Roll The Bones/Counterparts/Test For Echo era

[Blue J]

It's such a great album, and very good listening from beginning to end, or as stand-alone songs, as well. I still get goosebumps with 'Everyday Glory'!

 

Interesting...I've thought for a long time that I'm just a mushy-hearted goofball because when I'm listening to that song and singing along, I get choked up at the line "No matter what they say", at the end of the verses- and then with the drum fill right before the refrain, it goes away. But seriously, yeah, every time I listen to that song, it happens- I get choked up and almost start crying. But then I go back to rocking again, almost immediately. Perhaps I should seek professional help.

 

Counterparts is also an album that 'takes me right back', as you say- more than any other. I was twenty years old when it came out, and I'd been listening to Rush since I was seven. I was in college and working in a record store in 1993, and I skipped class to go get it when the store opened on the day it was released. I remember it was a rainy day in October. I put it on in the car and was just blown away! :)

[Todem]

Some incredible songs came out of that run of albums.

 

Dreamline

Bravado

Roll The Bones

Ghost of a Chance

Animate

Cut to the Chase

Alien Shore

Wheres My Thing

Double Agent

Cold Fire

Everyday Glory

Test For Echo

Driven

Totem

Time And Motion

Resist

Color of Right

 

 

All those tunes to me are great Rush songs. Obviously Counterparts has the meat of that list. Funny, the band was on edge during that session (according to various quotes on the making of this album from Geddy and Alex) and I think that tension added to the edginess the album had. Plus Kevin Shirly did a great job with Peter Collins getting Rush back to their thick power trio sound. Alex used Marshalls, Neil pounded and it was the last album before he started working with Freddy. Not saying Freddy was not a good influence, but Neil's playing has changed since that union.

 

I prefer his approach to the drums pre-freddy. Just my opinion. I understand his need to relearn, and challenge himself to seek other sonic, and playing avenues (more in the pocket, letting the song breath more) but the charm of Neil's playing for me was is incredible attention to detail, writing specific parts for measure of the song etc. While he has had some awesome drumming on Snakes, Clockwork and VT he best output as far as great drums parts was pre-Freddy. I think now he stays more in the pocket and drives the song where as before he was more inclined to go outside the box. Counterparts was the last of it's kind in regards to Neil's approach to drumming.

 

I think Clockwork Angels has a lot of elements of Neil's old school approach (using his ride bell, more rolls and excitement overall, and going outside the box/pocket).

 

Another thing though is I feel Test For Echo has some of Neil's finest work on the drum kit. That one album sticks out as a change. But I don't think he topped it with VT or Snakes. But he sure did with Clockwork.

 

Just my 2 cents.

[JohnnyBlaze]

It's such a great album, and very good listening from beginning to end, or as stand-alone songs, as well. I still get goosebumps with 'Everyday Glory'!

 

Interesting...I've thought for a long time that I'm just a mushy-hearted goofball because when I'm listening to that song and singing along, I get choked up at the line "No matter what they say", at the end of the verses- and then with the drum fill right before the refrain, it goes away. But seriously, yeah, every time I listen to that song, it happens- I get choked up and almost start crying. But then I go back to rocking again, almost immediately. Perhaps I should seek professional help.

 

Counterparts is also an album that 'takes me right back', as you say- more than any other. I was twenty years old when it came out, and I'd been listening to Rush since I was seven. I was in college and working in a record store in 1993, and I skipped class to go get it when the store opened on the day it was released. I remember it was a rainy day in October. I put it on in the car and was just blown away! :)

That's cool. I was 21 when Counterparts came out. The day it came out I listened to it a couple of times before a tennis match I was to play. I was on a team playing in a city league. It was my main hobby at the time...that and Rush. Anyway, I was pumped up before the match and already thinking of the beats and lyrics on Counterparts. The tunes stuck in my head big time. In about an hour I was blasted off the court by some score of like 2-6, 2-6 . I shook the winner's hand and congratulated him then ran to my car to smoke a spliff and listened to Counterparts again and again. Good times with great music. :rush:

[rushgoober]

I don't understand how Roll The Bones / Counterparts / Test For Echo is an era other than they were 3 sequential albums. Mostly I don't see how one can make a blanket comment on them as Counterparts is the only album of merit among that list. T4E had some songs with really bad lyrics, but mostly the album just didn't have any great tracks at all. It wasn't horrible, but I find it fairly worthless. RTB had Dreamline, an excellent song... and not a lot else! There were a couple other decent songs, but at least half that album was pretty bad. Counterparts was a huge return to form for them, and a great rocking unique album in their catalog.

 

It wasn't horrible, but I find it fairly worthless.

 

Coincidentally, this was going to be my review of your post.

 

:P

 

Rush has made a hell of a lot of great studio albums - 15 to be exact. Four of them, however, just don't make the cut - Presto, RTB, T4E & VT. That's just the reality of the situation. Obviously, YMMV.

No it is not, it is simply your reality of the situation, and you don't speak for everybody else.

 

So often I think to put a IMHO at the end of my rants, but it's more fun to see how people react when I don't. :P

[rushgoober]

I don't understand how Roll The Bones / Counterparts / Test For Echo is an era other than they were 3 sequential albums. Mostly I don't see how one can make a blanket comment on them as Counterparts is the only album of merit among that list. T4E had some songs with really bad lyrics, but mostly the album just didn't have any great tracks at all. It wasn't horrible, but I find it fairly worthless. RTB had Dreamline, an excellent song... and not a lot else! There were a couple other decent songs, but at least half that album was pretty bad. Counterparts was a huge return to form for them, and a great rocking unique album in their catalog.

 

It wasn't horrible, but I find it fairly worthless.

 

Coincidentally, this was going to be my review of your post.

 

:P

 

Rush has made a hell of a lot of great studio albums - 15 to be exact. Four of them, however, just don't make the cut - Presto, RTB, T4E & VT. That's just the reality of the situation. Obviously, YMMV.

 

The reality is,

 

You just need to get the hell out of the VW young man! :smoke: :P

 

[John V]

I have a hard time disliking anything they have done. In fact this thread has me listening to "Counterparts" as I type. It is wonderful and I even get tears in y eyes. I admit it.

[GrandDesigner]

I'll always have a lot of love for Test For Echo. Back when I was first getting into Rush (and progressive music in general), my uncle got me Neil's Work In Progress VHS tape and that was the first time I'd heard any TFE songs. I grew to love watching Neil play them (I'd seriously watch this video every Saturday morning for a year), and more importantly talk about them in between playing!

 

I also really like Counterparts, as I think the writing is really strong. RTB is a sack of shit however, and I don't know how they thought Neurotica, YBYL, The Big Wheel and Face Up were good songs. Dreamline is also severely overrated IMO. I actually think the title track is pretty strong, rap section included.

 

I may be the only Rush fan who LOVES Dog Years and Virtuality. The music is superb enough for me to overlook the lyrics (which I don't find that bad either).

[Jon2112]

I have to confess that after discovering Rush at about age 11 (around Power Windows and Signals), and seeing them in concert twice as a teenager, by the time I was in my twenties, I had grown a bit dismissive of their 90s stuff. I was glad they had returned to a hard rock/guitar driven sound, but it might have been too little too late for me.

 

You gotta remember, this was in the post-punk Nirvana grunge heyday. Even Van Halen was passe' to many, as well as a lot of other 70s/80s hard rock acts.

 

Well, like reconnecting with an old friend, I got back into Rush about 10 years ago. I gave those 90s records a chance, and found out there's some pretty tasty treats on them... and some good tours too. My fault for missing out.

Edited April 21, 2013 by Jon2112

[The K Man]

Counterparts is still awesome and remains one of my 5 favorite Rush albums, and Roll the Bones is an album I have always liked a lot.

 

Test for Echo is a solid record, but that's just it: it's just solid. It is for my money their least best studio album to date. I can listen to it and enjoy almost all of it (I always skip over the atrocious Time and Motion), but very little of it wows me.

[LeaveMyThingAlone]

I don't understand how Roll The Bones / Counterparts / Test For Echo is an era other than they were 3 sequential albums. Mostly I don't see how one can make a blanket comment on them as Counterparts is the only album of merit among that list. T4E had some songs with really bad lyrics, but mostly the album just didn't have any great tracks at all. It wasn't horrible, but I find it fairly worthless. RTB had Dreamline, an excellent song... and not a lot else! There were a couple other decent songs, but at least half that album was pretty bad. Counterparts was a huge return to form for them, and a great rocking unique album in their catalog.

 

It wasn't horrible, but I find it fairly worthless.

 

Coincidentally, this was going to be my review of your post.

 

:P

 

Rush has made a hell of a lot of great studio albums - 15 to be exact. Four of them, however, just don't make the cut - Presto, RTB, T4E & VT. That's just the reality of the situation. Obviously, YMMV.

 

i don't entirely disagree with this, though I think Presto and RTB have some gems in them, but overall they aren't up to Rush standards

 

The really interesting thing is that you have Counterparts right smack in the middle of those 5...an absolute masterpiece with a bunch of mediocre albums bunched around it

 

In fact, since Grace Under Pressure I would say Rush has made only 2 masterpieces with Counterparts and Clockwork Angels. Those 2 are in the 76-81 class, but all the rest from that era just don't cut it

[losingit2k]

Unlike some people here(most people) I actually enjoy all of Test For Echo including The Colour Of Right, Dog Years, Virtuality and Carve Away The Stone.

 

You just mentioned the four songs I don't like about the album!

 

:codger:

[rushgoober]

I don't understand how Roll The Bones / Counterparts / Test For Echo is an era other than they were 3 sequential albums. Mostly I don't see how one can make a blanket comment on them as Counterparts is the only album of merit among that list. T4E had some songs with really bad lyrics, but mostly the album just didn't have any great tracks at all. It wasn't horrible, but I find it fairly worthless. RTB had Dreamline, an excellent song... and not a lot else! There were a couple other decent songs, but at least half that album was pretty bad. Counterparts was a huge return to form for them, and a great rocking unique album in their catalog.

 

It wasn't horrible, but I find it fairly worthless.

 

Coincidentally, this was going to be my review of your post.

 

:P

 

Rush has made a hell of a lot of great studio albums - 15 to be exact. Four of them, however, just don't make the cut - Presto, RTB, T4E & VT. That's just the reality of the situation. Obviously, YMMV.

 

i don't entirely disagree with this, though I think Presto and RTB have some gems in them, but overall they aren't up to Rush standards

 

The really interesting thing is that you have Counterparts right smack in the middle of those 5...an absolute masterpiece with a bunch of mediocre albums bunched around it

 

Yep, as far as I'm concerned Counterparts was a HUGE comeback album after the mediocre Presto and often really bad RTB, though both albums had one or two winning songs on them. Counterparts was a triumphant return to form.

[TheAccountant]

Like Goober I am not certain how these 3 albums are an "era". To me they are just 3 consecutive albums.

 

That being said, overall I would say that this "era" has not changed much over the years although my feelings for the albums have.

 

RTB I liked a lot when it came out but it has not stood the test of time at all. Thankfully it has Bravado and Dreamline. Other than that it does not have all that much and I don't play it to much anymore. Counterparts I called CounterFARTS when it came out. As far as i was concerned it was hot air that stank. About 15 years after it came out it finally clicked with me and now I like big chunks of the album. They are a few less then stellar songs but even those are not totally bad. T4E I liked when it came out and still like it. Of course it has the vile Dog Years and Virtuality on it but I disliked them from the start and liked the rest of it from the start so nothing has really changed.

 

Basically one album has gone up in my estimation, one has gone down and one is unchanged.

 

That being said, these albums all came out in the 90's and the 90's (musically) has little or nothing to recommend. It was the era of rap & grunge. I basically stopped listening to new "rock" during the 90's and started to listen to classical in the 90's. Much better than most of the "new" music that came out in the 90's.

 

Presto has been mentioned in this thread and if Presto is included in the conversation then yes, the era has definitely improved over time. Presto was not an album I liked at first but about 20 years after it came out it clicked with me and I like it a lot now.

 

That being said, I don't consider Presto to be any more part of an era with these 3 albums then I consider these 3 albums to be an era. I actually consider Presto to be part of an era that includes HYF and Power Windows. Plus, perhaps Grace Under Pressure and Signals. Why? Something about Neil's lyrics. Presto definitely has (to my ear) a lyrical style that is very similar to HYF & Power Windows and somewhat similar to Grace Under Pressure and Signals. I actually find Counterparts to have a lyrical style that also fits in with Presto, HYF, Power Windows and, to a lesser degree, Grace and Signals. RTB & T4E just have a lyrical style that is different from all of the above mentioned albums and each other. In addition, I find their musical style to be different from each other and any of the other albums.

 

I understand a lot of folks will be saying "synth era ended with HYF. Presto and Counterparts can NOT be included in that era." Thats fair and correct - I am looking at it from a lyrical style, not a musical style. That leaves me saying the "synth era" did not really end until Presto - not because Presto had synths but because of the lyrical style I hear. Then you have FTB which has a style all its own, then counterparts which had a musical style not part of the synth era but a lyrical style which was a throw back. The T4E which is also all off on its own.

[Queen of Megadon]

Some incredible songs came out of that run of albums.

 

Dreamline

Bravado

Roll The Bones

Ghost of a Chance

Animate

Cut to the Chase

Alien Shore

Wheres My Thing

Double Agent

Cold Fire

Everyday Glory

Test For Echo

Driven

Totem

Time And Motion

Resist

Color of Right

 

Yes. This.

 

And FWIW, Presto stood firmly in my top two albums for the longest time (switching places with COS depending on my mood). I "rediscovered" Counterparts about 3 years ago, and it nudged its way between the aforementioned albums for a place in my heart. CP now often sits atop the other 2. That album is bad ass....so much so that I want the nut and bolt for a tattoo...but it seems a little masculine. I will contemplate further while listening in the car shortly. :)

[driventotheedge]

I also like T4E quite a bit. I think the lyrics to Totem stand up well as does Resist (not a favorite of many but hey, to each his own and I like it). Driven remains one of my favorite Rush tunes and likely will remain there. Is it CA? No, but neither is most the synth era stuff either IMO.

[laughedatbytime]

I have a hard time disliking anything they have done. In fact this thread has me listening to "Counterparts" as I type. It is wonderful and I even get tears in y eyes. I admit it.

A lot of us who were around during the 2112-MP era get tears in our eyes when listening to Counterparts.

[The Analog Cub]

Dreamline's an awesome song. Rest of RTB is either their worst work or average at best, but it benefits from live treatment. The title track on Rio and R30 is pretty good, and Ghost of a Chance was a pleasant surprise on the Snakes tour. They should have swapped Where's My Thing for Limbo on the CA Tour, though.

 

Counterparts is awesome, naysayers be damned. Geddy back on the Fender :geddy: Stick It Out-Alien Shore a wonderful 5 song run :haz: Animate's got a really nice groove, as does the weird as hell Double Agent. Speed Of Love is a good guitar song, reminiscent of Alex's guitar work on Grace Under Pressure. LTTA is one of their finest instrumentals, even though none of them are short of great. Cold Fire's a good straightforward rocker with yet more guitar brilliance. Everyday Glory's got some great melodies.

 

Test For Echo is Counterparts' f***ed up in the head little brother. Some moments of brilliance (title track, Driven, Time And Motion, Totem), some absolute shit (Dog Years, and I've really grown to hate Half The World and its repetitive sludge). I give this one a listen every once in a while, because like Counterparts it does indeed rock. Resist is a very nice change of pace for the band, and I always love listening to the acoustic versions of it. "Half the album rocks, while the other half could have used a bit more work..."

[Digital Dad]

This was the period where I didn't listen to Rush at all. I fet they had gotren away from what they really made them special. And now they just sounded like everybody. In fact when T4e dame out i gave it a listen and said I'm really not missing much. I was really getting into some of the outer limits of prog and jazz at that point and didn't listen to much rock at all. Actually thats not totally true because i really liked some of the more contemporary acts of the day as well.

 

Anywhoo ffwd to Vapor Trails and I was really intrigued to where they were going and delved back in again. Bones I could take or leave (am I really the only one who really likes bothHeresy AND Neurotica) but the other two have great moments and I love the stripped down sound on Test. Yes including Dog Years. Hate Virtuality tho. Horrible song ;)

[Duke1]

Have had a month of listening to all the albums again. Counterparts really stood out, still a top 7 for me. Hemispheres, Pictures, Waves, Windows, Angels, Trails, Counterparts.

[Lorraine]

I have a hard time disliking anything they have done. In fact this thread has me listening to "Counterparts" as I type. It is wonderful and I even get tears in y eyes. I admit it.

A lot of us who were around during the 2112-MP era get tears in our eyes when listening to Counterparts.

 

I do too. Apologies to Andrew.

[goose]

I don't understand how Roll The Bones / Counterparts / Test For Echo is an era other than they were 3 sequential albums. Mostly I don't see how one can make a blanket comment on them as Counterparts is the only album of merit among that list. T4E had some songs with really bad lyrics, but mostly the album just didn't have any great tracks at all. It wasn't horrible, but I find it fairly worthless. RTB had Dreamline, an excellent song... and not a lot else! There were a couple other decent songs, but at least half that album was pretty bad. Counterparts was a huge return to form for them, and a great rocking unique album in their catalog.

T4E... great tracks...especially Time And Motion... epic tune

:haz:

 

Listening to it right now!!!