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Does anyone else dislike P/G?


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Well, even though I am one of the "Love every record" group (although, as a musician, I like ALMOST every record, but I like them all for different reasons. It's too deep to get into here cool.gif ), I need to put in my 2 cents on P/G.

 

It was an album that grew on me. I did not really care for every song right off the bat. Especially The Body Electric, which when I first heard it, I would have told you I outright HATED that song. But, as I have gotten older and have broadened my musical tastes, I really have come to enjoy the different mood that P/G creates. Yeah, it's a little dark, but not entirely negative. Also, knowing the circumstances under which it was recorded, it gives me a different appreciation. Songs like Between the Wheels and Afterimage are frequently played on my Ipod now, where as 10 years ago, I rarely listened to the album.

 

I don't have "favorite" Rush albums, because I have found it hard to compare their albums because they always seem to come at us from a slightly different angle every time. But, I really have grown to love P/G.

 

And, I do mean LOVE!

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My first RUSH show was in 1980, PeW tour at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit.

RUSH was actually the first event EVER at the place.

 

I remember the MP shows at Cobo and the 2 nights of Signals back at the Joe. So I was around a bit before P/g! came out.

 

 

With that introduction aside let me just say that on any given day P/g! competes with Hemispheres and PoW as my favorite RUSH album. Those are easily my top 3 as each are nearly perfect IMO.

 

I appreciate MP, PoW, 2112 etc for what they are and there are several songs off those albums that I love immensely, however none of those albums are as good as P/g! IMO.

 

 

Thats just MY opinion... deal with it 1022.gif

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Red Lenses "sucks"....?

 

Red Lenses is one the best songs of that era....let alone on the album....heck it was the closest Neil came to almost a swinging groove back then.

 

And it worked very nicely with the Drum Solo as well.

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QUOTE (druid13 @ Aug 31 2010, 07:22 AM)
Red Lenses "sucks"....?

Red Lenses is one the best songs of that era....let alone on the album....heck it was the closest Neil came to almost a swinging groove back then.

And it worked very nicely with the Drum Solo as well.

Red Lenses (and Kid Gloves for that matter) took a little while to grow on me, but now I love it. It's one of the very rare times that Rush injecting humor into a song really works well. Other attempts at it (I Think I'm Going Bald, RTB) have failed miserably IMHO.

 

The lyrics aren't as simple as they seem at first glance.

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I've grown to appreciate this album quite a bit more than I used to.

 

Production wise, I think it's one of the cleanest, crispest sounding Rush albums going. Alex's guitar tone is awesome. It's all very clean....and it's an album you can listen to full blast and get an optimal effect.

 

Enemy Within, Afterimage, Kid Gloves are among my favorites.

 

I agree with what Alex said in the documentary (I think it was Alex). Namely, that they kind of jumped the shark with Power Windows and Hold Your Fire. I think GUP is the perfect Rush sound as far as incorporating keyboards wish bass and guitar. Alex is still there, albeit with a more Andy Summers type sound, but he has some kick ass solos, but most importantly the keys aren't drowning everything out. They should have stopped there....but they didn't and the next 2 albums go too far

 

Power Windows and HYF are 2 of my least favorite Rush albums because IMO they totally overdid the keys.

 

Alex Lifeson on P/W and HYF in the documentary: "Why am I looking for a different place? I shouldn't br looking for a different place. What's going on with these keyboards? They're not even real"

 

So true...

 

 

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As I listen to Grace Under Pressure right now, It strikes me; This is one of the most poignant albums I've ever heard; How anyone can call it emotionless is beyond me.

 

It's in my top three for a good reason. yes.gif

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I got on board with Rush well before Signals, and I loved P/G when it came out, and love it even more now. I love the super aggressive feel of the album, the lyrics, Geddy's singing and especially the drums.

 

 

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QUOTE (trenken @ Sep 6 2010, 01:43 PM)
I think this is why Van Halen go so big in the 80s. They were one of the few bands left still playing hard rock. Rock fans were abandoned in the 80s with bands doing the same thing rush did, leaving the guitars and hard beats in the background or eliminated entirely. VH stayed edgy and it was a breath of fresh air.

Edgy? Van Halen released 1984, with the single "Jump." They became popular in the 80s because they had hits on Pop(ular) radio and, like Rush, also had a lot of keyboards. It wasn't because they were "one of the few bands left still playing hard rock," it was because they became something of a Pop band.

 

Jump. Dreams. Love Walks In. When It's Love. Yeah... Van Halen was really "edgy" in the 80s. eyesre4.gif

 

 

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QUOTE (GeddyRulz @ Sep 7 2010, 06:23 AM)
QUOTE (trenken @ Sep 6 2010, 01:43 PM)
I think this is why Van Halen go so big in the 80s. They were one of the few bands left still playing hard rock. Rock fans were abandoned in the 80s with bands doing the same thing rush did, leaving the guitars and hard beats in the background or eliminated entirely. VH stayed edgy and it was a breath of fresh air.

Edgy? Van Halen released 1984, with the single "Jump." They became popular in the 80s because they had hits on Pop(ular) radio and, like Rush, also had a lot of keyboards. It wasn't because they were "one of the few bands left still playing hard rock," it was because they became something of a Pop band.

 

Jump. Dreams. Love Walks In. When It's Love. Yeah... Van Halen was really "edgy" in the 80s. eyesre4.gif

If you're talking simply 1984 when P/G came out, Van Halen had more than just Jump. Yes, that was a moster hit and had keyboards (which a lot of VH fans were pissed about), but they also had Panama and Hot for Teacher, which were also big hits and were also VERY hard rock.

 

I don't see the argument for G/P as having no balls, but I guess if you ONLY like hard rock/heavy metal you might feel that way. I might make that argument for the Presto/RTB era though... to an extent.

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Boy, this has gotten a lot of replies. Don't know if you'll read this on page 4 but here's my two sense.

 

I first heard Body Electric, Kid Gloves and Red Sector A when they previewed them at Radio City in September 83. I actually had a bootleg from one of the shows, so I was pretty familiar with them by the time the album came out. I didn't like them much. I thought Body Electric was pretty simplistic and boring. The drums did nothing for me. Red Sector A was different and Kid Gloves also seemed pretty simple and not "Rush'Like" I was hoping that the songs were in a developmental stage and after 6 months of working on them and hopefully some really good production value, they would be improved.

 

When I got the Album, those three songs were basically the same and I was disappointed.

 

As for my take on the whole album at the time, I was disappointed. I played it over and over and over again, hoping it would click and never really did, although I like it more today than back 26 years ago. (My God I feel old!).

 

My main disappointments and dislikes at the time were first, I didn't like the production at all. It sounded plastic and fake. The acoustic drums were sort of flat, the electronics were cheesy and the cymbals and hi-hats weren't crisp. And where was the bass?

 

Songs two and three, Afterimage and Red Sector A had none? Where was Geddy? And when there was bass, it was drowned out by the guitar and you couldn't hear what Geddy was doing.

 

There were also the little things that threw me. In the days of albums and sides one and two, The Enemy Within was not what you would expect for the fourth and side one ending song. It was a little goofy. Love the song now. Would love to see it live. But at the time it seemed out of place. I couldn't get over Red Lenses at the time. "I see red. it hurts mey head." Those can't be Peart lyrics and the song was so weird. Of course, Between The Wheels was worth the wait. A classic and worthy of an album ender.

 

My biggest issues were that I felt that the songs were somewhat underdeveloped, the production was sort of plastic with the guitars drowning out the bass(where there was bass) and the drums.

 

That's one of the reasons, among many, that I loved Power Windows. The production was excellent and Geddy's bass was back! I don't mind Geddy playing Keyboards as long as he's playing bass and Power Windows has, IMO, just about his best bass work throughout any album.

 

In retrospect, I've come to like Grace a lot more and prefer it over many albums that followed,(RTB,Counterparts, TFE,S&A).

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Edited by GeddyRulz
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