SlyJeff

QUOTE (beherit @ Jul 1 2012, 05:51 PM) I can hear a bit from all their records except the synth era To me The Anarchist sounds a lot like some of their Synth era tunes if you removed the synths.

So far I'm not skipping anything. In fact I probably won't ever skip songs when I play the album in order (this holds true for most albums for me). However this is one of the songs that probably won't make it into my "4 star" shuffle, along with Halo Effect, Carnies, WtW, and BU2B. The Garden may not make it in that list either. Note that this playlist include music by all artists on my iPod and if I was including based on quality of song alone Carnies, The Garden, and The Wreckers would probably make it in, but I grade Rush on a stricter scale to prevent them from dominating the playlist . It doesn't make a lot of sense to create a playlist with a bunch of different artists and have every third song be Rush. . .

Caravan BU2B HF SSoG honorable mention: The Anarchist CA Bottom 4: BU2B2 (shouldn't count) Halo Effect Wish Them Well The Wreckers The fact that the Wreckers (which I like) is in my bottom 4 should tell you how I feel about this album. There isn't a sing on it that I dislike.

QUOTE (GeddPratLerxst @ Jun 30 2012, 05:30 PM) QUOTE (HowItIs @ Jun 29 2012, 02:22 AM) QUOTE (Tombstone Mountain @ Jun 27 2012, 01:29 PM) QUOTE (Weakly Criminal @ Jun 24 2012, 06:30 PM) QUOTE (Ancient Ways @ Jun 22 2012, 03:26 PM) Kudos to a "pastor" for not dismissing Rush at face value but a real Rush fan would not bring up Rand or objectivism. Really? Why not? Good question. Why does everyone shrivel/convulse at the mention of Ayn Rand anyway? For me, two reasons: 1. She was a hypocrite 2. She isn't a very good writer I am 15 and I thoroughly enjoyed The Fountainhead not just for its philosophy but also for its beautifully written plot. To say Ayn Rand is not a very good writer is a broad and completely biased statement. I'll just say that having a 100 page monologue is not a good literary device (John Galt in Atlas Shrugged). Also this quote I once read: "There are two novels that can change a bookish fourteen-year old's life: The Lord of the Rings and Atlas Shrugged. One is a childish fantasy that often engenders a lifelong obsession with its unbelievable heroes, leading to an emotionally stunted, socially crippled adulthood, unable to deal with the real world. The other, of course, involves orcs."

QUOTE (Todem @ Jun 28 2012, 04:20 PM) SOme might think I am crazy. But Dreamline, Bravado and RTB are outstanding as a 1,2,3 punch. GREAT SONGS!!! Not my vote.....but it should garner a lot of attention and be appreciated! HOLD YOUR FIRE LOVE BABY!!!! Well they WERE my pick. Both Dreamline and Bravado are "5 star" songs for me and RTB is a "4 star". The opening run for CA is pretty competitive though. Seven Cities-HF would be too if I liked the Wrekers more.

It's been Caravan since the single was released and it still is. And Bu2B and HF are probably 2nd and 3rd, though CA, The Anarchist, and SCoG are all contenders for those slots,

QUOTE (1-0-0-1-0-0-1 @ Jun 23 2012, 09:10 PM) I'd try this, but I don't have ear buds. Or an iPod. I'm probably the only one who doesn't, right? Wait, how do you listen to music then?

Hard to say- still honeymoon for me. I guess at least HYF (But I thought S&A was best since HYF)- could be since MP, but I don't think I'll commit to that for at least a year.

QUOTE (cygnify @ Jun 21 2012, 01:57 PM) Certainly the novel will clarify, and I'm not claiming that it was just a mistake on Neil's part as I know that he analyzes every breath he takes - but IMO the order of these songs is one of my few criticisms of this excellent album. Coming out of The Wreckers (obviously a tragedy) we get into Headlong flight: "Some days were dark I wish that I could live it all again Some nights were bright I wish that I could live it all again" Owen had good times, bad times, no regrets and would do it all again. Then followed by BU2B2: "Belief has failed me now Life goes from bad to worse No philosophy consoles me In a clockwork universe" IMO states a much stronger negative view of his world-view after just stating he wishes to live it all again. IMO it would have more continuity to have BU2B2 (and it's crushing realizations) follow The Wreckers and then begin to resolve by acknowledging bright days, dark nights, and not regretting having lived it. But on BU2B2 he says despite all of the garbage and pain be chooses to live. I think that's the point. This really resonates with me because of a personal situation where all I was experiencing was pain, but the moment I finally choose to live- that was a good, if painful, moment. The looking back at a life filled with joy and pain and seeing that misplaced faith did not bring you through, yet seeing that you have a choice to make and you choose life- that's what this is about, IMO.

Under- Seven Cities of Gold Over- The Garden and The Wreckers. And I really like the Anarchist.

I don't think BU2B is a timeline goof. It's not nearly as dark as people seem to think. It's about letting go and choosing life instead of relying on misplaced faith. It leads perfectly in to WTW. Essentially the narrative is some thing like "This has been a wild ride, and as crazy and painful as it was, I'd do it all over again. I realize now that the faith I clung to in the beginning was misplaced and harmful to me, but I choose life and will not be enslaved to that faith any longer. To all those who manipulated and hurt me along the road- best of luck to you- you have no foothold in my life any more and I'm moving on."

QUOTE (Merely Space @ Jun 14 2012, 12:49 PM) QUOTE (SlyJeff @ Jun 14 2012, 12:43 PM) I'm not a huge fan of the music to this one (it's a solid Rush tune, certainly not a skipper), but lyrically it hits pretty close to home for me. In fact, the tone of the album is hitting home, though I haven't really explored the lyrics that much. I'm a pretty religious guy, but recently I've been through the ringer in that area. I signed the final papers for my divorce on Friday to a woman I'd been married to for 12 years- the love of my life. Over the last few years she's battled with depression which has led to emotional neglect and abuse, culminating in suicide threats and attempts. Ultimately I just couldn't handle it anymore and filed for divorce to protect both myself and our 2 year old's emotional well being I was the worship leader at my church, and this act was met with a rebuke and ultimately I ended up leaving the church. I can only handle so much exhortation to remain in an abusive situation before it got too wearing on me (and it's quite embarrassing to attend a church where you've been asked to step down from a very public position). So not only this song, but even BU2B and BU2B2 really resonate with me. In the end, I choose life and that in and of itself was a positive, if bitter pill. I haven't lost my faith, but I have had to let some things go. Namely that if I followed the church's plan that I could make my marriage work and overcome the mental struggle that came from living with and trying to love her. It just doesn't work that way, as much as I thought it would. You know, I suffered a lot of pain as people abandoned and judged me, but all I can do is wish them well. I've chosen life, and I am glad for my decision, as painful as it was. They'll never see it that way, but they don't have to. Dude, sorry you've been through the wringer like that. Hope life gets better soon! Thanks In so many ways it already has. Letting go is hard, but that's what this song is really about and it's where I'm at now. Such a better place.

I'm not a huge fan of the music to this one (it's a solid Rush tune, certainly not a skipper), but lyrically it hits pretty close to home for me. In fact, the tone of the album is hitting home, though I haven't really explored the lyrics that much. I'm a pretty religious guy, but recently I've been through the ringer in that area. I signed the final papers for my divorce on Friday to a woman I'd been married to for 12 years- the love of my life. Over the last few years she's battled with depression which has led to emotional neglect and abuse, culminating in suicide threats and attempts. Ultimately I just couldn't handle it anymore and filed for divorce to protect both myself and our 2 year old's emotional well being I was the worship leader at my church, and this act was met with a rebuke and ultimately I ended up leaving the church. I can only handle so much exhortation to remain in an abusive situation before it got too wearing on me (and it's quite embarrassing to attend a church where you've been asked to step down from a very public position). So not only this song, but even BU2B and BU2B2 really resonate with me. In the end, I choose life and that in and of itself was a positive, if bitter pill. I haven't lost my faith, but I have had to let some things go. Namely that if I followed the church's plan that I could make my marriage work and overcome the mental struggle that came from living with and trying to love her. It just doesn't work that way, as much as I thought it would. You know, I suffered a lot of pain as people abandoned and judged me, but all I can do is wish them well. I've chosen life, and I am glad for my decision, as painful as it was. They'll never see it that way, but they don't have to.

Didn't listen very closely, but it feels like my reaction to this will be much like it was to HF. Solid Rush that is really good, but not their best. The vocal melodies in HF and BU2B are what keep them from being breakout songs to me. I really like the melody in Caravan, though. At any rate, sounds like Rish to me and I like Rush, so I'm happy.

QUOTE (Unobtrusive Companion @ May 25 2012, 09:56 AM) I timed that well. Just read the interview, clicked the link again to get a quote I wanted to post about, and the link doesn't work anymore! I'll soldier on without the exact quote. Alex says at some point that they decided no instrumentals would be on this album, something they haven't done for a very long time. Vapor Trails? That didn't have an instrumental, and it certainly wasn't a very long time ago Alex has clearly removed VT from his memory as if it never existed. That there are songs from it he plays live is a great mystery. Great interview and preview. This is going to be a good album!

QUOTE (snowdog2112 @ May 19 2012, 10:48 PM) my gut reaction is that 'Clockwork Angels' is a very good modern Rush album, easily holding up against, or even bettering, the likes of 'Vapor Trails' and 'Snakes And Arrows'. It isn't, however, something to rival the real classics like 'A Farewell To Kings', 'Permanent Waves', 'Moving Pictures' or 'Hemispheres'.[/b] I will be quite surprised if this isn't the case.

QUOTE (savagegrace26 @ May 19 2012, 03:43 PM) Reminds me of an example of what someone who wasn't very familiar with Rush said about them when I brought them up. He said: "Isn't that the band that does all that happy music?". Haha- that is the worst description of Rush I've ever heard. I guess by comparison to Slipknot that fits . . .

If I didn't like the fist three songs then I wouldn't be that stoked about the new album either. If he doesn't like them, he doesn't like them, and my guess is they are pretty indicitative of the rest of the album. So I'm pretty sure he won't like it. I on the other hand, like the three songs a lot so think its probably going to be very good. I think there are a lot more people in my shoes then goober's.

QUOTE (CantStopThinkingBig @ May 13 2012, 12:49 PM) Classic Rush = positive, upbeat lyrics New Rush = I hate God/religion/Christians, the world sucks A lot of classic Rush is neither upbeat or positive, and Freewill is one do the most clear anti-faith songs in the Rush catalog. I honestly don't think a lot has changed in terms of the message, except there's a lot less Rand inspired lyrics now

QUOTE (rushgoober @ May 13 2012, 01:15 PM) QUOTE (SlyJeff @ May 13 2012, 10:18 AM)It's interesting you make that comparison between HF and Xanadu. When I listen to both, HF sounds more daring and interesting to me, though I classify both as merely "good" in overall Rush rankings. QUOTE (SlyJeff @ May 13 2012, 10:18 AM)I know I'm kind of alone on this, but to me Xanadu is a decent song where they did every aspect of what was done in that song better elsewhere. I agree! You ARE alone on that! Haha, I know. Pretty sure we've had this conversation before. No accounting for taste, right? It just so happens that when I first got into Rush, AFTK was the last classic Rush album I got. By that time I'd already heard 2112, Hemispheres, LVS, and Jacob's ladder' all of which contian the elements that make up Xanadu. It had a kind of been there, done that feeling to it for me, and still does. HF, OTOH, has a certain energy on it that is new and fresh for me (to be fair, it's the energetic sound from VT without making my ears bleed).

It's interesting you make that comparison between HF and Xanadu. When I listen to both, HF sounds more daring and interesting to me, though I classify both as merely "good" in overall Rush rankings. I know I'm kind of alone on this, but to me Xanadu is a decent song where they did every aspect of what was done in that song better elsewhere. But I really do like new Rush a lot and think it's as good as the classic stuff. If you took VT (and Feedback if you were inclined to include it) out of the lineup, I'd hold the last four albums up as roughly equal to almost any four album run in the history of the band (except maybe Hemispheres-Signals during which the band just really was in "the zone", though even that run I would say is only slightly better than any other 4 album run). I do admit, I like heavier music in general more than lighter music, though S&A was pretty light and I thought it was a great album. Different tastes for different folks. I still think they are firing on all cylinders and making great music. As an aside, for MOST bands I've always been about "make the music I want to hear, not what you want to play", but with Rush it's a but different for me because you can hear the joy in how they express themselves (or at least I feel it do) and I'd rather hear that more than anything else.

QUOTE (friendlyfloridian @ May 12 2012, 06:44 AM) QUOTE (GeddyLeefan2112 @ May 11 2012, 04:30 PM) QUOTE (friendlyfloridian @ May 11 2012, 03:07 PM) QUOTE (GeddyLeefan2112 @ May 11 2012, 03:21 PM) QUOTE (friendlyfloridian @ May 11 2012, 02:10 PM) QUOTE (drgrendel @ May 11 2012, 12:38 PM) Quick to judge indeed... Right back at you. I have the same right to my opinion as yours. I am not the one trashing you for your beliefs. But whoa I come on here asking for some opinions and I get trashed. Not good. You would have thought I started a religious debate. I do think people jumped you a little heavily and didn't really understand what you were trying to say. What I got from it was that while it is 9:12, it is kind of ambiguous as it is hands on a clock and without knowledge that its a reference to 21:12, one might mistake it for being 9:11. Where I think you fell off the wagon a little bit is when you said that it was "in bad taste". Saying its in bad taste means that Rush meant to be offensive with this cover and meant to invoke feelings about 9/11. This is almost certainly not true. Agreed. I don't think that Rush did it intentionally but I still think it is a close resemblance to 911 and in bad taste. Okay, we're going around in circles here. My point was saying something is "in bad taste" means the speaker or author or what have you meant to be offensive. Rush obviously did not mean for anyone to think about 9/11 when looking at this cover. My question to you is, when The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers came out, did you think the title of that movie was in bad taste? No because didn't Tolkien write that many years before 911? I don't think it's cool when people call you names or put you down, but just because something tangently may evoke emotions in people about 9/11 doesn't mean they are being insensitive. There's always going to be something unintentional that will do this, and unfortunately it is the responsibility of the person with the emotions, not the world around them, to deal with those emotions. It is quite clear what the intention was here, and I think it would be wrong for Rush to avoid making a good in-joke reference for their fans because they fear some people might make an unfortunate connection to 9/11 (though I doubt they even realized the potential connection at all). Note that if it WAS 9:11, there is nothing here to say anything positive or negative about that date and event. It's just a clock and you are the one filling in the emotional details. Perhaps I am going to overreach her, but I really am trying to help: I have some experience (personal, not profesional) dealing with emotional pain. In the end, no matter who caused the trauma (an abusive parent, a terrorist, etc.), the responsibility for healing and dealing with the pain is the one IN pain, not the source or the world around them. This means it is not up to Rush to figure out all of the ways an image may cause unpleasant feelings in their fans (unless they are trying to do so, which I would take issue with), but it is about you and how you deal with the emotions. It's not easy, and it's a tragedy that so many are left dealing with serious emotional trauma in the wake of events they could not control, but it is the way the world works and there's no changing it.