Bhawk2112

I love it. I just can't figure out why Nick Raskulinecz insists on bathing everything with distortion and loudness and why the boys are ok with it. You hear more intricacies at lower volume than when you turn it up, which is just plain wrong.

Just did the Sprint Center presale for the 7/9 KC show. 4 tix for $244 with fees, $61 apiece. I'm in! :drool:

First time listen as I type...Grand Designs just finished. Solid so far. I do wonder...would the Power Windows through RTB material sound better if Geddy brought the Wal back out? Just a silly thought, really...but these songs do show how much his style has really changed over the years. He plays all the same notes plus some new notes, but in a totally different manner. Dude is like a total badass, or something...

Why don't any of us do things the same way we did 30 years ago?

Ugh. Such a lifeless instrument. Listening to any show from the GUP tour sounds like he was playing with a rubber stamp.

Well, I think many hardcore fans of the band are hardcore because they still like the synth era. People who would have been Rush purists at the time but only got into Rush at a much later time would be considered more casual fans now—they like MP and earlier, and some songs from Signals and the band's post-80s work. Oh, yes, I agree...I just remember how many people hated it at the time...the direction they saw the band going in (not only with synths, but the people that hated synths in general), plus originally IMO, it wasn't recorded all that well. It's just cool what time can do.

This: http://www.pixelaxel.de/uploads/images/3D/gallery/gallery_Rickenbacker_4001_3D_04.jpg

Is Rush the only band where half the fanbase hates half their music?

It still sometimes surprises me how much love Signals has gotten as it has aged, because it was not all that popular with Rush purists at the time.

Alex's performance of The Trees on Different Stages is pretty damn well near perfect.

I met Alex at The Orbit Room one evening, he was playing with The Dexters. Couldn't have been a nicer guy. Even bought my friend and I a drink. A truly, truly surreal experience.

I thought that about ESL for a long time, then along came youtube and all the bootlegs that have been posted. Listening to those, I think ESL is a fantastic representation of the live sound of that era and I don't think they did as much studio work to it as people think. Plus, did they take the time to overdub anything to the ESL video to match the audio to the video? I think the true conclusion is that during that era of the band, they were just that good. I read this book, which interviewed the band and their thoughts on each album, and I think I remember (and I could be wrong) them making a few comments on how they regret how much polishing and overdubbing was done on ESL. I know they pointed out Different Stages as their personal favorite live album, as it was the first that was left pretty much completely alone from the original performances, aside from the obvious mixing etc. I can't speak personally as to how much, but ESL definitely is spruced up a bit. I mean, the performance is almost flawless, which none of their other live albums accomplish. Beyond that, there's borderline zero "live" energy in ESL. The audience was either poorly recorded or completely scrubbed out unless between songs, so one of the best parts of a live album is diminished. Between that and the excessive polishing, I think the fact listening to ESL and a playlist of the same setlist sounds almost exactly the same is why it's my least favorite. But that's just me. Fair points all. It would be silly to claim there are no overdubs or the like, and the mix obviously emphasized the instruments over audience sounds. But, consider... This is a audience recording of a show on the MP tour on 6/12/81, which was about 2 1/2 months & 43 shows after the show that ESL was recorded: Here is The Spirit Of Radio from ESL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QjB9WvrYFeI Open both of these clips in separate tabs. TSOR on the first clip starts at around 1:04:25. Let the first 45 seconds play up to right before he starts singing the first verse, then pause. Click over to ESL and do the same, then pause after each line or so and go back and forth. The point? I think you might find (I was certainly surprised) that the playing on ESL is a fine representation of what the band sounded like at the time. We'd probably have to ask the guys that mixed ESL just exactly what they did or didn't do, but I'm not so convinced that there is as much trickery as many of us have thought over the years. Obviously, one recording is a soundboard and one an audience so the energy is hardly comparable. As it sounding like a studio, well, in that era I think the band did strive to play exact and tight, as close to the original recording as possible. Now this is where it gets down to personal opinion, but listening to, say, Red Barchetta off ESL and listening to Red Barchetta off Time Machine, to my ears the 2011 version blows the 1981 version away as far as feel and soul. I am extremely fond of the 1977-1982 era (hell, who isn't?) but the older I get that period in a way sounds like they were performing as if they were playing sheet music at a recital, while the newer recordings sound much more...what's the word? Comfortable? Fluid? Probably because, to me, Geddy is 100 times the player now than he was 30 years ago. But, in the end, one man's opinion.

I thought that about ESL for a long time, then along came youtube and all the bootlegs that have been posted. Listening to those, I think ESL is a fantastic representation of the live sound of that era and I don't think they did as much studio work to it as people think. Plus, did they take the time to overdub anything to the ESL video to match the audio to the video? I think the true conclusion is that during that era of the band, they were just that good.

The last six notes of the Xanadu solo, the way that last note trails off... The "dive bombs" on RTB in the Dreamline and Face Up solos. The first dozen or so notes of the Red Barchetta solo...that through an AM radio sound...

You should see what David Gilmour and Roger Waters have said about Atom Heart Mother. Now that's bagging on your own work!

It was absolutely amazing, I remember being stunned and not even knowing what the song was for the first few seconds... Mostly, however, I was just as excited that Xanadu didn't transition into Superconductor again. (((shudder)))