Jocky Balboa

No-one can fill Farookh's shoes, especially Adam Lambert. This is like the old Robbie Williams rumours from years back come true. Damn it. At least John Deacon has the dignity to stay away.

I love Montrose. He was a true pioneer of American Hard Rock. RIP Ronnie and thank you for the music. \m/

If I had to go for some "hidden gems" (and I have actually given this a lot of thought, because I've seen them 3 times - 2004, 2007 and 2011 - and each time they gave us at least 2/3 hidden gems from the vaults) here they are, in chronological order: Jacob's Ladder from Permanent Waves Chemistry from Signals Afterimage from Grace Under Pressure Manhattan Project from Power Windows Open Secrets or Lock and Key from Hold Your Fire ...other than that, I'd love them to bring back Show Don't Tell from Presto and Driven from Test For Echo.

I haven't seen the movie but would wholeheartedly agree with the view that the production is way too thin. Rupert Hines was a good producer in his own right. I wouldn't even say he was a bad choice for Rush per se. He may have done a great job with Signals, GUP, PW or HYF, for instance. However, the Presto and RTB albums were, from a songwriting point of view, intended as "back to basics" organic ROCK albums. They both ended up sounding very poor, from a sonic perspective. Counterparts was the album Presto and RTB should have been, imo.

QUOTE (Good,bad,andrush @ Apr 19 2011, 09:29 PM) My two favorite VT songs are the overlooked gems Vapor Trail and Sweet Miracle. I have never seen anybody talk about Sweet Miracle, and I think it is a top ten of their last 6 albums. Sweet Miracle is an awesome track.

Here's my take: The first 3 albums - decent 70's heavy metal fare, but still finding their own sound. Imo, Fly By Night is the best of the 3. 2112 - My joint favourite, along with MP. Nothing I can find fault with here at all. Farewell to Kings - One of their strongest, imo. Only so-so moment is Cinderella Man. Hemispheres - Excellent, although does sound unfinished, or at least "padded-out" by the addition of the (admittedly stunning) closing 9 min instrumental. Permanent Waves - One of their finest. No weak points for me. Natural Science and Jacob's Ladder in particular are two of my all-time favourites. Moving Pictures - Along with 2112, my favourite Rush album. Production and songwriting were amazing. Can't wait to see them perform it in it's entirety in 3wks! Signals - A grower for me. After a while, became a classic, but I do think the guitars were too low in the mix. Only song I dislike is Digital Man. Grace Under Pressure - A better version of Signals, imo. Apart from the awful Red Lenses, it's a real favourite of mine, which strikes a better balance in the mix. The darker lyrical tone suits the music very well. Power Windows - Another one that grew on me. Very "of it's time" production-wise, but has many stand-out tracks like Manhattan Project, Territories and Mystic Rhythms. Hold Your Fire - The first Rush album I ever heard, so I do have a soft spot, although admittedly not one of my favourites. Under-rated gems like Open Secrets, Lock and Key and others, but last 2 songs are poor. A little over-produced as well. Presto/Roll The Bones - The second Rush album I heard was Presto, so again a soft spot there, but this and Roll The Bones suffer from a terribly thin production that unnecessarily holds the music back. Despite a "back to basics" approach to the music, the organic sound is marred by being too soft. A handful of fillers on both albums doesn't help, either. (An a general observation, the live versions of the tracks from Presto and RTB sound FAR superior) Counterparts - Not a perfect album, as has been pointed out by others, but one I rate highly nonetheless. One that dragged their sound out of the relative rut of the last 3 albums and into the modern age. Excellent production. Test For Echo - Not quite as good as Counterparts, but a lot of strong material on there. Again, synths pared back in favour of a hard rock approach. Well produced and for the most part, well-written. Vapor Trails - From a purely songwriting point of view, I love at least 10 of the 13 tracks (with only a few fillers after the brilliant "Sweet Miracle") but... well, the production/mix/mastering job has been well documented. I need not add anything to that debate! I await the day when a remaster will surface. Even more so, after hearing the 2 excellent remixes on Retrospective III. Snakes and Arrows - I'll stick my neck out and say this is the best of their post-Grace Under Pressure efforts. OK, not a perfect album ("Bravest Face" and "Good News First" are so-so tracks, although not weak songs as such) but the production was excellent and with this album, they more than prove their relevance in the modern age. Caravan/BU2B - I love those 2 songs, but will await the album before judging further. If those 2 tracks are an indicator, they are continuing down the VT/S&A heavy rock route, which is fine with me. Maybe even the return of a few synths (sparingly) and a multi-part epic? One can but hope...

What setlist are they playing on the Maiden tour?

Love this band. Two of the members were in Sanctuary, another band who I love. Top-notch metal. Also had the pleasure of meetin them a few yrs back after a show. Nice guys!

To be honest, I could go for any of the 5 albums from their "Golden Period" of 1976 to 1981 (although I would stretch that period of excellent to 1984, to include "Signals" and "Grace Under Pressure"). If I had to pick my favourite post-1984 album however, that would be far harder... Perhaps a toss-up between "Counterparts" and "Snakes and Arrows". A re-mixed/re-mastered "Vapor Trails" would potentially be up there, although I consider the last 2 songs fillers.