How do you feel about CA about 1 month in?

[Oakhugginghippie]

QUOTE (SlyJeff @ Jul 8 2012, 09:27 PM)

QUOTE (Oakhugginghippie @ Jul 8 2012, 02:20 PM) I'll give it an 8. I'm a new RUSH fanatic and have constantly listened to RUSH for only one month or so. That means CA competes of my listening time with such classic albums as Moving Pictures , Permanent Waves and A Farewell to Kings. If I find time for CA besides these it can't be worse than 8. The only instant classic song is The Anarchist (The Garden comes close) but there are plenty of songs that are great and then some that still need more listening. I envy you right now. How did you find the band? I heard it fist time when one of my favourite bloggers posted a link to Freewill this March. I was fascinated by the song because of its message, but not enough to listen to their other songs. After that the name of the band popped up in other occasions (a fellow students music player in a park, some stranger in a cool 2112 shirt) and I had to find out more so I put Permanent Waves in my iPod and then my head exploded   I felt so lucky that I still could get the tickets to next year's show in Finland. And I'm sure I've been in some altered state of consciousness for one month now. But myself, I envy those who have known about RUSH for a long time and seen them play live since the 70s or 80s. I wasn't even born back then.

[CruisingInPrimetime]

QUOTE (Oakhugginghippie @ Jul 8 2012, 02:49 PM)

QUOTE (SlyJeff @ Jul 8 2012, 09:27 PM) QUOTE (Oakhugginghippie @ Jul 8 2012, 02:20 PM) I'll give it an 8. I'm a new RUSH fanatic and have constantly listened to RUSH for only one month or so. That means CA competes of my listening time with such classic albums as Moving Pictures , Permanent Waves and A Farewell to Kings. If I find time for CA besides these it can't be worse than 8. The only instant classic song is The Anarchist (The Garden comes close) but there are plenty of songs that are great and then some that still need more listening. I envy you right now. How did you find the band? I heard it fist time when one of my favourite bloggers posted a link to Freewill this March. I was fascinated by the song because of its message, but not enough to listen to their other songs. After that the name of the band popped up in other occasions (a fellow students music player in a park, some stranger in a cool 2112 shirt) and I had to find out more so I put Permanent Waves in my iPod and then my head exploded   I felt so lucky that I still could get the tickets to next year's show in Finland. And I'm sure I've been in some altered state of consciousness for one month now. But myself, I envy those who have known about RUSH for a long time and seen them play live since the 70s or 80s. I wasn't even born back then. Take your time going through the back catalog, and don't expose yourself to too many songs or albums at once. Let one album soak in fully before moving on to the next. Also, it might be cool to leave one song from each album unlistened to. For example, listen to all off Moving Pictures except The Camera Eye, and then go back to TCE at a much later date. I still haven't heard Middletown Dreams, but I've heard every other song from that album (Power Windows) hundreds of times. I know I have a treat waiting for me when I finally decide to listen to it. There's a few songs like that that I am holding out on.

[Oakhugginghippie]

QUOTE (CruisingInPrimetime @ Jul 8 2012, 10:49 PM)

Take your time going through the back catalog, and don't expose yourself to too many songs or albums at once.  Let one album soak in fully before moving on to the next.  Also, it might be cool to leave one song from each album unlistened to.  For example, listen to all off Moving Pictures except The Camera Eye, and then go back to TCE at a much later date.  I still haven't heard Middletown Dreams, but I've heard every other song from that album (Power Windows) hundreds of times.  I know I have a treat waiting for me when I finally decide to listen to it.  There's a few songs like that that I am holding out on.

Thanks for advice (and sorry about off-topic)

[NYM86]

I feel great about it! I pretty much love Rush's entire catalog, and here's 12 more to add to the huge list.

[anchorman]

Please don't get offended folks, this is all my opinion. I realize that some of you may agree with me and that most probably do not. But as this is a forum, I thought I'd chip in my views. This is not an opportunity for me to sh*t on the band. They are my favorite band and I cycle through their music on my Ipod consistently.

 

I think CA is very good. I won't say its great, but its the best music they've done since Power Windows.

 

However.....

 

Geddy's insistence on making this a collection of individual songs that tell a story instead of the 2112 or Hemispheres approach make it less appealing to me. I would have rather they stuck to the longer song format with a collection of other individual songs. The story of CA as told (not in book format) is a little muddy and uninspired through song.

 

 

The guys may be at the top of their playing skills but they sure don't compose at the top of their game anymore. If what they are doing is complicated, then its done so for complication's sake and gets lost on the average listener.

 

For me, they peaked at Hemispheres. The music, the creativity and the vocals will never be achieved again. It took me a long, long time to come to terms with that, but thems the facts.

 

They are a great band, with a great history and their strong following is a testimony to that. But capturing the innovative spirit and drive they once had is a bit too much to ask for in 2012. I can't think of any other band that kept it going and were relevant and cutting edge 40 years in to their careers. To expect that from Rush isn't fair. So....I appreciate them for what they are today and love what they were in years past.

 

1 month in and I think CA is a solid, very good CD.

[Gedneil Alpeart]

QUOTE (anchorman @ Jul 8 2012, 10:13 PM)

Please don't get offended folks, this is all my opinion. I realize that some of you may agree with me and that most probably do not. But as this is a forum, I thought I'd chip in my views. This is not an opportunity for me to sh*t on the band. They are my favorite band and I cycle through their music on my Ipod consistently. I think CA is very good. I won't say its great, but its the best music they've done since Power Windows. However..... Geddy's insistence on making this a collection of individual songs that tell a story instead of the 2112 or Hemispheres approach make it less appealing to me. I would have rather they stuck to the longer song format with a collection of other individual songs. The story of CA as told (not in book format) is a little muddy and uninspired through song. The guys may be at the top of their playing skills but they sure don't compose at the top of their game anymore. If what they are doing is complicated, then its done so for complication's sake and gets lost on the average listener. For me, they peaked at Hemispheres. The music, the creativity and the vocals will never be achieved again. It took me a long, long time to come to terms with that, but thems the facts. They are a great band, with a great history and their strong following is a testimony to that. But capturing the innovative spirit and drive they once had is a bit too much to ask for in 2012. I can't think of any other band that kept it going and were relevant and cutting edge 40 years in to their careers. To expect that from Rush isn't fair. So....I appreciate them for what they are today and love what they were in years past. 1 month in and I think CA is a solid, very good CD.

Nice thoughts! Thanks!

[GeddyRulz]

QUOTE (CruisingInPrimetime @ Jul 8 2012, 03:49 PM)

Also, it might be cool to leave one song from each album unlistened to. I still haven't heard Middletown Dreams... I know I have a treat waiting for me when I finally decide to listen to it.

 

Don't be so sure! It's easily the worst song on the album, IMO.

 

 

 

But what you're describing reminds me of novelist John Irving (World According to Garp, Cider House Rules, etc.). Irving worships the writing of Charles Dickens and has read every Dickens novel dozens of times... except one. Irving has never read Dickens' last novel, "Our Mutual Friend." He has a fantasy scenario where he knows how much time he has left before dying, and will only then read it. He wants a previously-unread Dickens novel to be the last thing he reads before dying.

[Tick]

8...9..10...whatever.

 

The album is great and only a troll feels otherwise.

 

that doesn't mean your a troll if you think its a 7.

Edited July 9, 2012 by Tick

[Good,bad,andrush]

I voted 8 but could be 9 sometimes, even 10.

[Gompers]

Someone believes this is the best release this year.

[metaldad]

QUOTE (Gompers @ Jul 9 2012, 12:30 PM)

Someone believes this is the best release this year.

On that list of shit why would it not be number 1

[metaldad]

I give it an 8

[Tick]

QUOTE (Gompers @ Jul 9 2012, 01:30 PM)

Someone believes this is the best release this year.

Someone has a clue.

[rrzubnyy]

I started listening to RUSH in 1981 as Tom Sawyer grabbed hold of me...I then bought my 1st RUSH album Moving Pictures...A little later Exit..Stage Left was released and that is where I fully understood what RUSH was as that album had some of their best songs recorded live at the time...I then bought everything and listened to every song from RUSH-Permanent Waves...I am a huge fan of the older material as that was all I was used at the time..But I also adapted to the newer material after MP and was never disappointed and understand why they made changes to their sound during the years.....Now this brings me to Clockwork Angels....

 

This is their 1st album where I listened to every song over and over and over again since Moving Pictures....I always loved the new releases as their 1st single was always a great song....Subdivisions, Distant Early Warning, The Big Money,Force Ten, Show Don't Tell, Stick It Out, Test For Echo, One Little Victory, Far Cry were terrific 1st singles.....But usually the rest of the songs from those albums didn't grab hold of me like Clockwork Angels has....I really enjoy every song on this new album...I think some of it has to do with some of their earlier sound is all over this album....Just think of how many songs or older albums(74-82) where you can hear those sounds in Clockwork...I think they did a tremendous job with this album....My favorites are The Anarchist, Seven Cities of Gold , Headlong Flight and the Title track. A lot of people judge a song with the lyrics....I make my judgements with their music....Now of course I read all of Neil's lyrics but it will not change an opinion of a particular song....I can't wait for the tour to start!

[Silas Lang]

9 and their best since Power Windows (with VT as runner up). No weak tracks to be found here and deserving of a place in my top ten Rush albums. In another month I could even raise that to a 10.

[tas7]

Well as the OP has stated it's been a month. On the day it was released a life long friend of mine died after a long battle with cancer. Clockwork Angels has disturbed me and is one of the most thought provoking albums ever. Sure there are similarities with 2112 but I personally can identify with some of the themes that are behind it.

 

When I was growing up I like other Rush fans could identify with some of the ideas from Moving Pictures onwards. Tom Sawyer,the misfit in Subdivisions or some of the people in Emotion Detector.

 

But this album has me disturbed, The Watchmaker deciding on how long you have and fate and circumstance a la Freewill influencing our lives. It has made me aware of my mortality as I pass a half century on the planet.

 

"learning that we're only immortal for a limited time"

Edited July 10, 2012 by tas7

[lifeson90]

four masterpieces that would grace any rush album

 

the rest ranging from very good to decent

 

an excellent rush album that could have been one of the Great ones

[eshine]

Of course the critics are always vocal, and the harsher the louder, but this is way of the messageboard world and as such, fans who take it to the other extreme and cannot handle an ounce of critcism are equally annoying. (I perfectly admit to falling into the latter at many times over the years

 

My feeling for Clockwork Angels is that for any fan who has invested a lot of time in Rush over the years and honestly just does not enjoy it - well, what a shame. You are truly missing out.

[eshine]

QUOTE (tas7 @ Jul 10 2012, 03:53 AM)

Well as the OP has stated it's been a month. On the day it was released a life long friend of mine died after a long battle with cancer. Clockwork Angels has disturbed me and is one of the most thought provoking albums ever. Sure there are similarities with 2112 but I personally can identify with some of the themes that are behind it. When I was growing up I like other Rush fans could identify with some of the ideas from Moving Pictures onwards. Tom Sawyer,the misfit in Subdivisions or some of the people in Emotion Detector. But this album has me disturbed, The Watchmaker deciding on how long you have and fate and circumstance a la Freewill influencing our lives. It has made me aware of my mortality as I pass a half century on the planet. "learning that we're only immortal for a limited time"

So sorry to hear that.

 

I agree that despite the fanstastical world of steampunk and some of the "flights of fancy" in Clockwork Angels, this truly is one of the most evocative sets of songs I have heard from the band in years.

 

Kudos to Neil. He said he wanted to write a lyrical triumph, and I think he nailed it.

[ThinkingBig]

QUOTE (rushgoober @ Jul 5 2012, 04:33 PM)

I started a thread called "The I Love Clockwork Angels Thread." It's gotten some positive responses, but I notice it has nowhere near the amount of posts that some of the more negative threads get. That made me think that maybe the album really isn't getting as great a reception as it deserves. It seems that the negative backlash is more intense that I would have thought, and it came a lot faster than I expected, faster even than for S&A. But then I looked at the thread titles in this sub-forum. Most of them are actually pretty positive. I'm guessing that what SEEMS to be dragging opinion down is mostly a handful of people who are being very vocal, and that the reason the negative threads get so many responses is that they're a magnet for trolls, as well as the same people who are really down on the new album (who aren't necessarily trolls), and of course those kinds of posts get a lot of fiery response going. So let's see about 1 month in what the response REALLY is. How are people feeling about the new album?

Negative people are always more intense because they are less happy and they want to spread their misery.

 

They're like sick people who enter a room coughing and sneezing on everyone else.

 

 

I say f**k 'em if they can't hear the greatness that is CA.

 

 

 

[rushgoober]

We're now at 79% rating it from 8-10, 89% rating it from 7-10 and 94% rating it from 6-10! The average score is 7.99. Not too shabby for a band making their 19th studio album 38 years after their debut! It really makes you see how the naysayers are in a TINY minority among Rush fans...

[1-0-0-1-0-0-1]

7 - Very good album - mostly very strong - well worth owning.

 

Keeping in mind that, after a month, MP and PeW would rate a 10, and RTB a 3.

[Gompers]

QUOTE (1-0-0-1-0-0-1 @ Jul 10 2012, 12:14 PM)

7 - Very good album - mostly very strong - well worth owning. Keeping in mind that, after a month, MP and PeW would rate a 10, and RTB a 3.

[ReflectedLight]

its a 6 for me. 5 tracks i can listen to and the rest is forgettable. i haven't been listening to it much lately though.

[GeddyRulz]

QUOTE (rushgoober @ Jul 10 2012, 11:10 AM)

It really makes you see how the naysayers are in a TINY minority among Rush fans...

I'm glad you finally see it. I knew it all along.

 

The album is almost univerally praised among Rush fans. Very very few detractors.