Permanent Waves

[Saint NIck]

I'm going through a 'Waves' phase; in particular Different Strings and especially Natural Science.

For my ears, all six songs are what I call, brace yourselves, SATMs...SUPERB ABSOLUTE TREMENDOUS MASTERPIECES of the craft of songwriting; both lyrically & musically.

Absolutely love Different Strings, and Natural Science is mind-blowing monumental.

[IbanezJem]

Great songs throughout, and yes, SATM if you want. Amazing standard. But there is nothing anywhere else like Natural Science. No other band on the planet that could have created it.

[Nova Carmina]

I agree with all your sentiments, but the SATM is a little too Dick Vitale* for me . . . I'll go listen again, just for the smiles.

 

 

 

 

 

(*For those of you who do not listen to American broadcasts of college basketball, Dick Vitale is an "commentator" whose style is the equivalent of water boarding for the ears. Awful.)

[chemistry]

My Favorite RUSH album!

[Mystic Slipperman]

Yep. still my favorite Rush album as well.

 

 

 

Shout out for Entre Nous. What a tightly arranged, perfect song.

[Entre_Perpetuo]

Rush never made another album quite as incredible! Edited July 20, 2019 by Entre_Perpetuo

[Blue Barchetta]

I agree with all your sentiments, but the SATM is a little too Dick Vitale* for me . . . I'll go listen again, just for the smiles.

 

 

 

 

 

(*For those of you who do not listen to American broadcasts of college basketball, Dick Vitale is an "commentator" whose style is the equivalent of water boarding for the ears. Awful.)

What are you talking about? Vitale is a PTPer (Prime Time Player), baby!

[tangy]

Great songs throughout, and yes, SATM if you want. Amazing standard. But there is nothing anywhere else like Natural Science. No other band on the planet that could have created it.

 

Correct you are my friend

 

Their greatest song imo.

[Nova Carmina]

What are you talking about? Vitale is a PTPer (Prime Time Player), baby!

 

My ears! The pain, the pain!

 

But, yes PeW was an awesome combo of economy and skill. Not a weak link.

[Steevo]

Yep. still my favorite Rush album as well.

 

Still can't top MP or Hemi but close.

[Blue Barchetta]

Another vote for PW as the greatest. I read Steve Gett's "Success Under Pressure" many moons ago. I qoute: "In Grace Under Pressure", they had succeeded in producing a near perfect Rush album." Now, GUP is fine and all, but compared to Waves...no sir. Two albums are close: 2112 and Moving Pictures, but I don't believe either combined the musicianship and raw energy like Waves. Every song hit you emotionally and with the "holy shit" of their musicianship. 2112 and Pictures were very close.

 

Then, until Vapor Trails was released, they didn't come close.

[taurus]

PeW and it's sister record MP are the pinnacle of Rush. Sure Hemispheres is my personal fave, but PeW is the maturation of everything they had been doing to that point. Short running time meant no filler. Love love love that record, so much so that I rarely listen to it. Keep it special.

 

I have high expectations for it's 40th Anniversary release

[Blue Barchetta]

PeW and it's sister record MP are the pinnacle of Rush. Sure Hemispheres is my personal fave, but PeW is the maturation of everything they had been doing to that point. Short running time meant no filler. Love love love that record, so much so that I rarely listen to it. Keep it special.

 

I have high expectations for it's 40th Anniversary release

If two rock albums like PW and MP were ever produced back-to-back, I'll turn gay and open all my orifices

[Tony R]

I agree with all your sentiments, but the SATM is a little too Dick Vitale* for me . . . I'll go listen again, just for the smiles.

 

 

 

 

 

(*For those of you who do not listen to American broadcasts of college basketball, Dick Vitale is an "commentator" whose style is the equivalent of water boarding for the ears. Awful.)

 

How do you pronounce “commentator”?

[Nova Carmina]

[

How do you pronounce “commentator”?

 

Normally, I pronounce it "announcer," but I thought for the non-American patrons that "commentator" was more idiomatic -- although I couldn't really explain why. I guess in American broadcast lingo, Vitale is the color commentary guy, rather than the play-by-play guy, but whenever he's on a game I'm watching he's the "reason I use the must button and read the subtitles guy."

 

I remember when I bought the cassette of PeW and was disappointed in how short it was (about 17 mins a side, I think). That's not much shorter than Hemi or FtK, but divided by three songs? What's this? That disappointment disappeared after a listen or two. It's still not my favorite album, but it may be the best combo of form and function.

[Tony R]

[

How do you pronounce “commentator”?

 

Normally, I pronounce it "announcer," but I thought for the non-American patrons that "commentator" was more idiomatic -- although I couldn't really explain why. I guess in American broadcast lingo, Vitale is the color commentary guy, rather than the play-by-play guy, but whenever he's on a game I'm watching he's the "reason I use the must button and read the subtitles guy."

 

I remember when I bought the cassette of PeW and was disappointed in how short it was (about 17 mins a side, I think). That's not much shorter than Hemi or FtK, but divided by three songs? What's this? That disappointment disappeared after a listen or two. It's still not my favorite album, but it may be the best combo of form and function.

Oh, ok. In that case why did you write “an” commentator?

[Nova Carmina]

Uh . . . first let's agree that since it's an internet forum, my editing is not as careful or consistent as it would be if it were something professional, but having said that, "a" is for consonant sounds (commentator) while "an" is for vowel sounds (announcer), so it was "a."

 

Anyway, PeW -- awesome album!

[grasbo]

I am afraid I just don’t play PeW that much.I have never really dug Spirit ,it’s ok,but it’s probably because I have heard it so much like Paranoid or Smoke on The Water.Freewill and Natural Science are sensational and I really like Jacobs Ladder now.Entre Nous is short and snappy like Circumstances and Different Strings is great but I always had a problem with the guitar solo tacked on the end seemingly for no apparent reason.And yes it is a fairly short album and it seems like there could be another song.I get the same feeling with another album There’s the Rub by Wishbone Ash.Although worlds apart musically it has six songs and just seems to be over in ten minutes.Still PeW is a great album but I tend to overlook it somewhat.

[rftag]

I'm going through a 'Waves' phase; in particular Different Strings and especially Natural Science.

For my ears, all six songs are what I call, brace yourselves, SATMs...SUPERB ABSOLUTE TREMENDOUS MASTERPIECES of the craft of songwriting; both lyrically & musically.

Absolutely love Different Strings, and Natural Science is mind-blowing monumental.

 

PeW is my favorite Rush album as well, but I actually think the one skip-over track on the album is "Different Strings". Not a horrible song but in the context of PeW in my opinion it's filler. It's noteworthy for being perhaps the only song Geddy wrote the lyrics for (I'm not aware of another but perhaps he wrote some lyrics for the debut album?).

[Nova Carmina]

Oh, man, "Different Strings" is great! Great at volume, great with headphones, nice lyrics.

 

I think he did write most of the lyrics on the debut, and I know we'll never forget classic phrasings like:

 

Ooh, babe, I said I’m comin’

for you, babe.

I said I’m runnin’.

Ooh yes, babe, I said I’m comin’

to get you, babe. I said I’m comin’.

Ooh, yeah.

[78jazz]

I agree with all your sentiments, but the SATM is a little too Dick Vitale* for me . . . I'll go listen again, just for the smiles.

 

 

 

 

 

(*For those of you who do not listen to American broadcasts of college basketball, Dick Vitale is an "commentator" whose style is the equivalent of water boarding for the ears. Awful.)

 

You could just not watch college basketball.

 

Problem solved.

[Nova Carmina]

Yeah, but I like college basketball!