LeaveMyThingAlone

So if Neil hits the bass drum first, the 16 means that he will hit the high hat 16 times before hitting the bass again?

Most of us have heard Neil say Tom Sawyer is one of the hardest songs for him to play live. As someone that has no technical knowledge of drumming, I've always wondered why that is. Is it an odd and difficult time signature? Is it tiring? Is there one specific part of it?

I'm pretty sure Alice was more interested in Marcia and Carol then Sam behind the scenes. I wonder what Alice charged Mr. Brady for her services . He included a place to stay and I would imagine food and utilities. I would assume she was dirt cheap because an architect makes good money, but not great money. To support 6 spoiled rotten kids, a gold digger wife in Carol, and of course a full time maid would be difficult on one salary of an architect. I always theorized that there was some serious life insurance taken out on the original spouses of mike and carol.....that's the only way it could be done to support that lifestyle. The question then becomes was it just a coincidence that both spouses died in similar time frames, then they fall in love, and have all this money out of nowhere? I think there is an underlying subplot happening there. The question is how much did Alice know? This is where she was really brilliant. Watching each episode you'd think she was just playing a goofy maid, but in reality she had a To of demons she had to live with, courtesy of mike and carol's supposed tragedies

There are songs that just do not translate well live. Not because they're technically difficult. I'm not sure why, but some of Rush's best studio songs don't come off well The songs that come to mind: Animate Double Agent Roll the Bones The Anarchist Earthshine

Geddy has a hard time with the Anarchist live. Something about the bass line and vocals going in different places. Rush is absolutely one of a kind and we will never see it again. Sum of the parts is a great way to put it. Alex—The heart like it or not, is Alex, his guitar is upfront and gives the audience the rhythm, beat, and catchy riffs to reel us in. Alex provides the heart and soul that makes rush stand out as much more than a technical band. Without Alex, they are another dream Neil- the brains Neil would likely be successful in whatever he did a in life. He's to smart and driven not to be successful. But he got very lucky when he found rush. The perfect band for him to develop his drumming and ultimately show off his drumming and have his lyrics heard. Neil would likely be just another drummer in a progressive sounding bad if not for Rush. He is technically brilliant, but I can't say I hear a lot of soul in his playing. Neil himself has always said he is very structured and plans out his drum parts very methodically, like a machine. But like it or not, rush has reached a completely different audience thanks to Neil's sometimes nerdy/sometimes cold/sometimes dispassionate lyrics. But that appeals to. Certain group and has helped the band connect to that group Geddy- a good mix of heart and brains Without a doubt, one of the most talented musicians ever. He provides the diversity and flexibility to allow rush to go in so many directions. And he's a monster musician on stage, enabling the band to pick most anything from their catalog. Not only is geddy considered by most to be the best rock bass guitarist , but he sings and plays keyboard at the same time. I hear his melodic "feel" on songs like roll the bones, kid gloves, leave that thing alone, Jacobs ladder, etc. the thinking mans player Together, with the heart and mind united, they form a single, perfect sphere......

I'm not a Rush fan because of the lyrics but there have been plenty of stuff that I really do live by and appreciate the message that Neil is trying to convey "Show me don't tell me" The whole song is about all the phonies that talk the talk but don't walk the walk. Guys that say but don't do. I see a lot of them every day and Ilike to say "show me don't tell me" to their face Roll the Bones "Winners take that praise, losers seldom take that blame" Fate is just the weight of circumstanes" Of course the message is just get out there and do it. Make your own luck. Work hard. Losers will always make excuses why they can't do it, and winners will always make it happen. The word "lucky" is perhaps the most overused and my least favorite word. You make your own luck "BU2B" My favorite Rush lyrics. Yah, he's beating a dead horse, but I absolutely love the biting sarcasm. "Some will be rewarded and the devil will take the rest" This touches on the absurdity of certain religions that God rewards a precious few and sentences all the rest of us to hell. Gee, thanks wonderful and powerful God for giving me life just to send me to hell "Double Agent" This one has really been hitting close to home lately. I am wrestling with a lot of things....what I want out of life. The things I want to do. "The choice between darkness and light" The duality of man. Most of us want to be good, but there's always a battle with a side of us that wants to do the wrong thing or at least do the thing that might be more selfish and make us happy, but hurt others. I've made some selfish decisions lately. I've been listening to the little red devil on my left shoulder instead of the little angel on my right shoulder

Bingo! I get annoyed when I hear how Alex's stuff isn't difficult to play or that it's all about Geddy and Neil and how technically difficult it is to play their stuff. There is technical ability and then there is feel and soul. No one can touch Alex's feel. He has the best tone of any guitar player I've ever heard. It's just a beautiful sound that's so crisp and kind of emotional. I have heard plenty of Rush cover bands and, while they can play the tunes, the guitar "sound" just isn't the same. Only Alex can do what he does. The riff in Double Agent. Is it technically hard? Maybe not. Can anyone repeat the same sound? Doubtful. His solo in No One at the Bridge and Limelight are both technically easy to repeat but no one can touch the soul. Tone is so important to me. Songs that come to mind are Red Barchetta, Limelight, Hemispheres, Spirit, Caravan, and Double Agent. The song with the most feel and soul in my opinion is Jacob's Ladder. The part right after "Bright unbroken beams" and Alex comes in with that easy to play, but impossible to repeat sound. It gives me goosebumps

I would put Test for Echo and Vapor Trails You sir are a damn fool! But seriously, I think that you're getting Vapor Trails confused with Test for Echo. I would put Test for Echo and Vapor Trails in my bottom 3 along with Hold Your Fire. The more I listen to Vapor Trails the more I don't like it, even with the new mix. Ghost Rider, Earthsine, and OLV are good songs. The rest just don't do much for me

The book had nothing to do with his falling out with the band. I would say it had a lot to do with it. I assume you are referring to BB sharing some unreleased songs off Hold Your Fire with radio stations? Yah, that didn't help either Again, the book had NOTHING to do with the falling out. Not even a little bit. The book had nothing to do with his falling out with the band. I would say it had a lot to do with it. I assume you are referring to BB sharing some unreleased songs off Hold Your Fire with radio stations? Yah, that didn't help either Again, the book had NOTHING to do with the falling out. Not even a little bit. Yep. He provided a radio station with the pre-release tapes of HYF even after being asked by the band not to. End of relationship. I don't understand why a guy like him who seemed to worship at the alter of the band would ignore a direct request like that. If anything, you'd think he'd be the LAST one to backstab the band. Maybe he wanted the glory of being "The Guy" who got their new music out first albeit illegally. Yah he choked on that one. What he was thinking I have no idea....I guess he wrote the book after they kicked him out then? At least he didn't make it ugly. He treated Rush very well in that book...

Damn..... This song is just so relentless. I had not listened to Counterparts in a long time and just came back to a great album. I have always listed Double Agent as my favorite Rush song ever. Raises some eyebrows, but I just remembered why... The Riff master just comes up with the sickest riff for this one. The speaking part could have been hokey, but it worked out perfectly. 30 seconds into the song, right after Geddy's last "anywhere. anywhere but here", Alex starts that nasty riff, then Neil with a double and a triple and an awesome roll, then they all jam the hell out of it. It's dark but just rocks like no other. Unfortunately, it doesn't translate well live, so it has kind of gotten lost in the Rush catalog. This song deserves some major props

The book had nothing to do with his falling out with the band. I would say it had a lot to do with it. I assume you are referring to BB sharing some unreleased songs off Hold Your Fire with radio stations? Yah, that didn't help either

I don't think the band's opinion is that "Geddy f'd up". Reading between the lines, I think Geddy felt Terry Brown screwed up and threw Geddy under the bus. Brown had a lot to do with the recording and the direction it took. He chose to go in the key they went it. I have always looked at Hemispheres as the equivalent of Tales from Topographic Oceans for Yes. Hemispheres would be the album I would give someone if I wanted to show them what the sound of Rush is all about. If you like Hemispheres, you will like just about all Rush. It is not easily accessible and it takes a while to "get", but once you do, forget about it. I must have listened to Side 1 1000 times during my "experimental" period. It is Rush at their progressive peak. 20 Minutes of the masters doing their thing. It's epic Rush. I think the vocals are perfect and the best Geddy has ever done. It's damn near a perfect album. You want vocals that are way too high, I'd give you Caress of Steel or Cygnus X-1 the song. "Spinning, whirling, still ascending, like a spiral sea unending!!!" Now that is HIGH!

Yup, the guy was very "in" with the band. A close friend. Rush is very loyal. They trusted him and he screwed them over by writing that book. He was immediately kicked out of the circle of trust and he has not had any association with the band since... Everyone nailed it. It was absolute gold for the Rush fans. But the book reads like it was written by a 10 year old. Very poor spelling and grammar. Embarrassingly so. I remember reading it and how shocked I was that it could be this bad and be released. I always think of Neil reading that book and how he must have reacted. In terms of content, there was some stuff that was very cool to learn about the band. However, it was somewhat painful trying to find it amongst the "look at me" style he wrote it in. That really got old very fast. "So, Alex says hey B-Man lets go grab some lunch! I wanted to do Chinese and Alex was cool with that as long as I was going" "Geddy asked me what I thought of his mullet. I gave him a wink and thumbs up. We hugged" "Neil asked me what I thought of Limelight. I told him to change the song title from I am Paranoid to Limelight. He gave me a high five and said I am the greatest guy ever"

Here's a hint: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sleep_paralysis Sorry but I'm not so sure if Double Agent is about Sleep Paralysis. Like many of Neil's lyrics, Double Agent's lyrics are ambiguous and open to interpretation. Every song has different meanings to different people and I think Neil is good with that In the simplest terms, it's about the choices we all have in life. good vs. evil, darkness vs. light, God vs. the devil, sin vs. saint, going down the dark path or the righteous path. A Double Agent being the duality of man, And for what it's worth this is by far my favorite Rush song! Alex's guitar riff is the sickest riff in the history of riffs. The song is dark and demented. Neil's drumming is perfect. It's just Rush at their greatest

My absolute favorite Alex Lifeson moment is that exact part in Jacob's Ladder. I've never heard anyone else say this. Its good to hear someone else here's the beautiful melodic soulful riff in that part. It's so ambient with so much feel. The reality is Rush is Rush because of Alex. There's no way they ever would have made it to this legendary point without him whereas I think they might have made it without Neil,or geddy. He takes odd times signature and comes up with something accessible. A freaking genius He's not the fastest, not the most technical and not the most innovative, but he has the best tone and most emotion and soul in his playing . No one can touch him

So I broke out Snakes and Arrows for the first time in quite a while. The album, as a whole, left me with the same impression I had when I last listened to it. Meh. Somewhat uninspired and nowhere near up to Rush standards. Light Rock. But Far Cry is truly one of Rush's greatest. It's one of those songs that comes along every so often that just works on so many levels. I remember from the documentary it was written in one "very good day". That backs up what I have always felt about the band....that they are so much better when they keep it simple and spontaneous....just an opinion. Anyway, Far Cry is outstanding. That's where I' m going with this.

Wow, that is awesome. Would love to hear from Alex on this one.

I think we all have an opinion as to what the band will or should do next. Record an album? Tour? Record only a few songs? I don't think Rush even knows what they will do next. What we do know is that they need to continue to grow, be different, and challenge themselves. I really like the idea of an all instrumental album. My favorite thing about Rush is the playing, not the lyrics or vocals, and I think a lot of us feel that way. As a result, Rush is about the only band in the world that could get away with that and not have a drop off in sales. "Brand Loyalty" I think it would be fun to make. I think it would create some amazing challenges for the band. And I think they "could" create something unlike anything that's ever done. Whether that's 12 5 minute songs, or one long masterpiece, they could pull it off. And if they tour behind it, less emphasis on Rush's biggest obstacle in touring, Geddy's voice. Extreme longshot, but I would love it

I don't think the production/recording/mixing/whatever you want to call it can be underestimated. Rupert Hine butchered Presto. Thin is a good word. It has no balls. Hine was Paula Abdul's producer and it sounds like a dance album. I was surprised they brought him back for Roll the Bones, which is a much better sound, but still not great. Like Vapor Trails, it's very frustrating to try to listen to, but for the opposite reason. Vapor Trails has too much testosterone and Presto not enough. I think it has a lot of great songs and I'd love to hear the album with a Vapor Trails like makeover. It's funny because when I saw Rupert Hine for the first time on the documentary, he was exactly like how I would picture someone who took a rock band and made it sound like this Show don't tell has one of my favorite Alex riffs ever, War Paint is phenomenal, Presto is genius, Available Light is solid, The Pass is good, but not a favorite Roll the Bones is so odd because it might have more garbage than any other rush album but has 4 songs that are outstanding and better than anything on the previous 5 albums. Dreamline is as good as it gets, Roll the Bones, where's my thing, and ghost of a chance- all great

No-One at the Bridge - This solo brilliantly shows why he is the best guitarist in the world. It's dripping with soul and emotion. It's not Eddie Van Halen hard, but you can feel it. Too bad it's in the middle of a song Rush never plays anymore Runner Ups: Limelight La Villa Strangiato In general, I'm not a huge fan of guitar solos

I agree about Neil and disagree about Geddy but whatever and it is what it is

I think most of us would agree that Neil's drumming on CA is the best he has come up with in a long time....in my opinion it's my favorite drumming Rush album since Signals. I have read and seen interviews with Neil where he said he took a completely different approach to the drum parts on the album. He was very spontaneous and compulsive in what he laid down. He just played what he felt and it stuck. Apparently, he usually take the opposite approach, carefully analyzing the drum parts and writing each one in a sense. More of a mechanical approach. Playing from the mind rather than the heart. I find this very interesting as the difference is night and day. the drumming is incredible and it's because he just went with it. He said he had not done that since their early albums. I hope he sticks with that if and when Rush records again. in fact, all 3 of them should record that way. "Old Skool" and raw. No fancy overdubs. Go analog! LOL

I really like Double Agent, too. Not sure why there is so much hate. I did not know there was so much hate. I'm ready to take them all on!

Without a doubt, Rush's best post-Moving Pictures album. I can't believe it's been 20 years already. This album came out right in the middle of my "herbal stage" and I just listened to this album relentlessly, constantly blown away by it's heaviness, and more specifically, Alex Lifeson absolutely kills it from start to finish on this album. To this day, Double Agent might be my favorite Rush song and Leave that thing Alone my favorite instrumental

Red Barchetta is a definite top 5 for me for Alex. It looks like that one and la villa dominate for guitar and yyz for bass. Based on the replies, "old rush good, new rush bad". Leave that thing alone is their best instrumental for me