GeddysMullet

Easy. Cheap Trick is a pretty good rock band, but Weird Al is a genius.

Are you sure you don't have them reversed? Commercially (including radio/airplay) REO was a much larger success, both in overall album sales and singles for the same duration of time in the 70s. That said, BTO would be considered more in line with classic rock and REO by today's standards would be leaning more towards soft rock, at least several of their biggest hits. So depending on what radio station you were listening and in what era, you may have rarely heard one or the other band. In the 1980s they were still being lumped together on most rock radio stations, but at some point I seem to recall hearing REO on easy listening (soft rock) stations as well and overall I don't hear REO that very often anymore because if I listen to music of that era streaming it's usually more geared toward "classic" rock. Also, BTO are southern rock so that's another way in which you could be more familiar with them [Lynyrd Skynyrd, 38 Special, Allman Bros, etc] Since when is BTO southern rock?

Learning to play bass.

Are you feeling better, Jamie?

I've been transcribing the Rush footage from 2007 that was shot for my film so I can put the full interview on Amazon Prime, and I feel such grief every time they talk about Neil because it strikes me anew how much they must miss him.

We have work from home and plenty of food, so if I get one, I'm going to send it to my diabetic friend in Florida who works in a call center, so she can stay the f**k home and I'll stand a chance of seeing her again some day.

#31. No Manifesto - A Film About Manic Street Preachers https://www.amazon.com/No-Manifesto-About-Street-Preachers/dp/B083F4CVGY Made by a TRF member (Me!) and featuring an appearance by Rush!

Bottrill’s version was released in 2013, VanDette’s in 2011.

Because why on earth would they want to?

Oh, I’ve always thought there was some serious meaning behind that line- relatively easy for me to see, anyway- I thought it along the same lines as “Why are we here? Because we’re here”, but with 20 more years of life experience, it comes across as more jaded, definitely. Neil did love him a bit of tautology!

So beautiful and expressive. "The Garden" is not a song I particularly like, but that lyric is one of the most poignant and perfect passages that Neil ever wrote. :P

Hi! Some years ago, I made a documentary about the Welsh band Manic Street Preachers, which is now available to stream free for Amazon Prime members, or at low cost for non-members. You can find it here: https://www.amazon.com/No-Manifesto-About-Street-Preachers/dp/B00Q8T24W4 There is Rush content in the film, including excerpts of an interview with Geddy and Alex done by members of the Manic Street Preachers. If you're interested in seeing the entire Rush interview plus other fun bonus content related to the film itself, those appear in extras on the home video release, which is available on DVD or Blu ray, and which you can buy directly from me for cheap! PM if interested. Thanks!

So beautiful and expressive. "The Garden" is not a song I particularly like, but that lyric is one of the most poignant and perfect passages that Neil ever wrote.

I'm not much of a Hendrix fan and Purple Rain bores me stiff. 1999!

Well, you weren't completely wrong about him being a girl. Just look at the lyrics to Alone Again lol. I really like that one. Lynch is a beast on that. :guitar: I've got nothing against George's playing on it. The lyrics are just wussy pop garbage. I hardly consider lyrics in music. Lyrics are just like the sprinkles on the cake for me, not even the icing or the cream never mind the cake. I hear lyrics but I don't hear them. It's probably why death metal vocals never bothered me, vocals are just another instrument to my ears, an effect. Lyrics are just a necessary tool. I mean you have to sing something don't you? As for Mr Neil Peart and his lyrics, I prefer to think of him as the man who came up with the themes and concepts for all the albums, the album titles, the song titles, the lyrics were just the nuts and bolts in that whole machine. The themes, concepts, ideas, even the titles are more important to me than the actual lyrics. Lyrics carry a lot of weight with me. Cheese is still cheese no matter how inspiring the music behind it. I mean, take one of the worst songs ever (imo), the horrendous 1982 "I've Never Been To Me". The only way that song would ever be good enough to listen to would be if Warren Zevon or Frank Zappa did a really ironic arrangement/vocal, and they're both dead so.... A more recent example: "I Just Died In Your Arms Tonight". That is one of the dumbest, sappiest, most treacly songs ever. I know 10 year olds who could write better. Sure, it has hairy metal behind it, but that cannot conceal the fact that it's a steaming pile of yak poo. I agree that lyrics are very important and that really bad lyrics can sink a song quickly. But I will say that I think good music can redeem bad lyrics much more easily than good lyrics can redeem bad music.

I guess he can have all the opioids he wants now!

That's disgraceful and, you're right, utterly tasteless. No class. No dignity. Venal is what it is. Did you read the article? Tom Petty's daughter Annakim is a strange girl, but I think it's wrong to call her venal when those t-shirts were gifts for the funeral attendees, not products for sale. Annakim has an Instagram on which she posts a lot of weird things, but it's not a commercial one on which she does business. Her posting about the funeral on Instagram for Tom's fans and giving out T-shirts to friends and family who came to the funeral was her way of grieving. It might not be the way you would do it, but "tasteless and venal" is really harsh!

Two weeks now. I was thinking today that although I still feel grief at the thought of Neil's passing, also renewed is my deep gratitude that he lived and gave us his music in the first place. Neil is gone, and the living entity called Rush gone with him, but the music will always be there to comfort, soothe and uplift, just as it for so long has been. Thank you, Professor.

Yes- really good tribute, I thought. And here's a response from one of his fellow staff writers, NOT a really good tribute. Neil's body is barely cold and this jerk is slagging on him. https://www.national...een-this-wrong/ If I was Carrie and Olivia, I'd sue for slander. I didn't see anything slanderous there. Just acutely biased opinions. Huh. I see the classless ravings of a complete asshole. Those too. But being an asshole isn't actionable.

I knew it would happen, of course, and that it would hit me hard, but I thought there was time yet.

I'm still not over my annoyance at how the term "goat" in sports used to refer to a person who had made a screw-up that caused a game loss, and then suddenly it became an acronym meaning something so far on the other side of the spectrum. But I guess that's neither here nor there. Carry on!

That sounds like a beautiful moment to me.

I swear all you ever did was slag him off Even if he did, he's not "slagging" Neil now. Is this the time to call someone out for past posts? (IMO, no, it isn't.) Thank you, Jim. Not the time OR the forum section, really.

Such a tangle of them in my mind, but here are my two absolute favourite individual couplets: I see the hands of men arise with hungry minds and open eyes. Pavements may teem with intense energy but the city is calm in this violent sea.