Gaaa! Hold Your Fire sounds like shit!

[micgtr71]

I still have all of the albums (from Rush to Presto) on vinyl and that is how I prefer to listen to them. I think there is warmth to HYF that does not show up on the CD which I used to listen to in the car.

[Khan]

QUOTE (KennethRush @ Mar 16 2010, 01:15 AM)

QUOTE (RushNut @ Mar 15 2010, 05:51 PM) I can't believe how crappy this album sounds, ffs!  Tinny highs, no lows..I mean WTF? http://i963.photobucket.com/albums/ae115/Sonata-Kenneth/4forums/1267855594522.jpg           You are so right. They're like assholes...everyone has one and it usually stinks.

[dakota2112]

The HYF/Presto/RTB era had a remarkably weak low end - Ged's Wal bass had that nasal plunky midrange sound, there was not much kick drum to speak of, and Alex was in his GK phase iirc where his tone was incredibly thin. Those three factors add up to a weak sound overall. Yes, it might be a clear sound, but it is still thin and weak. IMHO.

 

The music itself is good, but the production doesn't do it justice.

 

edit - for example, imagine how much more powerful The Pass would be if the bass intro had some balls to it... to me, it sounds like Ged's amps (or was he direct by that point?) had the frigging bass knob set to 0

[Khan]

QUOTE (dakota2112 @ Mar 16 2010, 09:25 AM)

The HYF/Presto/RTB era had a remarkably weak low end - Ged's Wal bass had that nasal plunky midrange sound, there was not much kick drum to speak of, and Alex was in his GK phase iirc where his tone was incredibly thin. Those three factors add up to a weak sound overall. Yes, it might be a clear sound, but it is still thin and weak. IMHO. The music itself is good, but the production doesn't do it justice. edit - for example, imagine how much more powerful The Pass would be if the bass intro had some balls to it... to me, it sounds like Ged's amps (or was he direct by that point?) had the frigging bass knob set to 0

Exactly

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

QUOTE (dakota2112 @ Mar 16 2010, 09:25 AM)

The HYF/Presto/RTB era had a remarkably weak low end - Ged's Wal bass had that nasal plunky midrange sound, there was not much kick drum to speak of, and Alex was in his GK phase iirc where his tone was incredibly thin.  Those three factors add up to a weak sound overall.  Yes, it might be a clear sound, but it is still thin and weak.  IMHO. The music itself is good, but the production doesn't do it justice.

Yep. I've made a few posts exactly like this in the past about the synth era albums from PoW thru RTB. The instruments the boys were using during that span had no balls. Look how much fuller and warmer CP sounds. Why? Because Geddy picked up his Jazz Bass again, because Alex started using Marshall amps again, and because Neil's kit didn't sound like tin cans with tons of reverb slathered all over it.

 

QUOTE (dakota2112 @ Mar 16 2010, 09:25 AM)

edit - for example, imagine how much more powerful The Pass would be if the bass intro had some balls to it... to me, it sounds like Ged's amps (or was he direct by that point?) had the frigging bass knob set to 0

Notice how good "The Pass," "Mission," "Force Ten" and "Ghost Of A Chance" sounded on recent tours. They sounded great and ballsy because, unlike their studio counterparts, they were played with real rock and roll instruments.

[metaldad]

Never liked it and never will . I have been trying since it came out. Not my cup of tea

[apetersvt]

Agreeing with many of the previous posts: I think the album sounds fine but the late '80s high in keyboard/low on guitar is not my cup of tea. It's the songs that make this one of my least listened to Rush albums (maybe twice in the last 5 years) rather than the sound.

 

And yeah, it's got no balls. In my opinion, the best thing to happen was Lerxst switching from the Signature guitars to the PRS's. No that he's playing primarily Les Paul's couldn't make me happier. Also, the Steinberger Geddy experiment certainly wasn't something we want to revisit.

[metaldad]

QUOTE (ReflectedLight @ Mar 15 2010, 10:21 PM)

QUOTE (jdouglas @ Mar 15 2010, 09:31 PM) HYF was the first time I was disappointed with a Rush album..too bad it was not the last.  I'd love to get HYF in protools and double the guitars / bass, increase the drums, and kill the keyboards and all sound FXs.  Might be ok then. Signals could use 30% more guitar too. don't like it don't listen to it. it's as simple as that. Very true

[jnoble]

It sounds fine to me. Always has. Say what you want about the lush overproduced sound, but I've always liked the way HYF was produced. It's warmer and more human sounding than Power Windows. Part of that is that ,unlike PW, Geddy's vocals don't have that heavy '80s reverb on them that make him sound like he's singing in a garbage can

[Kozmo4Rush]

QUOTE (micgtr71 @ Mar 16 2010, 06:51 AM)

I still have all of the albums (from Rush to Presto) on vinyl and that is how I prefer to listen to them. I think there is warmth to HYF that does not show up on the CD which I used to listen to in the car.

DEFINITLEY!!!

 

There is a sonic difference that cannot be compared!

 

Try some EQing to compensate for the "tinny" sound. I have some recordings I don't like, but with some frequency tweaking, it does enhance the sound enough for me to enjoy it more.

 

 

[Scooch]

I dig Hold Your Fire... I think they played their asses off on this album (on Power Windows as well). I don't think I have any issue with the sound of the album as much as I think the production sounds dated. When your hear HYF you can tell it's from the 80's. With that said, this is still one of top 5 Rush albums.

 

For me, the only weak period were the Rupert Hines albums (Presto and Roll The Bones). Some good songs on each album but I can't stand the production - the drums sound small and the bass weak, plus the guitar is all high end. Just not my thing.

[Dave @Lakeside]

Ged's switch to Gallien-Krueger amps and Wal basses changed the mood. The engineers and producers followed that lead.

[Rush Cocky]

QUOTE (LeaveMyThingAlone @ Mar 15 2010, 06:05 PM)

HAs anyone picked up the Remaster of this? Big difference?

Well, I have that to look forward to, as I tend to agree with the OP about the sound quality.

[dakota2112]

QUOTE (Dave @Lakeside @ Mar 16 2010, 08:05 PM)

Ged's switch to Gallien-Krueger amps and Wal basses changed the mood. The engineers and producers followed that lead.

Peter Collins was actually responsible for Ged's jump to the Wal bass. (I wonder what he would've played had Peter not shown him the Wal... would he have continued with the Steinberger? )

[invisibleairwaves]

I wouldn't say it's their best-sounding album, but it's a hell of a lot better than the two that came after it.

 

My main complaint is the guitar sound. The GKs were just thin..I'd blame them instead of the Signatures. I love the Wal sound, and I've got a certain fondness for those early digital synths. DX-7's FTW.

[Show Don't Tell]

QUOTE (Tarkus407 @ Mar 15 2010, 08:10 PM)

I think Signals was mentioned?! (can't think of one thing wrong with Signals)...

Yeah, what's wrong with Signals? I'd say, sonically, it's one of the best produced Rush albums.

[New Digital Man]

QUOTE (RushNut @ Mar 15 2010, 05:51 PM)

*ducks* All the talk in the other thread about HYF and T4E made me whip out HYF again after a long while and listen to it in the car. I can't believe how crappy this album sounds, ffs! Tinny highs, no lows..I mean WTF? I'm not ranting on about the songs...I like most of the songs, it's just the way they sound. I don't know who the hell produced or mixed this turd but it sounds like compare to T4E or S&A (or several others as well). It's almost like they limited the frequency response to a very narrow range. All I know is other albums sound way better than this.

Maybe the sound system in your car is a piece of shit coz there's nothing wrong with this album to my ears!

[New Digital Man]

QUOTE (1-0-0-1-0-0-1 @ Mar 16 2010, 09:54 AM)

QUOTE (dakota2112 @ Mar 16 2010, 09:25 AM) The HYF/Presto/RTB era had a remarkably weak low end - Ged's Wal bass had that nasal plunky midrange sound, there was not much kick drum to speak of, and Alex was in his GK phase iirc where his tone was incredibly thin.  Those three factors add up to a weak sound overall.  Yes, it might be a clear sound, but it is still thin and weak.  IMHO. The music itself is good, but the production doesn't do it justice. Yep. I've made a few posts exactly like this in the past about the synth era albums from PoW thru RTB. The instruments the boys were using during that span had no balls. Look how much fuller and warmer CP sounds. Why? Because Geddy picked up his Jazz Bass again, because Alex started using Marshall amps again, and because Neil's kit didn't sound like tin cans with tons of reverb slathered all over it.   QUOTE (dakota2112 @ Mar 16 2010, 09:25 AM) edit - for example, imagine how much more powerful The Pass would be if the bass intro had some balls to it... to me, it sounds like Ged's amps (or was he direct by that point?) had the frigging bass knob set to 0 Notice how good "The Pass," "Mission," "Force Ten" and "Ghost Of A Chance" sounded on recent tours. They sounded great and ballsy because, unlike their studio counterparts, they were played with real rock and roll instruments. That's just total bullshit about those instruments not having any balls, that was the sound the band were looking for at the time! Geddy strung his Wal with very light guage strings which resulted in a loss of bottom end but that's what he wanted at the time. I never understood why he didn't move on to heavier strings as Wals are more than a one dimensional instrument in the way of tone and the quality of production is unrivalled! Check out Red Hot Chilli Peppers BSSM album for an awesome Wal tone!

[ReflectedLight]

QUOTE (New Digital Man @ Mar 18 2010, 08:58 AM)

QUOTE (1-0-0-1-0-0-1 @ Mar 16 2010, 09:54 AM) QUOTE (dakota2112 @ Mar 16 2010, 09:25 AM) The HYF/Presto/RTB era had a remarkably weak low end - Ged's Wal bass had that nasal plunky midrange sound, there was not much kick drum to speak of, and Alex was in his GK phase iirc where his tone was incredibly thin.  Those three factors add up to a weak sound overall.  Yes, it might be a clear sound, but it is still thin and weak.  IMHO. The music itself is good, but the production doesn't do it justice. Yep. I've made a few posts exactly like this in the past about the synth era albums from PoW thru RTB. The instruments the boys were using during that span had no balls. Look how much fuller and warmer CP sounds. Why? Because Geddy picked up his Jazz Bass again, because Alex started using Marshall amps again, and because Neil's kit didn't sound like tin cans with tons of reverb slathered all over it.   QUOTE (dakota2112 @ Mar 16 2010, 09:25 AM) edit - for example, imagine how much more powerful The Pass would be if the bass intro had some balls to it... to me, it sounds like Ged's amps (or was he direct by that point?) had the frigging bass knob set to 0 Notice how good "The Pass," "Mission," "Force Ten" and "Ghost Of A Chance" sounded on recent tours. They sounded great and ballsy because, unlike their studio counterparts, they were played with real rock and roll instruments. That's just total bullshit about those instruments not having any balls, that was the sound the band were looking for at the time! Geddy strung his Wal with very light guage strings which resulted in a loss of bottom end but that's what he wanted at the time. I never understood why he didn't move on to heavier strings as Wals are more than a one dimensional instrument in the way of tone and the quality of production is unrivalled! Check out Red Hot Chilli Peppers BSSM album for an awesome Wal tone! it was the 80's and like you said it was what they wanted at that time. i remember alex liking the signature guitars at the time and when i heard them i loved the clean sound. much different than what others were doing at the time. heck if you didn't like it back then, or don't like it today, go listen to some poison.

[quickfree]

if i'm listening to the same record, i hear autotuned vocals, female guest vocalists, sythesizers on overload and ready to make you're brain explode. they managed to save the real ridiculous moments (bunny rabbits and rapping/dancing skeletons) for the next two albums!

[jnoble]

QUOTE (Show Don't Tell @ Mar 17 2010, 12:48 AM)

QUOTE (Tarkus407 @ Mar 15 2010, 08:10 PM) I think Signals was mentioned?! (can't think of one thing wrong with Signals)... Yeah, what's wrong with Signals? I'd say, sonically, it's one of the best produced Rush albums. You're kidding, right? Signals sounds so foggy, over-chorused and washed out.

[KillerInstinct]

Chemistry and Subdivisions stand out when it comes to this

[snowdog2112]

Even though the remaster is a significant improvement I think Signals is the second worst sounding record behind Vapor Trails. Well, except maybe the first album which sounds like it was recorded on a Fisher-Price My First Mixing Console but that's not their fault. But whereas VT is way too loud Signals sounds like you're listening to it through a pillow. Or three pillows. It just sounds dead and flat. The complete opposite of Power Windows if you want to compare something else in the keyboard era. When I bought Signals on cassette many ages ago I thought my tape was defective. It sounded like it had been played a million times and was completely washed out and faint.

 

 

 

 

[shaun3701]

Yeah Signals doesn't have the greatest sound, but the remaster is pretty good. My biggest gripe is Alex's guitar sound is almost identical to the synth sound in a lot of songs. When I first heard Subdivisions I didn't even know there was a guitar in it other than the solo lol.

[dakota2112]

QUOTE (New Digital Man @ Mar 18 2010, 08:58 AM)

That's just total bullshit about those instruments not having any balls, that was the sound the band were looking for at the time! Geddy strung his Wal with very light guage strings which resulted in a loss of bottom end but that's what he wanted at the time. I never understood why he didn't move on to heavier strings as Wals are more than a one dimensional instrument in the way of tone and the quality of production is unrivalled! Check out Red Hot Chilli Peppers BSSM album for an awesome Wal tone!

Not sure what you're saying here... it sounds like you are in agreeance that Ged's Wal tone was not the greatest in the world.

 

Ok, so that is the sound they were looking for on those albums, great. That still doesn't change the fact that it is a clear, thin, weak sound without a lot of bottom end.

 

There are great songs on those albums. I just think the production holds the music back.