An Enemy Without Posted July 16, 2013 Share Posted July 16, 2013 My post sure has hit a nerve.... I guess, In the End, there's no accounting for taste! I guess some enjoy that taste... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theanalogmiddleagedman Posted July 17, 2013 Share Posted July 17, 2013 Let's put this in perspective. Here we are complaining about Virtuality and I hear this on the radio this morning..."I'm hot sticky sweet from my head to my feet." 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Analog Grownup Posted July 17, 2013 Share Posted July 17, 2013 Let's put this in perspective. Here we are complaining about Virtuality and I hear this on the radio this morning..."I'm hot sticky sweet from my head to my feet." If people think some of Neils lyrics are goofy, they'll probably stab their eardrums out when they hear all the crap that's on radio :codger: 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rushgoober Posted July 17, 2013 Share Posted July 17, 2013 Let's put this in perspective. Here we are complaining about Virtuality and I hear this on the radio this morning..."I'm hot sticky sweet from my head to my feet." If people think some of Neils lyrics are goofy, they'll probably stab their eardrums out when they hear all the crap that's on radio :codger: the point is very well taken... but that still doesn't make the song good because the lyrics don't suck as bad as so many other songs by other people. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trenken Posted July 17, 2013 Share Posted July 17, 2013 This is one of those period specific songs that wasnt that corny at the time, since the internet was in its infancy, but now so many years later, hearing them talk about putting messages in modems, cyber sea, net boy net girl, it hasnt aged well lyrically. Its no different than all their silly fantasy lord of the rings lyrics back in the day. That stuff wasnt all that unusual in the 70s, but you hear it now and it sounds like a bunch of kids writing songs with really goofy nerd lyrics. You know none of them can think Rivendell is a good song now. Ill bet they cringe when they listen to that. I dont mind the music in Virtuality, kind of reflective of rock at the time in the mid 90s. It has a semi-heavy edge which was kind of nice coming out of their light rock phase in the late 80s/early 90s. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trenken Posted July 17, 2013 Share Posted July 17, 2013 Let's put this in perspective. Here we are complaining about Virtuality and I hear this on the radio this morning..."I'm hot sticky sweet from my head to my feet." Yeah but that song wasnt meant to be serious. Its just a brainless fun song, like 90% of Van Halen's catalog. Virtuality is serious, which is what makes it kinda corny now. To me, thats far cornier than when in I think Im Going Bald, they says, "Dressed in flowing hair... go WILD!!!" Because that song is meant to be fun and silly so its ok to have corny lyrics, like Def Leppard. Virtuality isnt trying to be corny, but just is because of how specific it is to a certain period of time. I think if they kept it much more abstract, didnt use words like modem, or buzz terms like cyber sea, it could have been much better. Neil used to write very cryptically but started getting too direct with his messages in the 90s. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LedRush Posted July 17, 2013 Share Posted July 17, 2013 This is one of those period specific songs that wasnt that corny at the time, since the internet was in its infancy, but now so many years later, hearing them talk about putting messages in modems, cyber sea, net boy net girl, it hasnt aged well lyrically. Its no different than all their silly fantasy lord of the rings lyrics back in the day. That stuff wasnt all that unusual in the 70s, but you hear it now and it sounds like a bunch of kids writing songs with really goofy nerd lyrics. You know none of them can think Rivendell is a good song now. Ill bet they cringe when they listen to that. I dont mind the music in Virtuality, kind of reflective of rock at the time in the mid 90s. It has a semi-heavy edge which was kind of nice coming out of their light rock phase in the late 80s/early 90s. I understand the sentiment and largely agree, but "net boy" was uncomfortable even at the time of release. Still, I think the message is more relevant now than when it came out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J2112YYZ Posted July 17, 2013 Share Posted July 17, 2013 I never understood why the "net boy, net girl" line bothered so many people. What else was Neil supposed to say there in order to get what he wanted to say across? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theanalogmiddleagedman Posted July 17, 2013 Share Posted July 17, 2013 It seems like that was a popular thing back around that time, too. I can't remember exactly, but Cantina Boy, Shark Boy, led to everyone calling somebody "something boy". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rushgoober Posted July 17, 2013 Share Posted July 17, 2013 I never understood why the "net boy, net girl" line bothered so many people. What else was Neil supposed to say there in order to get what he wanted to say across? nothing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zappafrank Posted July 17, 2013 Share Posted July 17, 2013 Musically good, lyrically bad. Yeah. I'd say this sums up a lot of Test for Echo songs. Tough talking hood boys!* *in borrowed ties and jackets Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Analog Grownup Posted July 18, 2013 Share Posted July 18, 2013 Let's put this in perspective. Here we are complaining about Virtuality and I hear this on the radio this morning..."I'm hot sticky sweet from my head to my feet." If people think some of Neils lyrics are goofy, they'll probably stab their eardrums out when they hear all the crap that's on radio :codger: the point is very well taken... but that still doesn't make the song good because the lyrics don't suck as bad as so many other songs by other people. I agree on that. But if I listen to one or two modern pop songs on the radio, I'm amazed at how well I can put up with Neil's goofy lyrics after that ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spindrift82 Posted July 18, 2013 Share Posted July 18, 2013 Lyrically and musically, this is one of my favorites. Other than Resist, best song on Test For Echo. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trenken Posted July 18, 2013 Share Posted July 18, 2013 Musically good, lyrically bad. Yeah. I'd say this sums up a lot of Test for Echo songs. Tough talking hood boys!* *in borrowed ties and jackets Man, I forgot about that one. That one is pretty corny, actually I think its even worse than net boy net girl because its actually attacking people very different than Neil. Or at least making fun of them, and the borrowed ties and jackets line is a little ignorant too. Anyway... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trenken Posted July 18, 2013 Share Posted July 18, 2013 Lyrically and musically, this is one of my favorites. Other than Resist, best song on Test For Echo. For me that goes to Time and Motion, for the odd 5/8 time signature and just the overall strange sound of the song, which used to be the norm for them, but became extremely rare as they got older. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spindrift82 Posted July 18, 2013 Share Posted July 18, 2013 Lyrically and musically, this is one of my favorites. Other than Resist, best song on Test For Echo. For me that goes to Time and Motion, for the odd 5/8 time signature and just the overall strange sound of the song, which used to be the norm for them, but became extremely rare as they got older. Time and Motion is pretty god awful musically. It has incredible lyrics, but the music and the melody is not to my taste. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trenken Posted July 18, 2013 Share Posted July 18, 2013 Lyrically and musically, this is one of my favorites. Other than Resist, best song on Test For Echo. For me that goes to Time and Motion, for the odd 5/8 time signature and just the overall strange sound of the song, which used to be the norm for them, but became extremely rare as they got older. Time and Motion is pretty god awful musically. It has incredible lyrics, but the music and the melody is not to my taste. See thats what I like about it. That its so different from so many of their 90s songs that just sound so.... average and normal. That song is much closer to what I used to love about Rush, their originality that they got so far away from and has rarely been seen since the early 80s. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1-0-0-1-0-0-1 Posted July 18, 2013 Share Posted July 18, 2013 Lyrically and musically, this is one of my favorites. Other than Resist, best song on Test For Echo. For me that goes to Time and Motion, for the odd 5/8 time signature and just the overall strange sound of the song, which used to be the norm for them, but became extremely rare as they got older. "Time and Motion" and "Driven" remain my faves from T4E, for the reasons you mention here., and "Double Agent" from the previous album for the same reasons. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EagleMoon Posted July 18, 2013 Share Posted July 18, 2013 Lyrically and musically, this is one of my favorites. Other than Resist, best song on Test For Echo.For me that goes to Time and Motion, for the odd 5/8 time signature and just the overall strange sound of the song, which used to be the norm for them, but became extremely rare as they got older. "Time and Motion" and "Driven" remain my faves from T4E, for the reasons you mention here., and "Double Agent" from the previous album for the same reasons. Same here. I love the oddball time signatures. It's part of what makes their music stand out as different. Some if the appeal to me may be because I'm a musician, and that kind of thing is always challenging to learn and play. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hobo73 Posted July 18, 2013 Share Posted July 18, 2013 I was listening to this two days ago and Good Lord the lyrics are sooooo cheesy but I LOVE the music. If the lyrics in a song are really bad, like they are here, I just can't get past them to even notice the music. And if I do, it almost makes it worse. It's like having a delicious hamburger that's smothered in velveeta cheese. I can tell that the hamburger is yummy underneath, but all I really taste is gooey, disgusting processed cheese and the hamburger is completely wasted. Maybe if I could scrape off the cheese the hamburger could be saved, but you can't exactly make Virtuality an instrumental. ;) I'm the exact opposite- I go straight for the music and most of the time don't pay as much attention to the lyrics. I can't help it, I listen to songs in "layers"- drums, guitars, bass, keyboards, etc. all separate :)Lyrics are just words, IMO at least lol. my husband is always like "HOW DO YOU NOT KNOW WHAT THE SONG'S ABOUT?? WE HEAR IT ALL THE TIME!!" lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rushgoober Posted July 18, 2013 Share Posted July 18, 2013 I was listening to this two days ago and Good Lord the lyrics are sooooo cheesy but I LOVE the music. If the lyrics in a song are really bad, like they are here, I just can't get past them to even notice the music. And if I do, it almost makes it worse. It's like having a delicious hamburger that's smothered in velveeta cheese. I can tell that the hamburger is yummy underneath, but all I really taste is gooey, disgusting processed cheese and the hamburger is completely wasted. Maybe if I could scrape off the cheese the hamburger could be saved, but you can't exactly make Virtuality an instrumental. ;) I'm the exact opposite- I go straight for the music and most of the time don't pay as much attention to the lyrics. I can't help it, I listen to songs in "layers"- drums, guitars, bass, keyboards, etc. all separate :)Lyrics are just words, IMO at least lol. my husband is always like "HOW DO YOU NOT KNOW WHAT THE SONG'S ABOUT?? WE HEAR IT ALL THE TIME!!" lol the funny thing is my wife is super picky and sensitive to lyrics. i've sometimes played a song for her, and will say isn't that great? she'll say oh my god no, that was horrible, the lyrics were about this and this and this, and she'll dissect them and not be able to enjoy the song if she thinks the lyrics are negative somehow. in those instances whatever those lyrics were didn't bother me enough to get in the way. i'm particularly hypersensitive to rush lyrics, however, because generally they're so cool and/or meaningful that when they don't meet up to a certain standard, it's hard to ignore. for example, good news first on S&A - the music is cool, it's catchy, but the lyrics just don't make sense and it kills the song for me. and if the lyrics are just really lame like in virtuality or other certain songs on CP or RTB, etc., i just can't get past it. the music could be super killer (like in the necromancer), but the lyrics (or in that case the narration) just ruins it for me *cough* roll the bones rap *cough* 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Macdom Posted July 18, 2013 Share Posted July 18, 2013 I just don't get it. For me Virtuality is musically astounding, and the lyrics... Well, I was in an Internet relationship, so they pretty much fit me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hobo73 Posted July 18, 2013 Share Posted July 18, 2013 I was listening to this two days ago and Good Lord the lyrics are sooooo cheesy but I LOVE the music. If the lyrics in a song are really bad, like they are here, I just can't get past them to even notice the music. And if I do, it almost makes it worse. It's like having a delicious hamburger that's smothered in velveeta cheese. I can tell that the hamburger is yummy underneath, but all I really taste is gooey, disgusting processed cheese and the hamburger is completely wasted. Maybe if I could scrape off the cheese the hamburger could be saved, but you can't exactly make Virtuality an instrumental. ;) I'm the exact opposite- I go straight for the music and most of the time don't pay as much attention to the lyrics. I can't help it, I listen to songs in "layers"- drums, guitars, bass, keyboards, etc. all separate :)Lyrics are just words, IMO at least lol. my husband is always like "HOW DO YOU NOT KNOW WHAT THE SONG'S ABOUT?? WE HEAR IT ALL THE TIME!!" lol the funny thing is my wife is super picky and sensitive to lyrics. i've sometimes played a song for her, and will say isn't that great? she'll say oh my god no, that was horrible, the lyrics were about this and this and this, and she'll dissect them and not be able to enjoy the song if she thinks the lyrics are negative somehow. in those instances whatever those lyrics were didn't bother me enough to get in the way. i'm particularly hypersensitive to rush lyrics, however, because generally they're so cool and/or meaningful that when they don't meet up to a certain standard, it's hard to ignore. for example, good news first on S&A - the music is cool, it's catchy, but the lyrics just don't make sense and it kills the song for me. and if the lyrics are just really lame like in virtuality or other certain songs on CP or RTB, etc., i just can't get past it. the music could be super killer (like in the necromancer), but the lyrics (or in that case the narration) just ruins it for me *cough* roll the bones rap *cough* LOL! It's a parallax, you dig? ;)hahaha so I take it "I Think I'm Going Bald" is not high on your list, eh ;) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rushgoober Posted July 18, 2013 Share Posted July 18, 2013 I was listening to this two days ago and Good Lord the lyrics are sooooo cheesy but I LOVE the music. If the lyrics in a song are really bad, like they are here, I just can't get past them to even notice the music. And if I do, it almost makes it worse. It's like having a delicious hamburger that's smothered in velveeta cheese. I can tell that the hamburger is yummy underneath, but all I really taste is gooey, disgusting processed cheese and the hamburger is completely wasted. Maybe if I could scrape off the cheese the hamburger could be saved, but you can't exactly make Virtuality an instrumental. ;) I'm the exact opposite- I go straight for the music and most of the time don't pay as much attention to the lyrics. I can't help it, I listen to songs in "layers"- drums, guitars, bass, keyboards, etc. all separate :)Lyrics are just words, IMO at least lol. my husband is always like "HOW DO YOU NOT KNOW WHAT THE SONG'S ABOUT?? WE HEAR IT ALL THE TIME!!" lol the funny thing is my wife is super picky and sensitive to lyrics. i've sometimes played a song for her, and will say isn't that great? she'll say oh my god no, that was horrible, the lyrics were about this and this and this, and she'll dissect them and not be able to enjoy the song if she thinks the lyrics are negative somehow. in those instances whatever those lyrics were didn't bother me enough to get in the way. i'm particularly hypersensitive to rush lyrics, however, because generally they're so cool and/or meaningful that when they don't meet up to a certain standard, it's hard to ignore. for example, good news first on S&A - the music is cool, it's catchy, but the lyrics just don't make sense and it kills the song for me. and if the lyrics are just really lame like in virtuality or other certain songs on CP or RTB, etc., i just can't get past it. the music could be super killer (like in the necromancer), but the lyrics (or in that case the narration) just ruins it for me *cough* roll the bones rap *cough* LOL! It's a parallax, you dig? ;)hahaha so I take it "I Think I'm Going Bald" is not high on your list, eh ;) indeed, it is not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeddysMullet Posted July 18, 2013 Share Posted July 18, 2013 I was listening to this two days ago and Good Lord the lyrics are sooooo cheesy but I LOVE the music. If the lyrics in a song are really bad, like they are here, I just can't get past them to even notice the music. And if I do, it almost makes it worse. It's like having a delicious hamburger that's smothered in velveeta cheese. I can tell that the hamburger is yummy underneath, but all I really taste is gooey, disgusting processed cheese and the hamburger is completely wasted. Maybe if I could scrape off the cheese the hamburger could be saved, but you can't exactly make Virtuality an instrumental. ;) I'm the exact opposite- I go straight for the music and most of the time don't pay as much attention to the lyrics. I can't help it, I listen to songs in "layers"- drums, guitars, bass, keyboards, etc. all separate :)Lyrics are just words, IMO at least lol. my husband is always like "HOW DO YOU NOT KNOW WHAT THE SONG'S ABOUT?? WE HEAR IT ALL THE TIME!!" lol the funny thing is my wife is super picky and sensitive to lyrics. i've sometimes played a song for her, and will say isn't that great? she'll say oh my god no, that was horrible, the lyrics were about this and this and this, and she'll dissect them and not be able to enjoy the song if she thinks the lyrics are negative somehow. in those instances whatever those lyrics were didn't bother me enough to get in the way. i'm particularly hypersensitive to rush lyrics, however, because generally they're so cool and/or meaningful that when they don't meet up to a certain standard, it's hard to ignore. for example, good news first on S&A - the music is cool, it's catchy, but the lyrics just don't make sense and it kills the song for me. and if the lyrics are just really lame like in virtuality or other certain songs on CP or RTB, etc., i just can't get past it. the music could be super killer (like in the necromancer), but the lyrics (or in that case the narration) just ruins it for me *cough* roll the bones rap *cough* LOL! It's a parallax, you dig? ;)hahaha so I take it "I Think I'm Going Bald" is not high on your list, eh ;) indeed, it is not. I'd say that's because you have no sense of humour, but I'm afraid you might not realise that I'm kidding ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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