Snyder80

I totally agree.

They would've ended up like Tool. Extraordinary musicianship, great song writing, legions of fans and every single song sounding exactly the same. BORING!

Wow...dude I hope you're doing okay for real. Maybe I'm reading your post a little too literally.

That's f***ing awesome! Lucy reminds me of the girl from Permanent Waves! Lol...

That's a cool moment. It's f***ing scary how amazing of a musician that guy is. He never ceases to blow my mind.

Yes. I go through phases with other bands and some last longer than others. I was in a Porcupine Tree phase for a pretty good while, same thing with Pink Floyd at one point. I tried Dream Theater, Yes, Tool, Genesis and other progressive rock acts. They all have their shining moments for me but only Rush can make me continuously happy over such a long period of time. Just the other day I had my phone on shuffle and it went from Hemispheres to Signals to Vapor Trails right in a row. All different time periods, styles, explorations, sounds, etc. And it was somehow all still magical to me. Love 'em!

I still have to admit to being a tad underwhelmed by this show. I don't think they did their career justice, I guess. Any way hearing Animate played at full speed was a highlight for me, as was hearing RTB for the first time since VT tour ( I missed the R30 tour). One Little Victory was a bonus. Highlight of the evening had to be Xanadu in it's entirety with the double necks. I never expected to be so impressed by that as I was, it was like going back in time.

I was just gonna say this! Five million albums in ten years is a fairly decent amount, if you ask me. Three decent selling records and tonnes of critical acclaim for a decades old band? Not to be scoffed at! Especially when considering how much music retail has tanked, over those ten years- over the past twenty, really. People just don't buy new music like they used to- not even close, in terms of volume. The interwebs have changed all of that. Half a million albums per year? Yes, that's very good, I think. Your comment about music retail tanking made me a bit sad. I came from the era of record stores and everything on vinyl. Hell, I still remember when cassette tapes were a 10 square foot corner of the record store.

Geddy and Alex invented a band called Rush...Neil Peart's drumming and lyrics created the nearly half century phenomenon known today as Rush. Without Neil Peart, it's merely a Rush cover band.

That would mean no "The Pass", no "Bravado" and no "Mission. That would mean things all of sudden suck ass.

I was never very big on this song and it doesn't get any better with age.

That's not an option. It's a choice of Neil or nothing. Perhaps you'd like to choose nothing, but I see nothing so bad in his performances that makes me even approach this feeling. Only Geddy's voice moves the needle for me, and even that isn't a close call for me. He's an extremely skilled drummer, but I find his performance lacking. JARG, what do you mean by you find his performance lacking? IMO, there's more to being a performing musician than just the ability to play your instrument well. You also need to get on with the fascination. You need to put on a performance for your audience that let's them know they're hard-earned patronage is appreciated. Neil fails miserably at this, IMO. You post fails miserably IMO. Neil still plays with more energy than the majority of younger drummers out there. I guess he doesn't smile enough for your tastes or something. You got a little brown on your nose there. I know what I see with my own eyes. Neil was a drumming machine on the CA tour in Indy. Quit comparing 62 year old Neil to 32 year old Neil. He still does a fine job. Seriously, I've seen every tour from R30 on and Neil beyond impressed me with his performances. Is he the best rock drummer of all-time? I have no idea. I do know he's one of the best rock drummers of all-time. The man is a master. The answer to your question is unquestionably YES. He is the best rock drummer of all-time and most days that isn't even close. There are jazz guys and virtuoso guys who are leagues above. In the theater of rock he is at the head of the pack. People need to remember to look at his entire body of work before saying he isn't. I think lots of other drummers are fabulous, Danny Carey comes to mind, as does Gavin Harrison, Carter Beauford and a number of others. But without Neil's innovations of the 70s, a lot of those guys never would have been inspired to drum the way they do. The same can be said if Neil had never heard Keith Moon or Jon Bonham.

I have yet to read one of his article's where he doesn't mention pouring a measure of Macallan. As in Macallan scotch. Who knows for sure though. I drink a good bit of wine and my nose is just fine.

I used to play guitar and my father played bass in a band for fifteen years. The guy who played lead guitar for that band still plays and has played for 40+ years. Even he will tell you that, yes, a lot of Alex's guitar parts are very technical and very difficult to play CORRECTLY. I capitalize that entire word because so many amateur guitar players like to say everything is easy. One of my former instructor's asked me who some of my favorite guitar players were during one of my first lessons and mentioned a few names, Lifeson being one. His comment was "Some of those we can work on now, others we'll get to in about 5 years." My point there is simply to illustrate that I believe Alex Lifeson to be, hands down, the most underrated guitarist I've ever heard. His ability to create searing leads, crunchy rhythyms, and glimmering layers during a time when he supposedly took a "backseat" to keyboards is astounding. Listen to the solo on Grand Designs and the way he chases Geddy's vocal line into the last chorus and tell me that man isn't a f***ing genius. Geddy and Neil may be the Surf & Turf but Alex is that glass of luscious, velvety red wine that ties the entire meal together.

My ears aren't as good as some. I have never been able to pick out big differences on remasters.

I hear Neil in an interview around the time Rush in Rio came out where he stated at one point in time he thought he was done touring in 1989. I think he's been torn about it for some time now. Honestly, if I were him and had a young daughter, I sure as hell wouldn't be during anymore.

If those three songs you listed were played as the encore I would cry tears of joy

I think Witch Hunt, lyrically, is eons beyond anything Sabbath ever conceived.

Good question. One that I don't find easy to answer. Black Sabbath played a lot of heavy, dark material but most of it was pretty plodding by comparison. I'm stupified by this one... Maybe Working Man???

A new singer is as likely as them opening with Welcome to the Jungle.

Neil has Twitter? Wow. And I thought he was nothing more than a washed-up, fan hating son of a bitch who refuses to play old songs, drink cheap scotch or ride to the next show with his bandmates.

It's definitely a classic. Opinions aside, man, Jacob's Ladder is an absolute classic and a Rush deep track at the same time. It's one of those tunes I can put on at work that no one knows what it is but by the time it's over a few of them have asked about it. In a good way.

I was thinking the same thing. And when you consider the weird time signature during the last segment of JL with snare hits seemingly coming at random (i'm no drummer) I can see him having a little hesitation with playing this tune.

This is so true I can't even stand it. As much as I enjoy some of the new material, the older I get, and the more I revisit albums like AFTK, PeW, Hemispheres, MP, I can't even find a resemblance from those albums on the newer stuff. It really pains me to say this but sometimes I wonder if Lifeson ever sits and listens to a song like Natural Science or Xanadu and then listens to Far Cry or Wish Them Well and thinks, What in the f**k am I doing??? I realize it's all stylistic development and creative nonsense that I'll never fully understand but I also think that if you can't hear the difference in musicianship, effort and creativity between the aforementioned songs then you might be deaf, crazy or both.

When I read this statement, I got to the H at the beginning of the word Hemispheres before I was erupting a volcanic blast of bile into the trash can next to my desk.