Will the synth era ever be respected?

[fraroc]

To the synth era fans of this board, you all know he feeling...You meet someone in your day-to-day life, it could either be a friend or a co-worker or someone you meet who you find out is supposedly a big Rush fan, and you get all excited to finally to be able to gush about how much you love them to someone else, only for them to basically be like (read this in the most obnoxious dudebro voice possible)"Yeah bro Permanent Waves and Moving Pictures is awesome but Signals f***ing sucked and then they became a pussy-ass gay new wave band. They didn't become REAL Rush again until Counterparts, dude. Except Nobody's Hero that song sucks cuz its gay" Meanwhile two of your favorite albums of all time is Grace Under Pressure and Power Windows. 

You'd think that this is an exaggeration, but you'd be surprised how much of a popular sentiment it still is to absolutley shit on this era of Rush, hell one of the reasons why I really don't like most of the Rush documentaries is that pretty much every guest musican that supposedly "loves" Rush comes to this bullshit consensus that the entire Signals-to-HYF era was a blemish on their legacy. Yet when you actually listen to Signals, GUP, and Power Windows, there's seriously not a bad song on ANY of those records. In fact Tai Shan is probably the only "bad" song on any album from that era, and that's honestly the "least bad" of all the bad Rush songs. I get that everybody has different tastes but there comes a time where it honestly feels like you're living in some kind of twilight zone (pun half intended) where good is bad and bad is good.

[zepphead]

Each to their own. 

[PurpleHayes]

8 hours ago, fraroc said:

To the synth era fans of this board, you all know he feeling...You meet someone in your day-to-day life, it could either be a friend or a co-worker or someone you meet who you find out is supposedly a big Rush fan, and you get all excited to finally to be able to gush about how much you love them to someone else, only for them to basically be like (read this in the most obnoxious dudebro voice possible)"Yeah bro Permanent Waves and Moving Pictures is awesome but Signals f***ing sucked and then they became a pussy-ass gay new wave band. They didn't become REAL Rush again until Counterparts, dude. Except Nobody's Hero that song sucks cuz its gay" Meanwhile two of your favorite albums of all time is Grace Under Pressure and Power Windows. 

You'd think that this is an exaggeration, but you'd be surprised how much of a popular sentiment it still is to absolutley shit on this era of Rush, hell one of the reasons why I really don't like most of the Rush documentaries is that pretty much every guest musican that supposedly "loves" Rush comes to this bullshit consensus that the entire Signals-to-HYF era was a blemish on their legacy. Yet when you actually listen to Signals, GUP, and Power Windows, there's seriously not a bad song on ANY of those records. In fact Tai Shan is probably the only "bad" song on any album from that era, and that's honestly the "least bad" of all the bad Rush songs. I get that everybody has different tastes but there comes a time where it honestly feels like you're living in some kind of twilight zone (pun half intended) where good is bad and bad is good.

 

I wrote about this same phenomena a few threads back. I've met several people over the years who basically ditched Rush when they stopped being 'metal.' I've noticed a lot of these fans also like bands like AC/DC who have been making the same record over and over since 1976...not that there's anything wrong with that. As such, they want every Rush album to sound like 2112 or Moving Pictures.

 

No one can change these folks, and that's fine because we all have different tastes. It's no different from Genesis fans who tuned out after Peter Gabriel left in 1975, Iron Maiden when Di'Anno left in 1981, or when DLR left Van Halen in 1985.

 

Personal note: I actually got into Rush during the 'synth era' and worked my way bass-ackwards to their earlier stuff...but I'm one of those people who likes to hear their favorite bands progress and change sometimes. If Rutsey stayed in the band and they kept making the debut album with every single release, I likely would have tuned out.

[Lurkst]

I got into Rush during the mid-80s peak synth era, however it was via the early Mercury LPs getting re-released on a discount label in the UK.

When I bought Power Windows the most recent album I'd heard was 2112. Safe to say I was mightily confused, I couldn't believe it was the same band!

 

It took a protracted journey through the intervening decade of releases to fully appreciate the transition and quality of the material. By the time Hold Your Fire came out I was fully on board the Yamaha train. That said I was delighted when they returned to a more ballsy sound in the 90s 

[bluefox4000]

 don't listen to rush anymore but this general thing fascinates me. a lot of of older rock/metal/prog fans seem to have a ptoblem when they're holy band shifts to a pop-ier sound. or in this case more synth heavy sound. (and with signals on the sound did get more pop-y)

 

i don't know what this or why older rock fans seem to hate pop. but it never fails. like that guy pete from the youtube channel Sea of tranquility. every album review or band review he seems to do. most of the times when he doesn't like an album. the main point of criticism is it's too pop-y. like it's a BAD awful sin, lol.

 

to me these old farts are missing out on a whole era of gems.....cause. not enough of  what they say sad band should be like, lol

 

Mck

 

 

[Flame]

I think part of this—maybe the biggest part— is generational, or, at least, time-bound. 
What I mean by this is, you have to consider the full context of Rush fans who, like me, are probably a good bit older than you. (I’m 65, for instance.)

 

You have to remember that when Rush first hit the scene, when we geezers were MiddleSchool/High School age, that hard-rocking, Zeppelin-esque, power-chord version of Rush was what we latched onto—that was Rush, to us; that’s what we bonded with.  Working Man wasn’t an oldie that they might play an obligatory, reggae-infused snippet of, it was a centerpiece of a Rush concert. 
 

And although they were evolving and refining their sound even throughout the first phase—maybe we’ll subjectively call that “Permanent Waves and earlier”— they still sounded largely true to their roots that we contemporary fans were used to.  
 

You have to appreciate just what a radical departure “the synth era” was to us—the oldies, lol. 
In the many years since Grace Under Pressure, Hold Your Fire, et al came out, I’ve gradually come to appreciate thise albums much more. But admittedly I kinda bailed out on them a bit, at the time, and virtually all of my peers were very taken aback as well. 
 

In short, appreciation of Rush eras depends very heavily on when the fan in question first got on the train, and how old they were at the time.  I got on the train soon after it left the station, haha—so, to me, “a Rush concert” (what I remember so fondly) sounds like All the World’s a Stage, not like, say, R40 Live. 
 

 

[zepphead]

1 hour ago, Flame said:

I think part of this—maybe the biggest part— is generational, or, at least, time-bound. 
What I mean by this is, you have to consider the full context of Rush fans who, like me, are probably a good bit older than you. (I’m 65, for instance.)

 

You have to remember that when Rush first hit the scene, when we geezers were MiddleSchool/High School age, that hard-rocking, Zeppelin-esque, power-chord version of Rush was what we latched onto—that was Rush, to us; that’s what we bonded with.  Working Man wasn’t an oldie that they might play an obligatory, reggae-infused snippet of, it was a centerpiece of a Rush concert. 
 

And although they were evolving and refining their sound even throughout the first phase—maybe we’ll subjectively call that “Permanent Waves and earlier”— they still sounded largely true to their roots that we contemporary fans were used to.  
 

You have to appreciate just what a radical departure “the synth era” was to us—the oldies, lol. 
In the many years since Grace Under Pressure, Hold Your Fire, et al came out, I’ve gradually come to appreciate thise albums much more. But admittedly I kinda bailed out on them a bit, at the time, and virtually all of my peers were very taken aback as well. 
 

In short, appreciation of Rush eras depends very heavily on when the fan in question first got on the train, and how old they were at the time.  I got on the train soon after it left the station, haha—so, to me, “a Rush concert” (what I remember so fondly) sounds like All the World’s a Stage, not like, say, R40 Live. 
 

 

I am in total agreement with everything said in this post.

[fraroc]

1 hour ago, Flame said:

I think part of this—maybe the biggest part— is generational, or, at least, time-bound. 
What I mean by this is, you have to consider the full context of Rush fans who, like me, are probably a good bit older than you. (I’m 65, for instance.)

 

You have to remember that when Rush first hit the scene, when we geezers were MiddleSchool/High School age, that hard-rocking, Zeppelin-esque, power-chord version of Rush was what we latched onto—that was Rush, to us; that’s what we bonded with.  Working Man wasn’t an oldie that they might play an obligatory, reggae-infused snippet of, it was a centerpiece of a Rush concert. 
 

And although they were evolving and refining their sound even throughout the first phase—maybe we’ll subjectively call that “Permanent Waves and earlier”— they still sounded largely true to their roots that we contemporary fans were used to.  
 

You have to appreciate just what a radical departure “the synth era” was to us—the oldies, lol. 
In the many years since Grace Under Pressure, Hold Your Fire, et al came out, I’ve gradually come to appreciate thise albums much more. But admittedly I kinda bailed out on them a bit, at the time, and virtually all of my peers were very taken aback as well. 
 

In short, appreciation of Rush eras depends very heavily on when the fan in question first got on the train, and how old they were at the time.  I got on the train soon after it left the station, haha—so, to me, “a Rush concert” (what I remember so fondly) sounds like All the World’s a Stage, not like, say, R40 Live. 
 

 

Unfortunately it isn't really limited to boomers and Xers. Hell, there was recently a podcast episode on youtube from four of these zoomer college-aged metalheads in their early to mid 20s where they had a listening party and the album they chose was Grace Under Pressure. The whole f***ing time, all that three of the four of them did was make fun of Geddy and Alex's hairstyles and shit on every song. This one person said that they loved GUP and every time he'd try to get a word in edgewise, immediately shot down with "bro how could you like this bro this sucks" and you can definitley sense that he was a bit hurt. Especially when Kid Gloves started playing and they were all laughing and saying that Rush was trying to be Culture Club  like seriously? It got to the point where this poor guy was essentially bullied into saying that it was a downgrade from Permanent Waves and Moving Pictures.

I hate throwing terms like "toxic masculinity" out, but I hate how even now in 2026, some people still view liking 80s synth-rock as an "unmanly" thing.

Edited April 21 by fraroc

[bluefox4000]

i will say also music fans n general are pretty Vocal about stuff they love and seem to be really rattled if someone doesn't like something they love. same if you like something they don't like it throws them. just an observation

 

but i agree with a lot of other factors brought up here.

 

Mick

[Timbale]

I would never, ever bother to converse with someone who used a term like  "pussy-ass gay new wave band".  Zero interest in the opinion of someone like that.

 

It reminds me of the jean-jacket-with-Zoso-patches rockers who inevitably ended up sitting behind me at Rush shows in the 80s...wasting their beer breath yelling "play 2112!" at the top of their lungs...as if Geddy was going to hear them from 100 feet away in the first place...and then think, oh yeah, let's hold off on Manhattan Project right now, despite the lighting program and the screen projections, and play some oldie for this hoser screaming from the nosebleeds.  Jesus Christ.

 

There is a faction of hard rock fans who somehow equate their masculinity to the music they listen to, and "pop" doesn't seem masculine to them.  This was rather ironic in the 80s, when the hair metal bands were constantly one bra away from being in full drag. With hindsight,  Depeche Mode look far more masculine than Cinderella or Motley Crue or whoever else spent their warm up time backstage teasing their hair...

 

But I'd argue that music is not meant to be a measure of your masculinity/sexuality...and anyone who thinks that way has been manipulated into buying something.  But I digress.

 

With Rush, I think a lot of it has to do with when someone got into the band.  The first "new" album for me was GUP...meaning the most recent album that was in the world when Rush became a thing for me was Signals.  I can very vaguely remember rockers in the schoolyard (I would have been 12) saying that "Rush has gone disco".  I thought they were idiots even back then.  The synth era was totally exciting to me...they were taking their progressive and heavy rock roots and applying it to what was happening at the time.  I liked some classic hard rock at the time...but in 1984, Zeppelin sounded like "old" music to me.  I was into Talking Heads, The Police, the new Yes stuff, U2... Rush in '84 made sense in that context.  I was discovering their whole catalogue at the same time, so I didn't have any pre-conceived notions of what they were and weren't.  I adored A Farewell To Kings and Hemispheres, for instance...but The Enemy Within was just as cool as Xanadu to me... and frankly, the debut did nothing for me and the first few albums were a bit "screechy" for my taste.

 

People of course can like what they like...but to be a fan of a progressive rock band, and then be mad when they progress...it's just lame.

[Principled Man]

The synth era is respected, but not by everyone, and that’s just fine.  
 

No one has ever been required to love every album that they made.  

[Todem]

I honestly don't give a shit what anyone thinks. 

 

I love what I love. You love what you love. 

 

With that being said.......I am a Moving Pictures generation Rush fan. That was my first album and I went backwards from there and loved all of it.

 

Signals was my first new release as a true newly minted hardcore Rush fan and I ate it up hook, line and sinker. I was blown away they dared to just throw a curve ball and that to me was so "Progressive". 

 

When I think of progressive rock I don't think of long songs....I think of bands that dare to break their own mold. To dare to seek out new sonic journeys. 

 

Permanent Waves blew me away more than Moving Pictures. It has the perfect mix of their proggy style and tastes of what was to come. A perfect record.

 

That is the essence and greatness of Rush and why they are the f***ing Godfathers of Progressive Rock.

 

And yeah they can jam, play and write some great long tunes too LOL. 

 

The Synth Era is my favorite Era of Rush because It started for me with Waves and ended with Roll The Bones.  1980-1991 this band touched so many sonic landscapes.......and Hemispheres was the perfect record to say goodbye to the 70's and it was their finest hour of the Rush previous to Permanent Waves for my money. 

Edited April 21 by Todem

[TheGhostRider]

1 hour ago, fraroc said:

Unfortunately it isn't really limited to boomers and Xers. Hell, there was recently a podcast episode on youtube from four of these zoomer college-aged metalheads in their early to mid 20s where they had a listening party and the album they chose was Grace Under Pressure. The whole f***ing time, all that three of the four of them did was make fun of Geddy and Alex's hairstyles and shit on every song. This one person said that they loved GUP and every time he'd try to get a word in edgewise, immediately shot down with "bro how could you like this bro this sucks" and you can definitley sense that he was a bit hurt. Especially when Kid Gloves started playing and they were all laughing and saying that Rush was trying to be Culture Club  like seriously? It got to the point where this poor guy was essentially bullied into saying that it was a downgrade from Permanent Waves and Moving Pictures.

I hate throwing terms like "toxic masculinity" out, but I hate how even now in 2026, some people still view liking 80s synth-rock as an "unmanly" thing.

Sadly this is a common mentality among Gen Z people. I'm one of the few Gen Z people on the board and people my age are constantly downplaying and criticizing "dad rock" or rock that's not metal. Which is funny cause Gen Z also has some of the worst music taste ever. It's all hip-hop, rap, and terrible repetitive pop music. I just tune these people out.  

[bluefox4000]

3 minutes ago, TheGhostRider said:

Sadly this is a common mentality among Gen Z people. I'm one of the few Gen Z people on the board and people my age are constantly downplaying and criticizing "dad rock" or rock that's not metal. Which is funny cause Gen Z also has some of the worst music taste ever. It's all hip-hop, rap, and terrible repetitive pop music. I just tune these people out.  

 

yea man i actually like some of that pop....but when you figure out it's all the same chord structure and mostly the same melodies really. it's lke oh.....bland. and i'm a millennial BTW.

 

Mick

[TheAnarchist2112]

14 minutes ago, TheGhostRider said:

Sadly this is a common mentality among Gen Z people. I'm one of the few Gen Z people on the board and people my age are constantly downplaying and criticizing "dad rock" or rock that's not metal. Which is funny cause Gen Z also has some of the worst music taste ever. It's all hip-hop, rap, and terrible repetitive pop music. I just tune these people out.  

same! I'm a tail end of Gen Z'er and it seems like all people listen to from the 80's or 70's is AC/DC or Metallica... which are good bands in their own right but there's an aversion to any other forms of music from that era

[zepphead]

It seems to me like there is nothing wrong if you want to 

a) favor the heavier, longer Rush songs from the '70s  or

b) favor the more synth based Rush songs  of the 80's.

What is not good is those who regard the a) team as beer swilling, metal morons or the b) team as new wave pop loving namby pambies.

We are on this forum together, still talk about the band and still get excited about the up and coming tour.  Just embrace the entire life cycle of the band!!!!

[treeduck]

5 minutes ago, zepphead said:

It seems to me like there is nothing wrong if you want to 

a) favor the heavier, longer Rush songs from the '70s  or

b) favor the more synth based Rush songs  of the 80's.

What is not good is those who regard the a) team as beer swilling, metal morons or the b) team as new wave pop loving namby pambies.

We are on this forum together, still talk about the band and still get excited about the up and coming tour.  Just embrace the entire life cycle of the band!!!!

 

 

[treeduck]

Let's have a compromise...

 

[zepphead]

1 hour ago, treeduck said:

Let's have a compromise...

 

Did Allan Holdsworth use this bad boy on a couple of albums?

[treeduck]

Just now, zepphead said:

Did Allan Holdsworth use this bad boy on a couple of albums?

Yeah he started using it around 1985 and it first appeared on the Atavachron album in 1986. He used it on all his albums after that actually, even when it was discontinued although he didn't take it on tour anymore because he had no one to fix it when it broke down, which it often did.

 

Holdsworth was always ahead of the game when it came to guitar tech; he was one of the first players to use Charvel guitars, the first to use an Ibanez super-strat, one of the first to use a steinberger, one of the first to use a baritone guitar and one of the first to use a synthaxe. 

[invisible airwave]

Not all the synth stuff is meh, just most of HYF.  GUP is my 2nd favorite  album anyways.

[PurpleHayes]

4 hours ago, treeduck said:

Let's have a compromise...

 

 

My God, what is that?? KILL IT WITH FIRE!!

[treeduck]

2 minutes ago, PurpleHayes said:

 

My God, what is that?? KILL IT WITH FIRE!!

 

[1-0-0-1-0-0-1]

3 hours ago, treeduck said:

 

 

Holdsworth often complained about how unreliable and glitchy that monstrosity was. If Alex would have tried that thing back then, he would have taken it out back and shot it in the head the first time it bugged out.

[condemned2bfree]

9 hours ago, treeduck said:

Yeah he started using it around 1985 and it first appeared on the Atavachron album in 1986. He used it on all his albums after that actually, even when it was discontinued although he didn't take it on tour anymore because he had no one to fix it when it broke down, which it often did.

 

Holdsworth was always ahead of the game when it came to guitar tech; he was one of the first players to use Charvel guitars, the first to use an Ibanez super-strat, one of the first to use a steinberger, one of the first to use a baritone guitar and one of the first to use a synthaxe. 

Think it was a Baritone on Zarabeth. Yeah Synthaxe notoriously broke down, should have left it at the side of the road.