Timbale

Both great, great records - but even the weakest songs on Who's Next (for me My Wife and Goin' Mobile) are still solid bangers. Who's Next gets extra point for me because it's not even the fully realized thing it was supposed to be! When you hear the songs that didn't make it...and bled out over other projects and as singles, you realize how on fire Townshend was. Imagine having Pure and Easy, Relay, Too Much Of Anything, Mary, Join Together etc in the bag and they don't even make the cut because no one gets what you're on about with your concept. And after that "failure", he writes Quadrophenia. Insane.

I remember in elementary school, classmates, particularly girls, making fun of me for loving Rush. I can remember at some point telling one of them that Rush was from our hometown...and they couldn't believe it! They were certain, given Geddy's voice, that they were British. They cited Closer To The Heart as the example...that there was no way that was a Canadian accent! I find that funny now....BUT...for me, songs from around this era, the songs on Farewell in particular... he does have a sort of odd affectation to his enunciation that puts me off a bit... and of course we're talking a classic album with a handful of classic songs. But this is totally why for me the ESL version of Closer To The Heart is WAY more enjoyable to listen to - his vocal is great on that track - the best he ever performed it, probably.

Drive By Truckers - The Dirty South

I agree - perhaps “equal” was the wrong word to use. He IS saying that all have a part to play…and that putting care into their individual efforts is the best way forward. I dig that message.

LOVE Zevon getting in.... and Kate Bush definitely deserves induction - she's a genuine and unique artist. The whole R&R Hall thing is pretty stupid...and it has long become about things other than "rock and roll". I actually thought Rush didn't deserve to be in - they are not rock and roll. But if you're going to limit the hall to that narrowly defined thing, you're gonna have the Stones, Springsteen, all the 50's guys, maybe the Black Crowes and the Black Keys... it's gonna run dry. And actually, George Michaels' biggest hit (Faith) is about as Rock & Roll as it gets...

It also really struck me, (again, perhaps obvious, but I had kinda dismissed the lyrics, or not given them the attention that I give a lot of other Rush songs) that they are very...inclusive, I guess. "blacksmith and the artist" and "philosophers and plowmen". They are all given equal standing in the song - it is quite egalitarian. I would even venture to say that it is a tiny bit of a turn away from the Randian influence that he showed just one album before.

Always nice to chat about Rush with fellow fans - such an enjoyable community to be part of. The three band members are so revered by their fan base for being thoughtful and kind people - you can really see that reflected in the people that love the band.

Closer To The Heart is one of those Rush songs that I don't think about very much - of their "big hits" it is probably my least favourite. I can enjoy the ESL version when I am listening to that record...but I find Geddy's vocal on the studio version is kind of affected and a little annoying to me. Consequently, I never really think about the lyrics that much. They always kinda just seemed serviceable and "fine"...but not that interesting or outstanding. The other day I was watching the live version from ESL...and I started to think that the lyrics are actually quite good. There is something about the phrasing of the lines, I think, that has always made the last two lines of each verse (the title of the song) sort of stand alone...like they're not really connected to the lines that come before it. They just sort of sound like their own thing. But really, in each verse, the 3rd and 4th lines are the same thought - they are essentially the same sentence. It's written, and I think more importantly, sung, like this: The blacksmith and the artist Reflect it in their art They forge their creativity Closer to the heart Yes closer to the heart But really, the intention is: The blacksmith and the artist Reflect it in their art They forge their creativity closer to the heart Yes closer to the heart This might be an obvious thing...but I'm not sure I ever really thought that through before...and for me it makes the song more meaningful. I actually think it's a pretty good lyric. Perhaps it could be said it's sort of a failure of the phrasing that the title seems disconnected from the other lines in the verse, I don't know...but it has made me re-assess this song and enjoy it more.

I honestly just find all the after-the-fact digital artwork pointless. It totally leaves me cold...and doesn't, for me, represent how I "feel" about Signals - one of their great records. I wish Syme would just put a book out of his re-interpretations of the album art, if that's what he's into. A handful of live shots that I'm pretty sure we've all seen before feels really shoddy - why the hell are their NO studio photos? Also (and perhaps there are such things in the box...it didn't seem like it, though) there are great music writers who could write about the importance of Signals as an album in their career...I'd prefer that kind of content to some image of the Facebook logo created in a computer. Ugh.

He was the sound of the AM radio speakers in my parents' station wagon in my early childhood... that low fi radio signal bringing his beautiful voice and great songs to our ears. RIP to a true Canadian legend.

Pete Townshend 1. Empty Glass 2. All The Best Cowboys Have Chinese Eyes 3. White City: A Novel 4. Who Came First 5. Rough Mix 6. Psychoderelict 7. The Iron Man Amazing to me that his solo, studio album output is so thin, given how much I love it and much airplay his records still get from me...particularly 1-4 on the list. Special mention HAS to go to the demo stuff he's put out over the years. The first "Scoop" is one of my all time fave albums...would likely be #3 on my list. Subsequent box sets "LIfehouse Chronicles" and his demos for Quadrophenia all are in heavy rotation....they are a great way to listen to some of the golden oldies that have had the life sucked out of them by endless radio rotation. I will very seldom listen to The Who's version of Won't Get Fooled or Baba O'Reilly....but his home demos can make those songs fresh.

Tom Waits 1. Rain Dogs 2. Swordfish Trombones 3. Small Change 4. Mule Variations 5. Franks Wild Years 6. Heartattack And Vine 7. Alice 8. Closing Time 9. Heart Of Saturday Night 10. Blue Valentine 11. Blood Money 12. Foreign Affairs 13. Nighthawks At The Diner 14. Bone Machine 15. Real Gone 16. Black Rider 17. Bad As Me Special mention to the box set Orphans, which is kind of a "proper" album because it's a lot of unreleased stuff, and would probably go somewhere around #7. Also the live album Big Time is top notch.

I'm gonna say that if Thatcher came on the set of a Rush video in 1984...by 2023 ONE of those guys would have mentioned it by now.

Yeah, you know - that time around 83-84 when Thatcher hung out in Toronto all the time…

It's interesting to me that it seems for many people on this forum, Rush might be some of the "lightest" music they listen to...whereas for me, it's pretty much the heaviest - excluding some 70s rock like The Who or Zeppelin. I couldn't name 10 metal bands I like if I tried. Not a judgment at all...just interesting.

I returned to Get Back for a second (or maybe 3rd) viewing. Just watched about half of the first part last night. It is such a goddamn treasure trove right from the start. Someone asking who the Hare Krishna guy is in the corner and I think John answering "one of George's friends" and Paul immediately coming back with "he's very clean" - a very funny reference to Hard Day's Night. They were just so damn funny and cool, even when they weren't getting along 100%. It also struck me that the whole film is a "making of" Let It Be...but also of Abbey Road, which is so amazing. And as on my first viewing, I am just so blown away by Paul's wellspring of creativity. It's really astounding.

I'm interested in this...but there were a couple red flags right away: "Neil Peart is acknowledged as one of the greatest drummers of all time. The impact he had on the drumming community was huge. He inspired a generation of drummers and is still a formative influence. He was nicknamed “The Professor” for his musicality, precision and accuracy on the drums." I believe he was referred to as Professor as a joke by the other two guys because his head was buried in books on those early tours. A small thing, maybe...but it reeks of a kind of fandom/worship that is not objective. Similarly: "Creativity, perfectionism and a huge sense of timing are some unforgettable aspects of his drumming." I'm not sure what exactly he means by "a huge sense of timing"...but it makes me think of those memes "metronomes set their tempo by Neil Peart", which is just such a f**king silly thing. Anyone who has actually listened to live recordings while not wearing their Farewell To Kings tee shirt can easily hear that tempo was NOT one of Neil's strong suits for many, many years. He got there eventually....but jesus, the amount of great drummers who had an amazing sense of tempo...Neil's not the guy to look to. Again, it just kinda feels like fan service. And if that's only in the first 2 paragraphs of the thing, I don't know....

I guess I'm always interested in theoretical questions that most other people just aren't. I suppose it's all moot seeing as the band ceased to exist in 2015 and Peart's been dead for 3 years.

Very excited by this.

I have very strong feelings about Peart's 2nd drum kit for the R40 tour (namely, that I think it sounded absolutely dreadful and was a complete wasted opportunity to have all those classic tunes sound good), but that is not what I was thinking about... I found myself wondering the other day...with all of Neil's talk from '95 or so on about the ergonomics of his set up...isn't it actually kinda surprising that he was willing (or, I don't know, even "happy") to play an entire set of music on a kit that he felt wasn't good for his body? Do you think that Geddy (who I imagine was the person behind the "reverse history" concept) had to do a hard sell on Neil to get him to do it...or do you think he figured it would actually be fun to play on his old configuration? I just doesn't seem like something he'd be that into...but clearly he did it (aided by his deaf drum tech Lorne 😂)... Thoughts?

An all-time great.

RIP to a master.

Bird On A Wire - Leonard Cohen

You're on a damn good run, friend.

For me, Robbery Assault and Battery is the weak link ( although the album version is a lot better than the Seconds Out version)...but man it's a good album.