GrandDesigner

They shortened the song because of time constraints of their shows during their early years. They had an opening act through the Counterparts tour. That limited them to only two hours. They finally played Oracle because the T4E tour had more time and flexibility for more songs. It's still the reason they don't play all of 2112 nowadays. Takes up too much time.

 

That makes sense, but again: They just released a new album they're so proud of with an incredible title track. You'd think maybe they'd just chop off 2 minutes from the drum solo and play the whole thing (if anything, just for that tour!) rather than take out a small 2-minute segment. It just boggles my mind...like, what the hell were they thinking?

I've never seen this answered but does anyone know the reason why the band never played Oracle: The Dream live until the TFE tour? It just seems bizarre that they'd release the 2112 album and play the entire title track but leave out a short, 2-minute segment. I can understand on later tours when they shortened it due to new albums taking precedence in the live set, but why the hell didn't Oracle make the cut until 20 years after?

These are my top at the moment. It's funny because I was not really a fan of prog rock in general for quite a few years but these releases singlehandedly got me back into the genre.

 

Haken - The Mountain. Brilliant prog rock album. These guys are making the most exciting music in the genre at the moment IMO along with the next band...

 

Big Big Train - English Electric, Pt. 2. Absolutely stellar English prog rock. I don't think there's a band out there that manages to sound so English as them. I love it. Very good vocal melodies and good use of other instruments besides just guitar, bass, drums, and keys.

 

Sound of Contact - Dimensionaut. Surprisingly awesome album from Phil Collins' son. I put off buying this, but I'm glad I finally did as it is progressive rock with really strong pop melodies.

 

Fall Out Boy - Save Rock & Roll. An extension of the dance/hip-hop influence they started on Folie a Deux, but with less filler and stronger songs. It's just a great album and a good comeback for a band in an often shitty genre (pop-punk, though they really haven't been pop-punk for a few albums now).

 

Coheed & Cambria - The Afterman:Descension. I love this band and everything they do. I think Descension is the stronger of the two Afterman albums, with Number City and Sentry The Defiant being some of my favorite songs released this year.

 

I The Mighty - Satori. I only got this because they were opening for Coheed and I like to know the opening band's music so I'm not bored, but I wound up really loving this. Really strong songs and aggressive playing with interesting choruses and vocal melodies.

Ok...year is nearly over!

 

For me, 2013 has been pretty boring musically. The highs are high. But there are not enough of them!

 

So...let me give you my pitiful list of highlights:

 

1) Paramore- Paramore. I am not sure if this is pop or rock. But its darn good stuff! Everything I think a decent pop album should be, and brilliant diversity. I really am surprised by how much I love this beauty! Hayley Williams proves herself to be a brilliant singer and a quirky lyricist. Everything No Doubt should have been last year when they released the rather bland (though still good) Push And Shove.

 

Best songs are: Daydreaming, Fast In My Car, Ain't It Fun and the sublime (I'm Not One Of Those) Crazy Girls.

 

 

I liked this album a lot initially, as I thought their previous album sucked, and then it just kind of fell out of favor with me quickly. There's something about her voice that annoys me on this album. Mainly the quiet parts like the verse of Daydreaming, Last Hope, and maybe a couple others. Ain't It Fun is a great song though

I'm kind of busy with a Rush tribute band at the moment but I live in Delaware and would be interested to see what you've got.

 

 

Hey man! I think I'm checking out your band the 27th at JB's also. Any bassist who can cover Rush is good enough for what we're doing. Basically, it's progressive music (odd-times, long songs, technical playing) that can be extremely heavy at times, but we're trying to avoid being a metal band, as I'm personally burnt out on metal. We're not looking for heavy commitment, we have no interest in playing live every weekend. We just want a solid band member that understands our approach so we can write with them, eventually record, and maybe play a show once a month. We practice in Newark on Sundays usually.

 

Send me a private message if you're interested. We all have jobs so we're not looking to "make it big", but we are looking to become a premier progressive band in the DE, NJ, MD, southern PA area and record some really interesting music.

It might be one of my least favorite Rush albums. The good songs are REALLY good, especially Bravado and the title track. Oddly enough, I really like Heresy. But I just cannot shake the feeling of "filler" on this album in the form of YBYL, Neurotica, FU (sounds about right), and TBW. No other Rush album had songs that are just so...unimportant, as these ones are. Not to mention I find Ghost of a Chance and Dreamline to be just average songs whereas everyone glorifies them. Where's My Thing? is pretty cool, but a standard post-YYZ instrumental that feels more like a jam than a composed song.

 

It's just an average album. Pleasant, but nothing mindblowing. I can listen to the whole thing and enjoy it, but once the title track is over, it's just 7 so-so songs to get through before the end.They really came back strong with CP and TFE (which I think is a GREAT album!)

Power Windows and Grand Designs, though lately I've been wanting to hear Emotion Detector more and more.

I'm not a huge fan of the album, but Fading Lights off of We Can't Dance has to be the ultimate ending-song for an album/band ever. It's like they knew Phil would leave and made a final song with him.

Sunn O))) - dark, drone, ambient "music"

 

Tegan & Sara - simple, acousticy pop music

 

I literally have something of every single genre that I can enjoy and appreciate. Even rap and country, though they might be my smallest selection as I can't stand 99.9% of either genre

I always give bands shit when they play the same setlists over and over. Seeing Rush in the 80's must've been a nightmare with the amount of same songs they played from tour to tour back then.

 

And I was disappointed with the R30 and VT sets as well, since they contained so many of the usuals. But I have to hand it to them, they really did a great job with the TM and CA tours in mixing it up and playing both well-known songs and really obscure stuff, not to mention their entire new album, which is unheard of from a band of their era.

 

I know they're never going to get rid of Tom Sawyer, Spirit of Radio, and Limelight, but I'd like to see these lesser known hits disappear: Red Sector A, Distant Early Warning, Force Ten, Subdivisions, The Big Money, The Trees, YYZ, and Closer to the Heart (thankfully, this one has disappeared).

I realize this is a long shot, but if there's any bass players in DE who kick ass and are looking to join a progressive rock/metal band, let me know. Me and my bro have been playing a lot and have some pretty great stuff written, but a bass makes all the difference.

I've recently listened to the most recent releases by Big Big Train. ( English Electric Pts. 1&2). Very good band and looks like the new main gig for Spock's Beard's Nick D'Vigirillio

 

Big Big Train has been my favorite find (along with Haken) of 2013. It's exactly the kind of prog rock I've been wanting to hear. The EE albums are spectacular but I think my favorite might be The Underfall Yard.

The Mountain is a potential album of the year for me, tied with Dimensionaut by Sound of Contact and English Electric 2 by Big Big Train. When did I start liking prog again??

 

We play tomorrow in a tiny place called Bullseye on Kirkwood Hwy in Wilmington.

 

On December 27th we play at JB McGinnes in New Castle. Great sound, big stage. That's where our videos were taken.

 

I might be able to get to JB McGinnes on the 27th. I saw my brother's band play there a few months ago.

I'm from South Jersey but I'm in DE a lot. I'd definitely be interested in seeing a Rush tribute band! Any dates coming up?

I'm sure it has a Dsus2 in it somewhere. That whole album is one big D chord, with that chord being used in EVERY GODDAMN SONG

I bought that video off ebay like way back in 2000. Charlie really was out of place - I think he was in his late 30's when that video was made and they were still in their late teens. Another Won is from the Majesty demo. It's actually pretty good, but the singer is wildly off key on many occasions...A Vision is a killer song though and has one of JP's best solos IMO.

I actually think the new album is way better than 13. The title track is really the only misstep IMO. Built For War, Dance In The Rain, and The Blackest Crow are really good. I've only listened to it a couple times but it seems consistently better than 13 and UA.

That's like saying a drummer plays on the hi-hat too much. Extreme double bass has its place in metal, and the music and aggressive nature of the songs highly benefit from it.

I always wonder if it's the "gushing, crazy" Rush fans he avoids or just Rush fans in general. I mean, I have no interest in motorcycling so I'd hate to fake that just to talk to him, but I would sincerely like to talk to him about lyrics he's written, or setlist decisions, or what state of mind he was in recording certain tracks, etc. Not in a total fanboy way, but more in a curious way about the history of a band that until recently, was very closed off.

 

 

I admire the hell out of any "classic rock" band who has the balls to play the entirety of their newest album. Most of those bands just release new shit and play the same old classics from the 70's. I'm glad Rush believes in their new material so much (and the album is brilliant, possibly their best IMO) that they NEED to play it.

Just saw these guys in Philly on Wednesday and they absolutely KILLED IT! They are going to blow up soon, especially now that Migrant is adding a whole new "indie" type sound to their already expansive catalog. I still think my favorite is Act II, it just hits it perfectly on every single level. I hope they don't completely abandon their vaudevillian-prog type sound, but I'm excited to see where they go in the future.

I'd say Tales From Topographic Oceans. It's probably my favorite Yes album, tied with Relayer, but the first 10 minutes of The Ancient are absolutely ridiculous. It sounds like mayhem (and not in a good way). The Leaves of Green is SO good too, but you have to sit through so much nonsense to get to it.

After seeing Grand Designs come back, nothing seems out of reach for them to pull out. Twilight Zone is probably one of the least likely choices, but it could happen if they're looking to do something else from 2112 other than Overture/Temples/Finale and Bangkok.

 

I'd love to see them bust out Cinderella Man

I'll always have a lot of love for Test For Echo. Back when I was first getting into Rush (and progressive music in general), my uncle got me Neil's Work In Progress VHS tape and that was the first time I'd heard any TFE songs. I grew to love watching Neil play them (I'd seriously watch this video every Saturday morning for a year), and more importantly talk about them in between playing!

 

I also really like Counterparts, as I think the writing is really strong. RTB is a sack of shit however, and I don't know how they thought Neurotica, YBYL, The Big Wheel and Face Up were good songs. Dreamline is also severely overrated IMO. I actually think the title track is pretty strong, rap section included.

 

I may be the only Rush fan who LOVES Dog Years and Virtuality. The music is superb enough for me to overlook the lyrics (which I don't find that bad either).