Drummerrobin

I have no shame in saying that I really like Tai Shan! I find it to be one of the most melodic and atmospheric songs the band has ever written. And I have a question for all the haters - what is it about the song you dislike so much?? I never understood all the criticism hurled at Tai Shan, including the comments from Rush themselves!

Gotta be The Spirit Of Radio - everything that's awesome about Rush summed up in 5 minutes! I don't think I'll ever tire of hearing this song live

QUOTE (OGr8imL84AD8inF8sBlackSedan @ Jun 26 2012, 05:58 AM)Sounds good to me although I'm not a big fan of seeing Alex play keyboards...Last time I can remember seeing him play was on the HYF tour in Time Stand Still when he played them with his face. Alex played keyboards on the last tour too in Time Stand Still. But it's not a particularly hard piano part so I'm sure Geddy could manage it. And I have no doubt that they will play it live - Geddy has said numerous times how he considers it to be a big step forward as a songwriter.

Interested to see what general opinion is. Gotta say I prefer the single version - everything seems to be more clean and defined. I find the album version to be a little too muddy for my liking. The drums especially seem to have far more clarity on the single version. Wadda you guys think?

It's always been the title track for me and it probably always will be. The best song the band's written since Mission imo.

80s Rush over 70s Rush for me easily. I think Permanent Waves was the album where they really found their sweet spot as a band stylistically (improved even further on MP).

Wow I find it interesting that out of all albums, it seems Snakes and Arrows is the one that certainly amongst fans, REALLY has not stood the test of time well at all! I remember when it first came out, people we're going on about it being their best since Moving Pictures etc. It seems general opinions have changed dramatically. I personally have always enjoyed it but not to the point of hyping it like some were at first. However, I do think at the moment that Clockwork Angels is the band's best album since Hold Your Fire (just scraping above Counterparts for me) and I only hope it ages with more grace than Snakes and Arrows did!

lol "3 piece string quartet"

Haha that statement is complete and utter wank.

Everyone request Tai Shan - that'd certainly prove Geddy wrong!

I think Malignant Narcissism was the most effective intro for the drum solo - you could really feel the tension building up until the end where Neil lets rip! So I say bring it back Would also be really cool to see Geddy do an extended bass intro to that tune before ripping into the main riff, kinda like Les Claypool does with My Name is Mud.

Just listened to this song for the first time and I have to say I think I was right in my prediction - it is reminiscent of Available Light! I like it a lot but I think it's definitely a song that takes more than one listen to completely "get".

I believe the whale humping began in 1989 when the band released an album called Presto! That was when the band's quality control started to slip I think.

I love Tai Shan and always have done, along with the rest of HYF. So I respectfully disagree with Alex and Geddy on this one. What a fantastic interview though - Geddy just comes across as one of the coolest dudes on the planet!

Oh and I believe I could be the first to notice that the vocal melody in The Garden has a slight resemblance to Born This Way by Lady Gaga! Not a bad thing imo...

I've got mixed feelings about those samples. The first thing that struck me was how dramatically different Caravan sounds! Though we now know it wasn't re-recorded, the new mix could certainly have you fooled. Much better instrument separation I feel and the drums in particular seem to have a far more defined sound now. The other tracks that immediately stood out to me were Clockwork Angels (reminds me quite a lot of Hyperspace section of Natural Science, anyone else think that?), the Wreckers for it's melodic chorus and The Garden which had me the most intrigued out of all of them. I have a feeling that song will be the dark horse of the album. We've only heard the understated beginning of the song so far, so as a song it hasn't had that much attention. But I suspect it could rise up to being the favourite of the album. Just my theory! Of course there's no way I'm judging the album at this stage but some of the other samples did leave me slightly underwhelmed - Carnies and Halo Effect in particular. Somehow they just sound like anything that exciting. But who knows, maybe they will turn out to be great songs. I just CAN'T WAIT to get my hands on the album!!

QUOTE (theredtamasrule @ May 31 2012, 05:51 PM)QUOTE (angel in my armor @ May 31 2012, 01:48 PM) I kinda dug the white/pink hued Ludwig kit...his last double kick kit as a matter of fact.Thought they sounded great and looked good too. Nope, his last double kick set was the plum Ludwig Presto kit. Plum? Really? It's the same kit! http://andrewolson.com/Neil_Peart/drums/drumkits/presto.htm

QUOTE (presto123 @ May 31 2012, 02:02 PM) QUOTE (angel in my armor @ May 31 2012, 01:48 PM) I kinda dug the white/pink hued Ludwig kit...his last double kick kit as a matter of fact.Thought they sounded great and looked good too. Agree once again. If you listen to a solo from the Ludwig era and compare it to the DW era there is no comparison. The Ludwig toms are just so alive. I don't like the warm mudiness of the DW's near as well. T4E record is a good example. As soon as he did a record with the new DW's his drum sound took a change and not for the better. Could be that he decided to change heads as well by they are much too warm sounding and muddy for my ears. Can only disagree on that. Seems my taste in drum sounds must be very different to yours! Each to their own I guess And +1 on the Gavin Harrison comment - you really can't go wrong with Sonor drums and Zildjian cymbals imo!

QUOTE (presto123 @ May 30 2012, 06:23 PM)QUOTE (Nate1647 @ May 30 2012, 12:02 PM) Sonically, the DW kits absolutely DESTROY anything else he's ever had, and they look the best too. His old kits were completely dead sounding. I know a lot of you like that sound, but it just does not match his new playing style at all. Wrong. Listen to Counterparts. The Ludwig toms sing for days(resonate) with more bite and attack and not all the low end mudiness of the DW's. Exactly why I prefer the DWs. To me the Ludwigs are lacking in low end punch - yes they are resonant but the lack of low end just makes them sound thin I think. Listen to the drum sound on Headlong Flight (imo possibly his best drum sound yet). There is some resonance there but there's also a lovely fatness and warmth to the toms which I love. Having said that, I think that Rio and R30 were misses in terms of getting a decent drum sound but that was due to tuning, micing, mixing etc. rather than the drums themselves. Just compare Different Stages to Rio - same kit and yet it sounds waayyy better on Different Stages. Shows that there's far more to getting good drum sounds than just having decent drums.

QUOTE (launchpad67a @ May 30 2012, 09:07 AM)The production has increased and improved on every tour. They have never "reduced" the production. No one can deny that. So Time Machine is the winner by default. Really?? I thought Time Machine was a step backwards from the Snakes and Arrows tour. There were no lasers and no descending spotlights which were 2 of the production aspects I liked the most about the Snakes and Arrows tour. As technically impressive as the "transformer" rig was, I don't think it really added that much to the show visually.

So which is it to be? I'm talking about the production aspects alone (lighting, projection, pyrotechnics, etc.) and discounting things like setlists and quality of performances. My personal favourite was the Snakes and Arrows tour, just edging R30.

QUOTE (Godeater2112 @ May 29 2012, 04:05 PM)QUOTE (EmotionDetector @ May 29 2012, 04:31 PM) Sure enough, an older couple was behind us...and as I was standing and having fun for the first 2-3 songs, the guy behind us taps me on the shoulder and says, "uh, are you going to be rocking out all night?". I was like, WTF? So, I proceeded to do the honourable thing and asked if him and his wife would switch seats with us, that way, they could sit and we could stand behind. Fair enough, right? Well...the wife says, "no, we're not switching". So, I was forced to sit for most of the show, and guess what...they missed all of the encore, and alot of the second set. Big Rush fans right? Obviously they cared that much about the show. You're a nicer guy that I am. I would have told them to f**k right off, probably way worse. I'm not saying at all that is my first reaction when someone behind me complains about standing or whatever, but after your gracious offer I told them to get stuffed and then stand the entire show. to you for being too nice. Some people just don't get it do they? It's a ROCK SHOW not a f***ing church service. "Rocking out all night?" - ohh please, if you're not prepared to accept that people might choose to stand at a Rush show, go home and watch them on DVD. The fact that they refused to accept the offer of switching is beyond ridiculous and frankly I'd have probably also said "screw you" and continued to stand. Some people are just unbelievable

QUOTE (theredtamasrule @ May 20 2012, 03:29 PM)You Bet Your Life & In The End...that would bring down the house Yeah, in the form of a riot I think

QUOTE (D3strukt @ May 26 2012, 01:50 PM)QUOTE (Drummerrobin @ May 26 2012, 01:06 PM) QUOTE (beherit @ May 26 2012, 11:26 AM)QUOTE (J2112YYZ @ May 26 2012, 07:11 AM) XANADU. I would've voted for the title track but I read somewhere that they tried to rehearse it for the R30 tour but Geddy couldn't sing it. If he couldn't do it eight years ago he sure as hell can't do it now. Xanadu is still a strong possibility though. If they just tuned it down a bit I think they could play the title track I second that. I'm sure Ged could pull it of if he wanted to by means of lowing the key and altering some of the vocal melodies. I thought when they lowered the key of Circumstances on the S&A tour, it actually improved the song quite a bit. I'd also say the same for 2112 on the more recent tours. Don't forget Bangkok. Bangkok wasn't tuned down on the S&A tour. All Geddy had to do for that one was tweak some the vocal melodies to make them fit his range as it is now. It's really not that difficult when you think about it. If he could pull off Bangkok without lowering the key, I'm sure he'd be just fine doing A Farewell to Kings tuned down.

QUOTE (beherit @ May 26 2012, 11:26 AM)QUOTE (J2112YYZ @ May 26 2012, 07:11 AM) XANADU. I would've voted for the title track but I read somewhere that they tried to rehearse it for the R30 tour but Geddy couldn't sing it. If he couldn't do it eight years ago he sure as hell can't do it now. Xanadu is still a strong possibility though. If they just tuned it down a bit I think they could play the title track I second that. I'm sure Ged could pull it of if he wanted to by means of lowing the key and altering some of the vocal melodies. I thought when they lowered the key of Circumstances on the S&A tour, it actually improved the song quite a bit. I'd also say the same for 2112 on the more recent tours.