Leaving BU2B off of CA?

[Shreddy Lee]

Couldn't disagree more with the original post. I love BU2B even more than I love Caravan and I hope that the rest of the album goes in a similar direction to these two songs, because if it does it'll probably be one of my favorite albums of all time. I was actually disappointed when I read a recent interview with Alex in which he said that there was going to be some acoustic stuff on the album. I don't want another S&A, which is for me a mixed bag at best. I really hope this album will be mostly harder stuff like Caravan/BU2B.

 

Also, the lyrics certainly don't bother me (though I guess I would be marked "agree" with BU2B's lyrics) but then again no lyrics ever bother me, whether I agree with them or not. When listening to any music, literally the last thing I'm ever paying attention to is the content of the lyrics. For me that's more just something I think about later and go "oh, that's interesting." But I can safely say that if there was ever a song that had lyrics I disagreed with but I enjoyed the song musically, that would be all that mattered. It reminds me of that guy who said he literally walked out in the middle of a show because the lyrics were bothering him too much. I just can't fathom letting that bother you to such a degree.

[ColdFireYYZ]

I am not offended by Neil's lyrics in BU2B, even though I disagree in some ways. Its still a great song imo.

 

As for Faithless, I think what Neil is saying is that hope and love is his faith, not "God" and "religion". Someone can call him faithless for not believing in religion, but to him hope and love are his "faith". Thats how I interpret the lyrics.

 

 

[shaun3701]

QUOTE (ColdFireYYZ @ Oct 14 2010, 08:35 PM)

I am not offended by Neil's lyrics in BU2B, even though I disagree in some ways. Its still a great song imo. As for Faithless, I think what Neil is saying is that hope and love is his faith, not "God" and "religion". Someone can call him faithless for not believing in religion, but to him hope and love are his "faith". Thats how I interpret the lyrics.

I still don't know what he's "quietly resisting". Is someone trying to force religion on him?

[danielmclark]

QUOTE (shaun3701 @ Oct 14 2010, 08:11 PM)

QUOTE (ColdFireYYZ @ Oct 14 2010, 08:35 PM) I am not offended by Neil's lyrics in BU2B, even though I disagree in some ways. Its still a great song imo. As for Faithless, I think what Neil is saying is that hope and love is his faith, not "God" and "religion". Someone can call him faithless for not believing in religion, but to him hope and love are his "faith". Thats how I interpret the lyrics. I still don't know what he's "quietly resisting". Is someone trying to force religion on him? Yeah, nobody has ever tried to force religion on anyone else. It's not at all a vital teaching in every religion, practically a commandment. It's certainly not prevalent in our media, our national anthems and pledges and money. And nobody ever fights over it.   Having religion forced on you is more than just having someone show up at your door with a copy of The Watchtower.

[shaun3701]

QUOTE (danielmclark @ Oct 14 2010, 09:27 PM)

QUOTE (shaun3701 @ Oct 14 2010, 08:11 PM) QUOTE (ColdFireYYZ @ Oct 14 2010, 08:35 PM) I am not offended by Neil's lyrics in BU2B, even though I disagree in some ways. Its still a great song imo. As for Faithless, I think what Neil is saying is that hope and love is his faith, not "God" and "religion". Someone can call him faithless for not believing in religion, but to him hope and love are his "faith". Thats how I interpret the lyrics. I still don't know what he's "quietly resisting". Is someone trying to force religion on him? Yeah, nobody has ever tried to force religion on anyone else. It's not at all a vital teaching in every religion, practically a commandment. It's certainly not prevalent in our media, our national anthems and pledges and money. And nobody ever fights over it.   Having religion forced on you is more than just having someone show up at your door with a copy of The Watchtower. having the word "God" on our money is forcing religion on you? and where exactly in the media is all this religion?

[snowdog2112]

QUOTE (shaun3701 @ Oct 14 2010, 08:11 PM)

QUOTE (ColdFireYYZ @ Oct 14 2010, 08:35 PM) I am not offended by Neil's lyrics in BU2B, even though I disagree in some ways. Its still a great song imo. As for Faithless, I think what Neil is saying is that hope and love is his faith, not "God" and "religion". Someone can call him faithless for not believing in religion, but to him hope and love are his "faith". Thats how I interpret the lyrics. I still don't know what he's "quietly resisting". Is someone trying to force religion on him? I understand it because I have the same attitude about it as Neil. Plus he describes it in detail in Roadshow. It's not that anyone is literally forcing religion on Neil but it's hard not to feel either ostracized or pressured sometimes when you're on the other side of a vast majority in terms of worldview.   I just moved back to my hometown of Texarkana in east Texas last year after living in Austin for 20 years. I really still like the town but believe me, I don't dare let anyone around here know that I'm not religious. I think I'm just about the only one who isn't. It was shocking to see the difference. Try wearing a Cleveland Browns jersey and sit in the middle of a group of Pittsburgh Steeler fans in their stadium and you'll get the picture. You could probably sit there quietly and be ok but you darn sure wouldn't start booing the other team.   Anyway, no point in going on other than just to try to help explain Neil's perspective.

[shaun3701]

QUOTE (snowdog2112 @ Oct 14 2010, 09:45 PM)

QUOTE (shaun3701 @ Oct 14 2010, 08:11 PM) QUOTE (ColdFireYYZ @ Oct 14 2010, 08:35 PM) I am not offended by Neil's lyrics in BU2B, even though I disagree in some ways. Its still a great song imo. As for Faithless, I think what Neil is saying is that hope and love is his faith, not "God" and "religion". Someone can call him faithless for not believing in religion, but to him hope and love are his "faith". Thats how I interpret the lyrics. I still don't know what he's "quietly resisting". Is someone trying to force religion on him? I understand it because I have the same attitude about it as Neil. Plus he describes it in detail in Roadshow. It's not that anyone is literally forcing religion on Neil but it's hard not to feel either ostracized or pressured sometimes when you're on the other side of a vast majority in terms of worldview.   I just moved back to my hometown of Texarkana in east Texas last year after living in Austin for 20 years. I really still like the town but believe me, I don't dare let anyone around here know that I'm not religious. I think I'm just about the only one who isn't. It was shocking to see the difference. Try wearing a Cleveland Browns jersey and sit in the middle of a group of Pittsburgh Steeler fans in their stadium and you'll get the picture. You could probably sit there quietly and be ok but you darn sure wouldn't start booing the other team.   Anyway, no point in going on other than just to try to help explain Neil's perspective. I understand... perhaps this is a regional thing. I've lived in California my entire life, I've known religious people and non-religious people and there has never been any conflict between the two. Maybe we're just more laid back here.

[snowdog2112]

QUOTE (shaun3701 @ Oct 14 2010, 08:47 PM)

QUOTE (snowdog2112 @ Oct 14 2010, 09:45 PM) QUOTE (shaun3701 @ Oct 14 2010, 08:11 PM) QUOTE (ColdFireYYZ @ Oct 14 2010, 08:35 PM) I am not offended by Neil's lyrics in BU2B, even though I disagree in some ways. Its still a great song imo. As for Faithless, I think what Neil is saying is that hope and love is his faith, not "God" and "religion". Someone can call him faithless for not believing in religion, but to him hope and love are his "faith". Thats how I interpret the lyrics. I still don't know what he's "quietly resisting". Is someone trying to force religion on him? I understand it because I have the same attitude about it as Neil. Plus he describes it in detail in Roadshow. It's not that anyone is literally forcing religion on Neil but it's hard not to feel either ostracized or pressured sometimes when you're on the other side of a vast majority in terms of worldview.   I just moved back to my hometown of Texarkana in east Texas last year after living in Austin for 20 years. I really still like the town but believe me, I don't dare let anyone around here know that I'm not religious. I think I'm just about the only one who isn't. It was shocking to see the difference. Try wearing a Cleveland Browns jersey and sit in the middle of a group of Pittsburgh Steeler fans in their stadium and you'll get the picture. You could probably sit there quietly and be ok but you darn sure wouldn't start booing the other team.   Anyway, no point in going on other than just to try to help explain Neil's perspective. I understand... perhaps this is a regional thing. I've lived in California my entire life, I've known religious people and non-religious people and there has never been any conflict between the two. Maybe we're just more laid back here. Austin is very similar to California in many ways including being laid back about that stuff. Here, in east Texas, it dominates all parts of peoples' lives all day every day. The oil change garage a few blocks away from me uses their signage in the parking lot for various bits of scripture like a church instead of saying "oil change, $20" or whatever. I'm not saying that particularly bothers me but it's just an example of how pervasive it is. I would say 1 in 5 front yards (yes, seriously) has a "Prayer, our nation's only hope!" sign (which look like "for sale" signs from a distance and it confused the hell out of me at first) that's sold by our local giant mega mall-sized Baptist church.   I'm a realtor and I sold a ton of homes to people from California in Austin because they said it was just like home except cheaper and less crowded. The culture, high tech/entertainment economy, the weather, and just about everything else is almost the same.

[ColdFireYYZ]

No one is forcing religion on Neil imo. I don't blame him for not being religious. If I experienced what he has in my life, I wouldn't believe in a God.

 

I live in Connecticut, and there are many people who are not religious. I spent 2 weeks in the South this summer, and everyone was religious, there were billboards, Churches, etc, but I didn't feel like I was "forced" to believe what they thought. I guess its how you look at things.

[snowdog2112]

QUOTE (Shreddy Lee @ Oct 14 2010, 06:58 PM)

Couldn't disagree more with the original post. I love BU2B even more than I love Caravan and I hope that the rest of the album goes in a similar direction to these two songs, because if it does it'll probably be one of my favorite albums of all time. I was actually disappointed when I read a recent interview with Alex in which he said that there was going to be some acoustic stuff on the album. I don't want another S&A, which is for me a mixed bag at best. I really hope this album will be mostly harder stuff like Caravan/BU2B. Also, the lyrics certainly don't bother me (though I guess I would be marked "agree" with BU2B's lyrics) but then again no lyrics ever bother me, whether I agree with them or not. When listening to any music, literally the last thing I'm ever paying attention to is the content of the lyrics. For me that's more just something I think about later and go "oh, that's interesting." But I can safely say that if there was ever a song that had lyrics I disagreed with but I enjoyed the song musically, that would be all that mattered. It reminds me of that guy who said he literally walked out in the middle of a show because the lyrics were bothering him too much. I just can't fathom letting that bother you to such a degree.

I'm not going to tell you what you should or shouldn't like but does it bother you at all that 70s era Rush has acoustic guitar all over it? It's a serious question and maybe it does bother you but I'm just curious because I've heard other posters derisively call S&A a "folk" or "country" sounding album because of the acoustic guitar but they seem to be completely blind to the fact that there's tons of it in "classic" era Rush.

[GeminiRising79]

I found BU2B depressing without even knowing the lyrics (first heard at the concert, when I strategically went for another round of Blue Moons!).

 

I agree with RushGoober here. Imo, Its safe to assume the next releases will depressingly drone on (at least musically), and frankly, I'm absolutely sick of it. Neil needs to pull himself and the band out of this bleating, pathetic tangent.

[Shreddy Lee]

QUOTE (snowdog2112 @ Oct 14 2010, 11:12 PM)

QUOTE (Shreddy Lee @ Oct 14 2010, 06:58 PM) Couldn't disagree more with the original post. I love BU2B even more than I love Caravan and I hope that the rest of the album goes in a similar direction to these two songs, because if it does it'll probably be one of my favorite albums of all time. I was actually disappointed when I read a recent interview with Alex in which he said that there was going to be some acoustic stuff on the album. I don't want another S&A, which is for me a mixed bag at best. I really hope this album will be mostly harder stuff like Caravan/BU2B. Also, the lyrics certainly don't bother me (though I guess I would be marked "agree" with BU2B's lyrics) but then again no lyrics ever bother me, whether I agree with them or not. When listening to any music, literally the last thing I'm ever paying attention to is the content of the lyrics. For me that's more just something I think about later and go "oh, that's interesting." But I can safely say that if there was ever a song that had lyrics I disagreed with but I enjoyed the song musically, that would be all that mattered. It reminds me of that guy who said he literally walked out in the middle of a show because the lyrics were bothering him too much. I just can't fathom letting that bother you to such a degree. I'm not going to tell you what you should or shouldn't like but does it bother you at all that 70s era Rush has acoustic guitar all over it? It's a serious question and maybe it does bother you but I'm just curious because I've heard other posters derisively call S&A a "folk" or "country" sounding album because of the acoustic guitar but they seem to be completely blind to the fact that there's tons of it in "classic" era Rush. No, the fact that there is acoustic in a song does not automatically make me dislike that song. What I mean is that I don't like most of the songs that are entirely acoustic, such as Rivendell, Tears, etc. But I do like plenty of the older stuff that contains some acoustic, and there are also songs I like from S&A that have it. My issue with S&A is that I like about half of it and don't like the other half, and I feel that other half was probably negatively affected by having a bit too much of an acoustic influence. I just hope there's not a repeat of that with CA. An album full of songs like Caravan and BU2B is pretty much my dream album so that's more of what I'm hoping for.

[snowdog2112]

QUOTE (Shreddy Lee @ Oct 14 2010, 10:09 PM)

QUOTE (snowdog2112 @ Oct 14 2010, 11:12 PM) QUOTE (Shreddy Lee @ Oct 14 2010, 06:58 PM) Couldn't disagree more with the original post. I love BU2B even more than I love Caravan and I hope that the rest of the album goes in a similar direction to these two songs, because if it does it'll probably be one of my favorite albums of all time. I was actually disappointed when I read a recent interview with Alex in which he said that there was going to be some acoustic stuff on the album. I don't want another S&A, which is for me a mixed bag at best. I really hope this album will be mostly harder stuff like Caravan/BU2B. Also, the lyrics certainly don't bother me (though I guess I would be marked "agree" with BU2B's lyrics) but then again no lyrics ever bother me, whether I agree with them or not. When listening to any music, literally the last thing I'm ever paying attention to is the content of the lyrics. For me that's more just something I think about later and go "oh, that's interesting." But I can safely say that if there was ever a song that had lyrics I disagreed with but I enjoyed the song musically, that would be all that mattered. It reminds me of that guy who said he literally walked out in the middle of a show because the lyrics were bothering him too much. I just can't fathom letting that bother you to such a degree. I'm not going to tell you what you should or shouldn't like but does it bother you at all that 70s era Rush has acoustic guitar all over it? It's a serious question and maybe it does bother you but I'm just curious because I've heard other posters derisively call S&A a "folk" or "country" sounding album because of the acoustic guitar but they seem to be completely blind to the fact that there's tons of it in "classic" era Rush. No, the fact that there is acoustic in a song does not automatically make me dislike that song. What I mean is that I don't like most of the songs that are entirely acoustic, such as Rivendell, Tears, etc. But I do like plenty of the older stuff that contains some acoustic, and there are also songs I like from S&A that have it. My issue with S&A is that I like about half of it and don't like the other half, and I feel that other half was probably negatively affected by having a bit too much of an acoustic influence. I just hope there's not a repeat of that with CA. An album full of songs like Caravan and BU2B is pretty much my dream album so that's more of what I'm hoping for. Gotcha.

[WIDE-ANGLE WATCHER]

I like BU2B more and more each day.....It's still growing on me and I believe it is but one piece of a glorious puzzle. Lyrically, I may or may not agree, but certainly I'm not offended.

 

I'm sure when the album is complete, BU2B will fit in nicely and claim it's rightful spot on Clockwork Angels.

 

I am not sure why anyone (OP) would want to exclude one song from an already talked about 'song related' concept album, just because THEY don't care for it, especially knowing that the band WANTS to include it.

 

There has been a couple songs throughout Rush's catalog that have not really done much for me....but I would have never wanted them to leave any of them off an album knowing that Rush obviously wanted it there, at least at the time of the recording.

 

In Rushgoobers case, hearing a song that he doesn't particularly care for BEFORE the album is completed, maybe reworked and released allows him the chance to be more critical and his desire to have it excluded would have to be respected.

 

After hearing all the praise for BU2B on this forum I would want them to keep it on the album just for their fans....let alone for themselves.

[SlyJeff]

Goob- you've convinced me, you really don't like this song. I mean, you already convinced me about 20 posts ago, but now I'm REALLY convinced. If anyone ever comes up to me and says "Rushgoober loves BU2B" I can set them straight and point them to this thread.

[rushgoober]

QUOTE (SlyJeff @ Oct 15 2010, 01:58 AM)

Goob- you've convinced me, you really don't like this song. I mean, you already convinced me about 20 posts ago, but now I'm REALLY convinced. If anyone ever comes up to me and says "Rushgoober loves BU2B" I can set them straight and point them to this thread.

Well, I'm nothing if not redundant.

[ReflectedLight]

QUOTE (snowdog2112 @ Oct 14 2010, 09:45 PM)

QUOTE (shaun3701 @ Oct 14 2010, 08:11 PM) QUOTE (ColdFireYYZ @ Oct 14 2010, 08:35 PM) I am not offended by Neil's lyrics in BU2B, even though I disagree in some ways. Its still a great song imo. As for Faithless, I think what Neil is saying is that hope and love is his faith, not "God" and "religion". Someone can call him faithless for not believing in religion, but to him hope and love are his "faith". Thats how I interpret the lyrics. I still don't know what he's "quietly resisting". Is someone trying to force religion on him? I understand it because I have the same attitude about it as Neil. Plus he describes it in detail in Roadshow. It's not that anyone is literally forcing religion on Neil but it's hard not to feel either ostracized or pressured sometimes when you're on the other side of a vast majority in terms of worldview.   I just moved back to my hometown of Texarkana in east Texas last year after living in Austin for 20 years. I really still like the town but believe me, I don't dare let anyone around here know that I'm not religious. I think I'm just about the only one who isn't. It was shocking to see the difference. Try wearing a Cleveland Browns jersey and sit in the middle of a group of Pittsburgh Steeler fans in their stadium and you'll get the picture. You could probably sit there quietly and be ok but you darn sure wouldn't start booing the other team.   Anyway, no point in going on other than just to try to help explain Neil's perspective. maybe it's the areas where he's at or living. seems like it's the opposite of where i'm living in ny. neil should move to nyc area where it's super liberal and he'll fit right in. just the other day they had an in your face playgirl van that drove up and parked right near a school and was there for at least 1 hour. coincidence? you make the call. neil spoke his peace on s & a but now, for all of the talk about how it's in his face and he will "quitely resist", he's doing the same by "preaching".

[danielmclark]

Quietly is not the same as silently.

[snowdog2112]

QUOTE (ReflectedLight @ Oct 15 2010, 06:37 AM)

QUOTE (snowdog2112 @ Oct 14 2010, 09:45 PM) QUOTE (shaun3701 @ Oct 14 2010, 08:11 PM) QUOTE (ColdFireYYZ @ Oct 14 2010, 08:35 PM) I am not offended by Neil's lyrics in BU2B, even though I disagree in some ways. Its still a great song imo. As for Faithless, I think what Neil is saying is that hope and love is his faith, not "God" and "religion". Someone can call him faithless for not believing in religion, but to him hope and love are his "faith". Thats how I interpret the lyrics. I still don't know what he's "quietly resisting". Is someone trying to force religion on him? I understand it because I have the same attitude about it as Neil. Plus he describes it in detail in Roadshow. It's not that anyone is literally forcing religion on Neil but it's hard not to feel either ostracized or pressured sometimes when you're on the other side of a vast majority in terms of worldview.   I just moved back to my hometown of Texarkana in east Texas last year after living in Austin for 20 years. I really still like the town but believe me, I don't dare let anyone around here know that I'm not religious. I think I'm just about the only one who isn't. It was shocking to see the difference. Try wearing a Cleveland Browns jersey and sit in the middle of a group of Pittsburgh Steeler fans in their stadium and you'll get the picture. You could probably sit there quietly and be ok but you darn sure wouldn't start booing the other team.   Anyway, no point in going on other than just to try to help explain Neil's perspective. maybe it's the areas where he's at or living. seems like it's the opposite of where i'm living in ny. neil should move to nyc area where it's super liberal and he'll fit right in. just the other day they had an in your face playgirl van that drove up and parked right near a school and was there for at least 1 hour. coincidence? you make the call. neil spoke his peace on s & a but now, for all of the talk about how it's in his face and he will "quitely resist", he's doing the same by "preaching". I don't think Neil's all that liberal in the political sense. I know I'm damn sure not. There's a lot of confusing overlap between religion and politics but they aren't the same thing. I'm a very conservative person with all purely political things like economic and foreign policy, I'm just not religious. Neil describes himself as libertarian. I don't think those lyrics in question have anything to do with his local environment anyway, I think he's looking at it from a universal or global view like most of his writing.

[ReflectedLight]

QUOTE (snowdog2112 @ Oct 15 2010, 08:56 AM)

QUOTE (ReflectedLight @ Oct 15 2010, 06:37 AM) QUOTE (snowdog2112 @ Oct 14 2010, 09:45 PM) QUOTE (shaun3701 @ Oct 14 2010, 08:11 PM) QUOTE (ColdFireYYZ @ Oct 14 2010, 08:35 PM) I am not offended by Neil's lyrics in BU2B, even though I disagree in some ways. Its still a great song imo. As for Faithless, I think what Neil is saying is that hope and love is his faith, not "God" and "religion". Someone can call him faithless for not believing in religion, but to him hope and love are his "faith". Thats how I interpret the lyrics. I still don't know what he's "quietly resisting". Is someone trying to force religion on him? I understand it because I have the same attitude about it as Neil. Plus he describes it in detail in Roadshow. It's not that anyone is literally forcing religion on Neil but it's hard not to feel either ostracized or pressured sometimes when you're on the other side of a vast majority in terms of worldview.   I just moved back to my hometown of Texarkana in east Texas last year after living in Austin for 20 years. I really still like the town but believe me, I don't dare let anyone around here know that I'm not religious. I think I'm just about the only one who isn't. It was shocking to see the difference. Try wearing a Cleveland Browns jersey and sit in the middle of a group of Pittsburgh Steeler fans in their stadium and you'll get the picture. You could probably sit there quietly and be ok but you darn sure wouldn't start booing the other team.   Anyway, no point in going on other than just to try to help explain Neil's perspective. maybe it's the areas where he's at or living. seems like it's the opposite of where i'm living in ny. neil should move to nyc area where it's super liberal and he'll fit right in. just the other day they had an in your face playgirl van that drove up and parked right near a school and was there for at least 1 hour. coincidence? you make the call. neil spoke his peace on s & a but now, for all of the talk about how it's in his face and he will "quitely resist", he's doing the same by "preaching". I don't think Neil's all that liberal in the political sense. I know I'm damn sure not. There's a lot of confusing overlap between religion and politics but they aren't the same thing. I'm a very conservative person with all purely political things like economic and foreign policy, I'm just not religious. Neil describes himself as libertarian. I don't think those lyrics in question have anything to do with his local environment anyway, I think he's looking at it from a universal or global view like most of his writing. how bout a liberal libertarian?

[WCFIELDS]

QUOTE (ReflectedLight @ Oct 14 2010, 11:56 AM)

just hit the skip button dude.

I've been doing that way too much in the last 20 years.......especially on S&A. That could've been a 3 song EP for me.

[GeminiRising79]

I think Neil's trying to convert anyone who listens to/reads his lyrics. Seems Dawkins is Neil's new pilosophie du jour, I don't get people who have to latch onto a newer philosophy and wear it on their arm. Is it just to preoccupy their mind until its all over? You can stand behind any philosophy, but u will never know the truth about life until its over. It's stupid and arrogant to think you have any clue about what's going on here.

[snowdog2112]

QUOTE (GeminiRising79 @ Oct 15 2010, 09:02 AM)

I think Neil's trying to convert anyone who listens to/reads his lyrics. Seems Dawkins is Neil's new pilosophie du jour, I don't get people who have to latch onto a newer philosophy and wear it on their arm. Is it just to preoccupy their mind until its all over? You can stand behind any philosophy, but u will never know the truth about life until its over. It's stupid and arrogant to think you have any clue about what's going on here.

How is this Neil's "new philosophy"?

 

Have you ever read the lyrics to decades-old songs like Freewill and Roll the Bones? Neil has been consistent all along. Why is it stupid and arrogant for non-believers to think they have a clue any more than for believers?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[tjtull]

QUOTE (snowdog2112 @ Oct 15 2010, 10:09 AM)

QUOTE (GeminiRising79 @ Oct 15 2010, 09:02 AM) I think Neil's trying to convert anyone who listens to/reads his lyrics.  Seems Dawkins is Neil's new pilosophie du jour, I don't get people who have to latch onto a newer philosophy and wear it on their arm.  Is it just to preoccupy their mind until its all over?  You can stand behind any philosophy, but u will never know the truth about life until its over. It's stupid and arrogant to think you have any clue about what's going on here. How is this Neil's "new philosophy"?   Have you ever read the lyrics to decades-old songs like Freewill and Roll the Bones? Neil has been consistent all along. Why is it stupid and arrogant for non-believers to think they have a clue any more than for believers? I have to agree (not to get embroiled in a religious debate). Neil has been a proponent of free thinking and one controlling one's own destiny, all along. I mean, the VERY first song on the VERY first RUSH album Neil penned lyrics for is all about free thought/free actions. It just so happens that this is an extension of that theme; deciding for yourself if you want to follow a prepackaged dogma or follow your own conscience.

[Duck]

I'm in partial agreement with the OP.

 

I think BU2B really belongs on S&A due to the theme of it.

 

I enjoyed S&A more than any recent Rush album. Also, as a humble agnostic, Neil devoting almost an entire record on his anti-religious introspection only bothered me a little bit, and this is why:

 

I realize that many other people take a lot of comfort in their beliefs. This includes much of my immediate family members and friends. It is simply not polite to argue with people over such metaphysical/religious beliefs.

 

I'm willing to give Neil a pass on that because as an artist, he should push boundaries, which he did. But he did this in a big way in not just a song or two, but based an entire Rush album on exploring that theme. I can enjoy the album and let that slide...but...

 

Now if Clockwork Angels is just S&A part deux then I am going to be really disappointed. And having BU2B on there (which is musically good, but lyrically much the same as Faithless) does have me worried that Neil is spending a little too much time in his own head thinking about his loss of belief.

 

Even the title 'Clockwork Angels' hints at a continuation of S&A in some form.

 

I'm hoping for a fresh album with a lot of new lyrical concepts. The inclusion of BU2B also has me worried.