ZachenFoot

One time he was just being as Geddy as it gets, and after YYZ on the last tour in Chicago, he said, "It's time to say a farewell to strings." He's the only one who could get away with such a bad joke in such a charming way.

S&A and I don't even think it's close. I hated the TM Tour. S&A had a really nice variety in the setlist save for the consecutive S&A songs to start the second set. When you throw "Digital Man," "Entre Nous," "Natural Science," and "Witch Hunt" in the same show, you're winning big time.

Grace Under Pressure Roll The Bones Vapor Trails (Remix)

Best album since Pop, I'll concur. Big U2 fan here. Haven't liked any 21st century U2 stuff yet, but I've listened to this album at least three times today and it has gotten better each time. Great PR just giving the album away. I'm thrilled with the disc.

10 10 6

8 6 9

On Presto's production: I just went from "Hand Over Fist" to "Totem," and man, what the hell were they going for on the sound of the acoustic guitars? They sound dreadful on Presto, whereas on T4E, they actually sound like acoustic guitars. Same with the drums. Presto's drum sound is crisp with zero depth. It just snaps. I can't stand it.

My music taste ebbs and flows on a cyclical basis. I go through a lot of moods. I may be big on '90s grunge for awhile, then move on to new indie stuff, then to some prog, and all of those usually last between two weeks to a month. And there's always a band that I focus on in those moods. Soundgarden, Yeah, Yeah, Yeahs, and Genesis are a few examples from this past summer. Whenever I don't quite know what mood I'm in, Rush is my go-to. They're my fallback because I'll usually go a decent period of time where I don't listen to much of them, and the stuff becomes "fresh" again. I don't force this system on myself; my subconscious decided it works, I guess. And I'm pretty happy with it. Rush may be the band I've listened to longer than anyone and never burned out on.

Presto. A lot of really good songs (some crappy ones, too, okay). Most often derided as being very light production-wise, which is a valid criticism I agree with. If you can look past the production, I think the album holds some truly excellent tracks that would benefit tremendously from a little more bulk and life. I'd love to see it remixed. Probably a pipe dream, but it'd be neat. I'd say Test For Echo, because that's always been a favorite of mine. Sometimes I don't fully understand why I like it so much.

I never even wanted to meet Neil in a rock 'n' roll setting. Would I like to sit down, have coffee with him, and talk books? Politics? The world? That to me sounds like a perfect encounter with the guy. But he doesn't owe me or anyone that, or any sort of meet-and-greet.

I never understood why fans believe Neil doesn't like them or that it even seems that way. Dude writes books about his life. We know more about him than we do Geddy or Alex. He's never been the public figure. He's made it clear before and makes it clear now. He's an introvert and likes to do his job and live his own way. I'd say he's earned it. I totally respect that.

The Masked Rider. Just got a Kindle. Trying to shift between Peart/music, baseball/hockey, and politics books, starting with TMR. I know he gets criticized for being somewhat over-the-top, but Neil can tell a compelling story. "23% done," as my Kindle would suggest :)

This could be Signals vs. Physical Graffiti and I'd still vote Signals. Favorite album of all time.

Presto. It's full of wonderful ideas, but Rupert Hine made the band paper thin. Those wonderful ideas have absolutely no strength at all.

I don't really believe much in guilty pleasures. I usually own everything I like with no hesitation. Not my problem if people don't like it. That said, there are some Rush songs I like a lot more than I probably should: Countdown Red Lenses Scars Hand Over Fist Everyday Glory Carve Away the Stone BU2B