Rediscovering Rush

[The Writer]

Counterparts

 

History

 

As above - there's none. I've spent the last couple of weeks listening to this repeatedly, and so I know that I have heard *counts* four of these before, but I'm so pleased to be hearing 'new' Rush songs...

[Presto-digitation]

This is a great thread...! Enjoying your journey very much. Keep 'em comin'...

[The Writer]

Animate

 

So, yes, I know this. But I don't know the opening. Right before we get into it, it's announcing that this album is a bit more loose, relaxed than we've been for some time. Then there's the sound - guitar, bass, drums; all present and correct, but there's a toughness, a muscularity to the sound which has been hinted at in the last couple of albums, but here it's back and in a big way.

 

It took me several listens to get the lyrics - it's in 'Other Half of the Sky' territory. In fact, don't faint, it's a love song! Kind of. Once I can hear that it's not another 'list' song, it's actually a fine thing indeed. It's almost tender - and then I properly hear the last line - 'gently dominate'? Is that - actually, I don't know what it is. Not at all what I was expecting; I'm still pondering it.

 

Oh, and I really like the guitar solo, which sounds a little like late-period Dave Gilmour to me.

 

Stick It Out

 

Way back in the mists of time, I commented that Rush didn't really do 'witty'. Well, not then, but they do it now without even thinking. Neil is playing with words and it's just easy; I don't know how easy it was to write - it's probably one of those things which occurred to him and got scribbled down, then took weeks to work out - 'stick it out' has two meanings, so let's write a song abiut that. Hmmm, maybe not as straightforward as it seems. But it sounds effortless, which is how you know its a great lyric.

 

And the sound - I believe the correct response here is woah! - this is very much of its time; it's loose and flowing, but at the same time rather more heavy than this band has been for some time. I don't know the rock bands of the early nineties as well as I might, but I'm guessing that there's a hint of Red Hot Chili Peppers here. Maybe not; I'm no expert.

 

Cut To The Chase

 

Again, superb opening - Geddy's voice really has settled down to be an expressive instrument, and joined to the loping bass and the restrained guitar, it actually doesn't sound like Rush, although it couldn't be anyone else. First time I heard this, I thought it might be a little disposable, but now I've properly listened to it, it has a lot to say - the shifts in tone, the searing solo, the properly enigmatic lyrics.

 

And then the little midsection which was done at the mixing desk - I really like that 'sliced up' section - it doesn't outstay its welcome, but it really enlivens the song. And I'm hearing little drizzles of keyboard sound in there, too - just so we don't forget where we've been these past 15 years or so.

 

Nobody's Hero

 

At last, a Rush song you can play to people who hate Rush, and ask them if this is what they expected.

 

I just adore the big acoustic chords - they really come at you from left field, and pull you up short. 'Listen to this; it's not what you think' they seem to say.

 

And it's really not what you think. At first, it sounds like Neil's just holding these people up for your admiration, but he's not - he's asking if it's right to feel such pain at the loss of someone we hardly knew, who made no more mark on the world than anyone else, but who perhaps ought to have. Everyone is special, even if they don't really know it.

 

I had a friend like that. He died last November at the age of 38, and I miss him still. Although he probably wouldn't have liked this song (and I'll never know now), I think of Andrea whenever I hear this.

 

Oh, and one more thing - I just love the way that the 'If anybody's buying' line is in the wrong place; it jars, and it's meant to.

 

Between Sun and Moon

 

Opening stanza - sounds kind of ordinary, nothing to make it jump out, then you realise that's deliberate - to point up the next part and the 'chorus' with its 'song without words' section. After hearing this exactly twice, I was singing it to myself at all times of the day and night. It's properly infectious, even if it doesn't mean all that much.

 

Just like a proper song chorus, in fact.

 

The song has ties back to 'Time Stand Still', and it's interesting to see the differences - this is not about actually stopping to take time with your friends, this is more a metaphysical kind of pause; more of a 'wondering what it's all about' kind of pause.

 

It went straight on the internal jukebox and it's still there - the mark of a great song, I find.

 

Alien Shore

 

I actually had to make a decision here - is this on side 1 or side 2? I know it's my age, but I can't think of things any other way. Anyway, I'm on a roll, so it's going in part 1.

 

The little shout at the beginning reminds me of something, but I can't think what. And in any case, it's instantly replaced by the opening line, which is one of Neil's best. Now he doesn't tell stories in his songs so much, it's harder to pick out resonant lines, but that one's right up there. And then we get a conversation about sex, which I think is a first for Rush (ignoring 'Need Some Love', of course...)

 

Again, this is a song which didn't make a huge impact on me in the first couple of listens. But then I found myself singing along, and I realised that it had got under my skin quite nicely. There's even some real old-fashioned Rush sounds in the instrumental break , which cause me to grin hugely. Don't know what the barely audible spoken lines are, though - I'm guessing I'm not meant to.

 

 

[Cygnalschick]

I'm enjoying reading your interpretations

[The Writer]

The Speed of Love

 

So, last time out, Ghost of a Chance was about love, so now we need to take the next step and actually put the word 'love' in the title. And love is, of course, one of the themes of the whole album, which kind of demonstrates just how far Neil has come - he seems to be much more comfortable with this subject matter now than he ever was in the past. It's still not particularly personal or autobiographical, but it's a lot closer than ever before.

 

Having said that, I'm not as inspired by this song as I have been by the others so far. It's got a certain potency in the refrain, but it doesn't grab me in quite the same way. Nice, but no more than that (although there's a teriffic little bit of drumming right in the middle which gets my attention).

 

Double Agent

 

Just when I thought we were settling down into a nice, comfortable middle age with Rush, they go and pull this out of their sleeve. It even allows you to sink into a kind of comfort zone before unleashing something utterly unexpected on you.

 

The abrupt change of gears is unsettling enough, but then we get the answer to the question posed by the rap section in 'Roll the Bones'. This is how it can be done - it doesn't just sound convincing (and, yes, I know it's not a rap), it sounds properly dark and menacing - Raymond Chandler or Dashiell Hammett. It's, quite frankly, superb. The first time I heard it, I had to stop the car so I could listen properly - and there haven't been any songs like that since - well, ever, really, since it would have been 'Grace Under Pressure', and I wasn't driving around back then.

 

And it al works out right in the end, which is in keeping with the overall mood of the album. I love this.

 

Leave That Thing Alone

 

Another instrumental? At least I have heard this one before. The more I think about the last one, the more disappointed I am, but this gets off on the right foot, and doesn't let up. It's much more what I had been expecting, even if it doesn't hit the heights of 'YYZ' or 'La Villa Strangiato'. I can clearly hear the various parts working together, and they each get a chance to show off, which is only right and proper. 'Where's My Thing?' felt like a filler; this one feels like its here for a reason.

 

Although it does still have that 'song which we didn't have words for' thing going on, it doesn't outstay its welcome.

 

Cold Fire

 

Reading the title, I was expecting - well, not this.

 

Earlier, I was wondering about Neil being a little more personal on these songs. This one feels like a confessional. It's almost eerie hearing this kind of thing from these guys, knowing how protective Neil is of his privacy.

 

And, of course, it could all be made up. but it has the feel of something real; it has a really strong purposeful feel to it. and I'm hearing all sorts of things in it, from The Who at the beginning, to a surely unintentional Public Image quote in the middle - if there's a continuum of guitar-based rock music, then Rush and PiL are probably about as far apart as you can get on it - it made me smile, which is a good thing. and Neil's really cooking on the drums here, too- I tend not to mention it, because there's only so many ways you can say 'hey, the drumming's great', but this one jumped out at me.

 

Great melody line, too - this is a really good song.

 

Everyday Glory

 

Whereas this one is possibly trying just a little too hard. A big, heroic title like that needs sometihng special to back it up, and it only almost gets it - all the elements are there; the piano part and the heroic guitar, but for me, it just doesn't quite gel.

 

Which is not to say that it's a bad song - it's not, and if it had been on 'Roll The Bones', I think it would have been a standout track,. I'm not sure how to make it better; perhaps all it needs is to be remixed so that everything isn't trying to be more prominent than everything else. Maybe my ears are tired - I don't know.

 

 

Summary

 

So I read what people said - that these three albums were 'patchy' or whatever; why didn't you tell me that the middle one is a real beauty. This, friends, is a teriffic album. Sure, there are odd moments where the step falters a little, but this far on, not every record can be 'Moving Pictures'. But, really - this is fabulous stuff from a band this far along in its career. More, much more than I had expected. I do hope I'm not setting myself up for a fall with 'Test For Echo'.

 

 

[daveyt]

[TNT on PMS]

I know I rediscover RUSH almost evey single time I listen to them .

There is always something new discovered . . .

Something I missed .

 

And I Guess you call yourself The Writer for a good reason .

Nice postings . . . .

Very interesting .

[The O' Sullivan Factor]

You do a great job on these! keep em comin' "Test For Echo" is the most disliked Rush album of all (I think) but you seem to catch on to things (like the line in "Nobody's Hero" mentioned above) that are sloppy or sound awkward on purpose, so you might find something different in it. I'm really looking forward to it!

[Presto-digitation]

Counterparts: Terrific album. Very much agree.

 

I know a few (European) folks who should read that review. Curmudgeons...!

[willowroolz]

QUOTE (Presto-digitation @ Mar 1 2007, 02:39 PM)

Counterparts: Terrific album. Very much agree.

Ditto

 

And I'm from the UK, too

 

Great thread, really enjoyed reading it (especially you finding DS at Brent Cross shopping centre, just down the road from me )

[Presto-digitation]

QUOTE (willowroolz @ Mar 1 2007, 10:18 AM)

QUOTE (Presto-digitation @ Mar 1 2007, 02:39 PM) Counterparts:  Terrific album.  Very much agree.  Ditto   And I'm from the UK, too   Great thread, really enjoyed reading it (especially you finding DS at Brent Cross shopping centre, just down the road from me ) Well good on ya, mate..! Over at "another" Rush site, CP gets ripped a brown-eye at just about every turn, mostly by bitter, old Euros who swear the band has been in a constant state of decay since Permanent Waves.   Good to see the love for this marevelous '94 release. (It's actually my second favorite Rush album...behind Moving Pictures). I know that's probably a bit too enthusiastic for even most fans of this record, but still....

Edited March 1, 2007 by Presto-digitation

[The O' Sullivan Factor]

No way! one of my favorite things about Rush is that you can really see any album being anyone's favorite, (for example I like Grace Under Pressure most) which reflects the high quality of the bands music in all of its forms

[willowroolz]

QUOTE (Presto-digitation @ Mar 1 2007, 03:51 PM)

Over at "another" Rush site, CP gets ripped a brown-eye at just about every turn, mostly by bitter, old Euros who swear the band has been in a constant state of decay since Permanent Waves.

Would that be the other site that you and I both post on then?

 

Nah, I love Counterparts. It's an album that constantly surprises me when I listen to it, and that's maybe because I hear so many negative comments about it that it sways my memory of just how good it is.

 

It's an incredibly organic album, just fabulous

[madra sneachta]

QUOTE (willowroolz @ Mar 2 2007, 08:44 AM)

QUOTE (Presto-digitation @ Mar 1 2007, 03:51 PM) Over at "another" Rush site, CP gets ripped a brown-eye at just about every turn, mostly by bitter, old Euros who swear the band has been in a constant state of decay since Permanent Waves. Would that be the other site that you and I both post on then?   Nah, I love Counterparts. It's an album that constantly surprises me when I listen to it, and that's maybe because I hear so many negative comments about it that it sways my memory of just how good it is.   It's an incredibly organic album, just fabulous What could that nameless mysterious site be?

Edited March 2, 2007 by madra sneachta

[Presto-digitation]

QUOTE (willowroolz @ Mar 2 2007, 03:44 AM)

QUOTE (Presto-digitation @ Mar 1 2007, 03:51 PM) Over at "another" Rush site, CP gets ripped a brown-eye at just about every turn, mostly by bitter, old Euros who swear the band has been in a constant state of decay since Permanent Waves. Would that be the other site that you and I both post on then?   Nah, I love Counterparts. It's an album that constantly surprises me when I listen to it, and that's maybe because I hear so many negative comments about it that it sways my memory of just how good it is.   It's an incredibly organic album, just fabulous Yeah, it would be...LOLOL.

Edited March 2, 2007 by Presto-digitation

[clearingsky]

Looking forward to "The Writer" and his take on T4E

 

If you like CP,and I do very much,then I don't see where you would not like T4E as much if not more.Although the overall strength of T4E may not be apparent early on,with time this album should continue to climb up the Rush fans "depth chart" in much the same way COS has seen a great resurgency and is now held in much higher regard than say,5 years ago.

[The Writer]

You know, mostly what I'm trying to do with Test for Echo is not prejudge it. People like it, people dislike it, all well and good. I'm glad someone is standing up for it, because if all I heard was negative comments, I'd be a little concerned at my own reaction.

 

Nah, in the end, I have my own ears, battered as they may be by 44 years of listening to everything at an ill-advisedly extreme volume, but they've served me well thus far. I'll get through it.

 

And I'll have my own opinion on it, I'm sure. Actually, I really ought to get on with listening to it, don't you think?

[Finbar]

Yes, I think.

[dog_ears]

Writer, I've bookmarked this thread and will keep up with what you're layin' down. I too have gone through my Rush phases over the past 28 years. I stopped listening after Power Windows and didn't tune in again until Test For Echo. I won't go into great detail here but I think a lot of Rushians go through the same phases. I recently got back into Rush due to the fact that I wanted my sons (11 and 13) to listen to intelligent music and not get swept up into the hip hop culture. My 13-year old is a jazz drumming enthusiast. He despises the slick white jazz of Dave Weckl. My son is a purist and heavily into the likes of Art Blakey.

 

Anyway, I plan to take them to see the guys on this tour. I know they'll love it because they already listen to Rush quite a bit.

 

No matter what musical phases I've gone through over the past 41 years, I always come back to Rush, or they come back to me.

 

Thanks for sharing here at Rushaholics anonymous!

[The Writer]

Test for Echo

 

OK, here we go...

 

Once I've listened to this all the way through, I'll have heard every Rush song. I'm not finished when I get to the end of this, but I feel like I'll have finished. Wonder if I can pace this right, and be reviewing the new album just after it comes out? We'll see.

 

Anyway, this has had enough rotation in the last few weeks - I think I'm ready to go...

[The Writer]

Test For Echo

 

'Counterparts' was a step along this road, and now, somehow, after all these years, here we are back in the rock arena. The opening bars are just a distillation of pure Rush - it really couldn't be anyone else. And then the song plunges into power chords and tricky repeating riffs - it doesn't sound anything like, say, Caress of Steel, yet it's really the same setup. I guess it's just a bit more Nineties.

 

The lyrics remind me a little of 'Double Agent'; it's all CSI (although I guess it was NYPD Blue back then); in fact the subject matter is quite a bit darker than the sound, which has me bouncing along nicely. I gotta learn that bassline - might even have to buy me a bass one of these days.

 

Driven

 

Straight off - I love this. I've loved it since I heard it on 'Different Stages' all those years ago, and listening properly to the studio version, I just love it even more. So why does this leap out at me so sharply? Let me count the ways...

 

The riff. I have no idea how hard it is to come up with new and original riffs, but this is a killer - simple enough, once you try to figure it out, but so strong, and leading inevitably into the meat of the song, which has me threatening to shake loose a few braincells many decades after I last banged head in anger. Then, big fat sumptuous acoustic chords; this one's aimed directly at me! Follow that with the bass solo, running ragged up and down that same riff, a gloriously singable chorus and-

 

Hold on. that's it right there - the reason I love this; the reason this song works so well. Not one, but two fabulous melodies - the whole 'driven to the margin of terror' section, and then, over those acoustic chords, a soaring, leaping, plaintive 'but it's my turn to drive'. I'll have some things to say about lyrics in a bit, but if you were presented with a lyric whose refrain looked like the complaints of a whiny teenager, how hard would you have to work to turn it into something even a tenth as good as this? This, however, sounds effortless.

 

Rockin' and rollin', guys. I like it.

 

Half the World

 

Another arresting opening - there's no let up here, is there? Big, fulsome chords, another flowing and powerful bassline, and I'm almost halfway through this, singing along lustily, when I realise what I'm singing.

 

Now, we've been spoiled over the years - the lyrical content of Rush songs has rarely slipped below the 'outstanding' category - particularly when compared to most other rock bands. And Neil's slipped a few list-type songs past us in the past, and mostly they've amused me.

 

But this just doesn't work for me - it's full of sweeping generalisations, and bald platitudes; it doesn't have the ring of truth, and it feels like an exercise in how far a simple idea can be stretched; the answer being: not half as far as you think.

 

But then, all of a sudden, there's an extraordinary middle eight. What the hell's that? I am an aficionado of many types of music, among them the thoroughly original and much-missed Penguin Cafe Orchestra. Now, I may be wrong, but those sound like cuatros. Something mandolin or lute-like anyway. I'm going to have to go and look it up later. On balance, that nice touch may just about save this song - in fact, from any other band, I'd allow this a hearty thumbs up, but when you set the bar this high, you've got to clear it every time.

 

The Colour of Right

 

(Hey, Canadian band, Canadian spelling)

 

I count about five other bands this could be in the opening few bars - the guitar work is different, the bass work is a little less prominent; even the drumming sounds different, and yet it all comes back together quite quickly. Odd, I really can't put my finger on it, but there are all kinds of other things going on in here. The vocal line is as strong a melodic line as we've heard in four or five albums, and there are some real old-school Rush chords in the middle. It's even partly a life on the road song, harking all the way back to 'Making Memories', but ultimately this one is passing me by.

 

Maybe it just sounds a little too much like other people. It does occur to me that it would have made a great radio song, for exactly those reasons. People who didn't even know who it was by would have hummed along. It's inoffensive, but it's not much of anything else, either.

 

Time and Motion

 

Whereas this is right back into the new sound, and the opening just blows me away. This time, it's the sound which connects me back to 'Double Agent'. But this is fresh, and darts off in unexpected directions - there are minor keys all over the place, and the melody lines go down where you expect them to go up; there's an intriguing time signature going on, especially in the middle. There's a keyboard part, something of a rarity now, and the restatement of the opening riff is truly menacing.

 

It's a terrific grab-bag of interesting elements, and where it could have all got a bit messy (or 13 minutes long), it's cohesive, smart and snappy - it all hangs together really well, even if at first glance it seems to be going in four different directions at once. I like it, it's the one song on here which made me work it out, and that's a good thing.

 

Totem

 

Hmm. Remember 'Free Will'? That, to me, was just about the definitive Peart statement on religion. Of course, anyone has the right to expand on things, even to change their mind as they roam life's pathways, but this strikes me as trying to be funny about something which perhaps deserves his fuller attention. (I will say that the drumming is getting his full attention - and mine).

 

What is is that bothers me about this? Partly, it's the 'dancing around my totem pole' line - I'm sure it's not meant to provoke sniggers, but, damn it, it does. There's an attempt to state a clear philosophy, but all these deities and superstitions keep getting in the way of the message - what exactly is it that Neil believes? I know what he says he believes, but all this other stuff is clouding the issue somewhat.

 

Musically, it's perfectly fine - it doesn't reach the heights of some of the others on here, but I really like all the guitar harmonics going on in the background - a bit like the opening of 'Red Barchetta'; a fine, nostalgic thread in an otherwise more modern soundscape.

 

 

[The Writer]

Dog Years

 

All the way back at 'I Think I'm Going Bald', I leapt to the defence of a song which generally gets a bit of a pasting, and I'm kind of going to do it again.

 

Kind of.

 

OK, let's get it out of the way - the lyric stinks. Sorry, but there it is. I love and utterly relate to the sentiment, but there are a million other ways it could have been presented. It just isn't possible to listen to this with out bursting into undignified sniggering. I think it falls apart at about 'doggy heaven', which is 23 words in. You're just not going to recover from that, however well-intentioned you are.

 

Actually, I've just thought of something. Give this lyric to They Might Be Giants - it's pretty much at their level of whimsy, and they could probably marry it to something jolly and tinkly, and everyone would love it.

 

Because the real problem is that this is a fantastic song, if you don't listen to the words. It rocks and rolls and thunders; it pitches and yaws in all the right places, and I really want to sing along. Just not to those words.

 

Virtuality

 

So, better follow it up with something more lyrically solid.

 

Or not.

 

OK, not fair. Two things about this: it was written too soon - the world is only now coming to terms with what the internet means, and I'm confident that a Peart song on the same subject now would be a bit more thoughtful. Secondly, "Net boy, net girl"? I'm prepared to overlook the odd bit of lapsed quality control, but this is 2 songs running. Sheesh, I believe is the word.

 

OK, but here's the real thought - instead of 'press this key to see amazing things', there's a deeper, much more ambivalent message here. Here I sit, analysing and criticising the works of Neil Peart. Ten years ago, this could still have been out there, although not so easily - now, it's matter of course. Who am I to criticize? Just another audience member, is all - 20 years ago, when I was really listening to Rush all the time, the most I could have done was talk to my friends in the pub about it - now I can float these words out there, and I have no control over where they end up. If Neil sees them (yeah, but stick with me), how would I feel about that? How would he?

 

There's a song in that. And it could still sound as good as this one, but I think I'd find the words more satisfying.

 

Oh, love the ending, by the way. Just in case you thought I'd exchanged listening for ranting.

 

Resist

 

Ah, I'm spoiled for this - the first time I heard it, I heard the introduction about how it was inspired by Scotland. Being a Scot, this kind of predisposes me to like it. A lot.

 

And then I hear the lyric, which is a great riff on Oscar Wilde (so Neil hasn't lost it, thankfully), and that in turn means that I can focus on the music, because that's the Scottish connection. and it took me a while, but I got it in the end. Runrig.

 

If you've never heard Runrig, then I can recommend them. They don't really sound much like Rush (although they sound a bit like 'Resist'), but I hear Runrig running right through this - I'd love to know why.

 

And is Geddy harmonising with himself in this? It's very effective, whatever it is.

 

Oh, and as if this wasn't disjointed enough, lyrically, it's a pretty strong statement of personal intent, don't you think?

 

Limbo

 

In which I have to find yet another way of talking about an instrumental.

 

Well, I'm glad it's here, and I'm very glad it's back to being playful, although I don't know that Bobby 'Boris' Pickett and the Crypt-Kickers bring all that much to the party. It's fun, though. What really stands out, I suppose, is the way the voice is used as another layer of texture - voice as instrument; it's something which has been a feature of these last three albums, and it's used to its fullest effect here.

 

Musically, this is on the right side of adventurous, but I'm afraid I'm still yearning for the way 'YYZ' stretched the listener. I'm sorry, I like it well enough, but I'm struggling to find new things to say about it.

 

Carve Away the Stone

 

So, with a title like that, you're going to have to contend with Mott the Hoople (well, if your ears are as old as mine, you are), and therefore you'd better have a chorus and hook at least as strong as that one.

 

First signs are good - the opening is stark and strong, and we reach the refrain nice and early. And when we get there, it's all good - probably not quite as memorable as the other song, but its had a 30-year head start at getting stuck in my brain, so I'm reserving judgement just yet.

 

As a summary of what 'Test For Echo' has been all about, this will do nicely - lyrically, it's sound enough, and musically, it's full of all the things Rush are about now - muscular, yet melodic. All told, it's not the strongest song on here, but it's a perfectly good set-closer.

 

 

Summary

 

Well, I needn't have worried. Sure, it has its flaws, but who among us doesn't? It certainly surprised me with its dedication to rocking out, and it has caused me to smile at my initial reaction to 'Vapor Trails' - when I first heard that, I had no knowledge of the three 'missing' albums; I think I expected it to sound like 'Presto'. Now I understand why it doesn't, although I can't help wondering what the next album would have sounded like, if only...

 

And there I am - I find myself with another live album to review, which I'll get to a damn sight quicker than the last one. This journey is coming to an end, and I'm going to miss it. I'm not, however, going to miss the nagging voice saying 'shouldn't you be reviewing the next album, and moving on?'

[The Writer]

Different Stages

 

Long ago and far away, I bought a Rush CD. It wasn't my first, and it wasn't my last. But it felt significant, because it had been neary ten years since I had last bought one. I had only vaguely kept in touch with them in that time, but there was this marvellous new thing called the Internet (which was by then, a marvellous but slightly old hat thing called the Internet), and I had been reading up on them. I read about what had happened to Neil, and I was saddened by it - he had been a big part of my formative years, and for that to happen to anyone is tragic; for it to happen to someone with whom you feel - however tenuously - a connection is somehow more personal.

 

Some time later, I was, as I mentioned before, doing some shopping at Brent Cross, and I poked about for a time in the Virgin Megastore. I saw 'Different Stages', I looked at the tracklisting, and I thought to myself, 'why not? After all, it might be the last thing they ever do.'

 

And so it goes - seven years later, I'm still here. It must be a reasonably decent live album, then...

[The Writer]

Dreamline

 

Heh. Strauss. I like it, even if it is a bit of a cliche - didn't Elvis used to come out to this? Anyway, it kind of works, and the opening of 'Dreamline' is loose and fluid. The first time I heard this, it was a new song to me - I remember it making a strong impression. Now, it feels like an old standard. Which, in a way, I suppose it is. As ever, the song's a faithful representation of the studio version - but the playing is somehow freer, more relaxed - the solos really rock.

 

Limelight

 

And straight into a bona fide classic - listen to that gnarly bass! Geddy's voice sounds a little lower than it used to, but I think it gives the song more presence - odd how this anguished plea for consideration has somehow become a bit of a standard singalong song. It's received (naturally) rapturously, and Geddy's little speech has me laughing out loud. It's a long way from 'All The World's a Stage', when you think about it.

 

Driven

 

And this is the point at which I fell in love with Rush all over again. I had no context for this song, and it was unlike anything I had either been listening to, or expecting to hear, and it blew me away. Of course, the presence of a bass solo was never going to hurt, and you can really tell that it's three guys having a lot of fun. Which, to be fair, is not something you can always say about the earlier live albums. I'm not sure this song is supposed to be this much fun - it's kind of dark when you think about it.

 

But this version is. Lots of fun.

 

Bravado

 

For a long time, I thought that this just dragged the pace down at the wrong point. I didn't really like it for that reason, but now, hearing it in a different context, I may have to reconsider.

 

No, damn it, I will reconsider. Since I reviewed 'Test For Echo', this is the song which has been rattling around in my head. I think it's the Barth connection, or maybe it's that it actually is a really good song. And this is a strong rendition, full of muscle and conviction. Chalk the previous reaction up to Not Listening Properly. And is that just the faintest hint of 'Xanadu' at the end? Well, I like to think so...

 

Animate

 

Whereas...

 

This, I used to love, but maybe I've just been playing it too much. It's not a bad version; in fact, listening to it now on the headphones, I'm acutely aware of how the various musical elements fit together to make it all work, and it's something of an extraordinary construction - once again, I'm brought up short by the realisation that there are just three guys making all this noise.

 

But, in the end, it doesn't quite work for me; that may say more about me than the music, though.

 

Show Don't Tell

 

I'd know that intro anywhere! The first time I heard this, I was taken straight back to Glencoe, listening to Presto on the way back to Crianlarich. Now, it makes me smile - relatively speaking, this was a 'newer' song at the time. It has the feeling of something pulled out of the vaults, but it couldn't have been on a live release prior to this, so maybe it had been played all along. Whatever the story, I always liked this, and I'm just having that impression reinforced. Can you tell if Geddy's playing keyboards or bass at any given point? I'm not sure you can; it's all so seamless.

 

Although, when we get to the solo passage, he must be doing the bass part for real - you couldn't sequence all that, and I don't suppose you'd want to, in any case.

 

Then he sings all over it. Not for the first time, I shake my head in wonderment.

 

 

The Trees

 

No shaking of heads here - just an honest-to-goodness whoop of joy for an old friend. No 'Broon's Bane', though - although it's the second time round before I register that. I'm delighted to hear songs being given a new live rendition, though - it's been a long time since 'Exit Stage Left', and I wasn't too fond of the way that one sounded, as I recall. This is just great - full of depth and power (although for years I remembered it as more of a pastoral ballad, I guess it always rocked to a degree.)

 

And the percussion's perfect. I don't know if this is making a comeback after several years out of the live set, but it feels fresh; not like they had been playing it for 20 years or so.

 

I always loved the solo, and it does my heart good to hear Alex playing the hell out of it here - it's not immaculate and note-perfect, and who would want it to be; it sounds like the playing of a man in the groove. Pretty fine all round, even if it doesn't segue smoothly into 'Xanadu'. And are those cows at the end? Were they always there?

 

Nobody's Hero

 

Not sure the flow is so good into this - on paper, they're similar sounding songs, but in the flesh, there's such a stylistic gap that it takes a moment or two to readjust.

 

But once readjusted, it starts to make sense. It's as lyrically ambiguous as the previous track, and contains many of the same elements. It also breaks up the soundscape of the set - less raucous than even 'The Trees', it allows a little breathing space. For what, I find myself asking...

 

Closer to the Heart

 

This would be - what - the third live rendition in a row? Just as well it's a proper classic, isn't it? Honestly, it never gets tired. You'd think it might, with the simplicity and the sheer number of times it's been played, but somehow - whether it's the crowd singing along, or the way the band play with their various sections, it just works. The ending's been worked up even more than on 'A Show of Hands'; finally, after all these years, we're no longer being presented with these songs as if they were precious artefacts, but as living, breathing, changing songs. Love it, and it still leaves me wanting more.

 

In the context of this album, it's a bit like the sorbet before the rich main course...

 

2112

Overture

 

Ye Gods and little fishes, as my mother used to say. Really? After all this time? First time round, all I have is the cover. All it says is '2112'. How much of it? We'll see.

 

For now, the Overture is as magnificent as it ever was. I'm glad we've had some old friends leading into it, because it would otherwise sound a little odd, I think, jammed in amongst the 'Test for Echo' stuff. Even if this is all we get, I'll be happy to have heard it again, and played with -

 

No, I'll leave that until I've heard it all. In the meantime, I love the chant-along crowd noises!

 

The Temples of Syrinx

 

Oh, good - straight on we go. Given that Geddy's voice can never recapture the way it was back then, he does an excellent job making it sound convincing here. There really need, as I observed before, to be two voices in this whole thing, and the priests need to sound somewhat forced and unearthly. He may not be quite as high as before, but it works.

 

Hey! (grin)

 

Discovery

 

Oh, this is too much - if we get 'Discovery' (for the first time, as I recall), then we must be getting it all. It's not exactly convincing as the first time he's picked up a guitar, but I suppose it never was. I'm irresistibly reminded of Pat Metheny's solo on 'Shadows and Light' - other than Joni Mitchell and Rush being Canadian, I don't think I've ever considered them in the same sentence before now. Fortunately, Alex restrains himself and doesn't go off down the 'terminal noodling' route that Metheny so enjoys.

 

The notes really do fall gently like rain, too.

 

Presentation

 

I wonder how hard it was to relearn all this for this tour? There's never a feeling (well, there wouldn't be, given who we're dealing with) that it sounds ragged or unfamiliar; it just - works.

 

This time the priests don't scream their derision, but there's no doubt who's who, or who's boss. You don't have to strain your voice to breaking to make the point. In fact, the more I listen, the more I realise that the two voices are more or less in the same register - one is a little more of a head voice, but it really is impressive how different they sound nevertheless.

 

I'm enjoying this; can you tell?

 

Oracle: A Dream

 

There's that vocal contrast again. This time, it's the light and dark of the dream. I know I'm going on about it, but this whole section really is a vocal tour de force from someone who would probably have been quite happy never to have sung this again...

 

 

Soliloquy

 

Is there the tiniest hint of an edit, or a splice before this? I'm not going to go back and check - I really want this to have been all one take. This time, a word for the bass playing; there's a proper swagger and sway to it - a confidence which falters away to nothing at the end. I think I'm hearing some of this for the first time.

 

Grand Finale

 

So, yes - we do get it all. I'm not sure how it stacks up in terms of timing to the studio version,; it feels like it has been faster. There is, of course, no sense of mystery or uncertainty about it - we all know the story, and there's no need for it to take its time, but I'm so pleased to have heard it all again, played by -

 

And this is the point I was going to make earlier: this is not, as it might have been, a piece of juvenalia, played for laughs by a band who know they don't have to do it; this is more like an old maser, brought out of storage and respectfully laid before us. No matter what they felt about it at the time (and, let's face it, if they hated it, the wouldn't have done it), they knew how much it meant to the fans, and played it straight.

 

Loud applause is in order.

 

And brain surgery, apparently.

[DonB]

Just discovered this thread today. I sat here for about 2 hours and read the entire thing. While I don't agree with all of your assessments, I sure can't dispute your honesty and integrity. Bravo, TW. Now hurry the hell up and get to VT!