Which is better?

[Gompers]

[greyfriar]

S&A isn't that bad for me. There are a few songs that I like. BUT CA is really a quantum leap forward since S&A. I love to sink into the clockwork universe.

[rushgoober]

[Nootch]

QUOTE (metaldad @ Jul 12 2012, 02:39 PM)

Who the hell said S&A ? Oh yeah, the deaf

[Nootch]

Clockwork Angels (5) 3.416666667 stars to Snakes & Arrows (6) 3.307692308 stars

 

I like both, a lot!!!

[metaldad]

QUOTE (Nootch @ Jul 13 2012, 08:55 PM)

QUOTE (metaldad @ Jul 12 2012, 02:39 PM) Who the hell said S&A ? Oh yeah, the deaf Eat my brown eye

[ILSnwdog]

QUOTE (treeduck @ Jul 12 2012, 02:40 PM)

The Angels are better... But I have no problem with S&A, it's a pretty good album...

This.

[aaronrusso]

i really do like snakes and arrows, but clockwork angels is just so much better

[ILSnwdog]

QUOTE (Rushman14 @ Jul 13 2012, 12:48 AM)

CA has chunks of S&A in it's stool.

Come on Monkeyman. Far Cry, A & S, Spindrift, TMMB, and Mal Nar seriously rock. S&A is a quality release, and we don't need to detract from that to make the point that CA is an incredible piece of work.

[New World Kid]

My thoughts:

 

Clockwork Angels has a lot of good music to it. And this is some of the hardest stuff we've gotten from the band.

 

But a few things keep Clockwork Angels from beating out Snakes and Arrows for me.

 

One is Ged's voice. I have a really hard time getting past how deteriorated it sounds. But that's been talked about.

 

Another is the "story" concept. There really isn't a story to Clockwork Angels. People praise Neil for creating lyrics that in one light tell a story, and another light stand alone, but that's really not the case. A few songs stand alone... BU2B, Wish the Well, The Garden... but many songs try too hard to allude to the story, like Caravan, Seven Cities of Gold, etc. And to me, it doesn't add up. Unlike other story albums, like Tommy, The Wall or Scenes from a Memory as random examples, I can't latch onto a plot here in Clockwork Angels. I can see pieces of one, sure. There is a Watchmaker. There is a protagonist who is living life. But what happens to him? He works in a Carnival for awhile? He fell in love with someone who was a jerk? After that, I really have no idea. The story just doesn't come to fruition to me. And part of telling a story is having a point. A climax. Where is the climax in Clockwork Angels? I just don't see it.

 

Snakes and Arrows, on the other hand, is beautifully mastered. And many of the lyrics just grab you by the balls. Now granted, some of the execution on these lyrics are a bit... bobbled. Faithless' verses are... bad.

 

But nothing grabs me on Clockwork Angels in the same way Snakes and Arrows' best did. That's not a knock on Clockwork Angels though, it's just that when Snakes and Arrows was on, it was on.

 

Such is my opinion.

Edited July 14, 2012 by New World Kid

[HowItIs]

QUOTE (rushgoober @ Jul 12 2012, 12:33 PM)

I understand that the results will be a little skewed this early on in the game, but I'm still thinking CA is going to blow S&A out of the water on this poll. What say you?

Guess you were right!

 

I do like CA better. I never skip any songs on it. I sometimes do on S&A.

[ColdFireYYZ]

Snakes and Arrows is a good album but CA blows it away.

[WCFIELDS]

S&A has about 3 good songs, CA has about 5.... Edited July 14, 2012 by WCFIELDS

[troutman]

CA by far,

 

All though I wish there had been at least one instrumental.

[Weakly Criminal]

Edited July 14, 2012 by Weakly Criminal

[spock]

My own theory (long held) is that Rush takes 2-3 albums to lead up to one (of many over the years) magnum opus ------ and then they change direction again.

 

WARNING: what's about to follow is STRICTLY my opinion, exaggerating only for maximum effect. I expect no one else to agree.

 

I view CA as 2112, where VT might serve as FBN, S&A as Caress of Steel, and finally the idea is fully realized in CA. Heavy rhythm, lighter on riffs, walls of sound, more acoustic than of old, mandolin, maybe one to many choruses, LOTS of songs. Not complainin', just observing.

 

It's another series that's reached its climax and I think the next Rush album will be something else completely different again.

 

Or, not...

[GeddysMullet]

I think Snakes And Arrows is a wonderful record and I will never forget those amazing beautiful gigs, but Clockwork Angels is more ambitious, more cohesive and more energetic. As good as Snakes And Arrows is, Clockwork Angels is just better.

[TheAccountant]

Many of Rush's albums take time and repeated listenings to sink in (for me). I can already tell CA will be one of those. As I have said several times elsewhere, in the case of Presto it took about 20 years before it really sank in and I got the album. Counterparts took about 15 years.

 

With S&A the first time I listened to the albums one song clicked and I sensed several other had potential. The next listen, one of those clicked. The next listen, another song clicked and so on till a big chunk of the albums had clicked with me. A few songs never really have but thats ok.

 

Since CA came out I just have not had the time to really sit down and listen to it a lot (family issues, work issues, working on preparing a ranking of all the rest of Rush's work (man that has been hard) etc). Have only listened to it all the way thru, start to finish about 6 times. I like big parts of it but I can just tell it will take a long time for the thing to really sink in.

 

So my answer at this point is:

 

(1) ask me again in about 15 years, CA should have fully sunk in around that point. Then I should really be able to provide a good answer.

 

(2) at this point my vote goes to S&A. Like more of the S&A songs at this point and I like them more than the CA songs that I like. I don't dislike CA but it just has not clicked fully with me - yet.

[LeaveMyThingAlone]

Clockwork Angels is everything that makes Rush great wrapped up in a 68 minute masterpiece.

 

Snakes and Arrows is a "Far Cry" (wink, wink) from the Rush I fell in love with in the 80's. In fact, it's the furthest thing from the progressive, hard rocking, risk taking musicians that killed it in the 70's and 80's.

 

I love Far Cry and Malignant Narcissism. I like Main Monkey Business and The Way the Wind Blows. The rest I just don't care for...and it just feels musically beneath them.

 

Clockwork Angels is a top 5 for me and that won't change in 10 years

 

 

[JohnnyBlaze]

Hey! I was the 100th voter that made it 87%! I should get some kind of gooby snack!

http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Arts/Arts_/Pictures/2010/11/2/1288695700184/Scooby-Doo-006.jpg

[Pause Rewind Replay]

I like every song on S&A more than I do "The Garden"

 

And I voted for CA

 

Why? Because the other 10 actual songs (BU2B2 is a public service announcement: 90 seconds of "the hero is bummed") on CA are so excellent (seriously... HLF is my 10th best song on the album?!?) that it can easily afford one clank.

 

I like S&A a lot, but when I get down to comparing Bravest Face, Faithless and Good News First to Carnies, Wreckers and HLF, the contest is over

[Pause Rewind Replay]

oops... double post Edited July 15, 2012 by Pause Rewind Replay

[lifeson90]

a few days ago i decided to give CA a break after non stop play since release really... i was one of those rush fans who, for some reason over the years, thought s&a was slightly below par in parts, and as such havent really been listening to it a lot in the past year or two but.....

 

on taking my CA hiatus i had to listen to something occasionally so gave s&a a tryout, finding almost immediately that in some way CA has vastly expanded my appreciation for s&a

 

i dunno, there just seems to be a lot more going on in s&a now, things i hadnt appreciated before... like for example i knew good news first was a pretty good tune but now its elevated to probably one of the best rush tracks i ever heard.... and everything about s&a seems generally more laid back, bursting into power moments every now and then, which is the way i like my rush

 

CA is a great album with 4 or 5 truly great tracks on it but, as an album in entirety it lacks the balance of s&a and other classic rush albums like permanent waves for me. its just too frenetic most of the time, which is ok when you need some rush power prog but i always enjoyed the ups and downs of a great rush album even in my youth, and i need em more now i think

 

anyone else gained a finer appreciation of s&a since CA release?

Edited July 15, 2012 by lifeson90

[Weakly Criminal]

QUOTE (spock @ Jul 14 2012, 03:14 PM)

My own theory (long held) is that Rush takes 2-3 albums to lead up to one (of many over the years) magnum opus ------ and then they change direction again. WARNING: what's about to follow is STRICTLY my opinion, exaggerating only for maximum effect. I expect no one else to agree. I view CA as 2112, where VT might serve as FBN, S&A as Caress of Steel, and finally the idea is fully realized in CA. Heavy rhythm, lighter on riffs, walls of sound, more acoustic than of old, mandolin, maybe one to many choruses, LOTS of songs. Not complainin', just observing. It's another series that's reached its climax and I think the next Rush album will be something else completely different again. Or, not...

This deserves a thread.

[GeddyRulz]

QUOTE (Weakly Criminal @ Jul 14 2012, 04:13 PM)

CA is more upbeat and I like that, and have they ever put instrumentals on back to back albums?

Not only have they had instrumentals on back to back albums, they've had instrumentals on back to back to BACK albums! RTB, CP, and T4E: three studio albums in a row, each with an instrumental.

 

But yeah, I'm not upset that there isn't one this time.