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When did Rush sell out?


Fordgalaxy
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Selling Out For Fun and Profit  

23 members have voted

  1. 1. When did Rush sell out?

    • Signals
      2
    • Grace Under Pressure
      0
    • Roll The Bones
      1
    • Other
      20


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I never thought they sold out. I always thought they were just curious and always kept experimenting...but never so much that they weren’t still Rush.

 

There are plenty of songs of theirs that I don’t really like (dating all the way back to Fly By Night) but I can’t say they sold out in any of those moments.

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They were always a level headed, business oriented enterprise. They played the money game very well.

 

They understood the handshake that needed to happen between art and business. It’s all there in “the spirit of radio.”

 

So they made an investment in their careers from the very beginning. To sell out would mean to go against their ideals and better judgement. I don’t think they ever did that.

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I'm surprised you didn't include in your options "Hold Your Fire" or "Power Windows", albums that stick in the throat of some TRF members. I always thought the boys tried to create original music, except for their first record, which sounded too much like Led Zeppelin. Even when you listen to HYF and PW, you could argue it was their "The Police" era, but the musicianship was far above Sting&co's accomplishments. In short, Rush never sold out...or at least never meant to.
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They never did. Commercial success doesn't necessarily equate with selling out, and it certainly did not for Rush. If an artist is true, genuine and original, then all that success is so much sweeter.

 

Neil said I think on Beyond the Lighted Stage in 2010, on 2112's surprising success: "No, you can't tell us what to do, and no we don't care." They knew all along how rare their chemistry and sound was, and they never took it for granted. They knew just how fortunate they were.

 

A better question might be along the lines of, "If the lyrics weren't so smart/complex/nerdy... If they had a traditional singer... If they just played straight ahead rock..." Would they have been successful at all?

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Feedback :)

This was not a sellout, it was a bunch of songs they learned to play and love in their early yearsand they used it to mark their 30 years as a group. It was the first ep/album of theirs that I bought. I happen to love it a lot, Buffalo Springfield, The Who and an homage to Cream..what's wrong with that? :smash:

No they never sold out, may have got a bit stale at times (they seemed tired to me on Test for Echo) but even if some of the songs had less than stellar lyrics, the music was good. IMHO :yes:

Edited by Rhyta
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Sell out??? .... No, they never did. Changed their sound, to an large extent yes. For the better, not necessarily always.

It really all depends on individual fans' musical preferences ..... I lean strongly to Prog so naturally i will gravitate towards the earlier stuff.

I mentioned in another post that I struggled with their music for a bunch of years post Signals ... which coincides with the departure of Terry Brown .... significant? ..donno, just sayin'!

As I got older and more mature (although my wife would dispute that!!) I embraced the later stuff, and recognised that Rush had to progress and experiment with their sound to allow their career to flourish.

Edited by zepphead
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I embraced the later stuff, and recognized that Rush had to progress and experiment with their sound to allow their career to flourish.

 

Damned straight. They were tired of making the 12-20 minute long epics. If they had stayed in that mindset, they would have surely broken up long ago. The stagnation would have destroyed them.

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