PariahDog

Wow, I couldn't even find the CD at Best Buy, let alone the vinyl. It's listed on BB's website so I thought they might have it in stock. Have to go to Amazon, I guess. I'm dating myself for sure, but I do miss the days of picking up a new album at Tower Records on release day, and maybe even running into other fans who were there for the same reason. Oh well...

I'm another one who has just not been able to get into DT. I think it's mostly the singing and maybe the lyrics. Plus I much prefer 70s-style prog, rather than prog metal. The last DT album I really liked was Images & Words. I finally saw them live opening for Iron Maiden and had the same impression: they're good, not great, but just don't click with me. They did seem kind of bored opening for IM (except for MP). Sad to say, IM had twice the energy of DT that night, despite being 20+ (?) years older.

As much as I'm conflicted, I'm stopping at Best Buy to pick up FFH tonight. The high point will probably be picking up a new Yes album with the Roger Dean logo and artwork, especially if I can find the vinyl. (Has anyone found it at BB?) The low point will probably be actually listening to FFH and thinking how much better could have been with Jon Anderson. I've heard the "epic" and do like it, though it's a far cry from the true Yes epics. (More of a Lamneth-style epic, really just a collection of songs.) I guess there is a cold logic to recording FFH with Benoit: Squire obviously wanted to record this material with Trevor, and it's unlikely that Jon would have been interested in singing someone else's lyrics and melodies. It stinks, but I guess I finally understand Squire's calculation. By the way, it's been bugging me who the heck Benoit reminds me of on FFH (other than Trevor Horn on Drama). But an Amazon reviewer has it exactly right... ...wait for it... Russell Hitchcock of Air Supply. http://www.contactmusic.com/videoimages/sbmg/air-supply-keeping-the-love-alive.jpg

I was just listening to RTB this weekend. The real problem is that RTB is EXTREMELY inconsistent. It's got a couple very good tracks and some mediocre tracks, but also three of Rush's wost songs. Dreamline: A+ Bravado: A+ Roll The Bones: B+ Face Up: F- Where's My Thing?: B+ The Big Wheel: B+ Heresy: B+ Ghost Of A Chance: A Neurotica: F- You Bet Your Life: F- I think the "Choir of Rupert" backing vocals in Face Up and especially YBYL ("the odds get even" ) may be the poorest artistic choices that Rush has ever made on their studio albums. The chorus of Neurotica is also pretty bad: "It's just Erotica... Hypnotica... Whoah-oh-oh-oh-oh." If you played these tracks for your class, they would probably be But without the F- tracks, RTB is a pretty decent album. Dreamline and Bravado are superb, and the production quality is much improved over Presto.

QUOTE (trenken @ Jul 7 2011, 04:39 PM) Cant see them announcing retirement. I think that they would just stop making albums since Neil is admitting that he isnt sure how much longer he can do this. He certainly sounds like this might be the last one. So once they cant do it anymore, they would just stop and that would be it. Dont know about them making an official announcement. Yeah, I don't think any of them will ever announce "I'm retiring from Rush" or that there will be a "Rush calling it quits" announcement. They'll likely just stop recording and touring, leaving their options open like most bands. And I don't think Rush would announce a "farewell tour" like The Eagles , though a R40 tour could essentially become their farewell tour.

QUOTE (LeaveMyThingAlone @ Jul 6 2011, 06:18 PM) First of all, as sad as this may sound to some people, I genuinely believe Rush's last album will be Clockwork Angels and their final tour will likely follow. Whether that is 1 leg or 2 legs I'm not sure but I do believe the "Clockwork Angels" tour will be their last...mainly because I think Neil will call it quits and be a daddy and husband. This is an interesting quote from Neil: I feel a certain urgency, I really want to get that record made while I'm still able to," he says. "It was hard for me to set the album aside to tour, this really means a lot to me, I intend it to be my highest achievement lyrically and drumming wise, so I really want to get it done while we still can." Sounds code for "my last hurrah and I want to go out blazing" So with all that being said, I have some predictions about what the tour may look like. It sounds like the boys are really putting their heart and soul into this album, recognizing it may be their last. They want to bring the old school complexity and concept to their ability to play better than ever and I suspect this will be their crowning achievement, one they will be very proudly play in it's entirety on the clockwork angels tour. I think we may all get some version of the "B-Sides" tour a lot of us have hoped for. I think playing MP in it's entirety every night for 2 years has burned the boys out on that album, and they may in fact scrap MP as well as a lot of the other "classics" they've played forever I see the same lengthy set with the 1st half being the Clockwork Angels album and the 2nd half being songs Rush wants to play that they haven't as often as they like. I think the tour consists of smaller venues (4,000-7,000) since they won't play a lot of the classics. Though they may charge an arm and a leg knowing the die hards will come Thoughts? I think you may have it about right , though I do hold out hope for a final R40 tour after the CA tour. I do think CA may be their last album. I think it may pretty lengthy, maybe even a double CD (a la Tales From Topographic or Lamb Lies Down), despite some folks around here pining for a SHORTER 35-40 minute new album. And I would guess that the CA setlist will feature most or all of CA, a couple of "new" deep tracks, and most of the bigger hits to bring in the casual fans. Still, Neil did surprise me by doing a second TM tour leg, so maybe they have more left in the tank than we're thinking.

QUOTE (hobo73 @ Jul 6 2011, 01:29 PM) he still sounds better in concert than most musicians his age do! shit. look at mick jagger- BLECH. How about Robert Plant or Roger Daltrey?

In order of preference: Genesis (Peter and Phil) Genesis (Phil) Marillion (Fish) Yes (Fragile lineup) Yes (TFTO lineup) Marillion (Hogarth) Yes (90125 lineup) The two bands would unite for extended versions of I Know What I Like, Market Square Heroes, or Roundabout.

Moving Pictures Permanent Waves Hemispheres A Farewell to Kings 2112 Caress of Steel Signals Fly By Night Power Windows Counterparts Grace Under Pressure Hold Your Fire Snakes & Arrows Presto Rush Roll The Bones Vapor Trails Test For Echo Lately, the prog era (FBN through AFTK) has really moved up for me, especially COS , while the synth era has declined a bit.

Next, Rushgoober will tell us that he's hearing the greatness of Vapor Trails. I don't hate TFE, but I agree with trenken that it sounds uninspired. It sounds a bit like they just repeated the formula of CP, but without the freshness and with some very unfortunate lyric choices from Neil. Sonically it sounds great, and on paper it should be a great album: Peter Collins producing, a few odd time signatures, some nice guitar tones, etc. But somehow it never quite gels, mostly due to the material I think. I did gain some appreciation for the music on TFE when watching Peart's Work In Progress DVD, though.

I'm probably at about 95%, with TFE dragging the average down quite a bit. Only a few other bands in that ballpark for me: probably Genesis (95%), Marillion (95% including Hogarth), Yes (90%), Zeppelin (95%), Spock's Beard (98% with Neal). And, yes, is still making new music, so that's pretty impressive.

QUOTE (StellarJetman @ Jun 21 2011, 11:42 AM)From that other thread: QUOTE (RushNut @ Jun 21 2011, 07:06 AM)QUOTE (Good @ bad,andrush,Jun 21 2011, 09:02 AM) QUOTE (JohnnyBlaze @ Jun 21 2011, 07:58 AM) QUOTE (Ancient Ways @ Jun 21 2011, 09:57 PM) QUOTE (Sir Lerxst @ Jun 21 2011, 08:38 AM) I can think of a track from every album, which I don't think should have made the cut. I would love to see that list... imho: Rivendell, Speed of Love, YBYL...after that I have to think. I'll have a go at this... This deserves a separate thread So, yeah, here's the separate thread. I'll start: Fly by Night: "Rivendell", "Best I Can" Caress of Steel: "I Think I'm Going Bald" 2112: "A Passage to Bangkok" (I know that I'm going to be crucified for this one.) A Farewell to Kings: Everything after "Xanadu" (I just hate that album. Sorry!) Hemispheres: Nothing much, really, although the title track could have used a lot more work. Permanent Waves: "Jacob's Ladder", the "Permanent Waves" section of "Natural Science" Moving Pictures: "Witch Hunt" (Too annoyingly preachy, I'm afraid.) Signals: "Countdown", not so much because it's weak (I don't much care for most of the songs on Signals, actually), but because it's weak and keeps the album going after "Losing It", which would have been a perfect finale. Grace Under Pressure: "The Body Electric" Power Windows: "Marathon", possibly "Emotion Detector" Hold Your Fire: "Second Nature", "Tai Shan" Presto: "Scars", possibly "Anagram", "Hand Over Fist" Roll the Bones: The rap, "Where's My Thing?", "Neurotica", "You Bet Your Life" Counterparts: The stupid "noir" monologues, "Stick It Out", "The Speed of Love", possibly "Everyday Glory" Test for Echo: "Half the World", "Time and Motion", "Totem", "Dog Years", possibly "Resist", "Carve Away the Stone" Vapor Trails: "Out of the Cradle", because, like "Countdown", it's an incredibly weak ending that comes right after what would have been a proper finale. I'd probably put it on this list regardless of its placement, though. Snakes and Arrows: "Faithless", because Neil's preachiness is even more annoying when it doesn't have a good tune to back it up. Flame away, people! Interesting topic, but that's a pretty brutal list. Dropping anything from the Terry Brown era is a big , IMO. But I do think there's a handful of tracks that perhaps should not have been released... HYF: Tai Shan, High Water RTB: Face Up, You Bet Your Life TFE: Totem, Dog Years, Virtuality, Limbo, maybe even Test For Echo (ouch!) Hate to say it, but most of these are spoiled for me by the lyrics, except for Tai Shan (Yanni arrangement) and Limbo (sub-standard for a Rush instrumental). They should have saved these for a "Lost Tracks" disc, then we would have been drooling over them.

QUOTE (1-0-0-1-0-0-1 @ Jun 17 2011, 11:12 AM)QUOTE (Sgt.D @ Jun 17 2011, 11:54 AM)Probably outside where she will hear him and not think he is just saying he has to take a piss or something. "Honey?" (no response) "HONEY???" "WOOOO!!!!!" "I WAS WONDERING..." "Uh huh! YEEAAAHHHHH!!!!!" "Would you..." "Yeah???" "WOULD YOU MARRY ME!!!" "WHAT? THEY'RE PLAYING 'SPINDRIFT' NEXT?" "'SPINDRIFT?' NO, NOT CARRY ME, MARRY ME!!!" "MARY? WHY BRING HER UP NOW?" "NO, NO..." "YOU'RE OVER HER! RIGHT?" "NO, I MEAN, YES!" "WOOOO!!! 'THE SHIFTING SHAFTS OF SHINING, WEAVE THE FABRIC OF THEIR DREAMS.' YEEAAAHHHH!" "NO, WOULD YOU....Wait, WHAT? That just played JACOB'S LADDER??? And I MISSED IT??? F*CK!!!" "WHAT'D YOU SAY?" "HONEY?!? WILL YOU MARRY ME?!?" "HERESY?!? THEY'RE PLAYING HERESY?" "NO, WILL YOU BE MY WIFE?!? "BE WHAT? BU2B?!?" Seriously, it doesn't sound like a good idea, even if they're both confirmed Rush fanatics. How about at dinner before the show?

QUOTE (jnoble @ Jun 13 2011, 05:14 PM) Here's the thing about HYF: Technically, lyrically, melodically,performance-wise...the songs are mostly very good. If this were almost any other band, this album might be considered their best work. That being said, this type of music: overproduced lush dramatic synth-pop wasn't what a three-piece hard rock band like Rush should've been recording. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy several of the tunes on HYF and was happy to hear a few of them brought back live... but overall it was Rush going too far in one direction away from what made them great. Tai Shan and Second Nature are the prime examples of how wussy and soft Rush's sound had gotten at the time. I would pretty much agree with this. They (Geddy?) had been really pushing the envelope with the synths on Signals>GUP>PoW, and they just took it a step too far on HYF. You can tell they realized this, when you see how far they dialed back the synths on Presto (an over-reaction in the other direction, IMO). A big part of the problem was the switch to digital synths, and Andy Wallace should share some blame as he did a lot of the synth patch programming and sequencing on HYF and PoW (IIRC). For me, the sweet spot for synths in Rush was always AFTK>MP, with a nice clean, dry mix of guitars/bass/drums, but also a healthy dose of Moog/Taurus/Oberheim to fatten up the mix and add texture. If I have one wish for CA, it would be that they would bring back this approach on a few tracks. I do hold out hope, after hearing the prominence of the synth in parts of BU2B (though it does remind me more of PoW than MP).

QUOTE (Tony R @ Jun 13 2011, 12:24 PM)QUOTE (PariahDog @ Jun 13 2011, 06:08 PM) Jeez, what a thread. The perfect combination of Neil bashing and pissing contests. TRF is becoming more like Counterparts every day. Oh I remember you! You're the wonderful advert for this site who started this thread: http://www.rushmessageboard.com/cpmb/index...showtopic=30715 Lovely. What? I'm not registered on CP and have never posted there. I can't even view your link, as it requires a login. I gave up on CP years ago and hate to see TRF going in that direction, right down the toilet (IMO). We just need GeminiRising to chime in with some weird sexual angle, and this thread would perfectly symbolize the decline of TRF (IMO).

Jeez, what a thread. The perfect combination of Neil bashing and pissing contests. TRF is becoming more like Counterparts every day.

QUOTE (Jaminbenb @ Jun 10 2011, 04:00 PM)Anyway....Who are YOU to say whether Neil plays inefficiently or if his set is not set up correctly... He's some guy on the internet. BTW, I thought the "insufferable" title belonged to a certain member who's name borrows from an Andy Griffith character. Rushopie, Rushgomer, something like that? (Kidding!)

QUOTE (circumstantial tree @ Jun 8 2011, 02:57 PM)Also, Pink Floyd's "A Momentary Lapse of Reason" was also released that day. Two weeks later, Yes' "Big Generator" was released. and U2's "Joshua Tree". 1987 also saw the release of Marillion's "Clutching At Straws." HYF is a great album, but sounds very dated now. It's funny how the digital synths of PoW and HYF sound SO dated, while the analog synths (and even early digital synths on GUP) have a more timeless quality. Rush, please bring back some Moog or Oberheim on CA. Song-wise, there are some true classics on HYF (FT, TSS, OS, SN, PM, M, TTP), but also the first two Rush songs I was ever dissapointed in (TS and HW). I think it's interesting that most S&A haters seem to love HYF, probably because it has one of the only two songs (Prime Mover and Mystic Rhythms) where you might convince yourself that Neil was "getting religion" (though I wouldn't interpret the PM lyrics that way). But I think many also like the overall optimistic tone of HYF, even though it's EXTREMELY cheesey, whereas PoW is optimistic but not QUITE as cheesey.

QUOTE (LeaveMyThingAlone @ Jun 2 2011, 06:54 PM)If you threw in the occasional positive comment here and there I think you'd get more reactions out of your posts and meet your objective. CT should try out the "long-suffering, heartbreakingly-dissapointed-yet-always-hopeful Rush fan" shtick. That one seems popular because you get to have it both ways: you can savage every new Rush album/DVD/setlist/song, and yet still present yourself as true-but-heartbroken fan.

QUOTE (Cosy Toes @ Jun 2 2011, 05:44 PM)And just goes to show how even METAL can be completely and utterly SHITE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! As for the number of likes, that's down to all the numerous braindead, cretinous, basement dwelling, D&D playing, Mom living, never had a girlfriend, unthinking, uncritical FANBOIS that Rush attract. Rush, getting WORSE since 1978 FACT!!!!!!!!!! FWIW BU2B is better than Caravan. In the same way that Diarrhoea is preferable to Amoebic Dysentery Dislike Trying WAY too hard, by the way.

QUOTE (LeaveMyThingAlone @ May 20 2011, 10:48 AM)Well, when you dont make as much money on albums as you used to, you're going to have big gaps like this, particuarly since 2000. It's just a totally different world. Why would Rush make an album every year just to break even or even lose money? You can even look at the new popular rock bands today and they do it the same way: Linkin Park- Albums in 2000, 2003, 2007, 2010 The Killers-Albums in 2004, 2006, 2008...still waiting for next Foo Fighter-2002, 2005, 2007, 2011 Green Day-2000, 2004, 2009 My Chemical Romance 2002, 2004, 2006, 2010 U2-2000, 2004, 2009 Red Hot Chili Peppers-2002, 2006, ? Metallica 2003, 2008, ? I could go on and on... A lot of the Rush fans get on the boyz for not doing enough studio work, but NO ONE does it the same way. Look at the bands above...they are much younger and are at about the same pace as Rush since the turn of the century Now, don't go confusing the issue with logic and facts! Let's just stick with the talking points: 1. Rush are lazy, greedy, money-grubbing capitalist pigs. 2. Neil is probably mind-controlling Alex and Geddy to force them into this constant cash-grabbing. 3. Old Rush good, new Rush bad.

QUOTE (ucsteve667 @ May 23 2011, 02:07 PM)I give up at this point, your not getting what it is you want from this band no matter what I guess. at the risk of insulting you, it does seem extraordinarily narcissistic of you to be so condescendingly critical of them in this manner. QUOTE (rushgoober @ May 23 2011, 05:05 PM)the amount of time in my life i spend thinking about rush is actually precious little, so it's not really an issue for me except the isolated moments when i'm discussing it. Says the guy with 24000+ posts.

QUOTE (Soni @ May 11 2011, 05:17 PM)All right I understand. I guess I was a bit late for this. Now that I made my point, feel free to close it if causes more trouble, I won't mind. Sorry, but I have to agree with Soni 1000% before this is closed. I've been staying away from TRF myself more-and-more. Not just because of the blatant haters, but more because of the relentless negativity from some "real" members. I find myself increasingly annoyed and epically unintersted in how much a certain member hates VT, how much a certain clique hates S&A, etc. And as the saying goes, "it's not you, it's ME." I KNOW that negativity is absolutely the norm for the internet, and that it's much, much worse on most other boards (such as CP). So rather than bitch about the bitchers, I just haven't been around much. And, no, I won't let the door hit my ass on the way out. Seriously, I have enjoyed much of my time around here, but at some point TRF just began to lose its charm. I still check in here and will be curious to see the reaction to CA. (Though I can already predict who's going to hate it, who's going to despise it, who's going to be "dissapointed," who's going to hate the spirituality angle, yada, yada, yada.) But it seems to me that TRF has lost it's overall positive outlook on Rush that always used to attract me and distinguigh this place from CP and others. P.S. Jeez, what the heck did I miss last week?