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Keyboards aren't real!


staunchally
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Watching BTLS now and am struck by Alex saying "Keyboards aren't real". Alex's setup is purely electronic. Are only acoustic instruments real? What is he saying?

 

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QUOTE (staunchally @ May 21 2011, 05:13 PM)
Watching BTLS now and am struck by Alex saying "Keyboards aren't real". Alex's setup is purely electronic. Are only acoustic instruments real? What is he saying?

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It's ironic that he speaks against keyboards and the keyboard era, when that era represented the end of consistently great Rush albums, and introduced an era of sporadic output and even more sporadic greatness and consistency.

 

I always think it's funny when people take what the members of a band say about their own music more seriously than a fan's opinion (not like the OP is doing this, mind you). It's like Yes always putting down Tales From Topographic Oceans, their best album. Just because you're in a band doesn't mean you're the most objective about what you produce. In the end, their opinions are almost as subjective as anyone elses.

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QUOTE (rushgoober @ May 21 2011, 07:22 PM)
QUOTE (staunchally @ May 21 2011, 05:13 PM)
Watching BTLS now and am struck by Alex saying "Keyboards aren't real". Alex's setup is purely electronic. Are only acoustic instruments real? What is he saying?

This post influenced by beer trink38.gif

It's ironic that he speaks against keyboards and the keyboard era, when that era represented the end of consistently great Rush albums, and introduced an era of sporadic output and even more sporadic greatness and consistency.

 

I always think it's funny when people take what the members of a band say about their own music more seriously than a fan's opinion (not like the OP is doing this, mind you). It's like Yes always putting down Tales From Topographic Oceans, their best album. Just because you're in a band doesn't mean you're the most objective about what you produce. In the end, their opinions are almost as subjective as anyone elses.

Good points Rushgoober. Just saying Alex was brilliant in his "supportive" role of that period. Much more challenging than being an "in your face" guitar player.

 

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QUOTE (staunchally @ May 21 2011, 05:31 PM)
QUOTE (rushgoober @ May 21 2011, 07:22 PM)
QUOTE (staunchally @ May 21 2011, 05:13 PM)
Watching BTLS now and am struck by Alex saying "Keyboards aren't real". Alex's setup is purely electronic. Are only acoustic instruments real? What is he saying?

This post influenced by beer trink38.gif

It's ironic that he speaks against keyboards and the keyboard era, when that era represented the end of consistently great Rush albums, and introduced an era of sporadic output and even more sporadic greatness and consistency.

 

I always think it's funny when people take what the members of a band say about their own music more seriously than a fan's opinion (not like the OP is doing this, mind you). It's like Yes always putting down Tales From Topographic Oceans, their best album. Just because you're in a band doesn't mean you're the most objective about what you produce. In the end, their opinions are almost as subjective as anyone elses.

Good points Rushgoober. Just saying Alex was brilliant in his "supportive" role of that period. Much more challenging than being an "in your face" guitar player.

Yes, I suppose so. I say it that way as I tend to look at the overall picture of how great a song is or album is, much more so than what the specific instrumentation is or dominance of any instrument or not. If a song is great or an album is great, I just don't care if it's keyboard heavy or guitar heavy, or both (or neither for that matter). The keyboard era was FILLED with great songs. Since then, unfortunately, it's been much more miss than hit.

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Alex has a nasty habit of not knowing when to shut up. If keyboards aren't real, then by that logic the band is non-existent. How many songs of theirs literally have no keyboards and how many of those are generally liked?
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Is he saying that theyre not real instruments or not real sounds? Big difference. You play a keyboard the same way you play a piano, so it's an instrument. On the other hand, the sounds that synthesizers make are all electronic, hence "synthesizer". But they're controlled by an instrument.
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QUOTE (Tarkus406 @ May 21 2011, 09:57 PM)
Is he saying that theyre not real instruments or not real sounds? Big difference. You play a keyboard the same way you play a piano, so it's an instrument. On the other hand, the sounds that synthesizers make are all electronic, hence "synthesizer". But they're controlled by an instrument.

This. I think when saying they "aren't real", he's talking about the sounds they're programed to make. It's true that the sounds aren't real, but it's all in the playing really.

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QUOTE (Scars @ May 21 2011, 07:18 PM)
Alex has a nasty habit of not knowing when to shut up. If keyboards aren't real, then by that logic the band is non-existent. How many songs of theirs literally have no keyboards and how many of those are generally liked?

it's the booze...

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I think he was being facetious. Lighten up, guys. laugh.gif
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QUOTE (HowItIs @ May 22 2011, 01:20 AM)
I think he was being facetious. Lighten up, guys. laugh.gif

like really, is he ever serious in a conversation

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I'm pretty sure he's being facetious. After all, with all the rack effects he's run through over the years, could he ever say his guitar sounds real? It's a long time since Alex has been a guitar straight to amp guy.
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QUOTE (staunchally @ May 21 2011, 07:13 PM)
Watching BTLS now and am struck by Alex saying "Keyboards aren't real". Alex's setup is purely electronic. Are only acoustic instruments real? What is he saying?

This post influenced by beer trink38.gif

If you think a guitar string is purely electronic maybe you should drink more beer

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QUOTE (staunchally @ May 21 2011, 08:13 PM)
Watching BTLS now and am struck by Alex saying "Keyboards aren't real". Alex's setup is purely electronic. Are only acoustic instruments real? What is he saying?

This post influenced by beer trink38.gif

This post not influenced by beer. But maybe later ones will be http://media.bigoo.ws/content/smile/party/party_7.gif

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QUOTE (Oracle @ May 21 2011, 09:08 PM)
QUOTE (Tarkus406 @ May 21 2011, 09:57 PM)
Is he saying that theyre not real instruments or not real sounds? Big difference. You play a keyboard the same way you play a piano, so it's an instrument. On the other hand, the sounds that synthesizers make are all electronic, hence "synthesizer". But they're controlled by an instrument.

This. I think when saying they "aren't real", he's talking about the sounds they're programed to make. It's true that the sounds aren't real, but it's all in the playing really.

Yeah. I don't think he meant it literally. In the context of the interview, it seemed to me that he was trying to make the point that the band's sound could be much more creative and "real" with his guitar ability. The synthesizer sound was a little colder and less "real" sounding and he was feeling a bit pushed aside in the creative process.

 

Just my .02......

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QUOTE (staunchally @ May 21 2011, 05:13 PM)
Watching BTLS now and am struck by Alex saying "Keyboards aren't real". Alex's setup is purely electronic. Are only acoustic instruments real? What is he saying?

This post influenced by beer trink38.gif

My take on it is that he was saying (in a polite Canadian way) that he was pissed off because his territory was being stepped on by all of the keys.

 

I've read interviews in which he stated that he didn't know when he should come into the song due to the excessive use of keys. As a lead guitar player, he must have been somewhat frustrated.

 

When I listen to Power Windows, I wonder how it would sound without the sequencers stepping all over Grand Designs or Middletown Dreams. What would it sound like with Alex providing the fill instead of those gawdawful gadgets?

 

Hold Your Fire, while brilliant in many aspects, must have been the last straw for him. He stepped it up on Presto, but the way it was mixed was disappointing to me. Too thin and ball-less, in my opinion.

 

This post has also been influenced by beer. tongue.gif

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Even Geddy responded back by saying that Alex plugs into his own version of synthesizers. I have a feeling that discussion may have been an injoke between them.
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QUOTE (circumstantial tree @ May 23 2011, 06:45 PM)
Even Geddy responded back by saying that Alex plugs into his own version of synthesizers. I have a feeling that discussion may have been an injoke between them.

Possible. It could also be a point of contention, too.

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I definitely dont think he was kidding. I think he was being genuine in his dissatisfaction with the direction the band was taking on Power Windows and Hold Your Fire. Remember, the closest these guys ever came to breaking up was after HYF when there was tension about all this.

 

And Alex is right, they aren't real. Also, they are the devil to rock music.

 

Alex is the heart and soul of Rush and is the main reason they became what they became. Anytime, you ask an incredible player like that to take a back seat to a bunch of pre programmed keyboards, you're making a big mistake.

 

Shockingly, PoW seems to be a fan favorite on message boards, but the hardcore ones that understand the soul of Alex's playing undertand how brutal that album and HYF were to the real core of this band.

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QUOTE (LeaveMyThingAlone @ May 24 2011, 01:32 PM)
I definitely dont think he was kidding. I think he was being genuine in his dissatisfaction with the direction the band was taking on Power Windows and Hold Your Fire. Remember, the closest these guys ever came to breaking up was after HYF when there was tension about all this.

I don't think he was joking about his dissatisfaction either. But I do think he was joking about the actual comment about them not being real. The guy is always joking anyways. He certainly seems to be the kind of guy that'd toss in a joke/comment like that even though he really was pissed off about taking a backseat to Geddy's overuse of keyboards.

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QUOTE (LeaveMyThingAlone @ May 23 2011, 11:32 PM)
I definitely dont think he was kidding. I think he was being genuine in his dissatisfaction with the direction the band was taking on Power Windows and Hold Your Fire. Remember, the closest these guys ever came to breaking up was after HYF when there was tension about all this.

And Alex is right, they aren't real. Also, they are the devil to rock music.

Alex is the heart and soul of Rush and is the main reason they became what they became. Anytime, you ask an incredible player like that to take a back seat to a bunch of pre programmed keyboards, you're making a big mistake.

Shockingly, PoW seems to be a fan favorite on message boards, but the hardcore ones that understand the soul of Alex's playing undertand how brutal that album and HYF were to the real core of this band.

So you can't be a hardcore fan of Rush if you like Power Windows?

 

It's my third fave and one of my faves to play on guitar (been playing for 34 years now).

 

I have an interview with Alex where he calls HYF their best yet (admittedly this was in 1987 and he was obviously pushing the new album).

 

The so-called keyboard era was full of great guitar IMO.

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