spock

I had the same reaction - saw them in Philly and had a different experience than most. I noticed that Geddy ran to the center stage many times - same as older concerts where Alex and Geddy would normally jam together - but this time I noticed Alex staying in his spot. He did goof around a few times with Neil, but it was odd enough to make me wonder if something was wrong or if he wasn't feeling well. It was a much different concert than, say, the Time Machine tour.

My take on Rolling Stone is this: they decide who will be "next", then write years' worth of articles in support of the people they've decided will be "next", then declare those people to have 'arrived', as predicted and supported, by Rolling Stone - their own self-fullfilling (and self-profiting) prophecies. They did not declare Rush to be "next", they did not support them, and damn sure weren't going to declare them as 'arrived' until they were forced to. A rare win for democracy. Those who can (play), do; those who can't become critics...

Haven't decided whether to see them or not this spring, but I can appreciate the set list. A quick scan of their concert videos and live albums show a long history of banging out the hits - honestly, it's not like the Grateful Dead, where you can't guess how they're going to play Tom Sawyer from one show to another. No, whether you like the setlist or not, I'm happy to see them reaching back for things that haven't gotten a lot of stageplay before.

I agree that people can disagree about tastes in music - even I, a non-music journalist, can see that. But the heart of the article is this: "Rush is good but not notable... But if the group were completely erased from history, rock would sound and feel the same today." So, it's the Rock and Roll Hall of Influence? No, it's a Hall of Fame: (def: great renown, public estimation or reputation). I can see his point; theyv'e accomplished so little in their scant years of touring. They've achieve no renown for their abilities. Aside from all the famous musicians in BTLS who mentioned the impact of RUSH on their playing, I can hardly think of any influence they've had... Notable - no, nothing in their number of albums released, concert sales, awards, longevity, professionalism, friendship...no, nothing there either. I believe we never really mentally leave high school. And, so many still assess their own coolness by who they don't like to listen to. He must be soooo very cool. He did mention that he likes groove, although what the hell that has to do with rock music is anyone's guess - "I see red...and it hurts my head" Oops, sorry about that, I was grooving there for a second...

Saw it for the first time today. I was watching football, not expecting it, and suddenly there's those opening chords - couldn't stop smiling...

Hmmm, I wonder which Black Sabbath tune these guys dance to?

Those guys are so cool. So cool. I just wish I was as cool as they are cool. Gosh. Just, so cool. And they're smart - you can tell because they obviously love how smart they are by the way they say cool, smart things. Oops, time to quit work and listen to some sucky Rush music on the way home

Definitely heard the Hammond Organ sounds - very clear once you're listening for them. As with some other parts on the album, I can't tell if it's a low-level keyboard or some effect on the guitar? Perfect sound for those parts of the song! I listened for the bridge alarm, couldn't make it out on the car stereo - not the best system in the world. I wouldn't put anything past them so I'll avoid blaming it on a spurious inter-harmonic cross-distortion!

Funny you should mention that... I had to take a CA break (heresy? Spent a couple of weeks spinning PT (wow, Lightbulb Sun is good!)) and just got back to listening to CA yesterday. SCOG and The Anarchist have really grown on me. The opening to SCOG is one of the strongest song openers I've heard in a while. I'll give it a listen and see if I can hear those parts.

QUOTE (gangsterfurious @ Sep 18 2012, 03:24 PM) Well, with David Lee Roth you can see that coming from a mile away, haha. I think the Geddy and Alex are probably really nice guys. And I think they would be polite enough meeting their fans but since they aren't the type of rockers to live in the public eye very much, it might feel a little cold. I was looking at pictures of the meet and greets earlier. It looks a bit like, you walk up to them, say hi, I don't even think you get to shake their hands. They stand close enough to you to be in the frame with you and then you're done and it's onto the next fan. I don't know. For some fanatical people this may be a huge disappointment but on the other hand it's kind of cool that they do this without charging extras on tickets or something to that effect. Personally, I'm kind of on the fence. I think the Boys in Brazil footage from Rush paints a good picture. They obviously care enough to take the time and they seems genuine, but it also looks like they aren't pretending that 'strangers are long-awaited friends'. I've never had the chance and never tried hard to make it happen. I figure the situation would be too slanted: I'd have waited 30 years to see them and I'd be just another 60 seconds out of their day.

QUOTE (fordgt99 @ Sep 16 2012, 11:02 PM) QUOTE (Steely Caress @ Sep 16 2012, 10:49 PM) Along with Geddy, I have read where Neil says power windows was one of their best records. I know he talks about this in the book contents under pressure. Is Contents Under Pressure a good book to read to get a good history/insight into the band? Reason I ask is some jerk on another forum I visit claims I don't have much knowledge of the band (which I never claimed to have in the first place). I own and have watched Beyond The Lighted Stage a few times but of course it doesn't cover everything. Contents Under Pressure is a GREAT book. It covers every album through VT. It will fill in a lot of blanks that the movie couldn't cover.

QUOTE (Bangster of Goats @ Sep 15 2012, 09:39 AM) Is it generally agreed that the Sector remasters are better than the 1997? I got a few of the 1997's (and other "Rush Remaster" series discs) years ago, and I had foolishly sold off the W German (in the case of older Rush material) and other original release copies those remasters replaced. (Except for Presto (that particular original I bought in 1989 has sentimental value), and I also kept the original Test For Echo because the missing "Sisyphus" in the remaster, though extremely minor, still drives me nuts.) I still have a handful of W Germans and other original releases though, as I had never gotten around to buying the 1997s for those albums, thank goodness! THANK YOU! I hadn't listened to TFE much -bought it when it first came (cassette tape) out and remembered the Sisyphus reference. Lots of years later bought a remastered CD and listened to Carve Away the Stone over and over trying to figure out where'd Sisyphus go? Now I know! That has been really bugging me for a long time! (Thought I was imagining it to begin with!)

I have to laugh - there was this moment when I first heard TSOR for the first time and I realized that they couldn't be playing the keyboard parts AND the bass parts at the SAME TIME! Oh, no! The fate of their credibility with me hung in the balance (...please consider: I was 17 years old)! Five minutes later, I was over it. Since then, I give them credit for tastefully deciding what to sample/trigger, what to play live, and what to leave out. I realized after watching some of the YouTube videos (thanks, all!) that they could have easily triggered the strings - but it was a fresh approach to add them. I'll take 'em any way they want to play them. I love Grand Designs, so I'd watch and listen if they stood there and played it through an 8-track player with one busted speaker. They're all nearly 60, just put out a great new album, going 'round the world again with a cool new stage and an orchestra, NOT playing the same old songs (a risky thing, really), and sounding pretty damn good - it really defies the level of static I'm seeing in TRF.

I have to wonder: TMT centered on the anniversary of MP and there was some speculation that the CA tour might include Signals - but my guess is that this tour is presenting the band's favorite synth songs from that whole period rather than just reboot the "album of the month (album of the tour)" idea. The fact that they launch each night with Subdivisions (from Signals) is the clue (IMHO). I don't think the best of fans (yeah, here it comes...) would sit through a two-album concert (Signals AND CA), so we get the post-MP era, B-side heavy, along with CA - works fine for me!

That's it, I wasn't gonna ever stop listening to Rush EVER! But, now I will... I suppose I should buy an Elvis Costello or Bruce Springsteen album now, just so's I can be cool! Just for that, I'll add PeW into my rotation this week

Can't cite the sources, but I've read two articles where they've mentioned going back into the studio as the next step. I'd rather see that than an R40. I wrote in another TRF thread that I'm not missing those same 'old songs. Not sure why they drew so much from Power Windows, but it's nice to hear some fresh stuff. I wonder if the set list isn't partly due to the fact that they just finished coming off tour - they must have been looking for some stuff that would seem like just another leg of that last tour?

My guess is that this is the list that THEY wanted to spend 3+ hours playing. Looking over my collection of concert DVDs, I am glad to see so many songs that haven't been played live for awhile. We'll never agree on what should have/could have/would have been a better list, but I'm just glad to see them touring and playing ANYTHING! Won't get to see them live this time around so I can't wait for the DVD to hit the stores

It was in the late 70s; I heard The Trees on Philly radio and was hooked! Classical guitar followed by RAWK mixed with complex time signatures and some cool lyrics (..and wind chimes...and wood blocks..and damn! a Rickenbacker sounds good!). Who were these guys? Next stop: ATWAS - specifically By-Tor - wwhhhooooaaaa - how does he even make those sounds with one guitar? ...and they've been the soundtrack of my life ever since. What aspect - I guess it's their Rushiness

Tough one: I've read where Alex speaks directly about "the next album" and then again I read the interview where he talks about how hard it's getting for Neil to get in shape for the tours. If they have one more in 'em, it'll be the last. My guess is they'll revert to the initial idea of releasing a "Best of...Instrumentals" with one new instrumental on it, do an R40 and then riding off into the Canadian/Californian sunset.

Great question - mostly 'cause I'm just not sure what to expect this time. I read where Neil intends to abandon his long tradition of structured drum solos for this tour so who knows what else he might do...? With the strings and Neil's solo change-up, and their comments about dusting off some older songs, I'm thinking and hoping that this will be a much different show than what they've done recently. The Moving Pictures idea for the Time Machine tour was really nice, but many of those songs already got a lot of wear over the years (Camera Eye notwithstanding). So a fresh batch of old Rush and a good dose of CA with (maybe?) an oddly place drum solo would go down nicely with an "ice cold beer". All that said: I vote "no" - just a gut guess...

I kinda like the extended intros on CA (Anarchist, Seven Cities, CA itself).