New appreciation for the early stuff

[Captain Avatar]

My introduction to Rush, besides hearing some of the classic rock radio standards like Limelight and Tom Sawyer, was "Hold Your Fire." To this day, I still have a special place in my heart for that album. I think for most Rush fans, the era or album that introduces them to the band remains their favorite. So, I've always been a huge fan of 80's Rush, starting with Permanent Waves and ending with Hold Your Fire. My second favorite era was the nineties, with special appreciation for Roll the Bones and Counterparts. For whatever reason, though, I almost never listened to 70's Rush, with the exception of Hemispheres, which I liked a lot.

 

That has changed with the purchase of Sectors 1. The sound improvement on those early albums is so good, I have been listening nonstop to "Rush" thru "2112" and am beginning to understand why so many Rush fans love that era. Geddy's voice is a wonder to behold, and Alex sounds so different but awesome. Neil is flying all over the place.

 

I am finding that I really love Caress of Steel, an album I could barely listen to before. The Fountain of Lamneth, especially, has really captured my attention, with so many diverse sounds. My favorite is Bacchus Plateau.

 

Anyway, I just wanted to give a "shout out" to early Rush. I'm looking forward to many hours of listening pleasure!

[MCM]

QUOTE (Captain Avatar @ Jan 10 2012, 07:28 PM)

My introduction to Rush, besides hearing some of the classic rock radio standards like Limelight and Tom Sawyer, was "Hold Your Fire." To this day, I still have a special place in my heart for that album. I think for most Rush fans, the era or album that introduces them to the band remains their favorite.

I agree, I call that your "discovery album" My theory is that the album that you first love, is from the era that you will love the most. Mine is AFtK; I love that early stuff. Ged's voice at that time is a wonder.

 

That being said, I do love the synth era also, HYF is a special album for me as that was the first tour that I saw.

 

Good to hear a new CoS convert, that's some good stuff that gets overlooked.

 

[goose]

QUOTE (Captain Avatar @ Jan 10 2012, 07:28 PM)

I am finding that I really love Caress of Steel, an album I could barely listen to before. The Fountain of Lamneth, especially, has really captured my attention, with so many diverse sounds. My favorite is Bacchus Plateau.

Welcome into the fold!

 

[greg2112]

QUOTE (goose @ Jan 11 2012, 01:35 AM)

QUOTE (Captain Avatar @ Jan 10 2012, 07:28 PM) I am finding that I really love Caress of Steel, an album I could barely listen to before.  The Fountain of Lamneth, especially, has really captured my attention, with so many diverse sounds.  My favorite is Bacchus Plateau.  Welcome into the fold!   Damn straight! Caress is amazing. In my top 5 Rush albums easy.

[TheBluePhoenix]

Ugh! Besides Bastille Day and Lakeside Park, COS is a steaming turd. There's a reason the tour was called "The Down the Tubes Tour." It's interesting to me that even a band as great as Rush still drops the occasional turd.

[Jaminbenb]

QUOTE (TheBluePhoenix @ Jan 11 2012, 09:04 AM)

Ugh! Besides Bastille Day and Lakeside Park, COS is a steaming turd. There's a reason the tour was called "The Down the Tubes Tour." It's interesting to me that even a band as great as Rush still drops the occasional turd.

I think that the reason the tour wasn't successful was they stretched out and stopped making "Led Zeppelin Lite" radio friendly music...(and therefore fell out of favor with the DJ's in a time where 3:25 was considered LONG!)

 

 

Personally, except for I Think I'm Going Bald the rest of the album is a masterpiece, and has always been one of my favorite albums! I have a "mix" cd that has everything from CoS (except "bald") 2112, Something for Nothing and Passage to Bangkok on it (since I think that the rest of what's on 2112 is weak in comparison)

 

Caress of Steel was actually the second Rush album I owned, the first was All The World's a Stage (which I got a month after it was first released) and I fell in love with it way back then!!!

[Queen of Megadon]

Oh glory! Another COS convert! It is a happy day

 

 

COS was my discovery (though not of my "era"), and still remains firmly in my top 3. Love it.

[apetersvt]

QUOTE (TheBluePhoenix @ Jan 11 2012, 09:04 AM)

Ugh! Besides Bastille Day and Lakeside Park, COS is a steaming turd. There's a reason the tour was called "The Down the Tubes Tour." It's interesting to me that even a band as great as Rush still drops the occasional turd.

I guess Blue Phoenix forgot to mention that COS contains the best two Rush songs in the entire catalogue: The Necromancer and The Fountain Of Lamneth.

 

 

To me, only Hemispheres is in the same league as COS (with 2112 and AFTK just behind)

[Stormtron]

CoS rules. Old forever.

[tangy]

QUOTE (Storm Shadow @ Jan 11 2012, 10:37 AM)

CoS rules. Old forever.

indeed!

[apetersvt]

Hey, pass that over here.

[ghostworks]

Caress Of Steel is a rare showcase of Rush letting down their guard and playing comfortably with feel and emotion

 

the album that preceded it was just a little uptight (it was the '1st album with the new guy')

 

and the album that followed tried unnaturally too hard to 'be' something, and feels forced and clunky because of it

 

the only other Rush albums that feel as relaxed and natural-sounding to me as Caress Of Steel are Permanent Waves and Moving Pictures

 

 

 

 

 

[Tommy Sawyer]

Caress of Steel is amazing.

[1 of the 7]

Of all Rush's albums, COS has grown on me the most. Snakes too, but not as much. I think it has a lot to do with having realized what Fountain is about, and using that song to help me cope with life changes and recent deaths of loved ones. It's one of those songs that lets me know somebody "gets it". And the kicker is, they were YOUNG when they wrote this, and already had so much insight (so they used drugs to help; luckily that didn't hurt them).

 

I think I'm Going Bald goes along with this topic; it laments the changes we go through getting older, yet describes them with humor and defiance.

 

I've always loved all the different musical styles in The Necromancer. When those prisoners get freed, it's pure joy.

 

Bastille Day? "Power isn't all that money buys"? WOW.

 

Now I just have to grow to like the vocals in Lakeside Park and this album'll go WAY up my list.

[circumstantial tree]

Caress of Steel is the only one I have not yet bought (again) on CD. I became a Rush fan when vinyl was the primary choice, so I have all on vinyl up to Hold Your Fire. Eventually I bought everything again on CD except CAress.

 

I agree it's a great classic album, although I think Fly By Night is much better.

[Captain Avatar]

One of the things I love most about the early albums is the difference in Alex's guitar. It's got such a thicker, warmer sound to it than those 80's synth albums. Don't get me wrong...I love the sound of his guitar from those albums too, but it's just cool to enjoy his earlier sound for a change.

 

I'm kind of glad that I neglected Caress of Steel for so long because I feel like I have a brand new album to enjoy while I'm waiting for Clockwork Angels!

 

 

[wilb1972]

I've always loved Fly by Night, probably my fave of those early albums. The first album is okay, its a good album to put in if you happen to have friends or family around who are not particularly Rush fans, but like that classic rock sound. Caress of Steel is interesting, and while its never been my favorite, I have always liked Bastille Day and The Necromancer.

2112 of course is great.

 

I really really want the Sector sets, but with all of the technical issues, I want to wait ... wonder how long it will take them to correct and re-issue new sets? I sure do not want to buy one of the defective sets.

Edited January 13, 2012 by wilb1972

[canadianice]

My wife got me the Sector box sets for christmas(bless her heart) and all are fine(no glitches) and sound truly stunning

[circumstantial tree]

Signals was my first album and it used to be my favorite, but Hold Your Fire became my favorite pushing Signals down to second place. You may find this interesting, but my third fave is Fly By Night - a completely different album.

[Silas Lang]

QUOTE (Captain Avatar @ Jan 10 2012, 07:28 PM)

My introduction to Rush, besides hearing some of the classic rock radio standards like Limelight and Tom Sawyer, was "Hold Your Fire."  To this day, I still have a special place in my heart for that album.  I think for most Rush fans, the era or album that introduces them to the band remains their favorite.  So, I've always been a huge fan of 80's Rush, starting with Permanent Waves and ending with Hold Your Fire.  My second favorite era was the nineties, with special appreciation for Roll the Bones and Counterparts.  For whatever reason, though, I almost never listened to 70's Rush, with the exception of Hemispheres, which I liked a lot.  That has changed with the purchase of Sectors 1.  The sound improvement on those early albums is so good, I have been listening nonstop to "Rush" thru "2112" and am beginning to understand why so many Rush fans love that era.  Geddy's voice is a wonder to behold, and Alex sounds so different but awesome.  Neil is flying all over the place. I am finding that I really love Caress of Steel, an album I could barely listen to before.  The Fountain of Lamneth, especially, has really captured my attention, with so many diverse sounds.  My favorite is Bacchus Plateau.  Anyway, I just wanted to give a "shout out" to early Rush.  I'm looking forward to many hours of listening pleasure!

It's always great to hear things like this. With Rush, it's always helpful to keep an open mind at least.

 

My introduction to Rush was in 1980 when I received the albums Rush, Caress, 2112 and ATWAS all at the same time. Those were what made me an instant fan, quickly acquiring the rest of the catalog by the time Exit was released. I must say the LPs sounded incredible to me at the time and still do today. They're still way up there among my favorites to this day:

 

#3 - 2112 (definitive classic)

#5- Caress of Steel (a masterpiece from beginning to end)

#6- Rush (mid-70s heavy rock & roll at its finest)

[Capt starman]

I'm also a fan of the early Rush albums. 2112 and Hemispheres had such an influence on me back then. Everyday after school I would put on an album.

[Gilbertk]

Back when I first found all my dad's Rush cd's on the shelf, I tried Moving Pictures first by chance. I don't know why but Tom Sawyer was too weird for me and didn't even try the rest of the album. The only and I mean ONLY song I liked on any album was 'Test for Echo'. I wanted to be cool to my dad so I talked about how much I loved Rush. He always played The Rhythm Method or O' Baterista in the car so we had something to 'bond' over.

 

Then came the S&A tour. We went to the first show of the tour here in Atlanta and I was SO excited to go. Not because of Rush, but because it would be my first concert. WOW. My mind was blown. Seeing it live made it all click (there's a mention of that in BtLS that always makes me smile). I got home that night and stayed up all night listening to EVERYTHING. It would be a year or so before I got into the early stuff (pre-Moving Pictures) but it all just blew me away. I couldn't believe I didn't get it before that night.

 

Now here I am almost 5 years later. I now play bass because of seeing Geddy at that first show. I'm 'that guy' amongst my friends, the one who won't shut the f*** up about Rush. I have been in a Rush cover band (short lived because they wanted to move on to Avenged Sevenfold.. aye..) It's been a long and incredible ride so far. My only regret is that I wasn't born a generation earlier to be with Rush from the start. I hate the thought that I will live (Lord willing) to see the end of Rush. I'm so glad they have so much material to revisit and that they are still making more!

 

All of that being said, the song 'Test for Echo' still brings me back to all of that. I love it and it will always hold a special place in my heart. Rush's music will be with me to my dying day and will allow me to always "Begin the day with a friendly voice, a companion unobtrusive.."

Edited January 18, 2012 by Gilbertk

[goose]

QUOTE (ghostworks @ Jan 11 2012, 01:51 PM)

Caress Of Steel is a rare showcase of Rush letting down their guard and playing comfortably with feel and emotion the album that preceded it was just a little uptight (it was the '1st album with the new guy') and the album that followed tried unnaturally too hard to 'be' something, and feels forced and clunky because of it the only other Rush albums that feel as relaxed and natural-sounding to me as Caress Of Steel are Permanent Waves and Moving Pictures

 

These are my top three. Love top see CoS getting so much love here. Hopefully Clockwork Angels may follow in the vein of CoS in its daringness and pure, honest musicianship, critics be damned!