Official Clockwork Angels Initial Reactions thread

[trenken]

[Presto-digitation]

I've never cried to a Rush song either (have to some other artists/songs), but I can understand being moved by a lyric, a melody, a moment in your life that gels with some song you're listening to. It's not silly at all. Music is a very powerful art. Why can't that be a Rush song to someone? Edited June 11, 2012 by Presto-digitation

[willowroolz]

Crikey, I used to have emotional responses to Rush songs a lot, usually during particular Lerxst solos. I remember the first time I heard 'The Pass', 'Mission', and 'Subdivisions' every blimmin' time I see them play it live. The guy's solos have the ability to reduce me to a quivering wreck

 

I think it's fair to say that I have liked the last few albums without being genuinely thrilled by them, apart from the odd track. The last one I was genuinely thrilled by was 'Hold Your Fire'. I remember chasing around London's West End trying to find it on the day it was supposed to be released, only to find that it had been delayed. Then I got all the way home and saw an advert in Kerrang magazine for a shop called Shades in Soho, and it said they had it in stock (this was in the days before the internet, of course! ). So off I went, all the way back up into central London, searching for this shop which was buried in a basement in a little alleyway, and sure enough they had an imported copy of it. Bought it, raced home to listen and had a huge emotional reaction to it. I remember sitting there listening to it and several times getting a lump in my throat and tears in my eyes.

 

With the exception of the odd track on the subsequent albums I've never had another strong reaction like that. 'Clockwork Angels' is in the process of bucking that trend, but it's taken a few listens. I waited until I received the fanpack before listening to it. My initial reaction was a little mixed, just too much to take in at first. I've listened to it eight times now, and I'm finding it's getting better and better with each listen. At about midnight last night I had the headphones on. 'The Wreckers' had just started, Ged starts singing, and suddenly there it was: lump in throat, tears in eyes.

 

I can't get into 'Carnies' and don't really see the point of 'BU2B2'. I'm loving 'The Anarchist', 'Wish Them Well', 'The Garden' (although I don't like the repetition of the lyric at the end of it). The title track is immense, as are 'Headlong Flight' and 'Seven Cities of Gold'. I am even liking the remixes of 'Caravan' and 'BU2B', which I hadn't been keen on until now.

 

I'm finding, at the moment, that it's an album that demands to be listened to from start to finish. Time will tell where exactly it fits into my personal rankings of the albums, but at the moment - for me - it's their best since the 80s. Can't wait to hear this material live.

Edited June 11, 2012 by willowroolz

[ArrowSnake]

QUOTE (willowroolz @ Jun 11 2012, 09:47 AM)

At about midnight last night I had the headphones on. 'The Wreckers' had just started, Ged starts singing, and suddenly there it was: lump in throat, tears in eyes.

I love The Wreckers. The chorus gets me everytime. Love how Geddy sings it.

[Gompers]

Wish Them Well...the chorus is starting to drive me up the wall because of one simple thing I wish would go away. The back-up, high singing Geddy. I would like to mix that out.

[willowroolz]

Just to add, as I listen to it again, that this sounds like a band having a huge amount of fun - you can almost see the smiles on their faces as they're playing. I'm finding their obvious confidence in the material quite infectious

[EmotionDetector]

QUOTE (Gompers @ Jun 11 2012, 08:10 AM)

Wish Them Well...the chorus is starting to drive me up the wall because of one simple thing I wish would go away. The back-up, high singing Geddy. I would like to mix that out.

 

I agree...that part automatically makes me think 'VT outtake'.

[metaldad]

In a few hrs i will know what everyone is going crazy or bitching about

[rushgoober]

QUOTE (metaldad @ Jun 11 2012, 02:23 PM)

In a few hrs i will know what everyone is going crazy or bitching about

knowing your tastes, i think you'll really dig a lot of it!

[Hakky2112]

The album is merely and purely unreal.

Can't stop listening to it.

[Gedneil Alpeart]

QUOTE (Hakky2112 @ Jun 11 2012, 05:01 PM)

The album is merely and purely unreal. Can't stop listening to it.

It is awesome!

[losingit2k]

QUOTE (Gedneil Alpeart @ Jun 11 2012, 05:02 PM)

QUOTE (Hakky2112 @ Jun 11 2012, 05:01 PM) The album is merely and purely unreal. Can't stop listening to it. It is awesome! Clockwork Angels gets better with every run through! I have to stop myself from listening to it just to get things done around the house! I've been listening to so often my dog has learn how to use the toilet out of necessity!

Edited June 11, 2012 by losingit2k

[The Owl]

I listened to the leak, but I eagerly await cranking this tomorrow, on a good system...

 

OH HELL YEAH

[ReflectedLight]

QUOTE (metaldad @ Jun 11 2012, 04:23 PM)

In a few hrs i will know what everyone is going crazy or bitching about

i think you said you like caravan and bu2b which i don't, but if you like those two you'll like the rest of it or almost all of it. than again you may have your expectations too high and be disappointed. 50/50 shot.

Edited June 12, 2012 by ReflectedLight

[Lerxster]

Wow, how did this get to page 2?

 

Okay, here goes. It's great! Feels so strong. Really like the new versions of the first two songs. Title track is just amazing. That transission into the Watchmaker "bluesy" section.. it just sends my brain into a dreamy fuzz. Wow. Anyway, The Anarchist reminds me somehow of Yes.. kinda proggy as well, although not as much as CA. No doubt a grower. Carnies was one that I know I will need to digest more. I was just trying to keep up Halo Effect is nice. 7 Cities just grabbed me on this first listen- really strong song. HF is still awesomeness. BU2B2 is interesting. Wish Them Well I dig quite a bit. Even from the walmart leak, I knew there was something there. It's a very likeable song. And The Garden.. whoa, that was magnificence. I felt the emotion.. I even felt my eyes start.. just start to mist. Wow, now that's powerful.

 

First listen was headphones. Now that the house is up, it's time to play it this through the Yamahas. Ha hassss!!!

[PocketWatch]

I find with all new Rush albums these days, i.e., past 20 years or so, that it's impossible to decide from one listen what I think of an album. They always sound chaotic! I've listened to CA twice now and still have no opinion. It usually takes me about eight listens before I can form an impression.

[Godeater2112]

QUOTE (Presto-digitation @ Jun 10 2012, 11:27 PM)

I've never cried to a Rush song either (have to some other artists/songs), but I can understand being moved by a lyric, a melody, a moment in your life that gels with some song you're listening to. It's not silly at all. Music is a very powerful art. Why can't that be a Rush song to someone?

I'm not whatsoever an emotional person but twice in my life I've been overwhelmed by a song.

 

The first time was hearing the live version of Resist for the first time, a short time after a couple of my best friends passed away in a cottage fire.

 

The second time was the past week, hearing "The Garden" for the first time absolutely floored me. The most emotionally powerful new Rush song I've ever heard since getting into Rush.

 

A couple of the side B tracks still are not grabbing me like the rest of the album, but it's still early and I can't stop listening to this baby.

 

[Gompers]

The only song that ever moved me to tears was Mama by Genesis when I thought it was about the unborn speaking to it's mother before it was aborted. Edited June 12, 2012 by Gompers

[EmotionDetector]

Well...I haven't yet opened the vinyl, but the covers look fantastic!

 

The main one is the back cover...looks awesome! Better than the CD IMO!

 

http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t100/EmotionDetector/IMG_0041.jpg

 

http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t100/EmotionDetector/IMG_0042.jpg

[Cygnus The God Of Balance]

I'll comment on the album after I listen to it all the way through (which I am in the process of doing right now), but I just wanted to say how much it sucks living in a town with no record store. I didn't get around to ordering it online, so I planned to go to the dreaded Wal-mart to buy it today. After scouring the music section, I couldn't find it at all. I was pissed. I went down the street to K-Mart and the girl there said the only new stuff they got today was Usher and some other stuff. I walked over to the "R" section and there was one, single copy of Clockwork Angels! I told her that she did have it in, and she said that was the only copy they got.

 

I was ready to drive over to Canada to buy a copy.

 

Yay....they sent one copy to K-Mart just for me!!!

 

 

[Stormtron]

QUOTE (EmotionDetector @ Jun 12 2012, 11:50 AM)

Well...I haven't yet opened the vinyl, but the covers look fantastic! The main one is the back cover...looks awesome! Better than the CD IMO! http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t100/EmotionDetector/IMG_0041.jpg http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t100/EmotionDetector/IMG_0042.jpg

I'm jealous, mine isn't here yet. Can't wait to play it!

[Cygnus The God Of Balance]

Ok, I have just finished my first complete listen through, front to back, without interruption, of Clockwork Angels. Listened in my headphones.

 

Let me first comment on how airy this CD sounds. It doesn't feel heavy or weighted down by over production. Sometimes there can be that thick feeling when too many layers are put on, and that doesn't seem to feel to be the case.

 

So A+ on production and mixing.

 

I also really like the retooling of Caravan and BU2B. There are some things that are audible now that felt buried a bit in the originals.

 

In my feeling, excluding Caravan and BU2B, after the first listen, there are three absolute gems on this CD that stand head and shoulders above everything else on this CD: the title track, Headlong Flight and The Garden. I really like The Wreckers and Wish Them Well too. A couple more listens and some of the others might grow more on me. I thought the weakest song(s) are Halo Effect and "Boo-2-Bee-2" (as I will now refer to that song as).

 

I don't really know how to express how absolutely beautiful The Garden is to me. It is like nothing Rush has ever done. Lyrically, Neil is at perhaps his most poignant ever, ("The measure of a life is a measure of love and respect/So hard to earn, so easily burned" might be the greatest lyric ever written by Pratt) and Ged's voice is just so lilting it adds a whole unique feel to this song. And I think Al's solo is just simply amazing and adds just the right touch.

 

The title track with all it's sonic boominess and time and feel changes (Rush playing the blues--how unexpected and amazing). The sure do cram a lot into seven and a half minutes in this song, but it doesn't feel like it. It moves along great and ends without feeling like a long song.

 

I was blown away the first time I heard Headlong Flight. It's a straight ahead rocker, and reminds me a lot of some of the tunes on Counterparts.

 

Thanks, Rush, for another amazing musical journey! I can't wait to listen the next 50 times.

[HigherWater]

Listening to my digital copy for the second time. I hate to say this-- It's probably too soon, but this album is amazing. It's so well constructed. Ahhh, the lost art of album-making is alive and well. It usually takes me a week or two to get with a new album. But this one is immediate. Even the songs that were released early sound better as a part of the whole.

 

First impression: Best album since Counterparts

[ALifeson85]

QUOTE (Cygnus The God Of Balance @ Jun 12 2012, 11:59 AM)

Ok, I have just finished my first complete listen through, front to back, without interruption, of Clockwork Angels. Listened in my headphones. Let me first comment on how airy this CD sounds. It doesn't feel heavy or weighted down by over production. Sometimes there can be that thick feeling when too many layers are put on, and that doesn't seem to feel to be the case. So A+ on production and mixing. I also really like the retooling of Caravan and BU2B. There are some things that are audible now that felt buried a bit in the originals. In my feeling, excluding Caravan and BU2B, after the first listen, there are three absolute gems on this CD that stand head and shoulders above everything else on this CD: the title track, Headlong Flight and The Garden. I really like The Wreckers and Wish Them Well too. A couple more listens and some of the others might grow more on me. I thought the weakest song(s) are Halo Effect and "Boo-2-Bee-2" (as I will now refer to that song as). I don't really know how to express how absolutely beautiful The Garden is to me. It is like nothing Rush has ever done. Lyrically, Neil is at perhaps his most poignant ever, ("The measure of a life is a measure of love and respect/So hard to earn, so easily burned" might be the greatest lyric ever written by Pratt) and Ged's voice is just so lilting it adds a whole unique feel to this song. And I think Al's solo is just simply amazing and adds just the right touch. The title track with all it's sonic boominess and time and feel changes (Rush playing the blues--how unexpected and amazing). The sure do cram a lot into seven and a half minutes in this song, but it doesn't feel like it. It moves along great and ends without feeling like a long song. I was blown away the first time I heard Headlong Flight. It's a straight ahead rocker, and reminds me a lot of some of the tunes on Counterparts. Thanks, Rush, for another amazing musical journey! I can't wait to listen the next 50 times.

 

"The measure of a life, is a measure of love and respect - so hard to earn, so easily burned", imo, is as powerful as "Turn around and walk the razor's edge; don't turn your back and slam the door on me" from The Pass...just one of those lyrics that give you goosebumps

[ALifeson85]

QUOTE (HigherWater @ Jun 12 2012, 12:07 PM)

First impression: Best album since Counterparts

My immediate thought, exactly