Rediscovering Rush

[The Writer]

Test For Echo

 

I think it's just as well they took a break after '2112' - how do you follow that? The answer is: with the title track from the album we're promoting. I wonder how hard it is to break like that and come back into the same groove - this feels a little ponderous and slow, but then perhaps the original does too; I just think it's an inevitable effect of the energy of the end of the first half.

 

Incidentally, it's only now I notice just how much bottom end there is in this recording - I don't think it hurts too much, since the bass part is always so interesting, but sometimes, like here, the guitar seems to get a little lost.

 

The Analog Kid

 

Ah, now you're just spoiling me - this has probably been my favourite rediscovery of this whole process, and to dig it up and play it now is just fantastic. I don't remember it being played when I saw the 'Signals' tour, but I may be wrong. As I've noted before, one of the things I really like about this band is the way they dig up old tracks which have never been played live before and work out how to do them - they always sound fresh as a result.

 

Heh - I just checked - it was played that night. My excuse is that it was 25 years ago...

 

So, anyway. This version does sound fresh and new, but I love the song. Alex' guitar part always sounded impossible to me, and only now do I hear Geddy recapitulating it on the bass - outstanding. Let's hear the impossible solo at the end - hey! It's not exactly the same as on the album. I like it - it sounds very much of its time.

 

Freewill

 

The nice thing about Rush concerts is that they have never been about 'greatest hits', but if they were, then this would be in there - at least I think it would. So it's not introduced, and as a consequence gets a huge roar of recognition. I'm enjoying hearing Geddy's voice; how it has adapted to the passing years without losing the force and dynamic needed to sing a song like this - for instance, if it's pitched too low, he'll never get down to the lower notes - that end of the register is not exactly his strong point.

 

I keep thinking that I must mention the drums at some point. I will, but it simply goes without saying that they are consistently superb - I can't help thinking about how hard Neil works every night to create this; not one song where he can just switch off and thrash out a 4/4 beat without thinking.

 

And we (and he) wouldn't have it any other way.

 

Roll the Bones

 

Oh, alright, if you must. To be fair, the first time I heard this, being entirely unprepared, I gave a yelp of surprise when the talking started. I even put it straight back on to try to work out what I actually thought.

 

I wasn't sure then, and I'm still not sure after all this time. Melodically, I do love this, and - as noted before - lyrically, too, but the rapping just doesn't quite work. It's not that it's bad which is the problem; it's that it's nearly good.

 

And I know it's an entirely different song, but I still for some reason expect that voice to say "That's nice" at the end.

 

Stick It Out

 

Not, I think, an obvious choice for a live song, yet it rocks along quite nicely. I've been sitting here listening to it, and for the first time, I can't think of anything more to say. It's perfectly fine, let's move on.

 

Resist

 

Yes, we're still here. This'll be the Scottish song. Now we're familiar with the acoustic version, it's kind of odd to hear it done 'straight', as it were. there's an odd sudden change in the sound in the middle of the first verse, almost as if it was spliced to a different version - I'd never noticed that before. Maybe I'm imagining things.

 

Presumably Geddy is triggering piano samples here - just another thing to think about while singing and playing intricate bass lines. You can take my admiration as read, so I don't have to keep repeating myself.

 

I really like the pacing of this; it has great dynamic range, where the drops into the slow sections don't sound sudden or forced - it all just flows.

 

Leave That Thing Alone

 

A kind of sudden jump into this, and I can't be the only person who'd rather have heard 'La Villa Strangiato', can I? There's nothing actually wrong with it - far from it - but I'd still like to indulge a little nostalgia at this point.

 

Ah, I think I'm just showing my age. I do love the ending - all that lovely bass.

 

The Rhythm Method

 

However - this is more like it! The first thing I did with this when I got it back to the car was, of course, look for the drum solo. I can't help myself; I'm intrigued to hear how it has developed from the 'Show of Hands' version.

 

Again, it kind of jumps in, and slowly, deliberately at first - not that it isn't mind-bogglingly good drumming, it's just that there's no need by now to just be showing off the full range of high-speed tricks. In fact, this whole opening section sounds quite different to what I grew up with. I know that Neil was changing his style around this time - this is really the first time I've noticed it; it really stands out.

 

Then, once the high speed rhythms get going, I'm just lost in it all over again. the percussion parts are mostly familiar, but they're still carried off with great flair.

 

And - you know what? There's a theory that most people find drum solos boring. Well, firstly, if you find this boring, you haven't a musical bone in your body, and second - who are all those people yelling enthusiastically all the way through it? They're not bored, and neither am I. In fact, having typed my way through it, I'm going to go back and listen again.

 

Natural Science

 

So, I suppose there had to be an old-style epic in the second half to balance out the first, and this really surprised me the first time I heard it - I'd almost forgotten about it, and it was really great to be reintroduced to it in a live version.

 

It also makes sense - there's a whole section of just guitar and voice - enough to let Neil get his breath back. And after the first verse, the thing just explodes into life. there must be a great feeling of liberation in playing songs after several years - once you've learned them again, of course. It's not a case of playing 'Tom Sawyer' for the 900th time; it must be great to explore something like this without feeling like you're going through the motions.

 

And this feels quick - maybe as a result; I'm not sure. I'd not really registered before that there are some fearsome drum fills along the way - just what you need after spending all that time soloing away!

 

Neil's words - hopeful and confident in human nature - still sound as thought-provoking as ever; the times may change, the issues are broadly the same, the solutions are still up to us.

 

(but I do smile at the cheers in inappropriate places, presumably from those not so familiar with the original. No, it really is that long, guys)

 

The Spirit Of Radio

 

Heh. We're in the home straight now. And forget what I said earlier about frequently played songs sounding tired or jaded (well, I implied it); this still rocks along just as much as it did the first time it was played - even if some of the sounds are a little different. Listening closely, I can hear the audience singing along in places. Kind of hard not to, I think.

 

And I know I'll never get tired of the ending - just about my favourite Rush ending of them all - like they'd worked out a live ending, and recorded it anyway. When it's actually played live, it just sounds - right.

 

Tom Sawyer

 

It's got to be encore time by now - there are some odd sounds before it which would tend to back that up. So, if this is the 900th time, how does it stack up?

 

Well, it's just as tight as you would expect, and the voice is hitting all the places it should - in Geddy's shoes, I'd probably have at least looked at how to recast it, because it must stretch the voice somewhat, especially at the end of an evening. But it sounds just the way I remember it from all those years ago, standing in a draughty cowshed at Edinburgh airport.

 

YYZ

 

And to wrap things up. Well, it's kind of inevitable, and it's kind of brilliant. Oddly, this means that the last four songs played were from 'Permanent Waves' and 'Moving Pictures' - I guess a case of knowing your audience (and also, I suppose, taking note of what had been on 'A Show of Hands' and not wanting to repeat it too much). I'll go away now and look at the setlists for this tour - was there much from 'Grace Under Pressure', 'Power Windows' or 'Hold Your Fire' which didn't make it, or is this pretty representative? I don't know, so I'll just sit back and enjoy the second-best rock instrumental of all time.

 

("Villa Strangiato', of course).

 

And a little bit of 'Cygnus X-1 thrown in! I'm grinning.

[The Writer]

Wow - page 6! Cool.

 

OK, I know there's a third disc, and I'm going to review it - just not quite yet. I'm going to be away for a few days - the plan had been to get this all done before I went, but I messed the timing up (too many other writing projects).

 

So, don't go away; I'll be right back.

 

(and I'll use the time to decide whether 'Rush In Rio' is canon, as it were, and should be reviewed, or whether I really am almost at the end of this journey.)

[The Writer]

So, 1978, eh? Well, come on - back in time we go...

 

Bastille Day

 

I love that this was recorded at the Hammersmith Odeon - it may be a converted cinema, but it really is a legendary music venue. Right from the start, you can hear the reverb - somehow it feels more 'real' than the cleaner sound on the other two discs. Not better, just - different.

 

And, of course it's different; it's twenty years older. Right out of the blocks, you can feel the rawness - there really are only three instruments being played at any one time - and the energy. I haven't done a close analysis, but I think I prefer this version to the one from 'All the World's a Stage', it has a confident swagger to it.

 

By-Tor and the Snow Dog

 

As does this - there really is no hanging about, is there? This whole thing brings back memories of seeing bands around this time - there was none of the spectacular showy elements that you would expect today, just the guys, their gear, and the music, and somehow, this sounds like it.

 

And then, just as I'm getting in to it all over again, it stops. What the-? Different times, I suppose; they only had so long to play and by now a reasonably large amount of material to fit in, so it's more of an edited highlights version. Still got the 'countdown', though, and then straight into...

 

Xanadu

 

So the idea seems to be to get the first two songs under our belts to get loose, then pull out all the stops with the really complex stuff. This would be the first tour that it was played on (I guess; I don't imagine it was played live before it was recorded, but I suppose I could be wrong), and there's a crispness to it which suggests that it's still a relatively new thing, although with the kinks worked out. This is only a couple of years on from the last live album, and the technical ability seems to have been cranked up a gear.

 

It's extraordinarily faithful to the studio version, which is not so unusual, but is still slightly mind-blowing - did they write it with the intention of playing it live, or did they finish it, then work out how to do it live?

 

Oh, and that little drum fill that I love so much? All present and correct, which brings a smile.

 

Farewell to Kings

 

Hm. I checked twice, and there's no indefinite article there. Typo, or deliberate? I'm pretty sure that pursuing that kind of thing is the road to madness, so I'll ignore it and get on with listening to the song. Second track in a row from the new album, but greeted with real enthusiasm; they are preaching to the converted, I suppose, but it's interesting to hear how well the new songs are received.

 

Do my ears deceive me, or does the intro get slightly out of synch in the middle? I have a sense of Geddy and Alex looking across at each other and just adjusting slightly to keep in time. Maybe not, but once you've planted ideas like that in your head, it's hard to shake them off. It doesn't seem to make much difference to the rest of the song - odd to realise just how much this rocks along - close my eyes, and I can see the front few rows nodding along.

 

Oh, and Geddy calls it 'A Farewell...', so I'm going with the typo theory.

 

Something For Nothing

 

I can't help thinking how much I would have enjoyed this show had I been there - they're playing all my favourites! Well, all the ones which would become my favourites, since I don't think I'd heard any Rush by 1978. Of course, in the absence of 'greatest hits', they were always free to just play the songs they liked to play, since the audience hadn't come to hear one or two songs - the people out the front there own all the albums.

 

It's a good, solid version of a great song - what's not to like? It's fun to hear the joy in the playing - it must be hard to keep that level of enthusiasm going night after night, but they really do seem to be having fun here.

 

Cygnus X-1

 

As if to prove my theory from before, another of the new songs gets a cheer for the introductory sound effects. When I last reviewed this, I hadn't heard it for years, and it kind of feels like that again here, since I've been listening to all the other albums in between. So hearing it again is like welcoming back a long-lost friend.

 

This is another song which can't have been easy to play live, but again it sounds loose and relaxed while still keeping to the studio sound. I do love the drum sounds here, though - you can tell it's being played in a big hall, and there's a very satisfying 'thud' to the sound of the bass drums.

 

The beginning of the sung section brings me up short - Geddy sings it ever so slightly off the beat, which I think gives it greater force than the recorded version - there's a deliberate oddity to it, which fits very well with the idea of the thing. It's funny - I was critical of 'Exit... Stage Left' because it was too clinical; this is much more like the sound I'd have expected. And all the way through, there are subtle differences, which I really like. Fun - I think this one will stay on the playlist once I'm done. (which reminds me - I have that task ahead of me, don't I?)

 

Anthem

 

Oh, yes - straight into an old favourite. This is slightly rushed-sounding, but there's a vibe to it which suggests that the audience were really getting into it. And so are the band, from what we hear. Considering this is from one of the least-beloved of Rush albums, it has a truly legendary status. Performances like this remind us why.

 

Working Man

 

You can't leave this off (I'm coming back to this theme), and it'll be interesting to hear how different it is from the previous live version - I'm guessing there's no medley now that there is time to play a full set.

 

And then - Watney's Red Barrel? Oh, dear. It takes me back - back to a time when there really was no decent beer to be had anywhere, also known as the 1970s. It's a great idea to namecheck the local beer, but I do hope Geddy didn't have to try it first. Actually, he can't have, because he came back to England again after that. Heh. Funny, though.

 

Fly by Night

 

No medley, but the next best thing; a simple segue into this. Does Geddy miss his cue slightly there? I like that kind of thing - it's much more representative of a real show than the tidied up and overdubbed versions. I can understand why you'd want to show yourself in the best light possible, but this just reminds me why I didn't enjoy 'Exit' as much as I thought I would listening to it again.

 

In The Mood

 

OK, I take it back - this is a medley! With a drum solo! Well, a drum solo of sorts. I suppose there was an edit or two in there, but I didn't hear it - there's not much point in having another drum solo on this album - although I wouldn't have objected.

 

It's all good fun here, towards the end, rocking out with the best of them. If this is the end, there are a couple of things missing, I suppose - they would still have been playing '2112' at this stage, or parts of it, and 'Closer to the Heart' must have been played - wasn't it a single in the UK? But they already appear on the first two discs, so I'm not surprised they're missing. There are, after all, only so many live versions of 'Closer' you need to own.

 

Aren't there?

 

Cinderella Man

 

Odd choice for an encore, I'd have thought - if that's what it was. I like the different sound due to the fact that there is a limit to how many guitars even Alex can play at once, and I like the slightly headlong feel to it. I said before that this was a song which takes a little time to 'get'. I wonder how it got to be the set-closer.

 

Oh, and what the hell does Geddy say in the middle there? you know, if this had been an official live release at the time, I'd have had a quite different impression of this band before I went to see them for myself. They actually do have a lot of fun up there, but the live recordings haven't always got that across, which is a shame.

 

 

Summary

 

And I guess that's my overall feeling about this whole set - the three disks portray a band at their best - playing live and having fun. this is far and away my favourite live Rush album, although I tend not to play all three discs in a row, since it sounds a little disjointed. I love the not-too polished sound of the nineties show, and the joy and energy of the 1978 one is a magnificent thing.

 

Like I said, this could have been their epitaph, and it could have been the last Rush music I ever bought, too - it was a fit of nostalgia, I suppose., and it might not have gone any further. But, you know, this band does keep its hooks in you...

 

 

[wordsmith]

I just discovered this thread and have enjoyed it very much. I have found your reviews insightful and thought-provoking, feeling validated when our opinions matched and intrigued when they differed.

 

It's been refreshing to see the catalog with new eyes. I feel as though I have lost my objectivity on the subject of Rush, but it's difficult to be objective about something you love! You know, like thinking the woman you love is the most beautiful in all the world.

 

I look forward to your takes on Vapor Trails, Feedback, and Snakes and Arrows. Thanks for sharing all this with us. Your chosen profession suits you; I hope it goes well!

Edited May 21, 2007 by wordsmith

[Finbar]

QUOTE (The Writer @ Apr 20 2007, 12:02 AM)

The Rhythm Method However - this is more like it! The first thing I did with this when I got it back to the car was, of course, look for the drum solo. I can't help myself; I'm intrigued to hear how it has developed from the 'Show of Hands' version. Again, it kind of jumps in, and slowly, deliberately at first - not that it isn't mind-bogglingly good drumming, it's just that there's no need by now to just be showing off the full range of high-speed tricks. In fact, this whole opening section sounds quite different to what I grew up with. I know that Neil was changing his style around this time - this is really the first time I've noticed it; it really stands out. Then, once the high speed rhythms get going, I'm just lost in it all over again. the percussion parts are mostly familiar, but they're still carried off with great flair. And - you know what? There's a theory that most people find drum solos boring. Well, firstly, if you find this boring, you haven't a musical bone in your body, and second - who are all those people yelling enthusiastically all the way through it? They're not bored, and neither am I. In fact, having typed my way through it, I'm going to go back and listen again.

[Zate]

This is a great thread. I'm really eager to see how it ends. Only two studio albums left! Three if you count Feedback.

[PeartInTraining]

I wanna see the ending! Hurry back soon Writer.

Excellent Insights btw

[PeartInTraining]

Wow i cant beleive this thread has been operating for 2 years! How Do You Keep This Up?

[The Writer]

Well, it's not so much a question of keeping it up as one of not having enough time. Still, I'm here, might as well post something. First up, the one that got away. Way back when, I rattled through 'Exit Stage Left' with the nagging feeling that something was missing. And it was. In between 'YYZ' and 'Closer to the Heart', it should say this:

 

A Passage to Bangkok

 

The sound is different, more echoey - I guess this is from an older show. No preamble, just straight into it. Odd how old this feels, even at this stage - the sound is not so different, but the feel of it definitely is. Nicely played, and I suppose it's a bit of an old friend now, but part of me wants to get back to the newer stuff.

 

(and I'm picking this up about eighteen months after I wrote the rest of it, and the fade-out still winds me up. Sheesh.)

Edited June 21, 2007 by The Writer

[The Writer]

Vapor Trails

 

History

 

This is an odd one. I had, by this time, got back into Rush in a way; I went back and bought another copy of 'Moving Pictures' and I was listening to them a little again. I read about this when it came out, and I read about the background; about Neil's tragedies, and of course I was saddened and intrigued to hear how he would deal with it all. The website had excerpts from each of the songs, and I dipped into them, but I found them all a bit indistinct and samey - nothing jumped out at me, and I shrugged and moved on - perhaps I had left Rush behind at last, perhaps they had left me behind.

 

Then a couple of years later I rented 'Rush in Rio' to pass an evening when I was going to be home alone, and had an absolute ball rocking along to all my old favourites. Quite early on, though, I found myself singing along to 'Earthshine', a song I'd never consciously heard before. I thought to myself that I could handle a bit of that in the car next time I was driving down to Alba, and so I bought a copy of 'Vapor Trails' at Heathrow on my next trip.

 

So this is another of my 'driving through Italy' albums, but it's somehow more than that. The first time we came out to BC - on our holiday, way back when I had just started this exercise, I bought myself a copy of 'Ghost Rider' and read it avidly. I realised that if you haven't read Neil's story, you haven't really heard this album. I went back to it with a new appreciation for everything that went into it (derailing my careful 'listening to all the albums in order' plans at the same time) and my appreciation for it changed. I used to like it (in spite of its flaws); now - well, we'll see.

[The Writer]

One Little Victory

 

So, you've been away for five years, your drummer and lyricist has suffered the most appalling personal tragedies and you've somehow found yourselves back in the studio with an album to record. No-one, not the fans, and certainly not you, the band, knows quite what to expect. There are a thousand questions to be answered, including the obvious 'can we still do this?'

 

One of the less obvious questions is 'how do we start this off?' What can we do or say which will give the clear message that we're OK, we're back, and we're going to stick around for a while?

 

Well, if anyone who bought this record was wondering 'has Neil still got it?', the opening salvo of this is an unequivocal answer. I don't suppose there's a perfect way to resume a career which has been so brutally interrupted, but there are only two songs I can think of which come close - 'Back in Black' and this.

 

And this may lack the cheeky swagger of the AC/DC song, but it has something much more personal and important to say. A message which is only partly in the words. The real message of this song is that opening few seconds in which Neil's back in his rightful place and all's - if not exactly well with the world, then certainly a lot better than it had been. I can't be the only person who finds something in his eye when I think about what it took to reach that opening, and how defiant and proud it all sounds.

 

And I was going to carp a little about how the first transition into the song proper sounds a little disjointed, but I've just listened to it again, and I'm not sure I believe that any more; I think the song just takes a breath after the bluster of the opening and settles down.

 

We're back, and, yes, we can still do this.

 

Ceiling Unlimited

 

OK, less emotion, more facts. Now I'm listening to the sound of this whole thing, and I'm wondering what happened to the band who crafted such delicate and complex songs way back. The answer is, of course, that they are still there - listen to the bass here, for example. I'm also aware that the there is a deal of controversy surrounding the overall sound of this album, and I'd better get that out of the way now. I don't like the sound (although probably not as much as many people dislike it), but I recognise that the 'everything louder than everything else' attitude is partly deliberate, an attempt to sound more like contemporary bands and less like who they used to be.

 

This is Rush, it was ever thus.

 

Oh, and Neil? 'Culture is the curse of the thinking class?' come off it; you don't really think that. Come on, the world's not as bad as you think - just give it a few more years...

 

Ghost Rider

 

Listening to this through the headphones just now, I was struck by the distortion in the opening guitar sound, and I still can't tell if it's deliberate or not.

 

What is deliberate, however, is the way this is played out. If Neil had never written another lyric, this would still have found its way out somehow. This is the catharsis which he needed and which everyone expected. I keep thinking as I listen about how Alex and Geddy approached the task of fitting music to this. It's Neil's own, deeply personal, story, and they need to make it feel right. It's a road movie of a song, but it's not a cheerful, wind-in-the-hair road movie, and I think, after wavering for some time (at first I loved it, then I began to tire of it) that they got it about right. You can't take this too fast, but you have to keep it moving.

 

So it lopes along , tense and anxious with its baggage and never quite settles into its place in the heart. It's the necessary song of the bunch. It has to be there, and you may like it, but you don't have to love it.

 

Me? I'm back in the 'like' camp now.

 

Peaceable Kingdom

 

OK, I'm really going to address the music now. Four songs in, and it's clear we're not going to get the jolly, singalong choruses or the soaring solos we may have come to know and love. This sound is no less the sum of its parts than the sound of the early eighties was, but it's an altogether more muscular and meaty beast.

 

And it took me several listens to get my head round it - it's a post-9/11 song, but not really in the way you'd expect. All the tarot stuff puzzled me until I read the book - Neil had a tarot experience which shook him deeply (although part of me hopes he's done a bit more research into cold reading by now; he should talk to Derren Brown and find out how it's done). So, we have the possibility of something intangible which just may actually be influencing our lives, and the uncontrollable forces of the rest of the world who may not want to let us live in peace.

 

And the music captures all that perfectly - full of twists and turns, it never seems to rest, and even threatens to fall out of control at times. Of course it doesn't - this is Rush, after all - but at times, it seems to be living on the edge a little.

 

The Stars Look Down

 

Almost as if the last thirty years hadn't happened, we get a pounding, power chord-filled opening, and more than a hint of the rock band which has always been just below the sophisticated surface. The vocal line is, however, very much up to date in its tone and direction, all minor scales and edginess. I haven't listened to much rock from the last 15 years or so, but I'm aware of where this is coming from.

 

And then there's a honest-to-goodness proper chorus in here - you could even sing along if you wanted - and it all goes in another direction for a bit. I find I have less to say about this than some of the others, yet I like it more than most of the others, too. Looking back at this entire project, I suspect that may, for me, be the sign of a great song.

 

How It Is

 

And then they actually top it with this. I defy anyone who hears this cold and out of context to identify it as Rush - to these tired ears, it has more than a little of the indie, Britpop, 'white boys with guitars' feel to it. It positively bounces and sways around an infectious chorus, with all sorts of interesting instruments going on under it.

 

And the lyric is probably the best so far on this album - good for the first three quarters, thought-provoking and intelligent, then the killer lines: 'You can't tell yourself not to care / You can't tell yourself how to feel'

 

If it doesn't resonate for you, read the book.

 

Vapor Trail

 

What on earth is all that going on at the beginning? How I could have thought this record was 'samey' is beyond me now - all I needed to do was listen to it properly; there's treasure just waiting to be unearthed here. Again, the concept is outlined in 'Ghost Rider', but this terse, condensed version says it all, really - the impermanence of everything, even the important stuff.

 

Beautifully written, beautifully arranged, and (not always the case on this album) beautifully sung. There's a little guitar part which repeats under the words 'In a vapor trail' which somehow reminds me of how a contrail actually twists, unravels and fades as it spreads out against the sky. A little piece of hidden magic.

 

Half time already? It can't be - I'm really enjoying this.

[PeartInTraining]

Hurry back soon

[The Writer]

Yeah, sorry about that - got a bit sidetracked...

[The Writer]

Secret Touch

 

After all these years, somehow they can still pull off a magnificent opening. Right off the back of a great trio of songs, you might expect this one to slip back a bit, but there's no sign of that. From the first few times I listened to this, this was the melody and the lyric which stuck in my head - I'd find myself singing "the way out is the way in" at odd moments, and taking a few seconds to work out what it was, and where it came from. After all this time, it was odd to have new Rush songs to sing...

 

And once I'd read the book, I came back to this again and again - the pain is so palpable, but musically, this is arranged to sound optimistic and upbeat. It's not, though - you have to push past the instinct to bounce along with the melody and really hear what's being said. Even having known about and read about Neil's situation for so many years, it still evades me - how could anyone go through that and still be standing?

 

And be able to write about it like this? And then play drums to it?

 

And, yes, it's a pity about the sound - this is the one track where I really notice the distortion and grunginess - I'd really like to hear it cleaned up someday.

 

Earthshine

 

This was the one which caught my attention when I was watching 'Rio', and I can see why now. There's so much going on that it could really only be Rush, yet it sounds quite different from all that's gone before. Not in the context of this album, of course - it shares that sound and muscular determination, but with the previous 30 years. In the enforced hiatus, it seems quite clear to me that Geddy and Alex had been listening to any amount of recent music, and quietly absorbing much of it. Honestly, if you didn't know Geddy's voice, this sounds like a much younger band.

 

I love the vocalisations around the chorus section, and I love the not-quite guitar solo, and I am completely blown away by the way that Neil revisits one of his old staples, wonder at the natural world, and uses it to illuminate his own fragile state of being.

 

It's partly just another step in the long road which is Rush, and it's partly the sound of a band refusing to be beaten by anything.

 

Sweet Miracle

 

We've been on such a high plateau for so many tracks now, that a dip is natural and inevitable, and this, I suppose, is the dip, although it's really only very slightly below the standard which has been set.

 

I've been intrigued to watch the development of Neil's comfort level dealing with the personal - through the 1990s albums, the word 'love' slowly crept out into the open, and several times we got a glimpse of the private man and his real thoughts and feelings. And that person had to make some kind of comment about how things are now, and how he came to be here, so we have something close to a proper, old-fashioned love song.

 

Except, of course, it isn't really - it only mentions love the once, and almost in passing. You could take it for a paean to the joy of being alive, except that if you know the story, the joys of life were in remarkably short supply. Until love came to town, as it were, and somehow this doesn't quite do it justice. It doesn't, to me, do the job nearly as satisfyingly as the final chapter of 'Ghost Rider'. But that's not to say it's a bad song at all. Just not quite as good as the others.

 

Nocturne

 

Hee. for a split second there, I thought I'd skipped all the way back to 'red lenses'. I really like the odd beginning to this; it keeps you slightly off balance without going overboard with the special effects - just guitar, bass and drums, and the determination to make it sound slightly off-kilter.

 

It's really the flip side of 'Ghost Rider' - where the first song is a straightforward description of the process of being on the 'healing road', this is more about how it felt. we've all been there - in a situation so momentarily terrible that we expect to wake up from it, only to realise that it's life, and we'd better deal with it. This is that state writ large, however - even on waking from the dream, the feeling of being dislocated from reality won't recede.

 

And the music is extraordinary - you really have to listen to it closely to appreciate just how much is going on there - there is, for instance, an almost buried echo of the 'Did I have a dream?' sequence, played out at subsonic levels on the bass, during a quite different-sounding passage - enough to make the listener think 'I know that - where's it from?' Only after a moment or two does it become clear that it's actually from this song. Great stuff.

 

Freeze (Part IV of Fear)

 

Oh, too good. After all this time! Is this a completion of a quadralogy, an afterthought, or a realisation that time and age can add layers to our understanding of fear? My guess is that it's a bit of all of them - the fear appears to be the fear of being out of control - of no longer having the confidence of youth, but being prey to the uncertainties of middle age - knowing that the next generation are already bigger and stronger than you, and think, just as you did, that they know it all, and quite probably resent you for what you're not.

 

And the middle-aged will react differently to the young. Twenty years ago, my reaction to a sudden provocation would have been entirely different to what it is now, and there's a lot of that in this song. It's interesting - Neil is around ten years older than me, so analysing these songs several years after they were written, I find myself in some of them, sometimes barely recognisable, and at others, like here, staring plainly back at myself.

 

And yet, and yet.

 

We still make and listen to this kind of music - my father at my age would no more have bought a recent release by - let's see: well, Rush (my father was my age when 2112 came out!) than he could have flapped his arms and flown to the moon. We live in a different world, and we should be grateful for that, even if we are a little frightened by it at times.

 

Oh, and I just love the music; I haven't forgotten that in all of this.

 

Out of the Cradle

 

No pause, and as if to underline my meanderings, here comes the icing on the cake. If my generation, who grew up as rock obsessives, is to grow old, we will not be able to do so gracefully, and why should we? We (and to be fair, the generation who went before us, the ones who are playing on this record) broke so many moulds that there really is no precedent for what we're going through - we sit here, greying and lined, with children of our own who are appalled at our taste in music for exactly the same reasons that our parents were - it's too loud, you can't hear the words, and is that a boy or a girl singing? It makes me laugh, and it keeps me feeling young

 

And isn't that what it's really all about? Endlessly? Why the hell not - I'm not (as I've discovered) about to lay all this to one side just because I'm about to be nearer 50 than 40. I may have expanded my horizons since I first picked up a piece of Rush vinyl, but I haven't outgrown it, and it hasn't outgrown me.

 

Endlessly rocking? Beats the other options, far as I can see.....

 

 

Summary

 

It took me a long time, but I got there. I truly and unreservedly love this album. It's not exactly easy listening, but who needs that? It's not exactly the Rush of old, either, but what ever was? On the odd occasions (perhaps Presto and Test for Echo) where the sound didn't move forward, the whole edifice seemed to be creaking a bit. Not here - not for one second. The sound may be rough (and, just maybe, deliberately so), but the heart and soul of this band shines through. It's not as immediate as some of the others, but it's not that kind of album. It's a serious, thoughtful and mature piece of work from a band who have nothing and everything to prove, and they pull it off.

 

Boy do they pull it off.

[The O' Sullivan Factor]

GREAT review basically echos my feelings exactly. easily a top 3 Rush album to me

[GoddessInTheirGarden]

THE WRITER: Welcome to The Rush Forum. This is a really good group to hang out with, very creative, confident, and opinionated. I know you'll have fun here.

 

I too am a born-again "Rushmantic". My rebirth happened in October 2005, and the last year and a half has been AWESOME: discovering lots of "new" music for the first time (old stuff by the calendar year it was released but new for me in that I'm hearing it for the first time)...learning about the band members as individuals, particularly by reading Neil's books....getting involved with internet stuff, and hanging out with other fans....creating my own Rush website...and cheering the band into the future with Snakes & Arrows.

 

I often channel back in time to that young teenage Rush geek I used to be and I think, "That kid was on to something!" (I just turned 39 in March).

[Analog Kelly]

I have really enjoyed reading all of this - very well written "TW"

 

 

I am also just getting back into Rush - not that I never stopped liking them - things in my life were just keeping me otherwise occupied. It's ironic how their music is like a soundtrack for our lives- whether we have been listening continuously or rediscover them later. It's all good.

 

 

Please keep writing

[priest_of_syrinx]

We've gotta hear Snakes and Arrows now!!

[pedro2112]

QUOTE (GoddessInTheirGarden @ Jul 1 2007, 09:43 AM)

THE WRITER: Welcome to The Rush Forum. This is a really good group to hang out with, very creative, confident, and opinionated. I know you'll have fun here.

Um, Goddess... Writers been here almost two years longer than you.

 

[daveyt]

QUOTE (pedro2112 @ Jul 1 2007, 12:49 PM)

QUOTE (GoddessInTheirGarden @ Jul 1 2007, 09:43 AM) THE WRITER:  Welcome to The Rush Forum.  This is a really good group to hang out with, very creative, confident, and opinionated.  I know you'll have fun here. Um, Goddess... Writers been here almost two years longer than you.   THE WrITER needs to just keep it real instead of using all those flowers in his sentences

[The Writer]

So - not a reaction to the last post, I assure you; everyone's entitled to their opinion (although that one mystifies me somewhat).

 

More a case of Writer's Indecision - not as serious as writer's block, in that I am not prevented from writing; I just can't decide whether to include 'Rush in Rio' or not. The reasons being that i) I don't own a CD copy of it - just the DVD (but I did hear a couple of tracks from it as downloads before I saw the DVD, which makes me want to include it, just so I can tell that story). ii) I only just finished with a three-CD live album, featuring a great many of these tracks, and iii) I can't decide if it's canon. In the days of vinyl, this was all straightforward - either there was a piece of black plastic or there wasn't; no questions about which format might be more valid than another.

 

But I've come to some sort of a decision - it's almost NaNoWriMo time; I have an almost complete third draft of a book waiting to find a publisher; I have a similarly stalled idiot's guide to classical music to get back on track, and I'd really like to get one of these projects done. So I'm going to do this as a somewhat more impressionistic view of things - some tracks are going to get skipped over to a degree; others will still get the full treatment; depends if there's something to say or not.

 

And I'll mostly review the DVD, since it's what I have to hand, so I'll make reference to how things look. Probably.

[The Writer]

Rush in Rio

 

History

 

I think I did this already. I had a couple of tracks downloaded for my collection of Rush for the mp3 player, and they intrigued me enough to want to borrow the DVD and see what it all looked like. I had a ball watching it that first time, and decided, once we were in Canada, to own my own copy. Never owned it on CD or mp3 or anything else, so forgive me if there are errors or omissions...

[The Writer]

Tom Sawyer

 

Ooh, I hope the 'Ole's are on the CD version - it's Brazil; you're going to get football (soccer, sorry) chants. And, of course, the singalong is just awesome. All of them doing it in a foreign language, of course. Apart from that, this would be the fourth or fifth time I've reviewed this song, so we'll move along...

 

Distant Early Warning

 

This made me grin hugely when I first realised it was on here - how long since it had been played live? And how long (at the time) since I had heard it? I don't hear so much of the singalong stuff, but it's there - maybe dropped back in the mix, or maybe not so many people knew this one.

 

Yes, I was word perfect; this is my period Rush...

 

 

New World Man

 

Fails to review song, owing to impromptu dancing around the room

 

 

Roll the Bones

 

OK, even seeing the animation and so on isn't going to save the rap section. This is the problem with this song - third time I've written about it, and I still can't focus on how great the rest of it is, because....

 

Well, it's just there. It is a great song. Mostly.

 

 

Earthshine

 

The point at which, as already noted, I sat up and took notice of the 'new' Rush. Probably partly because it's fresher than most of the others, and partly because it was new to these ears, this really stands out in this first batch of songs. And they seem to be having such fun with all of this.

 

Although how could it be otherwise, given what's going on in front of them.

 

 

YYZ

 

First time I saw it, I just sat there with my mouth hanging open. What on earth must it have been like to play it, with no warning that the whole damn audience was going to sing along? Now, listening to it, it actually can bring a tear to this cynical eye - imagine being in that crowd, bouncing and singing like your life depended on it. Just when you think there's nothing new to be said about a track, this kind of thing happens.

 

Truly extraordinary.

 

 

The Pass

 

One of their very favourites, and one of mine too. I'm already enjoying this almost too much, so when the resolution at the end of the middle eight comes, I'm finding something in my eye again. Damn this band - it's just a rock song.

 

And if you believe that, you're in the wrong place, my friend.

 

 

Bravado

 

I think I've already established how much I have come to love this, and there's nothing much I can add to the previous comments. Great song, what's next?

 

 

The Big Money

 

And I've established that I have a huge mental block with this. Sorry. Even seeing how much everyone is enjoying it doesn't help me.

 

Next.

 

 

The Trees

 

 

Whatever happened to Broon's Bane, that's what I'd like to know? Aside from that, it's an old friend, and as such, always welcome.

 

 

Freewill

 

Hm. The back of the DVD has that as two words. Have I been doing it wrong all this time? No matter. Another old friend, and it takes me back to watching it in Edinburgh all those centuries ago. Which has the added bonus of making me feel old. Thanks, guys.

 

(but I'll always be ten years younger than Neil, so it's not all bad)

 

 

Closer to the Heart

 

Well, you can't not play it, can you? And the singing - is it better than the Glasgow choir? Probably, but I'd never admit to it in public. In my 'My Music' folder, I have 6 (count'em) different versions of this. No wonder I can't think of anything else to say.

 

Oh, except for this: I was reading 'Roadshow' the other week - Neil doesn't want to play this ever again. That's funny.

 

(I have another 'Roadshow' observation, but it's not for here).

 

 

Natural Science

 

Not much to add to the last verdict on this - pretty cool to hear it all again; even better to see it. Let's keep moving...

 

One Little Victory

 

Ha ha - what better way to come back from the break. I love it. Is it me, or are there a few more layers to the live sound than you can get from the studio recording? Something to do with the way it was recorded, perhaps. I'll leave that particular box of frogs alone, I think.

 

 

Driven

 

This is why I have the DVD - I can see and hear the bass solo. Improves an already magnificent experience about tenfold.

 

Can I just point out the obvious at this point - the playing here is absolutely superb, as it has been all the way through. You expect nothing less, of course, but it's still worth remarking upon.

 

 

Ghost Rider

 

Just time to catch our breath here - It's again more muscular live than on record, although it seems an oddly personal choice for a song to play every night for months. It works, though.

 

 

Secret Touch

 

And then another new one, and another of my favourites. This is just superb live - Alex in particular seems to be enjoying himself here, and (sorry to go on about it) we can hear it all going on.

 

 

Dreamline

 

I think it still makes a better show opener, but it's just fine where it is. Nothing new to add here, I think.

 

 

Red Sector A

 

Oh, this is too good - two songs from 'Grace', and another of the very best. Heard out of context, as it were, here, it underlines that the sound difference around this time was probably not as great as it has been made out to be; it fits just fine in with all the other stuff. Really enjoying this now

 

 

Leave That Thing Alone

 

Not really sure what purpose this serves here, other than as a lead in to the drum solo. It still doesn't stand out to me as anything particularly special, and I don't think I'd miss it if it wasn't here.

 

 

O Baterista

 

As opposed to this - I can't imagine owning a Rush live album - in any format you care to mention - without a drum solo. So, inquiring minds want to know, how's Neil's drumming after all that happened?

 

The answer is, of course, just a magnificent as ever. And it now comes with added big band. The first time I heard this was on the mp3 player as I powerwalked my way around the village - I'd downloaded this explicitly to hear how it sounded now, and I was not disappointed. It was everything I hoped it would be, and then, just as I rounded the corner to home, the horns kicked in. I don't know what the neighbours must have thought as I spontaneously burst into a yelp of surprise and then laughed all the rest of the way home.

 

 

Resist

 

 

All these years, the one thing I thought was often missing from a Rush live show or a live album, was the reimagining of old songs. I know that a lot of people pay good money to see and hear all the old favourites (and a few surprises) expertly recreated, but this, to me, is what a live band should be all about. Yes, we can play all those songs note- (and sound effect)-perfect, but we can also do this; take an already well-loved song and make it something really special with just a little imagination. Possibly my second favourite moment of the whole thing (after the Buddy Rich band, of course)

 

 

2112

 

What, the whole thing again?

 

Well, no - even for a show this long, that would be a little much, don't you think?

 

I do love that final note, though - just the merest of hint to what we're not hearing.

 

 

Limelight

 

Feels like the home straight now, and this just rocks along easily. Even after all the repetitions, this still makes a forceful point with a timeless melody. I've been doing this for more than 2 years now, but I'm nowhere near tired of hearing any of these songs. I think that says more than my words can convey about this whole project.

 

 

La Villa Strangiato

 

Complete with completely unexpected (to me, anyway; I had no idea it was coming) rant, complete with 'The Guy from Ipanema', which made me laugh more than it should. After all these years, evidence that they're relaxing and having fun. Not just fun; they're having a ball up there.

 

So am I, up here.

 

 

The Spirit of Radio

 

Without which, no show would be complete. But I don't know if there's much new to say about it at the fifth time of asking (or is it fourth? I'm not actually counting, you know.

 

 

By-Tor and the Snow Dog / Cygnus X-1 / Working Man

 

By which time I'm wallowing in a warm bath of nostalgia. Old? Nah, I'm just experienced. Countdown (complete with crowd noises)? All present and correct. A crash into 'Cygnus', and we're almost home.

 

Oh, and the sign of eth? That's not it; that's just the word 'Eth'. You'll have to look it up, unless you're Icelandic.

 

And there are dozens and dozens of things the final part could have been, but it's pretty appropriate, I suppose. Rounding off the comeback is the throwback. Remember us? This is what we sounded like once upon a time. It's also, in a funny kind of way, what we sound like now.

 

That's a lot of water under that there bridge.

 

 

 

Summary

 

And still a little more to come. For the record, I'm not going to do 'R30', magnificent thing though it may be, since it's not a standalone CD - I've got to have some kind of a system, you know.

 

I wasn't sure about doing this - and I apologise for the size of the post - but I'm glad I did. See that? It's the final corner. Almost there, then all I have to do is sum it all up and slope back off to whence I came.

[Finbar]

Your reviews are my favourite reading material on this forum, Writer. I hope the mods have the good sense to pin this stuff so we can all return to it and read it through at our leisure.

[aslavetothedriveofobsession]

i'm a writer of the worst stripe -- a 3rd-rate hack sellout, a hired mouthpiece for the medical malpractice insurance industry... i'm paid to write B2B (that's supposed to be a cute way of saying business-to-business, to the uninitiated).

 

while coming up with cogent, fact-based analysis to hook into these stories is a challenge, essentially my job is to fill my share (4 pgs.) of a weekly publication.

 

i liken my office to a Necropolis; it's the walking dead, except nobody bothered to issue a memo... clearly a nursing home for hacks, misanthropes and wannabes. like me. the fact that they make us come in at all is a joke.

 

somehow i can't picture HST and P.J. O'Rourke idling by the water cooler at the Rolling Stone editorial office exchanging pleasantries about the previous night's episode of Rhoda. i don't understand why any company would make staff who do nothing but write come into an office.

it's like out of a sitcom or some shitty movie; incompetent mgmt, intra-office canoodling but it's truly like that.

the co. prez is stuck in 1950, probably still listens to Pat Boone... i'd guess he's a great guy to have as an uncle; manning the helm, not so good. picture Big Guy from WKRP in Cincinnati except more fit, and pretends to run things.

 

i don't even show up sometimes... i've burned every sick day i've got and have ditched early just about every single day, unless i was in the middle of DL'ing and burning some good bootlegs that i just had to hear that day. i think consistently coming in early when i am there gives the appearance of a functional employee, probably not... and i might be concerned about that except mgmt doesn't fire anyone, for anything.

one particular employee literally sleeps at his desk in a sitting up position; his own snoring wakes him up, at which point he mashes the keyboards to give the air of a diligent insurance reporter.

 

so you see, i get to be jd salinger in my own time, except i'm no longer in love with my own writing so i naturally assume no one else will want to read it, either.

and besides, any inspiration i have is sucked from me during the day.

Edited October 11, 2007 by aslavetothedriveofobsession