Why do some RUSH fans Hate "Roll The Bones"?

[jnoble]

I never understood why the band signed off on the weak final mix of RTB just like how I never understood many years later how they were OK with the brickwalled unlistenable mess Clockwork was. Vapor gets a pass because Geddy admitted they were so burned out from the long recording process that they just didn't pay much attention to how the mix was done and just wanted to be finished with it plus the record label was getting impatient and wanted it out

[jnoble]

I've always thought the songs of RTB with the production/sound of Counterparts would've been something very good

[Blue J]

I like the song and the rap section. I also like Neurotica. So there.

 

Hear hear!

[Blue J]

I've always thought the songs of RTB with the production/sound of Counterparts would've been something very good

 

The songs from both Presto and Roll the Bones even had a much beefier sound when played live, too.

 

Overall, I really really like RTB. It just has that one completely awful song at the end of it.

[jnoble]

Face Up only with Kevin Shirley engineering it...would've sounded a million times more powerful

[HalfwayToGone]

They proved on RTB that they should stick to their areas of expertise and not try to sound like rap or hip hop or anything that involves being even remotely funky. That said, when I saw them in Newark on R40, the chorus of that song made me cry. A hundred other times, I paid almost no attention to it, but the lyrics hit me very hard that night and completely unexpectedly too.

 

PS any doubt that Rush are completely unfunky should have been erased by that jam w/Public Enemy at the end of their RRHOF induction ceremony.

Edited September 18, 2019 by HalfwayToGone

[GeddyLeeRoth]

I like RTB, but it's probably my least favorite because most of the songs sound uninspired; there isn't much emotional weight to much of the album. Dreamline, RTB and Where's My Thing (YYZ Lite) are my favorites from the album, but still not classics. The band sleepwalks through Face Up, The Big Wheel, Neurotica and You Bet Your Life. And songs that have a little more depth to them like Heresy and Ghost Of A Chance aren't that good--Bravado is decent though.

It's ironic, because RTB helped get me back into Rush after they were fading from my radar due to my lack of enthusiasm from HYF and Presto (I was pretty absorbed with metal in highschool, although I dug ASOH upon its release), but RTB is my least listened to Rush album anymore.

[ytserush]

They proved on RTB that they should stick to their areas of expertise and not try to sound like rap or hip hop or anything that involves being even remotely funky. That said, when I saw them in Newark on R40, the chorus of that song made me cry. A hundred other times, I paid almost no attention to it, but the lyrics hit me very hard that night and completely unexpectedly too.

 

PS any doubt that Rush are completely unfunky should have been erased by that jam w/Public Enemy at the end of their RRHOF induction ceremony.

 

They added a bit of funk (at least live) as time went on.

[losingit2k]

Two Words: Rap Song!

[_hi_water._]

Production and lyrical choices.

[mattroland76]

Quite simply, its because of the rap section. I admit, it is cringeworthy. It's unfortunate too, because otherwise its a very solid track, one of the best on the album. I think the song would have been much stronger without the rap section; instead, replace it with some funky instrumental interaction among Geddy, Alex and Neil.

[Malignant Narcissist]

For me, the song is just ok. The rap section doesn't bother me but I don't particularly like it. I just don't think the song is that good nor is it that bad. Just middle of the road.

 

The album has a lot of songs that have highs and lows and the lows are just a bit too low. Like they didn't really finish off the songwriting completely.

 

But I particularly like Ghost of a Chance with Dreamline being pretty good but standard rock rather than anything outstanding.

Bravado's not bad without lows but a bit boring to me. And finally, the only one that I doesn't have lows, per se, is surprisingly to many, Neurotica. I quite like it behind the others. I like the riff and to me, it doesn't seem to have any lows. Of course, judging by many comments on this forum, I am in the minority.

[jnoble]

It's an uneven album. It's one half very good songwriting and then other half mediocre. Add on top of that the airy gutless mix and sound. It's my vote for Alex's worst album not because of his playing which was always great but how tinny and weak his tone was from recording with single coil guitars. Geddy's tone wasn't much better with his dinky plinky Wal basses.

The return to a beefier in your face sound with Counterparts by the entire band a few years later was well needed.

[Alex’s Amazing Arpeggios]

It's an uneven album. It's one half very good songwriting and then other half mediocre. Add on top of that the airy gutless mix and sound. It's my vote for Alex's worst album not because of his playing which was always great but how tinny and weak his tone was from recording with single coil guitars. Geddy's tone wasn't much better with his dinky plinky Wal basses.

The return to a beefier in your face sound with Counterparts by the entire band a few years later was well needed.

[Alex’s Amazing Arpeggios]

Edited July 20, 2021 by Alex’s Amazing Arpeggios