Does anyone else dislike P/G?

[NAO]

[Ted Barchetta]

QUOTE (thelocator @ Aug 29 2010, 09:09 PM)

I'm down with NAO...as coming from that same exact angle expressed on the Metallica v. Megadeth thread from ova thar at 'Music of the Spheres'... Rush, like Metallica after 'The Black Album', and a ton of other groups which can easily be cited here as examples, who got theyselves such a huge serving of newfound fame and glory after that one, hugely successful crossover recording, began to sell-out immediately therafter, further and further streamling and mainstreaming their approach and sound with each subsequent release.  With Rush, eventually the guitars were completely phased out and replaced with synths. This 'selling-out' seems like a highly natural, albeit still highly 'despicable' thing...You get yourself a taste of what it's like to be invited to all those bigtime, music industry events, begin to clink and clack wine glasses with all your bigtime music industry idols, experience things you never have before, like sex with women other than your wife.  Sounds like a bunch of fun, right?  All those TV appearances and album signings? It is true that Rush had made some concessions, i.e. 'compromises' to their sound, and in turn, to their 'musical integrity' in order to garner even more radio airplay time for themselves after growing further addicted to what had already been afforded to them at the end of their Permanent Waves/Moving Pictures phase... They studied all these other highly succesful radio formulas of the time, such as 'The Police', and some of the other New Wave outfits which were climbing the charts...Rush studied these cats, and being as astute and perceptive as they naturally were as artisans, the lads adopted those elements which worked for them and discarded the rest...You CAN NOT deny both a 'Police' influence for the band throughout the enitre mid-80's period, as well as a generalized acceptance of radio-friendly 'synth' sounds... It might even sound like I'm bashing away at Rush, but I'm really not...I'm able to appreciate a fair amount of their material from this period...I'm just pointing out what I think should be evident to all here...I can stomach a lot of the material from the sell-out phase...a gray area which begins somewhere in the light grey realm of 'Signals', and ends up in that deep, dark grey-black area of the abominable 'Presto' release'...I'm scared to even listen to that album anymore, for fear that I might even begin to like a tune, here or there...as I wound up doing with Genesis's 1978 title, '...And Then". But, make no mistake...There were concessions made by Rush,  compromises made to their sound to ensure further radio air-time allotments, and this move has always been synonymous with 'selling out'.

I think what folks have to consider in this case is this is what Rush wanted to do. they didn't fall to the record company's 'hit maker' approach with bands in that era. And even Ged says that after "Hemispheres" the band had to change out of necessity; they were burnt out after the sheer complexity of that tour and that they didn't like what they were becoming as people.

 

 

never did and never will sell out.

[analog guy]

QUOTE (NAO @ Aug 29 2010, 10:48 PM)

I wonder how many people who really like P/G and the post-Signals stuff came on board AFTER Signals?

Alright, well, I started listening to the band in earnest in 1991, so for me they were well past that point. It may explain why I tend to view the HYF-Presto-RTB period perhaps more favorably than others.

 

I'd always known about the band through childhood because I'd seen the Exit Stage Left videos on MTV once in awhile, but only really those songs.

 

10 years went by and the rest of the 80s albums didn't get much attention... they were pretty much off my radar. But I was a stupid kid listening to stupid music (hair metal, very early hip-hop crap).

 

I started high school in the fall of 1991 right as Roll The Bones came out, and was instantly exposed to it frequently as my new high school friends were all musicians... they all had it and put it on during our study halls. And I remember thinking "This is the same band as Tom Sawyer? Really?"

 

I'll never believe the band has sold out, unless they obviously compromise their integrity to go mainstream. I don't believe at this point in their career that they would be remotely interested in doing that. The highest charting single they ever had was basically an accident.... ironically from Signals.

Edited August 30, 2010 by analog guy

[Slaine mac Roth]

QUOTE (Pause Rewind Replay @ Aug 30 2010, 04:09 AM)

But don't feel like you're nuts... you should see what I get called when I say the only p/g song I dislike is Afterimage, and the only Rush album as a whole I dislike is Caress Of Steel

That's nothing compared to what I get when I say my least favourite studio album is Signals...

 

But to go back to P/G - I have to say that I love it.

 

The 'coldness' of the production was, I found, to be the perfect antidote to the, too my ears, poor sound of Signals. Add to this the fact that the guitar was back up in the mix was a welcome change.

 

I honestly feel that P/G was the best marriage of guitar/keyboards that Rush did in the mid/late 80s. In addition, it seemed that, in many ways, it was their most experimental album with them trying a lot of new things. No wonder it polarises opinion among Rush fans.

 

Finally, I think the production matched a lot of the lyrics. I don't know if it was intentional, but it seems fitting that they chose 1984 to release their most dystopian album.

[rushgoober]

Edited August 30, 2010 by rushgoober

[NAO]

[rushgoober]

Edited August 30, 2010 by rushgoober

[Presto-digitation]

Sorry to piss on people's pissings, but I love that record!!! Top 4 album for me. The Body Electric, Kid Gloves, Red Lenses, etc....all brilliant stuff. Have had a man crush on this album since before I considered myself a Rush fan even. Edited August 30, 2010 by Presto-digitation

[Mystic Slipperman]

Oh man. I'm right on the cutoff in this timeline.

 

I got into Rush in 1981-82-83. JUST before Grace came out. I'm right on the border. When Grace was released I still only knew PermWaves, MP, and Signals, all of which I loved.

 

So, not having any idea about the 1970s records, Grace didn't seem like such a stretch. I guess I was used to a significant set of changes from the 1980-1982 releases. And since I played both keys and drums by then, Rush appealed to me on multiple levels.

 

And for the record, there isn't a Rush record that I don't like. Including p/g. I think Red Sector A, Between the Wheels, and Afterimage are brilliant.

Edited August 30, 2010 by Mystic Slipperman

[SpiritOfRush]

I love g/p. Probably in my top 5 Rush albums.

[Rush Cocky]

QUOTE (SpiritOfRush @ Aug 30 2010, 01:46 PM)

I love g/p. Probably in my top 5 Rush albums.

Definitely for me. It's #4, only behind MP, PeW and Signals.

[moedrabowsky]

I have grown more fond of it over time.

 

P/G was my first tour, so it has a sentimental attachment for me, but at least it moves. Aside from a couple of cuts and the infusion of electronic instruments, it's still a hard rock record -- unlike the two that immediately followed it. However, it is the record that truly started the synth period, my least favorite Rush incarnation.

 

Two other things -- I'm with those who dislike Alex's tone on the record and was disheartened by his full immersion into Andy Summers and Edge minimalist territory. I like mighty riffs, and this album doesn't really feature any.

 

The best thing Lerxst ever did was dump the G-K and go back to tube amps and Gibsons.

[rushgoober]

Edited August 30, 2010 by rushgoober

[druid13]

correct me if I am wrong but weren't the "Hentor Sportscasters" a joke?

 

Part of Alex's humor in the P/G tourbook and nothing more?

 

I believe he was playing actual Fender guitars then...although modified.

[Slaine mac Roth]

QUOTE (rushgoober @ Aug 30 2010, 06:56 PM)

Basically, I was trying to figure out some reason or justification I could pin it on, but eventually I had to come to the difficult realization that people liked it simply because they liked it. They actually liked the album on its own merits, regardless of historical context or any other extraneous reasons.

 

I've been saying this for years - both about Rush and about other bands but, sometimes, it feels like

[rushgoober]

QUOTE (Slaine mac Roth @ Aug 30 2010, 12:40 PM)

QUOTE (rushgoober @ Aug 30 2010, 06:56 PM) Basically, I was trying to figure out some reason or justification I could pin it on, but eventually I had to come to the difficult realization that people liked it simply because they liked it.  They actually liked the album on its own merits, regardless of historical context or any other extraneous reasons.   I've been saying this for years - both about Rush and about other bands but, sometimes, it feels like Well, it takes some of us longer to get the point than others. I still occasionally fall into that trap...

[Slaine mac Roth]

[Kublakhan94]

Its in my top 5

[Bastille Dave]

Grace Under Pressure was not a highly anticipated album by me in 1984, in fact I didnt buy it until a year later. I heard "Distant Early Warning" and "Red Sector A" on the radio alot in '84 and they didnt impress me much. I was into harder music and Rush was going the exact opposite direction I was going musically.

 

When I did buy it in '85 I played it in bulk periods, 3 or 4 times in a couple weeks and then not again for 3 or 4 months.

 

When I saw them in '86 I had to brush up on my current Rush so I listened to PoW and P/G quite a bit prior to the show. It was a great show but I had slowly lost interest in Rush after that.

 

anyway, about the album; I like it alot now especially with the modern remastering and better playback equipment we all have. It's not my "go to" Rush album but I do enjoy it for what it is in the time period it was created in.

[GeddysMullet]

I love that record. I don't like all the songs on it equally but taken altogether the album is a dark masterpiece.

[GeddyRulz]

[Jomboni]

1. It's my favorite Alex record. I love the minimalist approach he took, his tone, his solos, everything. I'm glad he didn't stick with this style for too long. He doesn't really play like this on any other album, and it really shows his versatility.

 

2. I like the cold/sterile production because it works well with the themes of the majority of the songs.

 

3. Red Lenses sucks (sorry, I had to put one bad thing in here)

 

It's not my favorite Rush album, but it's probably my most played (does that even make sense???)

[Weakly Criminal]

Edited August 31, 2010 by Weakly Criminal

[NAO]

QUOTE (Jomboni @ Aug 30 2010, 08:16 PM)

1.  It's my favorite Alex record.  I love the minimalist approach he took, his tone, his solos, everything.  I'm glad he didn't stick with this style for too long.  He doesn't really play like this on any other album, and it really shows his versatility. 2.  I like the cold/sterile production because it works well with the themes of the majority of the songs. 3.  Red Lenses sucks (sorry, I had to put one bad thing in here) It's not my favorite Rush album, but it's probably my most played (does that even make sense???)

It makes sense. RUSH is one of my favorites, but it ranks below many others like Hemispheres/AFTK, PM/MP, and 2112. However my iTunes play counter shows that I play RUSH and FBN more than just about anything else!

 

I think it's because: 1.) I really, really like RUSH and FBN, and 2.) I'm 'saving' my super-favorites like Hemispheres for special occasions so I don't wear out the numinosity of those masterpieces.

[NAO]