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A reason NOT to listen to Rush's studio albums


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Not sure anyone can give me a legitimate reason "NOT to listen to Rush's studio albums"! (Well, there might be a few exceptions - certain later albums...)
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Not sure anyone can give me a legitimate reason "NOT to listen to Rush's studio albums"! (Well, there might be a few exceptions - certain later albums...)

 

Come on, be specific! Which albums would someone have to pay you to spin with no skips?! :P

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Not sure anyone can give me a legitimate reason "NOT to listen to Rush's studio albums"! (Well, there might be a few exceptions - certain later albums...)

 

Come on, be specific! Which albums would someone have to pay you to spin with no skips?! :P

 

How much money are we talking about?

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Not sure anyone can give me a legitimate reason "NOT to listen to Rush's studio albums"! (Well, there might be a few exceptions - certain later albums...)

 

Come on, be specific! Which albums would someone have to pay you to spin with no skips?! :P

 

How much money are we talking about?

 

Here's some tiers!

 

$1.00 - x album

$10.00 - y album

$100.00 - z album

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Not sure anyone can give me a legitimate reason "NOT to listen to Rush's studio albums"! (Well, there might be a few exceptions - certain later albums...)

 

Come on, be specific! Which albums would someone have to pay you to spin with no skips?! :P

 

How much money are we talking about?

 

Here's some tiers!

 

$1.00 - x album

$10.00 - y album

$100.00 - z album

 

How much for

- an X-cruciating album?

- an album that makes you go, "why? why?"

- a zzzzzz album?

 

Mostly kidding...it's usually individual songs, not whole albums.

Edited by toymaker
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In most cases I prefer the best live rendition of a song to its' studio counterpart. But there's no way I prefer a 2015 version of Lakeside Park or Xanadu to the studio version, meaning just because it is live does not mean automatically it is better than the studio version

 

We'll see if there's ever a proper live recording from the 1981 tour, if the live version of TCE is preferable to the album. The bootlegs suggest it's basically the same but I welcome it regardless.

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Not sure anyone can give me a legitimate reason "NOT to listen to Rush's studio albums"! (Well, there might be a few exceptions - certain later albums...)

 

Come on, be specific! Which albums would someone have to pay you to spin with no skips?! :P

 

VT, S&A and CA -- for me there are more skips than plays on those three.

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I rarely listen to anything live by Rush or any other band because the studio version is almost always what I hear first and that's what sounds "correct" to me. I know people who prefer the live stuff because it transports them back to a certain concert and the memories associated with it.

 

The first time my son went to a Rush concert with me he said, "it sounds almost like their cds" which I think is about the highest compliment you can give a musician.

The he should, if he hasn't already, go see The Eagles.

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I've been thinking about this a lot lately since I'm on my Rush live kick, as I listen to them in the car to and from work.

 

There are certain studio albums that I just won't listen to anymore. Not because I hate them, no I think of them very highly.

 

But with so many live albums out there, it is hard to find a particular song which the studio recording was better than what was played live. And oftentimes, the live recording is much, much better.

 

Pick a song, any song. Rush did it better live. Example: Xanadu. I grew up endlessly listening to ESL (have it in the car CD player now in fact), and this one became a favorite. Eventually, I got around to picking up AFTK, and hey let's listen to Xanadu! And......huh. Sounds kind of ordinary. So what did I REALLY buy AFTK for again? Oh yeah, so I could hear Madrigal, the only song off the album never to be played live.

 

Ironically, one of Rush's least favorite albums (by the fanbase at large, but I like it a lot) -- Caress of Steel -- gets played a LOT in my player, because apart from Bastille Day, there are no decent recordings of any of that stuff live (that I've found anyway).

 

Agree? Disagree? Leave your comments in the section below. :D

 

I've always preferred the live version where applicable. I can think of one exception -- 2112 -- and even the studio version is the only version to 100 percent capture the spirit and context of what the band were feeling at the time. So when I want to experience that I'll listen to the studio album. Otherwise it's a live version. That song has evolved over time into a celebration and party song and that has it's own rewards as well.

 

But other than that, I'm always reaching for a live recording.

 

That's not just for Rush either, but many other of my favorite bands though there are exceptions there too.

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I can think of only two songs Rush where I prefer the live version to the studio: What You're Doing, and Armor & Sword.

How bout "In The End" on ATWAS?

I can think of only two songs Rush where I prefer the live version to the studio: What You're Doing, and Armor & Sword.

Not even Bytor from ATWAS???

 

Atwas makes its case for best live album on cus like these, which take great songs that were perhaps executed a bit naively in the studio and shows them at their full potential.

 

They are all great for different reasons. That one is great for its energy and rawness in the performance.

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In most cases I prefer the best live rendition of a song to its' studio counterpart. But there's no way I prefer a 2015 version of Lakeside Park or Xanadu to the studio version, meaning just because it is live does not mean automatically it is better than the studio version

 

We'll see if there's ever a proper live recording from the 1981 tour, if the live version of TCE is preferable to the album. The bootlegs suggest it's basically the same but I welcome it regardless.

 

Lakeside Park in 2015? Definitely not! Xanadu in 2015? Probably better than the studio version but not much else. That one was a 2015 challenge on most nights.

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I've been thinking about this a lot lately since I'm on my Rush live kick, as I listen to them in the car to and from work.

 

There are certain studio albums that I just won't listen to anymore. Not because I hate them, no I think of them very highly.

 

But with so many live albums out there, it is hard to find a particular song which the studio recording was better than what was played live. And oftentimes, the live recording is much, much better.

 

Pick a song, any song. Rush did it better live. Example: Xanadu. I grew up endlessly listening to ESL (have it in the car CD player now in fact), and this one became a favorite. Eventually, I got around to picking up AFTK, and hey let's listen to Xanadu! And......huh. Sounds kind of ordinary. So what did I REALLY buy AFTK for again? Oh yeah, so I could hear Madrigal, the only song off the album never to be played live.

 

Ironically, one of Rush's least favorite albums (by the fanbase at large, but I like it a lot) -- Caress of Steel -- gets played a LOT in my player, because apart from Bastille Day, there are no decent recordings of any of that stuff live (that I've found anyway).

 

Agree? Disagree? Leave your comments in the section below. :D

 

I saw an excellent tribute band and they clearly played Xanadu from the ESL version.

 

May be an odd rememberance, but I remember Ceiling Unlimited being far better live than in studio.

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Atwas makes its case for best live album on cus like these, which take great songs that were perhaps executed a bit naively in the studio and shows them at their full potential.

 

My contention is that live Rush in general accomplishes this "great songs....show[ing]...their full potential." when they are finally played live.

 

I would only quibble w that w last 2-3 albums because Geddy's voice got rough...

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Atwas makes its case for best live album on cus like these, which take great songs that were perhaps executed a bit naively in the studio and shows them at their full potential.

 

My contention is that live Rush in general accomplishes this "great songs....show[ing]...their full potential." when they are finally played live.

 

I would only quibble w that w last 2-3 albums because Geddy's voice got rough...

 

This is 100% correct, the last albums were exceptions, most notably the last one.

 

I mean, it's the Clockwork Angels TOUR and he's struggling to sing Clockwork Angels songs? WTH?

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The stuff that was recorded poorly (RTB, VT) was corrected live, so those are probably the most rewarding live recordings.

Otherwise, studio > live, mostly because they were such perfectionists in the studio.

Notice that they almost never reworked any of their studio arrangements. They saw themselves primarily as a compositional band, I would imagine.

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I think there is a moment - essentially the Moving Pictures tour, with maybe the Permanent Waves tour too - where they were as good live as they were in the studio, and maybe at times even better. It's all just clicking. Before and after that, while they are still very very good, I don't think it tops the studio output... and I would say that mostly that has to do with Geddy's vocal performances. We all know it went pretty down hill in the aughts... but even when I hear stuff from A Show Of Hands...I just don't think it's as musical as performances from that sweet spot. I do think some of his singing on Different Stages is good - the version of Natural Science is stellar - but by and large there is no song vocally for me that is bettered on a post, let's say, GUP tour live show/album. This can't be said of some stuff on ESL...Closer To The Heart, Xanadu and others are better (or at least equal) to their studio counterparts. (I think the studio version of Spirit Of Radio is THE version...but I must say I do love the way Geddy sings it on ESL...)

 

In the mid to late 80s, you get that thinner, Wahl bass, Signature guitar sound, which is not my favourite thing. Live, it represents the records of that era well...but hearing any of the older stuff played on those instruments is a big let down to me. And then for a long time after that, it seems like they reacted to that by having the bass and guitar get really fat and big. To me, sonically speaking, some of the later live stuff sounds more like Foo Fighters or something than MP era Rush -it's just too dense to me. The sound of ESL (which I know some people don't like as it's too muddy for them) is timeless to me - the other live stuff is more rooted to it's era.

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I think there is a moment - essentially the Moving Pictures tour, with maybe the Permanent Waves tour too - where they were as good live as they were in the studio, and maybe at times even better. It's all just clicking. Before and after that, while they are still very very good, I don't think it tops the studio output... and I would say that mostly that has to do with Geddy's vocal performances. We all know it went pretty down hill in the aughts... but even when I hear stuff from A Show Of Hands...I just don't think it's as musical as performances from that sweet spot. I do think some of his singing on Different Stages is good - the version of Natural Science is stellar - but by and large there is no song vocally for me that is bettered on a post, let's say, GUP tour live show/album. This can't be said of some stuff on ESL...Closer To The Heart, Xanadu and others are better (or at least equal) to their studio counterparts. (I think the studio version of Spirit Of Radio is THE version...but I must say I do love the way Geddy sings it on ESL...)

 

In the mid to late 80s, you get that thinner, Wahl bass, Signature guitar sound, which is not my favourite thing. Live, it represents the records of that era well...but hearing any of the older stuff played on those instruments is a big let down to me. And then for a long time after that, it seems like they reacted to that by having the bass and guitar get really fat and big. To me, sonically speaking, some of the later live stuff sounds more like Foo Fighters or something than MP era Rush -it's just too dense to me. The sound of ESL (which I know some people don't like as it's too muddy for them) is timeless to me - the other live stuff is more rooted to it's era.

 

You can hear the grunge influence on them post RTB.

My theory: After Nirvana exploded, Alex didn't want to be the last guitarist left at the lunch table still using single-coil. He went too far the other way, and that my children is how the beer coaster known as the Vapor Trails CD came to be made.

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I think there is a moment - essentially the Moving Pictures tour, with maybe the Permanent Waves tour too - where they were as good live as they were in the studio, and maybe at times even better. It's all just clicking. Before and after that, while they are still very very good, I don't think it tops the studio output... and I would say that mostly that has to do with Geddy's vocal performances. We all know it went pretty down hill in the aughts... but even when I hear stuff from A Show Of Hands...I just don't think it's as musical as performances from that sweet spot. I do think some of his singing on Different Stages is good - the version of Natural Science is stellar - but by and large there is no song vocally for me that is bettered on a post, let's say, GUP tour live show/album. This can't be said of some stuff on ESL...Closer To The Heart, Xanadu and others are better (or at least equal) to their studio counterparts. (I think the studio version of Spirit Of Radio is THE version...but I must say I do love the way Geddy sings it on ESL...)

 

In the mid to late 80s, you get that thinner, Wahl bass, Signature guitar sound, which is not my favourite thing. Live, it represents the records of that era well...but hearing any of the older stuff played on those instruments is a big let down to me. And then for a long time after that, it seems like they reacted to that by having the bass and guitar get really fat and big. To me, sonically speaking, some of the later live stuff sounds more like Foo Fighters or something than MP era Rush -it's just too dense to me. The sound of ESL (which I know some people don't like as it's too muddy for them) is timeless to me - the other live stuff is more rooted to it's era.

 

You can hear the grunge influence on them post RTB.

My theory: After Nirvana exploded, Alex didn't want to be the last guitarist left at the lunch table still using single-coil. He went too far the other way, and that my children is how the beer coaster known as the Vapor Trails CD came to be made.

 

I agree to an extent. Alex did push back hard on the keys and the light poppy sounds, and the results were mixed, but I find that they'd gotten diminishing returns out of the lighter sounds anyway (RTB being my least favorite Rush album). I think the main problem wasn't that Alex went too far trying to make super heavy guitar music again, but that they were getting old enough that the songwriting was starting to be hit or miss regardless, and they struggled with producers on a few outings (most notably on CP, when Alex just wanted a bit of reverb and was denied it).

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"A reason NOT to listen to Rush's studio albums"

 

There are no reasons, imo.

Indeed, I was assuming this was a joke thread and it would be empty!

 

I enjoy listening to live versions for variety and to see how they pulled off all the arrangements .. but I'll take the studio versions hands-down any day

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