Weatherman

Kevin J. Anderson is interesting in that he dictates ALL his stories, mostly while hiking. I mean, that's time-efficiency, and it's good for health. But I don't know how good it is for balancing all the elements of a complex story.

I couldn't even get through CA. I couldn't get through Vapor Trails either. Snakes and Arrows: made it through -- great production -- but I was bored.

Let's stir things up around here! We all know Rush's stinkers, mostly recorded in the 90s and thereafter. Better question: Which beloved Rush hit do you hate? What supposedly great Rush song makes you roll your eyes? Maybe you don't like the time sig. Maybe you don't like Ged's squeal. Maybe you don't like Al's tone. Maybe you've just heard it too much. I'll go first: 1) Freewill. I hate the alternating 6/8 and 7/8 time sig (especially that extra last beat on the 7). I hate the way that Ged's voice doubles the guitar line in the verses. I really hate Al's spastic solo. It's overall bad prog. 2) Distant second is Closer to the Heart, just because it's overplayed. It wore out its welcome in a way that their other hits didn't. Share below!

A friend of mine is a professional percussionist, and he said that to me in 2014. He felt the Prof had been coasting for a while. I dunno. If the extraordinary drum solo from Live in Frankfurt is Neil just "mailing it in", then what the hell would a full effort look like?

I went to a Phish concert once. I was the only person not on drugs. Bored out of my skull after a while. I watched a skinny guy wearing a purple wizard's robe and purple wizard's hat move through the audience selling "magic peanut butter" in tinfoil. He was more entertaining than what was happening onstage. Weird vibes overall. 2/10 would not recommend. A Rush crowd was always more my style.

You must not feel much magic with Rush then. I loved the trio, but I always got the sense in concert that they didn't listen to one another very closely. I don't mean that in a bad way, but their parts were just so complicated and predetermined. Ged, Alex, and Neil were more concerned with hitting their individual marks, finishing the descending run on the 1, etc. All of it was laid out well in advance. And because they were all so precise, the group moved like clockwork. Angelically.

Came here to say The Allman Brothers Band. They had exactly what you're describing. Not for their whole career, but definitely in the early 70s (with Duane Allman) and then again in the 2000s (with Derek Trucks). Check out "Live at the Fillmore East" - it's the best place to start, and one of the best live albums of all time.

Yeah, the pioneers aren't always the "best" or most popular players either. They just hear things differently. They're first. I acknowledge that Eddie was a genius, but his solos are hard to listen to because of the squeals and mania. His rhythm playing was much easier to digest.

It's my favorite song on Presto and I totally get why they named the album after it. Presto is a singer's album. Geddy was at his best from HYF thru RTB.

Yeah I've heard that before. It definitely brings him down to earth.

Interesting. I went the opposite here. I discovered them as songwriters: my classically-trained professional pianist cousin gave me MP and said "study these guys, they're amazing". So I learned to play guitar by learning Alex's parts. I never idolized them UNTIL My first concert, Roll the Bones tour. Alex was flipping incredible. I remember watching his fingers on Spirit of Radio and going "ohhhh he's better live than in the studio, shiittttt". Then they became larger than life and pretty much stayed that way, in my mind.

The music on that album was clearly made by three people who could barely see straight from the drugs. It's aural sludge. The music before (FBN) and after (2112) is so much brighter by comparison. Put down the hash oil boys! I'm not surprised by the booger sugar in the early 80s. But I am surprised that they persisted using it all the way through the late 90s, at least.

Agreed, and Gene Simmons making fun of them for being so "straight" wasn't exactly accurate either.

I don't know how someone could listen to their 1970s output and think they WEREN'T on drugs. Attention all planets of the solar federation...

I have no problem with this never happening. It's so terrific to hear Alex in a different context in Envy of None. He's really versatile. Ged will have a harder time separating himself from Rush with future music, since his voice is the sound of Rush, and since he was the driving force behind the band. Listening to Ged's memoir really showed me how he was "the director" of the Rush story, so to speak.

At a certain point they stopped making albums that were 90% great and 10% mediocre and started making albums that were 10% great and 90% mediocre.

I was six years old.

I hear Bram van der Berg will be available starting next month.

I've written over 50 books and countless educational materials. I can't remember what's in 95% of them. Just yesterday I was reading through a history exam for work. It took me about ten minutes before I realized that I'd written the exam, over eight years ago. I can only imagine how much more memory degrades across 40 years.

Agreed, with two additions: 1) I got the sense that he wasn't telling us everything about what went wrong in his marriage, or how he saved it. 2) Big takeaway for me was that Ged is much, much more forceful a personality than many people assume. Inside the band, I would say he was first among equals.

I'm looking forward to 10,000 words on French wine in the unabridged version.

This is what happens when we drag girls to a Rush concert. Many such cases.

He does need attention. I think it's mostly that.

I often like to point out that before he'd even turned 18 he 1) knocked up his girlfriend and 2) started a rock band. We all know what happens in those cases. 99 out of 100 times, the guy leaves both the girl and the band, with a lot of lifelong regrets. Alex stayed with the girl AND the band. He stayed with both for 50 years, and carried everyone through to success. That says a lot.

Hobble