Alex' greatest guitar sounds

[Steve Smith]

Superconductor - I agree about Hemispheres, It may have not been the peak of their songwriting but is was certainly the peak of their musicianship IMO humbly. The whole of side 1 was an absolute masterpiece. It is just that all of the other great prog bands at the time had a very accomplished keyboard player backing the guitarist. i.e Floyd, Genesis, Yes etc. Put any of those players - Steve Howe, Steve Hackett, David Gilmour in a situation with Rush where they had to fill out the absence of keyboards and synthersizers and they would be totally out of their depth. That is why Alex is the greatest IMO. Having said that all of those guys are all brilliant wonderful players.

[lifeson90]

chuck berry at age of 90 bringin new album out. cmon guys :)

[RUSHHEAD666]

Hello fellow fans

 

I have always loved Alex as a player and songwriter. But more than that he influenced me so much as a guitar player when I was young because of his brilliant full sound and how he could make up for lack of keyboards in a 3 piece band and make them sound just as full as Floyd, Genesis and Yes etc.

 

Geddy and Neil are perhaps the virtuoso musicians in the band but Alex did 2 jobs of creating the texture an fullness that those other Prog bands did with guitar and synths.

 

I would like to get peoples opinions on Alex' best sound and their reason if that is OK.

 

I will kick off with my opinion, it is just an opinion.

 

My personal favourite is "The Trees". I think he just laid down the bar there. The equipment I believe was his ES355 guitar (I think he may have used it in stereo on this track, please correct me if I am wrong. The Gibson ES355 was a stereo guitar but Alex said he had it rewired to mono for live work). He also had the Hiwatt 100w heads through cabs with 12 inch JBL speakers and a Roland Space Echo/Chorus, MXR stereo flanger and MXR tone boost. Please feel free to correct me.

 

The combination of the effects with the semi acoustic 355 and the Hiwatt just gave an amazing sound. Huge and overdriven in a powerful way but not distorted or "fizzy". The use of the semi acoustic and the Hiwatt gave so much power yet a softer cleaner tone than say a Marshall JMP100 (one of which I own) and a Les Paul. I think Alex used a Les Paul and Marshalls on "All the World's a Stage" probably to get the volume he needed in a live situation, but that sound on the live album did not have the clarity or purity of his studio work.

 

Anyone agree or disagree? would love to hear opinions.

 

Best Wishes

 

Steve Smith

 

Agreed with "The Trees!" EPIC!

 

Are you really the old drummer from Journey?

 

 

I love your work with Vital Information!

 

Cheers!

[goose]

Although it's not up front like the 70's albums, the guitar sound on Grace Under Pressure is fantastic.

:goodone:

[goose]

I'm waiting for a wet blanket to show up. :eyeroll:

 

In the meantime, I agree with Eagle although Alex had his moments after Signals every now and again. :)

 

From CP through CA he returned in force. His layer of guitars on VT is interesting.

 

I am going to disagree here a bit. I don't think Alex ever recovered from the keyboard onslaught. He's had moments of clarity and inspiration now and again but his creativity peaked during the AFTK's - MP's era.

 

I agree that was his peak period, but he did recover to a degree in the sense that the guitar was more upfront and he was trying new things on VT and even CA. Maybe not tone wise, but just in the composition of the guitar parts. No way do those albums match AFTK or MP or PeW. But it was nice to see him rocking again.

:goodone:

[grasbo]

Yes Van Halen did cop some flack over amp mods and people frying their amps.I have always balked at those ads of amps,effects,etc saying "now you can sound like Hendrix"but try as you might you are never going to play Voodoo Chile like him(apologies to SRV).Van Halen let Ted Nugent play through his rig but he still sounded like Ted Nugent.I tell people its all in the fingers and your soul and I think Alex has loads of it.Despite his change of gear and shifts in style over the years I still know its Alex

[grasbo]

I really like the remastered VP as you hear new things coming out of the mix.I love the solo on Earthshine one of favourites.I compare the original VP to St Anger ,an all out guitar slugfest of overdriven power chords with virtually no solos

[Rod in Toronto]

I really like the remastered VP as you hear new things coming out of the mix.I love the solo on Earthshine one of favourites.I compare the original VP to St Anger ,an all out guitar slugfest of overdriven power chords with virtually no solos

 

I noticed that too...aside from Earthshine there are some cool little solos he does. Ceiling Unlimited is a fine example.

 

Anyway, I just remembered how cool his riff is in The Camera Eye. Love what he does through the song, and the last solo is simply amazing!

[JARG]

I really like the remastered VP as you hear new things coming out of the mix.I love the solo on Earthshine one of favourites.I compare the original VP to St Anger ,an all out guitar slugfest of overdriven power chords with virtually no solos

 

Yeah, Vapor Pails is a great album. :)

[Steve Smith]

Sorry to get off topic but Eddie VH never needed to butcher his amps with light dimmer switches etc. All he needed was an early Ibanez Tube Screamer (I had one in 79 I think they came out in 76) in conjunction with his Marshall Super lead wound up to about 7 or 8 and it would have given him exactly the same sound he was looking for. A bit silly really to modify the amps in this way. Anyway Alex always had a better sound than Ed in my humble opinion, it was more pure and tuneful and melodic. Having said that I am a huge fan of EVH and he is a huge Rush fan. He doffed his cap at Alex with the song "Pleasuredome" on the 1991 F U C K album

 

End of

 

Steve

[Lorraine]

Anyway Alex always had a better sound than Ed in my humble opinion, it was more pure and tuneful and melodic.

 

Quite a few here have said the same. They said Alex is a more emotional player. He's also a nicer person. Eddie was always a bit of a jerk.

 

There are some Van Halen threads in the music section where this was discussed.

[lifeson90]

that little abstract solo thing in Time & Motion

[Steve Smith]

Lorraine - thanks for that. I think that deep down EVH was a nice person but he is an alcoholic, an addict. But yes sadly he is a jerk. Alcohol is the most toxic drug ever, much worse than Cannabis or even Heroin. Heroin is just the brand name of an Opiate pain killer from the 19th Century. Withdrawal from Heroin is bad not dangerous but withdrawal from serious alcohol addiction can lead to coma, even death. Believe me I have been through it. Alex was my first electric guitar hero along with Hendrix and Jimmy Page. EVH came later. I would describe my playing style as Alex Lifeson rhythm guitar and EVH lead.

 

Take Care

 

Stephen

[Rod in Toronto]

Sorry to get off topic but Eddie VH never needed to butcher his amps with light dimmer switches etc. All he needed was an early Ibanez Tube Screamer (I had one in 79 I think they came out in 76) in conjunction with his Marshall Super lead wound up to about 7 or 8 and it would have given him exactly the same sound he was looking for. A bit silly really to modify the amps in this way. Anyway Alex always had a better sound than Ed in my humble opinion, it was more pure and tuneful and melodic. Having said that I am a huge fan of EVH and he is a huge Rush fan. He doffed his cap at Alex with the song "Pleasuredome" on the 1991 F U C K album

 

End of

 

Steve

Yeah, Pleasure Dome is a great homage to Xanadu. Some insane Eddie moments in this song!

[jnoble]

I love not only his emotional guitar solo in Afterimage but the way it fades away blending into the pre-verse section. Hard to describe it in words, but his solo and the way it ends is (maybe intentionally?) sonically evocative of someone suddenly disappearing or a memory fading away into the ether.

[Powderfinger]

I especially love his tone on Caress of Steel, and really everything from FBN through MP. And it pains me to say that, because Signals is my favorite Rush album. I prefer him on the 335 or tobacco Les Paul.

[Todem]

Alex is my biggest influence. His tones and soundscapes evolved over every phase of Rush. I found that his best playing, sounds and emotive solo's to be between Hemispheres and Hold Your Fire.

 

Then of course he kill's it on Roll The Bones with Dreamline, Bravado, Ghost of A Chance...just brilliant.

 

Counterparts he just slay's Animate, Cut To The Chase, Cold Fire, Leave That Thing Alone, Everyday Glory, Alien Shore.....one of Alex's best albums IMO as far as personal tone and performance. I loved Kevin "Caveman" Shirley's approach in cutting a lot of that reverb out and letting his guitar breath naturally and adding the effects later. And the Marshall's....yep.

 

Some of Alex's most creative playing IMO was when people were confused about the band between Signals and Hold Your Fire. Just brilliant guitar work. So very intricate and delicate and then moments of eruption. Grace Under Pressure has so much goodness as well as Power Windows.

 

But if I had to pick out my favorite tones, I would say Permanent Waves, Moving Pictures, Grace Under Pressure and Counterparts.

 

One album that is overlooked is Snakes and Arrows. His use of acoustic guitars in the layers is really nice.

Edited October 25, 2016 by Todem