you with the EXACT opposite choices!

I have to say, one of the elements of music I least pay attention to are the drums. I prefer music with drums, but have difficulty appreciating the nuances of different drummers or performances. One of the things I disliked about heavy metal as a genre of music, was the fact that concerts would often be stopped for some inane drum solo. It always feels like such a complete waste of time. We could get a whole other song if not for the damn drum solo. I feel the same way about live performance guitar & bass solos where the band vacates the stage so that a musician can twiddle for a while. Still, nothing was worse than a drum solo. If I had assigned seats, it was 100% guaranteed pee time! All that said, I gave this question the respect it deserves and listened to many songs specifically for the drums. I took a lot of time to carefully pay attention to drumming I felt was unique or special and really brought something interesting to the song. The conclusion I came to may not be popular on the board. My favourite drum performance on any RUSH album is Red Lenses on Grace Under Pressure. The drumming on it is amazing and it includes a small drum solo that not only doesn't take away from the song, but adds to it. I feel like the drumming on that song is so full and interesting that you could strip it down to just vocals and drums and still have a song. Granted it wouldn't be as good, because the other elements work perfectly, but I feel like the drums are the driving force and heartbeat of that song. I know it is one of the ones that is largely hated here, but in my opinion the drumming on it is spectacular.

This thread has been a lot kinder than I expected. Thanks to everyone for being cool.

1000% AGREE! I did not bother to buy this thing, because I am not one for re-issues. I like the originals more. The only thing that would have gotten me to buy it is if it came with the Not Fade Away / You Can't Fight It single. I know the band want to disown those two tracks, but honestly plenty of fans have the songs anyway and all this is doing is making it so they have to have crappy youtube sourced rips from old 7" Singles. They aren't doing anything but hurting fans by making it impossible for them to purchase the music.

Time for the gluttons for punishment to get some pain in. Expect the haters to have their knives out and for a shitton "All Counterparts except Driven". Obviously, this is not the case for me. I consider Test For Echo to be significantly better than Counterparts, although it should be interesting to see by how much in a track by track battle. Animate < Test For Echo Stick It Out < Driven Cut To The Chase < Half The World Nobody's Hero ≤ The Color Of Right Between Sun & Moon > Time And Motion Alien Shore ≥ Totem The Speed Of Love < Dog Years Double Agent < Virtuality Leave That Thing Alone < Resist Cold Fire > Limbo Everyday Glory < Carve Away The Stone 8 to 3 win for Test For Echo. This is no real surprise for me. There are very few songs on Test For Echo that I do not like. Interestingly one of the two songs I dislike on Test For Echo won its battle, Dog Years. I am not one to sit here insulting RUSH songs like others, but I have to say that was a real dog of a battle! The close ones were #4 and #6. I love Nobody's Hero & Totem, but both Alien Shore and The Color Of Right are always favourites of mine when they pop up on my playlists. I really identify with the lyrics of The Color Of Right. The song means a lot to me. I also want to praise one of the songs that receives the most hate on this board. Virtuality is one of my favourite songs, not only from this era, but overall by the band. And it isn't just the awesome guitar riff that I love, I really like the lyrics. I know people constantly bitch about the "net boy, net girl, send your message around the world, put your message in a modem and throw it in the cyber sea..." line, but I think it is not only cute, but actually not so dated that it should be criticized. Yes, yes... more messages sent through the internet via cell phone towers today, but the line speaks to the constant changing of the ways we communicate, but that fundamental human contact remains the same. The methods of communication are always evolving even though the messages don't change significantly. I don't hear criticism for 867-5309/Jenny. I don't hear criticisms for the countless songs from the 60s written about writing letters to love interests. The message in the song is actually pretty timeless to me! Anyway... let's get the hate started. I'm sure many of you are salivating at the opportunity to hurl insults at the 16th album by your alleged favourite band.

01. Test for Echo 02. Roll the Bones 03. Power Windows 04. Presto 05. Hemispheres 06. Moving Pictures 07. Fly by Night 08. Snakes & Arrows 09. A Farewell to Kings 10. Grace Under Pressure 11. Counterparts 12. Permanent Waves 13. Hold Your Fire (Opportunity lost here. I love the inner sleeve photo of the man juggling fireballs. Should have gone with that.) 14. Feedback 15. Vapor Trails 16. Signals 17. Clockwork Angels 18. 2112 19. Caress of Steel 20. RUSH