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Would you listen to / purchase Headlong Flight if


rushgoober
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I know this might be a tricky question/exercise as I doubt anyone, myself included, can truly have this level of objectivity, but pretend Rush didn't exist and you happened to be listening to the radio or someone whose musical taste you were compatible with gave you an MP3 of Headlong Flight. Is it something that you honestly think you would pursue based solely on the quality of the song, without having the history, curiosity and loyalty to Rush you now have?

 

I know some will find this an impossible question, but consider that you're introduced to new music all the time and you hear songs by new groups to you often. Usually you'll only give a new band one chance - maybe two or three if someone highly recommended it, or if you were intrigued by it, but weren't completely sold yet. How would you feel if that new band was Rush, and that new song was Headlong Flight?

Edited by rushgoober
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Personally, I don't know that I would get into it too much.

 

Without the emotional attachment of time and dedication to the band, I think if I came across this song on the radio or someone highly recommended it to me, I'd find it interesting, but I don't think it's something I'd necessarily pursue. I would probably say - great musicians but it's kind of a bit heavy for my tastes without enough variation in the song. It wouldn't be enough to grab me and make me want to hear it more the way say songs from Moving Pictures initially grabbed me when I had never heard Rush before all those years ago. Tom Sawyer and Red Barchetta and Limelight grabbed me IMMEDIATELY and I was completely blown away. wub.gif

 

I don't think Headlong Flight would have had anywhere near the same impact. no.gif

Edited by rushgoober
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I wouldn't be in to it too much either. Now contrast that with the first time I heard Raider II from Grace for Drowning. That freakin' hit me between the eyes and to this day I could play it hour after hour and analyze the shit out of it.

 

My opinion...

Edited by friendlyfloridian
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Goobs

 

You are right this is a difficult thing to answer or speak to - all I can think about is where was I when I first heard Rush to begin with back in the day? My musical tastes then were still evolving and being a fan of music in general, I was always up for something new and interesting. And at the time I was ripe for discovering Rush as my tastes were becoming more eclectic - I was in high school and was discovering all kinds of music. Yes and Jethro Tull were two bands I had been exploring, so Rush was a natural step.

 

So I think I would personally approach it with a certain level of interest and curiosity. If a friend specifically asked me to listen I would be more apt to judge it based on his/her opinions. Which was exactly how I got into them in highschool, a friend introduced me to them.

 

And yea, Ged's voice would surprise me now just like then at first. But its unique enough (as is every other aspect of this band) that I am sure I would investigate a little more deeply.

 

And then after finding their entire back catalogue was so rich and diverse I would promptly renounce all of their new material as inferior to everything they did before Signals!

 

Okay that last bit was a joke!

 

2.gif tongue.gif

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No, I wouldn't listen to it.

 

Over the years, there have been plenty of Rush songs that I didn't find immediately appealing but eventually came to like. Some tunes needed a few listens to grow on me; some actually needed a few years. Given such a history, I'm not even close to being ready to pass judgment on Headlong Flight.

 

But if it were by some new group that I had no history with? I'd find the instrumentation interesting but the vocals relatively unappealing and the lyrics clunky and repetitive. And I'd ditch it to go back to listening to material I already enjoy.

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These kinds of questions are impossible to answer. Would I follow the same sports teams I follow if I wasn't raised in a house that followed them? Would I have chosen to speak English if my parents didn't raise me that way? Would most people choose the faith they belong to if they weren't raised in it?

 

I got completely into Rush when I bought GUP because I thought the album cover looked cool (hey, I was 16). It made me a hardcore fan and I bought the whole catalog within the next 6-9 months. I'm sure back then most Rush fans would have asked the same thing, "Would you buy GUP if you weren't already a fan?"

 

Who the hell knows? More importantly, who cares?! laugh.gif

 

 

 

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Let me tell you a little story....

 

20 years ago, right around this time of the year actually the manager of a little 'ma and pa' record store that I used to visit frequently told me to keep an eye out for a new band called "Dream Theater"... I was like... yeah.. ok.. whatever.

 

A couple weeks later he hands me a cassette with 2 songs from the album they were releasing a month later.. Pull Me Under and Take The Time were the songs I got. I popped that cassette in about a week later and was like HOLY f**k!

 

 

How does this relate to Headlong Flight?

If I didnt know RUSH and I heard that bassline... and then the fairly cool lyrics...and the drum break... and the guitar solo... and...

 

 

Yeah.. I'd buy Headlong Flight... just like I bought Images and Words the day it came out.

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No because i would never have heard it. I don't listen to the radio so unless someone played it for me no.gif
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Probably not.

 

I know it's like beating a dead horse, but Headlong Flight is not melodic enough for me. The combination of strong melody and songwriting, and dynamic, engaging musical arrangements is what got me so hooked on Moving Pictures and Permanent Waves when I first heard 'em. This just isn't quite the same.

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QUOTE (Rushman14 @ Apr 26 2012, 06:45 PM)
I've been listening to Rush for 36 years and therefore cannot answer this objectively.

Me too Rushman. But I can be objective.

 

I can say for sure that I would not purchase HF if it wasn't Rush product.

 

 

 

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QUOTE (wilb1972 @ Apr 26 2012, 10:43 AM)
You are right this is a difficult thing to answer or speak to - all I can think about is where was I when I first heard Rush to begin with back in the day? My musical tastes then were still evolving and being a fan of music in general, I was always up for something new and interesting. And at the time I was ripe for discovering Rush as my tastes were becoming more eclectic - I was in high school and was discovering all kinds of music.

I completely understand that things were different back in the day when we were in our formative years (for those of us who are a little older), so I'm not asking what if you heard Headlong Flight back then, but heard it now as a brand new group. I don't know about you, but even though my musical tastes are much more set in stone then when I was younger and discovering genres for the first time, I still get ridiculously excited when I discover a new song or album or group - even if it's an older group and the group is new to my ears. I think the question can still apply even to those of us who aren't 14 anymore. wink.gif

 

QUOTE (wilb1972 @ Apr 26 2012, 10:43 AM)
And then after finding their entire back catalogue was so rich and diverse I would promptly renounce all of their new material as inferior to everything they did before Signals!

Okay that last bit was a joke!

2.gif  tongue.gif

maybe you're only HALF joking? confused13.gif tongue.gif wink.gif unsure.gif

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The only way you can do this is if you're young, say, and have never heard Rush and HF is the only thing they've ever heard. Otherwise this is an exercise in impossibility because no other band sounds like Rush.

 

It comes to this: At least part of what we love about ANY band is that it is THAT BAND. You can't surgically remove Rush (the "isms", the personalities, the history, the points of reference, all the little nods and winks, the stylings) from a Rush album. I find it difficult to do even theoretically.

 

I realize that's a perfectly shitty answer in the spirit of the question, but... biggrin.gif

Edited by Presto-digitation
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tough question...I think had I never known Rush and I heard this on the radio...yeah...I'd be drawn to it....enough weirdness and interesting stuff going on...

 

its happened before with other bands for me when I hear stuff on one of our college stations...or the local jazz station...sometime I hear stuff and say WHOA what was that?

 

Funny thing is if this has been played here (not sure if it has) it would be on WDVE which is Butt Rock..er...I mean "Classic Rock"...even funnier...it would not fit in well with anything else they play on that station.

 

I mean you can't have Headlong Flight bookended by Bob Seger "just take those old records off the shelf" on the one side and Boston's "More than a Feelin" on the other....

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QUOTE (Presto-digitation @ Apr 26 2012, 12:11 PM)
It comes to this: At least part of what we love about ANY band is that it is THAT BAND. You can't surgically remove Rush (the "isms", the personalities, the history, the points of reference, all the little nods and winks, the stylings) from a Rush album. I find it difficult to do even theoretically.

I completely understand and sympathize with what you're saying.

 

That said, to me the name brand recognition and personal feelings about the group gets their foot in the door with me, where otherwise I might have no interest in even trying, and certainly none of the emotional connections and associations, but the music still has to hold up for it to hold my interest.

 

As an example, recently I've been introduced to more recent Yes and Jethro Tull albums, both groups I truly love. Most all of it I really disliked. Obviously the personal associations I have with these bands matter to me, but it doesn't suddenly make the music great or even good just because I once loved them - it might make it more sad to me that I don't love their new stuff, where otherwise I wouldn't care, but I can at least have enough objectivity to judge the new music on its own merits.

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It must be tough being one of the few on that little island that doesn't like the new stuff. I feel for you. That's the way I felt about SnA. I wouldn't say I disliked it I was just let down a bit. Edited by presto123
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No, because the only music I buy anymore is Rush. With a Spotify subscription for music and Netflix for movies & TV, I never have to buy media. I buy Rush out of loyalty and tradition, that's all.

 

People never want to take that into account when whining about piracy and lowered album sales. It's always conveniently ignored.

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QUOTE (presto123 @ Apr 26 2012, 02:23 PM)
It must be tough being one of the few on that little island that doesn't like the new stuff.

Oh well there is always Justin Beiber's new album ( 3rd ?!?!) called "Believe" in June releasing for some of those folks.

 

I heard he occasionaly pretends to play drums

 

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