Will CA bring in new Rush fans?

[Gedneil Alpeart]

I find it interesting how younger Rush folks, teens esp., become Rush fans even today, after a new album comes out. At least I assume so! That's pretty cool to me. Can you imagine being a new Rush fan and having ALL this unheard material of the 70s and 80s and 90s still yet to be heard and enjoyed? Makes me envious. Oh, to hear MP for the first time again, or PeW, or PW, or HEM or 2112........maybe they won't like some of that stuff from back then, but maybe they will be blown away and think, "Damn, I've never heard anything like this and I've missed out!!!!"

 

Oh, to hear those albums for the first time.............man..........

 

Listening to Headlong Flight does not sound like a song from a "dinosaur" band to me, and that is pretty amazing. I can see some teens really liking this song for its energy and just "all out rocking" feel. Same goes for Caravan and BU2B.....very fresh, energetic, youthful, angry, full of attitude. In contrast, parts of Snakes and Arrows would I think sound like dinosaur music to some of today's kids, esp. the latter half of the album like Faithless and Bravest Face, even though they are good songs to me. VT sounds very young and youth appealing too.

 

Nice to konw that new Rush fans are born after every album release.....or at least I think they are born!

 

Your thoughts?

[druid13]

Hard to say...funny story...years ago I was working a job where I had several employees most in the high-school to college age...I can remember discussions about music and how much they ripped Rush..."Rush? Who is that...blah blah"

 

you see see they thought stuff like "Kris Kross" ( yes...THAT backward clothing wearing Kris Kross) was "all that"...

 

Well a couple years later I ran into one of these people after they started going to college...suddenly they "discovered" Rush..."Roll the Bones is great" etc etc etc....the backward clothing club apparently was passe.....

 

It was pretty unbelievable...even to me.

 

http://www.vashtie.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/krisskros_431.jpg

[snowdog2112]

Well, there's a lot to answer there but I don't think most young people these days (if they even get a chance to hear it, let's face it, it's not about whether they like it or not if they never even know about it) would go as gaga over something like A Farewell to Kings as you would think. I think they'd probably much prefer stuff from Counterparts on in general.

[rushgoober]

It's hard for me to really say as I'm so out of touch with what kids like today. From other discussions on this board, it seems that QUALITY of music has very little to do with popularity, so you can somewhat throw out the window of how good the new material is in terms of how well it does.

 

That said, I tend to think that their newer material generally draws in very few new fans. Of course there are plenty of exceptions, but it's not like they're releasing material that has the instant accessibility of the music they made from 1976-1987 or so.

 

I would guess that most new fans were either introduced to Rush by existing fans, or maybe they saw the documentary, or maybe they were taken to a concert by an existing fan.

 

People hearing say One Little Victory or Far Cry or Caravan and being intrigued enough to check out their catalog and become fans? I bet it would be the rare exception. I'm sure FAR more people here their classic older material on classic rock radio and then jump on the bandwagon, so to speak.

[treeduck]

To be honest I don't care.

[snowdog2112]

QUOTE (rushgoober @ Apr 26 2012, 02:14 PM)

It's hard for me to really say as I'm so out of touch with what kids like today. From other discussions on this board, it seems that QUALITY of music has very little to do with popularity, so you can somewhat throw out the window of how good the new material is in terms of how well it does. That said, I tend to think that their newer material generally draws in very few new fans. Of course there are plenty of exceptions, but it's not like they're releasing material that has the instant accessibility of the music they made from 1976-1987 or so. I would guess that most new fans were either introduced to Rush by existing fans, or maybe they saw the documentary, or maybe they were taken to a concert by an existing fan. People hearing say One Little Victory or Far Cry or Caravan and being intrigued enough to check out their catalog and become fans? I bet it would be the rare exception. I'm sure FAR more people here their classic older material on classic rock radio and then jump on the bandwagon, so to speak.

What you said is all true but it's just so dependent on exposure. Sure, Tom Sawyer is still more likely to get new fans into Rush than say Circumstances or The Analog Kid or Animate or BU2B but when the hell would someone (especially a young person) ever come into contact with any of those unless they already knew someone who was a fan? I've always thought the whole "radio hit" thing was sort of a chicken and egg scenario. People are conditioned to like what they hear. Is it a hit on the radio because they like it or do they like it because it's on the radio all the time? I feel confident I could take something random and obscure like Cut to the Chase and play it for a month all over the place at sporting events, bumper music for radio and TV, on the radio in place of Tom Sawyer, in commercials, and other places and within a month you'd see a huge surge in Counterparts sales (well, at least downloads). You could do that with almost any song if it's in front of enough people for long enough. People want what they're exposed to, they very rarely go looking for it. There's a reason businesses spend so much on marketing. You could have a product at this point that tastes 10x better than Coke but good luck getting anybody to ever know about it or try it when everybody knows what Coke is.

[metaldad]

Outside of someones kid brother growing up and listening to it , prob not

[Lost In Xanadu]

QUOTE (metaldad @ Apr 26 2012, 03:41 PM)

Outside of someones kid brother growing up and listening to it , prob not

 

I brainwashed both my kids

[metaldad]

QUOTE (Lost In Xanadu @ Apr 26 2012, 03:42 PM)

QUOTE (metaldad @ Apr 26 2012, 03:41 PM) Outside of someones kid brother growing up and listening to it , prob not   I brainwashed both my kids I am starting to as well

[trenken]

Well of course there's always new people jumping on, but if you're talking about masses, not a chance. This is not even remotely close to what people are into these days.

 

You have your rock fans out there that are into simple rock songs like I guess Nickelback would play, and there's a whole serious prog/artsy movement going on, and Rush doesnt fit into either of those categories with these new songs.

 

It's just sort of their own thing so there is just no way a ton of people will hear HF (which isnt happening anyway since it wont get much radio play), and suddenly Rush is huge again. No way. I think most people that know who they are at least by name thought they were dinosaurs decades ago.

[The Cat 3]

My friend from work just e-mailed me that she just downloaded "Headlong Flight" and is loving it.

 

This after I made her copies of Retrospective I, II & III.

 

Yep, she's well on her way to Rush-geekness!

 

 

 

 

[KenJennings]

FWIW, Vapor Trails was the album that actually solidified me as a Rush fan. Before that, I only knew a few of their radio tracks. I picked up Vapor Trails when it came out, and was hooked for life. Edited April 26, 2012 by KenJennings

[Presto-digitation]

Not really. Oh I'm sure SOME. The amount is likely to be negligible. Rush fans buy Rush albums, by and large. But we know this. Edited April 26, 2012 by Presto-digitation

[LeaveMyThingAlone]

Mediums like Rock Band, Guitar Hero and movie like I Love you man are most likely bringing in many more Rush fans than new music ever will. I'm sure there are plenty of new fans and teenagers that will buy CA, but not because they heard Headlong Flight, but because they became a fan as a result of the other stuff

 

Kind of a sign of the times....

[rushgoober]

QUOTE (LeaveMyThingAlone @ Apr 26 2012, 02:32 PM)

Mediums like Rock Band, Guitar Hero and movie like I Love you man are most likely bringing in many more Rush fans than new music ever will. I'm sure there are plenty of new fans and teenagers that will buy CA, but not because they heard Headlong Flight, but because they became a fan as a result of the other stuff Kind of a sign of the times....

I agree. The only thing is, you wouldn't find a song like Headlong Flight (or Caravan or BU2B for that matter) on Rock Band because they simply aren't as good (or catchy or classic) as the old Rush standards that do show up on those kinds of games, so that still fits in with my idea that the majority of people are going to get into the band based on their classic songs, not their new material. Either that or older fans will get people interested, but even then it will mostly be based on their older material.

[Bastille Night]

QUOTE (rushgoober @ Apr 26 2012, 06:05 PM)

QUOTE (LeaveMyThingAlone @ Apr 26 2012, 02:32 PM) Mediums like Rock Band, Guitar Hero and movie like I Love you man are most likely bringing in many more Rush fans than new music ever will. I'm sure there are plenty of new fans and teenagers that will buy CA, but not because they heard Headlong Flight, but because they became a fan as a result of the other stuff Kind of a sign of the times.... I agree. The only thing is, you wouldn't find a song like Headlong Flight (or Caravan or BU2B for that matter) on Rock Band because they simply aren't as good (or catchy or classic) as the old Rush standards that do show up on those kinds of games, so that still fits in with my idea that the majority of people are going to get into the band based on their classic songs, not their new material. Either that or older fans will get people interested, but even then it will mostly be based on their older material.   Actually, Caravan is available as a downloadable song in Rock Band 3.   I actually wouldn't be surprised to see Headlong Flight released at some point over the next few months.

[LeaveMyThingAlone]

QUOTE (Bastille Night @ Apr 26 2012, 06:01 PM)

QUOTE (rushgoober @ Apr 26 2012, 06:05 PM) QUOTE (LeaveMyThingAlone @ Apr 26 2012, 02:32 PM) Mediums like Rock Band, Guitar Hero and movie like I Love you man are most likely bringing in many more Rush fans than new music ever will. I'm sure there are plenty of new fans and teenagers that will buy CA, but not because they heard Headlong Flight, but because they became a fan as a result of the other stuff Kind of a sign of the times.... I agree. The only thing is, you wouldn't find a song like Headlong Flight (or Caravan or BU2B for that matter) on Rock Band because they simply aren't as good (or catchy or classic) as the old Rush standards that do show up on those kinds of games, so that still fits in with my idea that the majority of people are going to get into the band based on their classic songs, not their new material. Either that or older fans will get people interested, but even then it will mostly be based on their older material.   Actually, Caravan is available as a downloadable song in Rock Band 3.   I actually wouldn't be surprised to see Headlong Flight released at some point over the next few months. Was just gonna say this. Amazingly, they DID make Caravan available on Rock Band (and it's hard as sh!t on guitar)   I also agree that I wouldn't be surprised if they release the entire album on Rock Band concurrently. Other bands have done this including Metallica, GnR, and Red Hot Chili Peppers and Rock Band and Rush appear to be doing very well together.   Road Runner is proving to be creative in finding ways to maximize profits so, yeah, look for the entire Clockwork Angels album on Rock Band. Great way to make money in this day of dwindling album sales!

[Gedneil Alpeart]

I dont think Rush or most of us fans care about popularity in the general public, although that perhaps was more important to them at a point early in their career. Im not saying it should be important to gain new fans, but the thought of new fans coming on board so late in their career intruiged me, esp knowing they would hear our favorite Rush songs for the first time. Do you remember hearing MP for the first time? Remember the feeling?

 

As long as Rush satisfies themselves first and fans second with their creations, they will be happy. They have a core fan base they have built up over decades of work that will follow them through thick and thin.....and that will never change. New fans today would be just extra cha ching!

 

[ColdFireYYZ]

I think the only teens that would buy it are ones who are already fans like myself. I know a couple of people my age who are casual fans but they don't really follow the band and buy all their releases.

[Gedneil Alpeart]

QUOTE (ColdFireYYZ @ Apr 26 2012, 07:54 PM)

I think the only teens that would buy it are ones who are already fans like myself. I know a couple of people my age who are casual fans but they don't really follow the band and buy all their releases.

But, you became a fan at one point, right? What drew you in?

[ColdFireYYZ]

QUOTE (Gedneil Alpeart @ Apr 26 2012, 08:56 PM)

QUOTE (ColdFireYYZ @ Apr 26 2012, 07:54 PM) I think the only teens that would buy it are ones who are already fans like myself. I know a couple of people my age who are casual fans but they don't really follow the band and buy all their releases. But, you became a fan at one point, right? What drew you in? I heard the hits on the radio and started listening to them online. I really loved them so I started buying all the studio albums. The few people my age that I know just aren't huge fans and I don't think they ever really will be since most people don't really buy full albums anymore, they just pick a bunch of songs from different bands and download them. Though there always are the exceptions.

[SlyJeff]

If Far Cry couldn't do it, HF won't.

 

The one person I know who listens to rock thought Far Cry was a great tune and always remarked when it came up on my iPod, but he ever got beyond that. I'm sure he'd like HF as well, but probably not quite the standout.

[SchemingDemon]

CA may hook in some new fans, I think it just depends on how much radio play it gets. The classic rock station around here plays a ton of Rush from Working Man through Subdivisions, but rarely anything post-1982. Spirit of Radio is what got me hooked years ago thanks to radio, and I slowly learned to love their entire discography. But I don't recall any newer songs getting airplay, especially when SnA or Caravan or BU2B were released.

 

I think it's typical for younger Rush fans, such as myself, to learn their music in sort of a reverse order. First, I listened to the bigger hits from the 80s played on the radio, especially MP and PeW then ventured back in the 70s with 2112 and FBN for example, then moved forward into the late 80s with GuP and PoW, then into the 90s with CP and RTB, and finally into the 2000s (and was very disappointed with VP ). Now that I've got the entire catalog under my belt, I can really appreciate their newer releases.

 

TL;DR: CA probably won't bring in many new fans, it'll be the classics that draw their attention.

[Captain Avatar]

At the Time Machine tour I was sitting beside a late teen/early twenty-something guy who leaned over and asked me where I had gotten my Rush shirt (starman). I told him about the Rush backstage club and about TRF. He then began asking me about their albums...which ones I liked the best, etc. I quickly deduced that he barely knew anything about a band he had paid good money to see in concert. I thought...

 

 

Come to find out, he had only heard YYZ on Rock Band and liked it so much that he "JUST HAD" to see the awesome band that created "that song" in concert. The rest of the night I had a blast watching the look of joy on his face as he discovered, for the first time, so many Rush songs. This was a guy who had been brought up on the lame music most people listen to these days. I envied him, in that he had a whole new world of music to discover...and what a way to discover it!

 

He was a budding guitarist, and you should've seen the look of disbelief on his face when they played La Villa, as well as Alex's solo at the end of Working Man.

 

I thought it was awesome that, for the first time, I wasn't sitting next to another late thirties/early forties guy, but, rather, someone young who had just discovered the band.

[SchemingDemon]

QUOTE (Captain Avatar @ Apr 26 2012, 08:23 PM)

At the Time Machine tour I was sitting beside a late teen/early twenty-something guy who leaned over and asked me where I had gotten my Rush shirt (starman). I told him about the Rush backstage club and about TRF. He then began asking me about their albums...which ones I liked the best, etc. I quickly deduced that he barely knew anything about a band he had paid good money to see in concert. I thought... Come to find out, he had only heard YYZ on Rock Band and liked it so much that he "JUST HAD" to see the awesome band that created "that song" in concert. The rest of the night I had a blast watching the look of joy on his face as he discovered, for the first time, so many Rush songs. This was a guy who had been brought up on the lame music most people listen to these days. I envied him, in that he had a whole new world of music to discover...and what a way to discover it! He was a budding guitarist, and you should've seen the look of disbelief on his face when they played La Villa, as well as Alex's solo at the end of Working Man. I thought it was awesome that, for the first time, I wasn't sitting next to another late thirties/early forties guy, but, rather, someone young who had just discovered the band.

That's real cool, I bet he was just blown away

 

I wish I had the money to discover new favorite bands like that.