How many listens to "like" a Rush album?

[clintonb]

A lot of posters on this forum say that you sometimes have to listen to a Rush album several times before you start liking it.

 

I'm curious how long it took some of you guys and gals to start to like various albums. Or how long did it take to form a final opinion (positive or negative) about an album.

 

 

Moving Pictures

This was my first introduction to Rush and hard rock in general. It took a while to appreciate it because I originally thought hard rock was kind of noisy. Tom Sawyer never really did it for me (still doesn't). But I soon was hooked by YYZ, Camera Eye, and Limelight.

 

Signals

I hated this album so much at first. It didn't sound like Moving Pictures. It just sounded weird. But after a couple years, it became one of my favorites. Still not crazy about Chemistry. Took me a while to like Countdown.

 

Exit... Stage Left

Loved it immediately. Still do.

This is the album that really made me a Rush fan. I now had to get all the albums!

 

A Farewell to Kings, Hemispheres, Permanent Waves

Loved them immediately. Still do.

 

2112

Musically I liked it right away. But the shrieking priests really turned me off. I finally got used to it after about a month.

 

Rush, Fly by Night, Caress of Steel

Took me a little while to get used to the vocals.

 

Grace Under Pressure

The sound changed again. took a couple listens to appreciate some of the songs.

 

Power Windows

It took me probably a month to get accustomed to the keyboard sounds and glossy production.

 

Hold Your Fire

Liked this one pretty quickly. After Power windows, I was accustomed to the keyboards.

 

Presto

This is the first Rush album where I really started disliking a lot of the tracks (War Paint, Superconductor, and more). Formed my opinion on this in about a week.

 

Roll the Bones

I think this one took me a little longer than Presto to appreciate. Disliked Heresy, Neurotica, Face Up immediately. Still dislike them. Took me a while to get used to the rap on Roll the Bones.

 

Counterparts

Liked this pretty quickly because of Animate, Stick it Out, Double Agent, and the instrumental.

 

Test for Echo, Vapor Trails, Snakes & Arrows

I pretty much disliked these immediately.

I'd read people's raves about these albums. What was I missing? Why wasn't I "getting it". I'd try to listen to them again and again, but it was really hard. I never did learn to appreciate these albums.

 

Clockwork Angels

I wasn't that crazy about it at first. It had some of the issues I hated about the prior three albums. But it also had some good elements that the prior three albums didn't have. So I learned to like this album after about a week. It took several days just to absorb it all.

Edited July 31, 2012 by clintonb

[Steely Caress]

Your path is similar to mine in every aspect except I got both Moving PIctures and Signals straight away. They were my two first Rush albums and made me a fan for life.

[Silas Lang]

The albums Rush, CoS, 2112 and ATWAS made me a fan in late '80/early '81. Through Exit Stage Left I loved everything immediately. The synth era I didn't like nearly as much at the time and largely ignored Rush after Grace until Presto which I enjoyed more then. Only later on did GUP and Power Windows really become firm favorites while Presto and RTB haven't measured up as well over time. From Counterparts forward S&A was the one I didn't like so much initially but after a few years I've changed my opinion on it significantly.

[rugen]

The first spin, i am excited

The second, i enjoyed very much

And successive listening, i enjoyed less and less...

 

It's the same pattern with every type of music, unless it's the band Unexpect, who try to do so complex time signatures, that i need a couple of more listening session.

[OGr8imL84AD8inF8sBlackSedan]

Still don't like T4E....Never been able to "spin more than a few tmes.

[tel]

QUOTE (OGr8imL84AD8inF8sBlackSedan @ Jul 31 2012, 06:19 AM)

Still don't like T4E....Never been able to "spin more than a few tmes.

agreed...applied also to vapor trails

also struggled a little with s&a but after five or six spins it won me over.

[Xanadoood]

QUOTE (RUDT @ Jul 31 2012, 04:26 AM)

The first spin, i am excited The second, i enjoyed very much And successive listening, i enjoyed less and less... It's the same pattern with every type of music, unless it's the band Unexpect, who try to do so complex time signatures, that i need a couple of more listening session.

What?

[bluefox4000]

Let's see....

 

All of the 80's albums I liked Immediately with the exception of GUP. Still Can't enjoy that one. HYF was a real grower....used to loathe it up to about 2 years ago.

 

70's materiel is a mixed bag. 2112 the song clicked right off the bat, while side 2 never gelled. AFTK Took about 4 spins to really get in the groove. COS Was amazing from spin 1. Hemispheres.....Cannot spin side one anymore.....Don't like it at all. Side 2....magic from the start. And forget about the first 2 albums. Lost on me completely.

 

90's....I only thoroughly enjoyed RTB....I know, i know

It took about 8 spins Though. I only enjoy spinning half of Counterparts. Forget about the mess that is T4E.

 

VT sucks, S&A grew on me after Years of Listens. CA...I've listened to the most, in an attempt to get the stardust that is in people's eyes for it.....Lots and lots of spins. No real connection yet.

 

Wow....that's it.

 

Mick

[deathlikesilence]

power windows took a few months to enjoy

[AddictedRushian]

70s material: it took a couple spins to really appreciate their longer songs. I really only listened to the first couple minutes of their longer songs. Then I realized that everything in those songs are connected and I loved it and still do! As for the shorter ones, they grew on me pretty quickly. Madrigal and Tears were probably the only ones that took time to get used to.

 

80s: Loved MP, PeW right off the bat. PW was pretty much after 2 spins (approx.). Signals was catchy for me. I loved the sound of the guitar but I felt at first some of the songs should have been shorter. Now, I think they are all great. HYF had some great songs from first listen. I didnt bother too much for the latter half but after a few listens, I think the album is almost flawless (thanks a lot Tai Shan...). Presto, great tunes, still doesn't blow me away as I haven't listened to all of them in great detail but its slowly growing.

 

90s: RTB is still growing. Dunno if I will enjoy it in the end... doesn't seem too great. Counterparts... Magnificent. TFE took a very very very very long time to appreciate the songs. I really enjoy it now. Having given it patience was worth it.

 

00s: Vapor Trails kind of hit me in the face, in a good way, the first time I listened to all of them twice. I really love it. Feedback, I haven't bothered to be honest. Snakes and Arrows was great for a short period of time. Some songs are great, some are alright. CA was Rush's first album that came out during my love for Rush so it personally did the job after one listen. Slowly, its getting a tad boring (at least some songs are).

[LedRush]

My first introduction to Rush was RTB, which I liked immediately. After that I listened to Exit Stage Left, which I also liked. I was still a little young, though, and didn't delve deeper into Rush for another year or two.

 

After that, I borrowed Chronicles and loved everything up through Subdivisions immediately. I didn't like anything after it and didn't appreciate them for at least 10 years after that listen.

 

More recently, I loved S&A immediately upon release, based on the strength of Far Cry and the instrumentals, but the more I listened to the other songs, the less I liked them. A couple of the others are ok, but they never grew on me.

 

So:

Rush through Moving Picutres - immediate

Signals - about a year or two

GuP through HYF - about a decade (as I got older, I liked more mellow music).

Presto - It took me a few years to like several songs, but I still don't love the album.

RTB - Immediate

Counterparts - I immediately like it because it was hard, but came to dislike a majority of the songs, and now see it as Rush's worst album by a mile.

T4E - Immediate

VT - It took me about 20-30 listens over 3 years to really appreciate the album. The two singles are the two worst songs on the album, so that really slowed me up.

S&A - Liked it immediately, than liked everything other than Far Cry and the instrumentals less as time went on.

CA - Immediate (except 7COG)

[rugen]

QUOTE (Xanadoood @ Jul 31 2012, 08:50 AM)

QUOTE (RUDT @ Jul 31 2012, 04:26 AM) The first spin, i am excited The second, i enjoyed very much And successive listening, i enjoyed less and less... It's the same pattern with every type of music, unless it's the band Unexpect, who try to do so complex time signatures, that i need a couple of more listening session. What? this :

[apetersvt]

The following I loved from the first listen:

ATWAS, 2112, AFTK, Hemispheres, PeW, MP, ESL

 

The following took me awhile to love:

Rush, FBN, COS, Signals, GUP

 

Clockwork Angels is probably in that second group but it needs to stand up to time after the hype is gone before it gets true love.

 

I like the following albums, but don't love them. They probably got a 'like' from me on their first listen just because they are Rush:

Counterparts, VT, Feedback S&A.

 

Not counting the remaining live albums I don't care too much for the albums not mentioned and certainly don't care about the greatest hits albums.