Cygnus Book 2

[goose]

CurryGoat11 posted this in the Geddy bass lines thread. Watching this guy cover Book II really gave me a full appreciation of what Ged pulls off during the song.

 

[Powderfinger]

I haven't been connecting with Hemispheres as much lately. I've been focusing more on Permanent Waves and A Farewell to Kings. But most of the time Hemispheres battles with Signals for favorite album status. I discovered Rush albums out of sequence. I listened to Book II extensively before I had ever heard any of 2112 beyond whatever is included on Chronicles. So when I arrived at 2112 I immediately thought, "Meh, this isn't as good as Cygnus Book II." It hurt my appreciation for 2112, which has grown on me, but will always live in Hemispheres's shadow.

 

And I agree with everyone who cited Alex's playing and tone. His best years tonally. (Although, his tone on The Necromancer is especially dope if you like that sort of guitar sound.) Lost in all the debates about the introduction of keyboards is the degree to which Alex's guitar itself started to sound like a keyboard. It isn't just that his guitar went AWOL with Signals--his guitar sound also dramatically changed. He surrendered that warm and fuzzy Gibson>Marshall sound.

[Thunder Bay Rush]

Just watched the Geddy / Hemispheres bass cover posted above... astonishing how much bass playing there is in that song, but - imagine SINGING A LONG TO IT??? That shows just HOW much talent a young (24 year old) Geddy had.