CygnusX-1Bk2

Silk Degrees is a great record. Jeff Porcaro on drums. Dueling hi hats on Lowdown is awesome. Don't forget "We're All Alone" and "It's Over" also great tracks.

The ESL solo made me want to be a great drummer. Can't say that about any of the others since. These days they are suck fests (i.e. fanboys felating and foaming).

When Rush say somethng they generally mean it. If Neil feels he is causing his "new" family pain he honestly beleives it. This includes himself which during the last tour HE was in considerable physical pain for much of the tour because he is an old man hitting things. They are old men in their 60s who play physically challenging music. This combination cannot go on in perpetuity. If this is the last harrah so be it. Enjoy and let them retire. They've done enough.

Thread relocated as requested. I left a link in the original location. Thanks...

Gee, thanks for pointing out the number too. :P Thanks all!

I second Show of Hands as the worst, but the editing in Time Machine and CA are terrible. Geddy's voice is what it is these days. Trying to sing songs from 30 or more years ago is always going to be tougher each tour. They do a DVD for every tour now so if he fixes vocals (which he obviously does in a few spots on CA) they probably don't spend a lot of time doing them. I've seen some timing differences on his vocal performances in CA that are not video editing related, the are dubbed vocals. ESL is really overdubbed from what I understand, but it still sounds great. The 21st century live albums don't sound near as good as ESL or GUP for DVD.

In a lot of cases it's not imaginary when they have made statements about their own material. I make interpretations of what they play in shows and what they've said in interviews about certain songs and albums as well as what I've gathered from talking to some crew members. I know a stinker when I hear it and they know it when they've written one, though usually years later. People need to stop sucking their dicks and be real. My opinion matters to only me. Who cares what you, me or anyone else thinks? Seriously. You can like garbage if you want but I tend to be more discerning and I don't care much what anybody thinks about it. If others can state their opinions then so can I. Get your panties in a wad if you want to. That doesn't mean you can be an ass by posting incessantly because you disagree. You are what is referred to as a foamer. :)

And now you are just being an ass.

The reason they don't do Hemispheres is because the vocal is too high, even when they recorded it but Geddy hadn't realized until he went to cut the vocal.

They played Prelude on the CP tour. They played Jacob's Ladder on the PW and ESL warmup tour and rehearsed it for Time Machine but was cut. Agreed about Different Strings.

They played parts of Fountain on the CoS tour. In fact that's when this all started for them because of how they felt about the tour, not the record. Well, maybe a little. There is that interview in whatever video where Alex talks about playing Fountain for Paul Stanley who obviously didn't get it. I am sure that affected how they feel about it. That said Fountain is a bit uneven but I love it. It is head and shoulders above anything they made in the 90's or after. But if you look at setlists from after they were established (CoS was their second tour with Neil) it is evident how they feel about their current album as well as recent albums. For a long time they played the first songs from most albums. That was annoying. TFE was the first tour with no opening act. Since then they have made a point to add variety, and even more so recently. You can tell what they like and what they don't. This applies more to stuff post 80's. The non CA songs on the tour were some of the best late 80's and early 90's stuff they've done. Plus the Time Machine Tour had some great previously unplayed songs. Including Presto.

Alex was brilliant because the RRHOF is a complete joke. Making fun of a made up institution that has utterly no meaning in no way can go too far. Paul Stanley was far more scathing with his actual words. His speech was edited come broadcast time because he hit the nail on the head.

And no duplicate posts please.

Um, no. Um, yes. If they are SO good they why were they never played live? Because even Rush know they aren't good songs. Same reason they don't play anything but Force Ten, Time Stand Still or Mission from HYF. They are funny that way.

Without Devo there would have been no 80's Rush albums as they are. They and Kraftwerk were synth pioneers. Mark Mothersbaugh is a ubiquitous film score composer now in addition to touring with Devo still (well 3/5 of Devo).

Um, no.

Google is wrong. The only answer to that question is Buddy Rich. Don't even get me started about John Bonham...

Devo is awesome. Presto is a great record, especially considering what came just before it. The problem with Presto is the production (and Anagram, Red Tide and Available Light). Show Don't Tell is one of their best songs ever. Great album. CA sounds like Old Guy Rush wanting to sound like Young Guy Rush because their producer is a fan boy. S&A is a masterpiece and I hear a perceptible drop in intensity where the writing is concerned. They came up with a conceptual idea then tried to suit it rather than writing things that come out naturally. There are some moments but they are few and far between. We are at a funny time in their career when they are seemingly more popular than at any time previously. The lack of objectivity where their work is concerned is at an all time high. The sucking sounds when any of them enter a room is deafening. If my evaluation of the players is spot on then so must my evaluation of the material be as well. :) Good is good and their standard is high. CA is well below their standard.

Let me step in and offer a few things: Freddie Gruber: When Neil started studying with Freddie it was more of how he played not what he played. It was a different technical approach to the drums: pulling the sound out versus driving the stick through the drum. It was about smoothing out his mechanics. Ultimately he is the same person he was prior to studying with Freddie but with a slightly different technique but not a different style. To expect Neil Peart to not play like Neil Peart is not realistic. This was more about trying to improve upon what he was already doing to refine it, not redefine it. Granted, Neil has an appreciation for swing jazz. Listening to Neil play jazz is like listening to Buddy Rich trying to play rock. Just don't. Peter Erskine: Peter is a great jazz guy and a real nice guy too. I went to one of his clinics in the late 80's and he was great to talk drums and technique with. He played at the Hammerstein Ballroom for the Buddy Rich tribute and along with Tommy Igoe were the best jazz players of the evening. Neil being Neil he wants to play like that. He cannot. He swings like a rusty gate but he is not satisfied being the guy that all these people want to worship. Good for him, bad for fans of jazz. Neil's evolution of drumming while in Rush: With every release until today all three have been driven to improve in some capacity. That said after 40 years of experience the plateaus are flatter and the notable marks of upward improvement are fewer and further between, much less dramatic and more visible to the performer himself rather than a general observer. Neil's drumming has gotten more disciplined over the past 20 years. You wouldn't expect a 60 year old Neil to have the same approach as a 30 year old Neil given the years and recordings along the way. While the later recordings may not seem as dextrous by all three as the 70's era material they are no less intricate, but their motivations are completely different and they don't have as much to prove. What they play now is more about proving that they still can which is way different from proving that they are good which is what originally motivated them. There are things that Neil creates these days that require far more concentration and limb discipline than say Tom Sawyer which takes a certain amount of concentration but way more physicality. His focus is much more sticking and emphasis of certain phrases. It is subtle but for drummers, especially those close to the Rush catalog it is obvious. At least it is to me. For Geddy it's about song structure and how parts go together and song arrangements as opposed to bass parts. Alex is always about experimentation. I think he is still the most expressive these days. As for tones: These guys have been touring musicians for the past 40 years, many of which were spent standing in front of extremely loud amps and speakers night after night. Everything started to get brighter sonically around the late 80's and has gotten worse as time has gone on. Their collective hearing is pretty sketchy at best. I am sure to them it sounds fine, but to those of us who still possess our ears it doesn't. They have gotten into a sameness since Counterparts as far as writing goes. Everything since has had a similar flavor. I didn't think it was possible for them to have a worse sounding album than Vapor Trails until Clockwork Angels was released. It sounds bad and the writing is less inspired than pretty much anything in their catalog aside from HYF. At least HYF has Force Ten and Time Stand Still. I will now include Mission after recent tours. Caravan is no Force Ten.

Well since its limited and we can't pick Hemispheres had to go wth Fountain of Lamneth. I would love to hear any of that live. Also went with Chain Lightning, Hand Over Fist, Alien Shore and Vapor Trail. But I would rather vote for Hemispheres and Jacob's Ladder.

Which admin approved this?

As a moderator it was more irritating seeing a reported post that (as I call him) pasta boy made over anything that he actually posted. Then again I was also against having subforums and most definitely against discussing politics or religion but was overruled, which in part led to the strike system in the first place due to morons attacking each other in alleged defense of alleged beliefs which has unfortunately become a daily occurrence as a result. But I digress... I think that pasta boy provided a much needed service of balance what with all of the fanboy suck fests that are known to take place in such forums as these. While he may or may not have been a troll, he knew EXACTLY how to push the right buttons while only casually crossing the line of good taste. The reverence in which some "foamers" hold Rush is truly sickening. He is obviously a Rush fan because his knowledge is extensive enough to piss a good bunch of the overly sensitive Neil scaring type of fans that want Rush to be more than they are. So I voted yes. :)

RIP. Saw him up close and personal a few years ago at Yoshi's in Oakland. All good musicians are assholes to some degree. Just add drugs and booze to magnify.

Haven't seen one for a while but I love everything about Columbo. My favorites are the Robert Culp episodes and the Patrick McGoohan ones. Oh and the one with the blowfish sticks out too. And Eddie Albert as the Naval officer with Suzanne Pleschette as the damsel in distress. So many good episodes. There was a later one with Dabney Coleman that was also quite good. So many great character and leading actors.

Ah, okay. Got a little mixed up considering that MotS usually consists of... well, mostly professionals. MotS is for any music that is not Rush. MMM is for music gear and technique.