Rush's sound has gotten way to compressed and condensed for my ears.
Their records used to breathe more and had a greater dynamic feel.
Alex used to have an amazing clean crunch sound that I loved.
He didn't just have it for one or two albums, he had it for all the albums up to and incl. Permanent Waves.
Then it got more processed, which was OK for my ears and for the times, but when you go past Grace Under Pressure, I think he just loses me.
Kahler trems and way too much digital sheen.
Come to the era of the Hughes & Kettner amps, ugh, they are so dense and over-saturated. I can hardly hear the difference in the guitars he uses.
Take a listen to the Pink Pop sound he had in '79. Now that's a great tone!
I don't think it would hurt if they made a conscious decision to exclusively use the amps and instruments from the 77-80 period for just one record.
They've never done it before, so why not give it a shot boys?
Jeez, I'd record the demos for free, just so they could hear how great that old stuff still sounds (yes, a pipe dream but one can still dream...).
