Roll the Bones Appreciation Thread.......

[JohnnyBlaze]

imho, RTB is at the bottom of the Rush catalogue. And it has my most hated Rush song on it to boot. Still though, looking at the track listing, it's not totally bleak: I like 3 songs, 2 tunes have parts I enjoy (with the other parts of those 2 being forgettable), 2 tracks are tolerable yet skippable, and the remaining 3 I dislike. I like the theme....however, I just think the lyrics on this are hit or miss----> [Examples] HIT: Bravado ; MISS: Face Up

[rushgoober]

This album really does have some seriously weak and problematic songs. Face Up, The Big Wheel, Hersey, Neurotica and You Bet Your Life - seriously, what on EARTH were they thining? They descended deep into pop banality with those tracks. And don't even get me started on the RTB rap (insert vomit smiley here).

 

Still, it's got Dreamline, so it's not a complete wash...

[theanalogmiddleagedman]

I just listened again. Face Up and Neurotica aren't as bad as I thought. I think they are too poppy and that is why I don't like them as much. They are catchy, though...Alex has some good solos, too.

[rushgoober]

I just listened again. Face Up and Neurotica aren't as bad as I thought. I think they are too poppy and that is why I don't like them as much. They are catchy, though...Alex has some good solos, too.

 

Sure, a lof of the bad songs on RTB are catchy. A lot of the weaker material on Presto is REALLY catchy. Unfortunately, I need more than that to make a great song - especially to make a great RUSH song.

[circumstantial tree]

I remember going to School Kids Records on Hillsborough Street in Raleigh to pick up the new album on release day (Sept. 3, 1991). I wasn't that impressed with it at first. It had to grow on me. Principally, I think it's because I was already listening to alternative music a la "120 Minutes" on MTV. I needed the change.

 

Anyway, I like most of the songs. "Heresy" over the years has become my favorite song. I never liked "You Bet Your Life" specifically for the Geddy thread of continuous words. I remember taping "Dreamline" from the radio several weeks before the albums release.

 

Never cared for the album cover art. Looks like a sewer. My fave songs in addition to Heresy are "The Big Wheel", "Bravado", "Face up", and "Ghost of a Chance". Saw them play in Chapel Hill with Primus opening. I couldn't wait until Primus finished their set. I wasn't impressed with that band. "Sailing the Seas of Cheese"?

 

Of the two Rupert Hine albums though, I like Presto more.

[drbirdsong]

I love how God will give you a message at a much faster pace as you age. I was trying not to be to mean about Heresy because I secretly have hated that song. Then I stumbled across the fact that I had not realized Neil's website had been updated lately. It was, but the home page didn't reflect it. In the June entry Neil mentions Heresy more than once. I have the vinyl on right now. It will never be my favorite Rush song, but I have a new appreciation after reading this:

 

Welcome to the official website of Neil Peart

[theredtamasrule]

This should be a short thread...

I almost posted a comment like that, but thought better of it. Didn't want to come across as some total a-hole douchebag P.o.S. troll. Not that you did in your post, mind you.

When it comes to RTB I'm a total a-hole douchebag P.O.S. troll.

[theredtamasrule]

This album really does have some seriously weak and problematic songs. Face Up, The Big Wheel, Hersey, Neurotica and You Bet Your Life - seriously, what on EARTH were they thining? They descended deep into pop banality with those tracks. And don't even get me started on the RTB rap (insert vomit smiley here).

 

Still, it's got Dreamline, so it's not a complete wash...

Big Wheel could have been a really good song but for that weak-ass-Andy-Gibb-sucktacular chorus.

[goose]

This should be a short thread...

I almost posted a comment like that, but thought better of it. Didn't want to come across as some total a-hole douchebag P.o.S. troll. Not that you did in your post, mind you.

When it comes to RTB I'm a total a-hole douchebag P.O.S. troll.

:D :cheers:

[goose]

This album really does have some seriously weak and problematic songs. Face Up, The Big Wheel, Hersey, Neurotica and You Bet Your Life - seriously, what on EARTH were they thining? They descended deep into pop banality with those tracks. And don't even get me started on the RTB rap (insert vomit smiley here).

 

Still, it's got Dreamline, so it's not a complete wash...

Big Wheel could have been a really good song but for that weak-ass-Andy-Gibb-sucktacular chorus.

Perfectly decent groove and then...

[goose]

 

 

Of the two Rupert Hine albums though, I like Presto more.

:cheers: :ebert:

[coventry]

Okay - this album probably makes my Top 5 Rush albums. Part of that is because I was a late teenager living abroad when it came out and it was a soundtrack to the unfamiliar by someone familiar.

 

But as I was listening to this recently, I have to say (and this is going to get really esoteric) that RTB's songs have some of the best endings of any album since perhaps PeW. With perhaps the exception of "The Big Wheel"'s generic fadeout, the songs all end memorably and beautifully. Even "Heresy"'s ending has substance, its military march snare rhythm echoing the lock-step legacy of the Soviet Bloc.

 

And while "Neurotica" gets bashed quite a bit, its ending sets up "You Bet Your Life" perfectly. And that song's ending is one of the classic in Rush's pantheon. Alex's outro solo soars and climbs and radiates joie de vivre more than any since probably his solo in "Big Money".

 

Weak-ass, bass-less production aside (though since Geddy was using his Wal bass at the time, he really didn't have much to go on), the album is powerful, sonically interesting, and full of variety. In fact, Neil's limb independence in the ending of "Bravado" even left Geddy impressed enough to point it out in many an interview of the time.

Edited July 25, 2013 by coventry

[Rhyta]

Ok stuff just not super great. Have been listening again and I do like Ghost of chance on this go through. One question what is the Gangster of Boats trilogy? Where's my thing is part 4? Must be an inside joke here I don't know about...fill me in thanks

[Dscrapre]

This is truly a great album. After sliding further and further into the saturation of keyboards, the band tried to extricate themselves with Presto and only half-succeeded. RTB made Rush relevant for the first time in years. Rush was played on the radio, people openly talked about going to their concerts, and the fans came back after almost a decade of declining popularity and relevance. The great songs on the album are truly great, working as palatable pop, middle-brow philosophy, and musical ingenuity. The other songs are generally still good, even though they are not among the band's best.

 

I love this album.

 

:eyeroll: :eyeroll: :eyeroll:

 

why am in not surprised that you love this album.

 

rush has made 4 mediocre or bad albums: presto, rtb, t4e and vt. why do i fear you love all of them?

 

Good to see that Mr. My-Opinions-are-Facts Rushgoober has found this thread.

[ShlappinDahBass]

I can appreciate the drumming, bass, and vocals. But the guitar is lacking so much that it's just a boring/stale album. It's missing that drive. That push. I like Neurotica because it's a catchy tune. Even You Bet Your Life. But I have to agree with goobs on this one. A catchy tune does not make it a great song. And this album is lacking in Witch Hunts. Only super worthwhile songs are Dreamline, Bravado, and Where's My Thing? I don't even think that's a fourth of the album.

[rushgoober]

This is truly a great album. After sliding further and further into the saturation of keyboards, the band tried to extricate themselves with Presto and only half-succeeded. RTB made Rush relevant for the first time in years. Rush was played on the radio, people openly talked about going to their concerts, and the fans came back after almost a decade of declining popularity and relevance. The great songs on the album are truly great, working as palatable pop, middle-brow philosophy, and musical ingenuity. The other songs are generally still good, even though they are not among the band's best.

 

I love this album.

 

:eyeroll: :eyeroll: :eyeroll:

 

why am in not surprised that you love this album.

 

rush has made 4 mediocre or bad albums: presto, rtb, t4e and vt. why do i fear you love all of them?

 

Good to see that Mr. My-Opinions-are-Facts Rushgoober has found this thread.

 

I'm only too happy to oblige. :P

[jjgittes]

As I bored all of you with on the S&A appreciation thread, I think RTB and S&A are their best post-"Signals" albums and both are among the handful I keep in my car CD holder. True, I freely admit I'll spin pre-1982 stuff or "Different Stages" before RTB on a long drive but I enjoy the album. Although I have seen Rush seven times, it wasn't until this tour I caught Bravado live. I was thrilled. It was the highlight of the CA show for me. Edited July 26, 2013 by jjgittes

[tx_rush]

This is truly a great album. After sliding further and further into the saturation of keyboards, the band tried to extricate themselves with Presto and only half-succeeded. RTB made Rush relevant for the first time in years. Rush was played on the radio, people openly talked about going to their concerts, and the fans came back after almost a decade of declining popularity and relevance. The great songs on the album are truly great, working as palatable pop, middle-brow philosophy, and musical ingenuity. The other songs are generally still good, even though they are not among the band's best.

 

I love this album.

 

:eyeroll: :eyeroll: :eyeroll:

 

why am in not surprised that you love this album.

 

rush has made 4 mediocre or bad albums: presto, rtb, t4e and vt. why do i fear you love all of them?

 

RTB is my least favorite album, I agree with your list but would put replace presto with counterparts. presto is a step up from VT, T4E and RTB. I still enjoy all of those albums, but they are to me rushs weakest efforts.

[tx_rush]

This album really does have some seriously weak and problematic songs. Face Up, The Big Wheel, Hersey, Neurotica and You Bet Your Life - seriously, what on EARTH were they thining? They descended deep into pop banality with those tracks. And don't even get me started on the RTB rap (insert vomit smiley here).

 

Still, it's got Dreamline, so it's not a complete wash...

 

I find the weird voice in Double Agent (on the edge of sleep....) equally if not more cringe worthy than the roll the bones rap

[rushgoober]

This album really does have some seriously weak and problematic songs. Face Up, The Big Wheel, Hersey, Neurotica and You Bet Your Life - seriously, what on EARTH were they thining? They descended deep into pop banality with those tracks. And don't even get me started on the RTB rap (insert vomit smiley here).

 

Still, it's got Dreamline, so it's not a complete wash...

 

I find the weird voice in Double Agent (on the edge of sleep....) equally if not more cringe worthy than the roll the bones rap

 

it never bothered me. it's odd, yes, but it's kind of cool sounding. the roll the bones rap is, well... rap.

[coventry]

Remember, it's the endings of the songs that make this album so good.

[coventry]

And you can't deny that "Where's My Thing" is probably the best Rush instrumental outside of "YYZ" and "La Villa"

[ShlappinDahBass]

And you can't deny that "Where's My Thing" is probably the best Rush instrumental outside of "YYZ" and "La Villa"

 

Seriously, ALL of their instrumentals are awesome! I even looooove Limbo.

[theredtamasrule]

And you can't deny that "Where's My Thing" is probably the best Rush instrumental outside of "YYZ" and "La Villa"

I can and most definitely do. TMMB, to me, is loads better. But here's the interesting thing: I don't think TMMB ever came off well live for whatever reason but this tour's version of WMT (besides the drum solo) is rocking. Far better than the studio version.

[coventry]

And you can't deny that "Where's My Thing" is probably the best Rush instrumental outside of "YYZ" and "La Villa"

I can and most definitely do. TMMB, to me, is loads better. But here's the interesting thing: I don't think TMMB ever came off well live for whatever reason but this tour's version of WMT (besides the drum solo) is rocking. Far better than the studio version.

 

The versions they played on the RTB tour were also fantastic - particularly on the Rush-n-Roulette (Oakland '92) cd.