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I would love another synth era type album

fonzbear2000

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fonzbear2000

fonzbear2000

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Even though Clockwork Angels has a bit of orchestra on it, I would really love to hear another album that sounds like the 80's synth era ones. That's my personal most favorite era of Rush and it would be great to hear some more of it one final time. And the entire album doesn't have to be like that, but out 10-11 songs total, it would be great if 4 or 5 of them were heavy on synth. Edited by fonzbear2000
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treeduck

treeduck

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The idea of an era is that it starts at a certain point in time and at a later point it ends, as a new era commences and other eras follow. You can't leap backwards and start some old era up again once it's finished like some kind of music fan Dr Who. It's not just about synths, it's about time and place. The time and place where the synth era existed is gone forever. Even if they did a synth album next it wouldn't be a Synth era album because the synth era ended around 1990. It would either be a throwback retro synth album or a new kind of synth album altogether...

 

:D-13:

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zac2112

zac2112

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Even though Clockwork Angels has a bit of orchestra on it, I would really love to hear another album that sounds like the 80's synth era ones. That's my personal most favorite era of Rush and it would be great to hear some more of it one final time. And the entire album doesn't have to be like that, but out 10-11 songs total, it would be great if 4 or 5 of them were heavy on synth.

To each his/her own but why anyone would want to hear Geddy play a synthesizer instead of his bass boggles the mind!
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Drummerrobin

Drummerrobin

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I'd love to hear another Rush album with lots of synth. Remember that electronic music technology has come on leaps and bounds since the 80s with so many new styles of music since - e.g. house, trance, jungle, ambient, dubstep, etc. Just imagine the possibilities if Rush were to utilise that kind of technology now! I think it could be some of the most ground breaking stuff they've ever done. It's not as if the keyboards ever really got in way of Ged's bass playing - many Rush fans (myself being one of them) agree that his best bass riffs were written in the GUP-HYF synth period. For me it was when the band started to "strip down" try "going back to thier roots" after HYF, the quality of the songs began to suffer. I think they should have continued push the boundaries technology and genre-wise rather than back down like they did. It seems kind of ironic to me how Peart is still pushing things technology-wise when it comes to his solos but when it comes to the band as whole, they just don't seem to bother any more. Porcupine Tree and Muse are still doing it, so why not Rush?
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GeddyRulz

GeddyRulz

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Even though Clockwork Angels has a bit of orchestra on it, I would really love to hear another album that sounds like the 80's synth era ones. That's my personal most favorite era of Rush and it would be great to hear some more of it one final time. And the entire album doesn't have to be like that, but out 10-11 songs total, it would be great if 4 or 5 of them were heavy on synth.

To each his/her own but why anyone would want to hear Geddy play a synthesizer instead of his bass boggles the mind!

 

I totally agree. As Tim Commerford (Rage Against the Machine) said in the documentary: "I'm a bass player, and my favorite bass player playing keyboards?? I'm not too psyched about that."

 

Geddy, by his own admission, is no keyboard player. He's said "I'm only as good as the part I've written" - in other words, he can't jam or otherwise improvise on the keys. Meanwhile, he's a phenomenal bass player!

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GeddyRulz

GeddyRulz

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I would love another synth era type album

 

Can't say I agree, at all!

 

Clockwork Angels is awesome because of its vocal melodies and because IT ROCKS, in an old-school Power Trio way.

 

Keyboard-heavy music doesn't really "rock," in my opinion. To rock, the melody should be played on guitar(s), not keys.

 

Edited to add: the melodic part of the band is Geddy's influence; the "rockingness" part is Alex. The problem with the Keyboard Era (and also if they returned to the Keyboard Era sound) is that it throws the balance of power away from Alex and almost entirely to Geddy. And as a result, we get only melody, and much less ROCKINGNESS.

Edited by GeddyRulz
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zac2112

zac2112

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I would love another synth era type album

 

Can't say I agree, at all!

 

Clockwork Angels is awesome because of its vocal melodies and because IT ROCKS, in an old-school Power Trio way.

 

Keyboard-heavy music doesn't really "rock," in my opinion. To rock, the melody should be played on guitar(s), not keys.

 

Edited to add: the melodic part of the band is Geddy's influence; the "rockingness" part is Alex. The problem with the Keyboard Era (and also if they returned to the Keyboard Era sound) is that it throws the balance of power away from Alex and almost entirely to Geddy. And as a result, we get only melody, and much less ROCKINGNESS.

Besdes that who in the hell wants to air keyboard?
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Xanaseb

Xanaseb

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Completely agree, though I highly doubt it'll happen!! sadly..

I looove the atmosphere and melody that era created

:finbar:

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HomesickAlien

HomesickAlien

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I'd love to hear another Rush album with lots of synth. Remember that electronic music technology has come on leaps and bounds since the 80s with so many new styles of music since - e.g. house, trance, jungle, ambient, dubstep, etc. Just imagine the possibilities if Rush were to utilise that kind of technology now! I think it could be some of the most ground breaking stuff they've ever done. It's not as if the keyboards ever really got in way of Ged's bass playing - many Rush fans (myself being one of them) agree that his best bass riffs were written in the GUP-HYF synth period. For me it was when the band started to "strip down" try "going back to thier roots" after HYF, the quality of the songs began to suffer. I think they should have continued push the boundaries technology and genre-wise rather than back down like they did. It seems kind of ironic to me how Peart is still pushing things technology-wise when it comes to his solos but when it comes to the band as whole, they just don't seem to bother any more. Porcupine Tree and Muse are still doing it, so why not Rush?

 

I'm also a fan of the "synth-era", and while it may be fun to speculate about what might have been, the fact is things began to go wobbly with HYF, so it was probably time to move on from the most contentious and unfairly maligned Rush era. Additionally, Alex rebelled against the keyboards after HYF.

 

The albums that immediately followed (Presto and RTB) may not have been their finest, but at least they were always exploring new musical territory. Sometimes they got lost, but explore they did. :)

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lifeson90

lifeson90

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i luv ged's synths, if you took away his unique bass playing and voice he'd still be worth having for his keyboards alone... i loved the 80s synth era stuff too but i think id rather have more of his current subtle style of keyboards, like in Bu2b for instance you can barely make them out in background which gives the sound even more power imo i love the keyboards in Bu2b some of the best Ged done i would go so far as to even declare them beautiful
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rushfanforever!

rushfanforever!

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The idea of an era is that it starts at a certain point in time and at a later point it ends, as a new era commences and other eras follow. You can't leap backwards and start some old era up again once it's finished like some kind of music fan Dr Who. It's not just about synths, it's about time and place. The time and place where the synth era existed is gone forever. Even if they did a synth album next it wouldn't be a Synth era album because the synth era ended around 1990. It would either be a throwback retro synth album or a new kind of synth album altogether...

 

:D-13:

The idea of an era is that it starts at a certain point in time and at a later point it ends, as a new era commences and other eras follow. You can't leap backwards and start some old era up again once it's finished like some kind of music fan Dr Who. It's not just about synths, it's about time and place. The time and place where the synth era existed is gone forever. Even if they did a synth album next it wouldn't be a Synth era album because the synth era ended around 1990. It would either be a throwback retro synth album or a new kind of synth album altogether...

 

:D-13:

 

Ducky,

Exactly right on the money!

 

:notworthy: :ebert: :notworthy:

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ColdFireYYZ

ColdFireYYZ

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Even though Clockwork Angels has a bit of orchestra on it, I would really love to hear another album that sounds like the 80's synth era ones. That's my personal most favorite era of Rush and it would be great to hear some more of it one final time. And the entire album doesn't have to be like that, but out 10-11 songs total, it would be great if 4 or 5 of them were heavy on synth.

To each his/her own but why anyone would want to hear Geddy play a synthesizer instead of his bass boggles the mind!

Power Windows and Hold Your Fire have excellent bass playing and they're both keyboard heavy. Its not like Geddy quit playing bass during the synth era.

Edited by ColdFireYYZ
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lifeson90

lifeson90

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Anything will be a welcomed-style after CA (and past style of +10 years), imo..

Even a brutal death metal album with Neil doing all lead growls?

i always thought rush had a metallica-type album in them, meaty and extra heavy, they get reasonably close at times but id like to see them do the full treatment a la rush style... being the genius's they are i dont think they too old for it and it'd be really interesting to hear Alex's take in particular on that kinda thing

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fonzbear2000

fonzbear2000

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Again, I didn't say to do it for the ENTIRE album like they did in the 80's. Maybe 4-5 songs on an album with 10-11 songs. And if Rush actually did it, I bet most on here would completly love it despite everything that's been said. And doing it on just one album on a few songs isn't exactly starting up a new era or being a parody of themselves. The Main Monkey Business sure didn't sound like a parody to me. Edited by fonzbear2000
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GeddyRulz

GeddyRulz

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Again, I didn't say to do it for the ENTIRE album like they did in the 80's. Maybe 4-5 songs on an album with 10-11 songs. And if Rush actually did it, I bet most on here would completly love it despite everything that's been said. And doing it on just one album on a few songs isn't exactly starting up a new era or being a parody of themselves. The Main Monkey Business sure didn't sound like a parody to me.

 

Actually, I bet those 4-5 songs would be my least favorite songs on an otherwise good album. Seriously.

 

 

I'm guessing you "I love Rush's keyboard stuff" people are also Prog Heads who want a Proggier sound. But the problem is, Rush was never a Prog band in the same way that bands like Yes and ELP were. Geddy, by his own admission (and our ears confirm it) is no Keith Emerson or Rick Wakeman on the keys. He's only as good as the simple part he's written, and he can't improvise on keyboards, either. Rush is NOT a keyboard-driven band, and was never meant to be; they're a GUITAR-driven band. While the melody of "Subdivisions" is nice and all, for the most part Rush's keyboard stuff only highlights the fact that Geddy is a stellar bassist but he's no keyboardist. For me: "no thank you" to the keyboard-dominant songs. I'd rather take a bathroom break than sit through "Red Sector A." I prefer the harder, guitar-driven (but still melodic) stuff, by far. That's where Rush shines, with their own Power Trio version of "Prog."

Edited by GeddyRulz
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Jaminbenb

Jaminbenb

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They keyboards wouldn't sound like they did in the 80s if they did synth heavy stuff today. It would sound way too out of place. They would have to modern up the sound and give the keys a Dream Theater kind of sound.

 

I agree...unfortunately KEYS don't SOUND like keys anymore...I LOVE ELP, always have, always will...they are probably second on my most played list after Rush, and there's NOTHING like Emerson's sounds on some of those old tunes..but when you listen to the Rudess stuff with DT, you can hardly tell WHAT is keys and what is anything else?!?! (which made me sort of walk away from the newer DT stuff...I just don't dig it like I used to)

 

That said...I like Rush as a three piece...with a little augmentation...not sure I'd really want to see them regress into another "synth" album at this stage of their career...

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