Clockwork Angels DVD

[EagleMoon]

Well let me first........wow that's never a good way to start, lol. But let me first say that this was my fav tour and setlist in a while. Love it. The DVD is so frustrating though. I agree the sound is kinda all over the place. But that never bugged me. What does bother me......more then ANYTHING. Is the quick cutting. It's a gripe for me on any Concert DVD and this may rank as one of the worst jobs ever. I mean.......STOP!!!!!!

 

I mean it's like. Here's Ged, to Al, to Neil, Al's got a solo so let's go to Ged, Back of the house, bird's eye view of the stage, to the strings,To a shitty cell phone like view, to........the SOUND GUY?!!!!!!!! i mean you could have a major seizure. from watching this.

 

And i apologize for gripping. I wanted to love this. I was waiting for it. It's a shelfer for me. At least I can enjoy the CD'S.

 

Mick

 

I agree with you 100%. I had such big hopes for this release. I was hoping to get another Snakes & Arrows type quality DVD. Time Machine I can excuse because of Geddys poor cold. But there's no excuse for the poor editing job on this DVD. Picture quality is great but that's about all you can say for it. I was watching this the other night on my sisters big screen TV and it gave me a headache from all the fast editing.

[Lorraine]

After watching it several times, I will tell you why I do not like it as much as the only other live DVD I have (Rio). Too much theatrics. Geddy sounded too contrived when he was introducing some songs (i.e. Analog Kid) and I was beginning to get the impression that I was watching a Broadway musical rather than a band doing a concert.

[Na na na]

I Love It...the volume is a bit strange, but the performance & energy is brilliant.

[Lorraine]

After watching it several times, I will tell you why I do not like it as much as the only other live DVD I have (Rio). Too much theatrics. Geddy sounded too contrived when he was introducing some songs (i.e. Analog Kid) and I was beginning to get the impression that I was watching a Broadway musical rather than a band doing a concert.

The sad part is that this is not needed, and I hate to see them resort to stuff like that to compensate for what they must think they are lacking. I know another band that did that too. Better to call it a day and retire than become like that.

 

It would be wonderful if Geddy just spoke from the heart to each audience. I realize there are only so many ways he can say thank you and goodnight, but, still...

 

Why must it all be so staged? Makes me very nostalgic for the olden days when a band would come out and you never knew what they were going to do or what to expect. So what if they didn't sound as good as the album, at least they were original and fresh.

 

Don't get me wrong. I am not dissing Rush. Far from it. I just think they don't need to be doing things like this. They are much more than that. A lot more.

Edited December 27, 2013 by Lorraine

[Pound of Obscure]

I turned it off twice. Still haven't watched it all. My seeming constant gripe, the sound. Its clear at this point, Rush hasn't a clue how to record themselves anymore. Total, freakin incompetence. I agree with the constant jumping around camera every 3 seconds. Sure glad I got the cd to listen to. I haven't opened it yet. Probably will take it back. Buy some forks or something.

[Catch The Mystery]

Just came across this multi-cam (whole!) show video from Philadelphia (10/12/2012). It's a prety good fan-recording of a CA-show imho :)

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8N4pHmKU9uc

[Nw_Analogkid]

Sound is really driving me crazy on the Blu-ray, almost a complete lack of low end. Have to crank the bass and sub to get much of any low end. Volume kinda comes and goes as well. I would like to think that by now with the amount of live content that they have that sound issues would have been a thing of the past ? Video quality is excellent however. Edited December 28, 2013 by Nw_Analogkid

[Dylan2712]

Sound is really driving me crazy on the Blu-ray, almost a complete lack of low end. Have to crank the bass and sub to get much of any low end. Volume kinda comes and goes as well. I would like to think that by now with the amount of live content that they have that sound issues would have been a thing of the past ? Video quality is excellent however.

 

Weird, I thought the exact opposite. I had to turn DOWN my sub it was too boomy. Video, I agree, is excellent. I didn't think they cut too fast too often, seemed it was just to match the energy of the current song. How boring would it be if they stayed on one camera angle for the end of Carnies? That's just my opinion.

 

Also, EASTER EGG ALERT!!! (Blu-Ray)

 

I pressed the UP arrow on the "scenes" button in the main menu instead of "enter", and got a video of Alex's 20 dollar joke he made during one of the concerts. It was completely unexpected and I am unaware if anyone has brought this up at all.

[P-Tor]

After getting the BluRay for Xmas, I finally watched it yesterday. After reading all the comments over the past month, I went into it expecting the worst.

 

While the mix is not perfect (far from it), I didn't think it was as bad as everyone is making it out to be. It's certainly leaps and bounds ahead of TMT which was a sonic disaster.

 

As for the quick cuts, I only really noticed it on YYZ and 2112, which are more frenetic songs. I thought the rest of the concert was fine.

 

As for Ged's voice, yeah it's horrible but it's still better than TMT.

[Entre_Perpetuo]

I have to say, I completely loved it. Of course, the only other live album I've had the pleasure of hearing is Time Machine, and my dad and I both agreed Geddy's voice just wasn't quite doing it for us in that one (I seem to recall Camera eye being pretty good in that area though), but this one was awesome for my dad and I none the less. I'm not the hugest fan of the non-CA parts of the setlist, but of course I'm still not past Signals in my collection, and Subdivisions was certainly an awesome opener. As for the CA portion though (CA being the only post signals studio album I've obtained), IT ROCKED! I was blown away more often than not as I saw Rush completely jamming out there modern day sound. And just like the studio album, the best performance on the DVD is easily Headlong Flight, extended drum solo and all. By the end of that song, I couldn't believe what they did with it, and I couldn't believe it had to be over! I would've fainted from sheer epicness right then and there if I were one to faint. The rest of the film was great too, especially when they got back to tracks I was already familiar with. A wonderful Christmas present.

[Brucey]

I have to say, I completely loved it. Of course, the only other live album I've had the pleasure of hearing is Time Machine, and my dad and I both agreed Geddy's voice just wasn't quite doing it for us in that one (I seem to recall Camera eye being pretty good in that area though), but this one was awesome for my dad and I none the less. I'm not the hugest fan of the non-CA parts of the setlist, but of course I'm still not past Signals in my collection, and Subdivisions was certainly an awesome opener. As for the CA portion though (CA being the only post signals studio album I've obtained), IT ROCKED! I was blown away more often than not as I saw Rush completely jamming out there modern day sound. And just like the studio album, the best performance on the DVD is easily Headlong Flight, extended drum solo and all. By the end of that song, I couldn't believe what they did with it, and I couldn't believe it had to be over! I would've fainted from sheer epicness right then and there if I were one to faint. The rest of the film was great too, especially when they got back to tracks I was already familiar with. A wonderful Christmas present.

 

Your right, Headlong Flight is performed insanely well on this disc.

[Lorraine]

As for Ged's voice, yeah it's horrible...

I wish I could sing that "horrible."

[Slack jaw gaze]

It would be wonderful if Geddy just spoke from the heart to each audience. I realize there are only so many ways he can say thank you and goodnight, but, still...

Back to the heartfelt days of "This is a song about a car." ?

 

Why must it all be so staged? Makes me very nostalgic for the olden days when a band would come out and you never knew what they were going to do or what to expect. So what if they didn't sound as good as the album, at least they were original and fresh.

 

Don't get me wrong. I am not dissing Rush. Far from it. I just think they don't need to be doing things like this. They are much more than that. A lot more.

They've always done this. This is who they are. They pretty much do the same thing night after night.

 

What's different is in the internet age we all know exactly what they're going to do too. The difference is the fans having the information.

[Lorraine]

Were you there back in those days?

 

Thanks for singling out my opinion to give me your own.

[Dscrapre]

http://www.2112.net/powerwindows/tours/Tours.htm

 

This should be helpful for anybody who thinks that Rush just recently decided to play the same setlist every night.

[agubrizbassman]

I like how it was filmed in Texas, well thats probably because its coming from a Texan! But I Liked it, yah i know the mixing is not the best... but it still sounds great, loved the camera angles and the setlist, i really liked how they expressed their most underrated era! And I'm happy that they ended their first leg in Texas and started their second in Texas!

[ThinkingBig]

On some of their past DVDs, the directors-editors didn't fully capture and recreate the concert experience. Nothing is more hacky (uninspired) than cutting/editing to the beat of the music, which seems to be the default handling off YYZ on many of their concert videos-- or cutting to a shot of fans air drumming during the TS fill. (because we all love watching drunk air drummers instead of the master himself). I think the HBO editors have been the only ones who figured out how to properly show the TS drum solo moment—showing the level of concentration in his face contrasted with the seemingly effortless movement of his hands guiding the sticks around the kit -- that was an inspired edit in the HBO RRHOF show.

 

The editing styles of earlier DVD efforts seem to flip-flop between 80's music video and poorly conceived concert video. The director didn't take the time to do his homework and clearly define a vision for the piece. I thought the Time Machine concert film overused the fan footage-- it was interesting to a point.

 

It's not a music video, it's a documentary -- show me what it felt like to be there, immerse me in the experience of that night.

 

In my opinion, the Clockwork Angles DVD is one of their best concert films, next to Exit... State Left. I felt the Clockwork Angles DVD was extremely well edited and they were very creative with camera placement around the drum kit and stage. They captured and recreated the energy and experience of that show very well. Especially the string ensemble and the pyro moments. The behind the scenes stuff, running on/off stage, was also very well weaved in.

 

If I were auditioning for the director job, the first thing I'd say is Neil's wearing a button camera in his shirt and hat. And I'd refuse to use a camera directly over the drum kit—I'm so bored with the overuse of that shot. I'd get a micro camera on Geddy's base pointed along the fret board like they used to do for John Entwistle -- you actually see how friggin' thick those bass strings are. I'd also hand out GoPros around the house and truly get a sense for what the audience experiences. And I'd create an opening segment of just the parking lot activities at several of the bigger shows—especially on summer tours. The closing titles segment would be GoPros in the cars of fans riding home from the show, talking about their favorite moments.

[Rutlefan]

I'm one of those '70s/early '80s dinosaur types, but I watched the DVD over the last couple nights and it really changed my perception of a lot of their middle material. While I've always really liked "The Pass," most of the other post-Grace Under Pressure songs I could live without, but...they really sounded good in that show. Stronger, less synthy sounding to me. I didn't see them live this tour because of the set list, yet ironically, I probably enjoyed this filmed show more than any since Exit Stage Left. I also appreciate Clockwork Angels more now.

 

I do though wonder why Geddy's voice sounds so good singing their recent material, yet so shaky singing "The Spirit of Radio" or "Tom Sawyer"; are they really that different of a register? They aren't "Cygnus X-1" after all. Anyway, small complaint, overall I was really impressed by the old boys. I hope they have at least one more tour in them (and another album); next time I'll be sure to be there live.