Happy 35th Birthday - Hold Your Fire

[goose]

9 hours ago, Jeffrey said:

The most underrated song is High Water, a great way to end the album.   

For me High Water is a track that HAS aged well.  I like it a lot.

 

 

[Weatherman]

On 9/13/2022 at 5:38 PM, micgtr71 said:

I still think this is the pinnacle of Lee's bass playing. I love the lines, wish the sound was thicker, and wished he continued in this vein. Great melodies as well, but definitely dated. Still, I have a soft spot for it.

It's also the beginning of his best vocal era.

Alex's guitar drove the songs during the prog era, but Geddy's voice, bass, and feet drove the songs during the HYF-Presto-RTB-Counterparts era. 

[Rush Didact]

17 hours ago, Weatherman said:

It's also the beginning of his best vocal era.

Alex's guitar drove the songs during the prog era, but Geddy's voice, bass, and feet drove the songs during the HYF-Presto-RTB-Counterparts era. 

 

This is very true.  70s Geddy could never have pulled off something as powerful and nuanced as Available Light.  That song more than any other really demonstrates his growth as a vocalist.

[Weatherman]

2 hours ago, Rush Didact said:

 

This is very true.  70s Geddy could never have pulled off something as powerful and nuanced as Available Light.  That song more than any other really demonstrates his growth as a vocalist.

I feel like he gets written off by the general public who always associated him with his 70s banshee wail. 

The first Rush I ever heard was Presto, which is Geddy singing in excellent low chest voice because Rupert Hine was holding a gun to his head. "Bring it another octave down, Ged. That's it, just like that, nice and easy."

LOL

[Rush Didact]

10 hours ago, Weatherman said:

I feel like he gets written off by the general public who always associated him with his 70s banshee wail.

 The first Rush I ever heard was Presto, which is Geddy singing in excellent low chest voice because Rupert Hine was holding a gun to his head. "Bring it another octave down, Ged. That's it, just like that, nice and easy."  LOL

 

It drives me nuts that Raskulinecz did the opposite and pushed him to go back to it. The band needed a producer who would find yet another new evolution for them, not go whole hog on nostalgia and try to turn them into some knock-off version of their younger selves.

Edited September 16, 2022 by Rush Didact

[Timbale]

I feel a real sense of connection to a lot of Hold Your Fire.  I think the songwriting is interesting, goes in some unexpected places and does not meander (save a few spots here and there.)  I think it is a softer, less powerful album than Power Windows...but after giving it a spin recently, it really struck me how CATCHY so much of it is.  I like when Rush is a bit heavier as well...but I would put many of these songs over stuff that came out on Vapour Trails, S&A and Clockwork Angels.  When listening to Time Stand Still, I really noticed how the verse, the pre-chorus, the chorus, the sort-of post chorus ("freeze this moment...") and even the bridge were hummable and had intention to them.  One of the things I dislike about more modern Rush is that the verses often feel like a hodge-podge of words and chords that don't create an interesting melody or rhythm...they're just crammed together.  Songs on HYF are songs in a way that a lot of that stuff isn't for me.  Honestly, I would rather listen to Tai Shan (which I seldom do) than Headlong Flight.  I don't care if Headlong Flight kinda sounds like Bastille Day and they shred on it or whatever...I don't enjoy it as a song, and I think Tai Shan is at least a departure where they took a swing.  And I think Ged sings it, and much of the album, really well. 

 

That said, it's not my fave album, and a few of the tracks get very little airtime for me (I cannot stand Turn The Page, despite Geddy's skill), but it overcomes it's sonic shortcomings for me by being interesting, and in that Neil Peart, slightly removed way, quite heartfelt.  

[ytserush]

On 9/15/2022 at 9:07 PM, Weatherman said:

I feel like he gets written off by the general public who always associated him with his 70s banshee wail. 

The first Rush I ever heard was Presto, which is Geddy singing in excellent low chest voice because Rupert Hine was holding a gun to his head. "Bring it another octave down, Ged. That's it, just like that, nice and easy."

LOL

 

 

I always  thought those people never bothered to listen to anything after Moving Pictures.....

[ytserush]

On 9/11/2022 at 6:43 PM, Rush Didact said:

 

It's not a matter of too much reverb, it's that all the damn instruments are crammed into the midrange.  The kick drum sounds like a muffled thump, the guitars have such a crazy upper mid boost that they're painful at high volumes, the bass is thin and twangy, and everything else sounds kind of grainy and indistinct.  It's a terrible sounding album, especially compared to the lush and full sounding Power Windows.  I don't know what happened to Peter Collins between 1985 and 1987, but he forgot how to use a mixing board.  Presto is actually a huge step up from HYF.

Of the three CD versions I have the original is my favorite and I like the Sector 3 version for the unexpected differences. Can't say I listen the the '97 remaster at all.

[Weatherman]

19 hours ago, Timbale said:

I feel a real sense of connection to a lot of Hold Your Fire.  I think the songwriting is interesting, goes in some unexpected places and does not meander (save a few spots here and there.)  I think it is a softer, less powerful album than Power Windows...but after giving it a spin recently, it really struck me how CATCHY so much of it is. 

Agreed. I think Lock and Key is the catchiest song in their entire catalog. 

If only they could rerecord the album with different synth sounds, bassier bass, and two fewer songs. 

[NoahLutz]

On 9/15/2022 at 10:43 AM, goose said:

Opposite for me.  In the midst of the 80's,  I like most of it.  For me it hasn't aged well at all.

Maybe it has something to do with when we first listened to the album.  It seems that you listened to it upon release.  I didn't listen to anything after Signals (other than RTB and what was forced on me from Counterparts) until the mid 90s, and didn't hear HYF until a couple years after that.  

Edited September 19, 2022 by NoahLutz

[Segue Myles]

This used to be my favourite, but it isn't anymore. Still top five though. It has a crystalline, magical sound I feel. Lush, dramatic and beautiful. Underrated I think, but I get why it isn't appealing for many. 

 

[Todem]

Top 10 Rush album for me. Criminally underrated. Bashed regularly by many Rush fans......not me. I love this record. A bold progressive record for them. And I realize there was a lot of internal tension between Alex and Geddy in terms of Alex feeling like he was being pushed out as the core part of the sound as he had been......yet some of his very finest guitar work ever came from the “synth” period of Rush (Signals thru HYF). Just dazzling solo’s and textured rhythms. He was still a core driving force in so many ways. His evolution of his sounds from the 70’s to his 80’s was brilliant and “worked” so well for the songs.

 

Geddy’s vocals were never better than during this phase of the band. His bass playing too. Neils drums.....pinnacle of his prowess. Hands down. 

 

The band peaked here for me. 76 thru 87 was a strong step by step progression and exciting time for Rush themselves as songwriters and their fans as each album was adventurous. They defined their legacy over this 11 year period.

 

When Presto came out.....that was my first feeling of being underwhelmed.....Still like the album and it has high moments.....but it felt like a forced regression back to the core power trio guitar driven Rush....and I am a guitarist myself....but Presto was the step back in every way in terms of songwriting and a poor mastering job which really made the album come across as soft. HYF is extremely powerful at high volumes!!! 

 

With Rush it is always about the songs. Hold Your Fire is filled with very strong songwriting. A classic Rush album for me. 

 

 

Edited October 6, 2022 by Todem