LeaveMyThingAlone

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

I got mine, you got yours? Vocals- Hemispheres Side 1 Geddy nearly killed himself singing this as the music was recorded too high, but he came through with the best vocals of his career Guitar-Double Agent Ain't no one expecting this but the sickest riffing I've ever heard. Classic Al Bass- Roll the Bones Geddy does his own powerful riffing here with that funkalicious riff during the verses and it makes me feel groovy Drumming-Leave That Thing Alone My steering wheel takes a beating when this song comes on. Perfect drum performance for the perfect instrumental Synthesizers-Subdivisions What else!? Lyrics-BU2B Flame away but this one has the perfect amount of sarcasm and irony

I love this story. Good for Dave Matthews. A few small gestures by Dave gave this girl the experience of a lifetime and a great story the rest of her life. I immediately thought of Neil and what if this had happened to him? His own personal hell. Being stuck in the car with a lifelong Rush fan. My guess is he would have played the "I'm not Neil but I get that all the time" card

Bringing this thread back to the top as I just picked this up and love it. What has always been a top 5 album for me sounds better than ever. There are some small differences Stick it Out, but overall the heavy sound of the album remains but in a much more crystal clear listening experience. Truly worthy of the SACD format and can't wait for Hemispheres in August Hope to start seeing some more Blu-Ray releases from Rush. That is truly an epic listening experience

I am in manhattan/times square and will not make the show tonight. Please send me a message if interested in a GREAT seat. Orcheatra row e on geddys side. Just looking for fair price very negotiable. Let me know ASAP thanks

Whomever compared Signals to the Rupert Hine era was spot on. The album as a whole really has no balls and was the beginning of a downward turn for Rush. Countdown, Chemistry, and Losing It are all very good examples of the problems that plagued this album. They all have very promising starts and brilliants parts but just go nowhere. I have always found this album to be extremely overrated and, coming off such an incredibly brilliant run of albums, a very disappointing effort at a time when Rush could have exploded. I love Subdivisions and Analog Kid. The rest of the album needs a shot of adrenaline and sounds like an unfinished project as a whole. That being said, Rush did what they wanted to do at the time and that's the important part. They challenged themselves and even though I believe they really missed the mark, they gave it a good shot.

Thanks guys... One quick question: Does anyone know how would I know tell from the outside whether my copy of Clockwork Angels is the red vinyl or not? Is there anything on the outside of it that would tell me? I don't want to open the cellophane to find out! Collectorfrenzy.com isn't working for me. Is that the correct web site?

I am trying to put together a collection of Rush on Vinyl and specifically I am focused on some of the rarer and newer ones. I know from about Presto on they got rarer and rarer, but does anyone have any official numbers as to how many of each was produced? I know Counterparts for example is extremely rare and I have never seen a Test for Echo. I also see Vapor Trails and Counterparts selling for $200-$300 on eBay so they must be rare Any numbers out there? Did they make a vinyl Test for Echo?

Good topic! Neil Peart- Drums - Clockwork Angels It certainly doesn't come close to being technically as difficult as the 70's and 80's, but really who gives a shit about that? I saw an interview with neil where he said for the first time he spontaneously played to the music rather than what he usually does, which is careful, concise, thought out, over planned drumming. he just let loose and went with feel, and I think it's my favorite because of that Honorable mention to A Farewell to Kings, which has the coolest recording of drums. Something about the way his drums sound on AFTK is so cool. It sounds unlike anything else I've heard Neil Peart-Lyrics-Counterparts The theme is relationships and I love the straightforward nature of the album. Neil's 2nd most personal, least technical, and most straightforward writing Geddy Lee-Vocals-Hemispheres Geddy said they recorded this album a key higher than they meant and as a result recording the vocals almost killed him. Yet he came up with his most killer sound ever IMO. Just perfect for the album Geddy Lee-Base-Moving Pictures Some of the best Bass work ever by anyone. I think this is the album bass players listen to to give them their aspirations Alex Lifeson-This is tough. There are so many. I can't decide between Permanent Waves and Counterparts. I'd say Permanent Waves by a hair. It's epic, and he's so freaking underrated overall and this album from front to back just shows off his incredible diversity. he does so much. Insane solos (Freewill, Natural Science, the end of Different Strings), sick riffs (Spirit, Natural Science), and moving soulful rhythm guitar (Jacob's Ladder, Entre Nous). This is Al's album all the way and probably why it's my favorite Rush album