Rediscovering Rush

[floydfanatic111]

QUOTE (clearingsky @ Jan 31 2006, 10:12 PM)

I want to credit the good folks here at TRF for bringing me back around regarding the Signals album.The vinyl had long since been packed away and many years had passed,leaving me with the view that this was one of Rushs' weaker albums.Sure,I had my favorites from Signals and I remembered liking the album very much,but it also marked a time when friends began to dismiss the band for its unseemly direction.May just be a case of abscence makes the heart grow fonder,but it has been a monumental rediscovery of a Rush album for me.When I became aware of the prominence Signals held with many fans here,it gave me the kick in the shorts I needed to get back on board. So,thanks again all you TRF'ers

Signals is one of my all-time favorite Rush albums. I remember acquiring in June of 1990 only being familiar with Subdivisions and New World Man. Once I heard The Analog Kid, Digital Man and The Weapon, my gamble paid off. I was to get ESL that day but the cassette was $12.99 whereas at a mall it was $9.99. Signals was another one I didn't have but was $8.99 and acquired and loved it. My older brother thought I was nuts but I wasn't.

[clearingsky]

Good to get a hrumph,fanatic

I think If you 1st got into Rush around Moving Pics,then Signals probably was held in high regard all along,but for an old schooler entrenched in the 2112 era,it may have been easier to leave behind.

[Skirmshander]

i stopped sometime after high school, when i discovered jazz. it had already petered out a little when i started listening to what was then "alternative" REM, The Replacements X, etc. I wanted something with "More feeling" (in my opinion at the time)

 

when the first remasters came out i started and then stopped.

like i mentioned in my previous post, i put R30 in at work and realized what i was missing and what i liked all those years ago.

[treeman]

well, i never stopped listening to RUSh ever over the years, yes there was an album or two that i wasn't crazy ahbout at the time but they grew on me over time. so no i never stopped listening to them. they are the soundtrack to my life!!!

[barchetta90480]

[The Writer]

I'm not sure how soon I'll get all these done; I'm up to Presto in my listening, but time for writing has been at something of a premium lately - we're now less than 2 weeks away from emigrating, so there's a lot of work to do...

 

Just to keep things moving, I'll start the next one:

[The Writer]

Grace Under Pressure

 

History

 

As I said before, this album came along for me at exactly the right time. For a time, I was obsessed by it; I remember spending a day walking around London between job interviews, and not seeing or taking in anything - what I was doing was mentally replaying the whole of this album - I knew every word, every fill, every nuance off by heart. How much I must have annoyed my flatmates at the time, I can only imagine (I'll be seeing one of them next weekend; I'll ask).

 

I was at a crossroads in my life - my University career coming to an end, and the one thing I knew for sure was that I didn't want to spend any more time in academia. Trouble was, I had absolutely no idea what I did want to do. Well, that's not strictly true; I wanted to be a writer, but I had no confidence or idea how to go about it, so I spent months trailing around interviews for jobs I could not have cared less about, and ended up driving a van for much longer than I intended. I almost became a civil servant, and then I did get a job in the book trade.

 

And all the while, the soundtrack to my life - in the first period of it when I had felt under any kind of pressure at all - was this iconic album about living on the edge.

 

20 years on, I'm about to give up working and really try to become a writer (I have had interest from a newspaper, and things might just happen...). And what have I been listening to these past few weeks while I've been going through all this?

 

I'm not giving up on implausible dreams...

[BassUnderPressure]

I'm completely astonished by your tremendous writing. Soon comes my favorite album, Power Windows. Can't wait!

[BassUnderPressure]

Perhaps the best thread ever.

[Cygnalschick]

What can I say...Rush have been one of the only constants in my life for the last 10 years or so. To be more specific, the only positive constant in my life. I think they've taught me more morals than I ever learned from my parents, or in school. I'm 26 now, and led a very crazy lifestyle for the last 8 years or so (as well as being a huge Rush fan!). But as Rush have always held a very high place in my view, they have helped me remain optimistic no matter what. To me, they speak the truth in everything they do and say and are great examples of what role models should be

[kooma]

QUOTE (BassUnderPressure @ Apr 4 2006, 04:06 AM)

Perhaps the best thread ever.

I beg to differ...

[Broncos730]

well people can debate as to whether it's the best ever but hopefully we can all agree on one thing:

 

It's pretty darn good!

 

Good luck with the emigration TW.

[jmdyyz]

RUSH Music has been a constent in my Life Since 79- Long Time- 27 shows meeting them twice. I listen to all music BUT RUSH- What can I say It is a love affair. "The Power of 3"!!!!!

[sullysue]

QUOTE (Broncos730 @ Apr 6 2006, 03:27 PM)

well people can debate as to whether it's the best ever but hopefully we can all agree on one thing: It's pretty darn good! Good luck with the emigration TW.

^^^ +1

 

Thank you, The Writer, for taking us on your journey of rediscovery. I think a lot of us have read and agreed and disagreed but nonetheless found what you've had to say thought provoking. I hope you share more. And, do pursue your writing as a career. But, don't forget to let us know what you think of everything past Grace Under Pressure.

[The Writer]

QUOTE (sullysue @ Apr 7 2006, 04:43 AM)

Thank you, The Writer, for taking us on your journey of rediscovery. I think a lot of us have read and agreed and disagreed but nonetheless found what you've had to say thought provoking. I hope you share more. And, do pursue your writing as a career. But, don't forget to let us know what you think of everything past Grace Under Pressure.

THanks for the support, everyone. Latest news is that we are safely ensconced in Prince George, BC, but it's going to take a few more days before I'm ready to resume - currently, I'm typing this into a laptop perched on a cardboard box - but resume I shall. Watch this space...

[Ivan Rorick]

interesting thread!

 

I gues I am sort of "rediscovering" Rush too: I liked the song Tom Sawyer a lot over a decade ago, but never bothered to find out anyting else about the band. Now I am really getting into them; it's always awesome to find new music that really blows you away.

[The Writer]

I'm back! New house, new office, old desk, new PC. I'll be posting in here any day now, just you watch. Currently listening to 'Grace' just to refresh my memory. See you soon...

[The Writer]

Distant Early Warning

 

Ah, it all comes flooding back to me along with that sweeping opening. You can't help but be swept up into the song, and it takes a couple of listens before I really connect with what's going on here. And a lot is going on - for a start, who else was writing about acid rain in 1984? There's a very real shift in lyrical style here; this is as political as I think Neil has ever got. I still wonder who the song is addressed to - 'you' isn't your standard anonymous third party, it's something specific. Reagan-era USA, perhaps, or maybe the world as a whole.

 

These are the concerns of a grown-up, someone who has been trucking along happily doing things he loves until the day when he wakes up, all grown up and suddenly aware of all his responsibilities, and the music sounds somehow more serious and grown-up, too. There's none of the playfulness of 'Signals' here; this is mature work. The soundscape has been worked out and there's a much better balance between the elements now - no more complaints about the inaudible guitar; instead we get a song with real drive and purpose which doesn't skimp on all the new things - particularly the keyboards - but fits it all together much better. It doesn't sound a lot like the old Rush, but at the same time, it couldn't be anyone else.

 

Afterimage

 

And now we see why this is a more 'grown-up' album; things have been happening to these guys, and this is clearly a tribute to a departed friend (I seem to recall it was one of the road crew, but my memory is sketchy). The music is not mournful, but the rhythm, which otherwise I'd have been calling 'bouncy' is made spare and haunting by the way it isn't developed in the mid section, just pounding away like the heartbeats of those left behind.

 

And these are terrific lyrics, too - what better memorial can you imagine for a friend than to be able to tell them that 'I feel the way you would'? In the right circumstances this song is capable of producing tears, which is not common in music which you could dance to - there's still that vaguely reggae-style off-beat which was really the signature sound around this time, but it's just part of the building blocks of a fine and expressive song, not the reason for the song's existence.

 

Red Sector A

 

And then things get really serious. I remember hearing this for the first time, and thinking that, with the hi-hat rhythms and the choppy guitars, I was about to hear the first real upbeat song, and then Geddy starts to sing ' All that we can do is just survive', and really jerks me back into reality.

 

Now, I'm sure there are other rock songs out there about death camps, and even that some of them might be sensitive and thoughtful, but Rush pretty much drew the line under this subject with this. I can't imagine anyone else even trying to do this subject justice, yet Neil makes it sound easy, and Geddy sings it with such chilling conviction. It wasn't until after I had heard this that I found out about Geddy's family, and to this day I marvel that, no matter how well two people know each other, it was possible for one of them to write a song about such a personal subject, and for the other to be comfortable (if that's the right word) singing it.

 

The music sounds as if it shouldn't work, but it does; there are machine guns (thankfully not sound effects, just guitar) at the right places, and although it sounds as if it must be too fast and snappy for the subject matter, it actually just gives the lyrics a kind of fierce intensity which they need - it's too easy to ignore the words in a song like this, because they are not comfortable moon/june stuff. This song puts them right up there in your face, and makes you confront the issues they raise. Superb.

 

The Enemy Within (Part I of 'Fear')

 

The first song which could have musically come from 'Signals' - but for the slightly more prominent guitar - but which lyrically has to be with this set. This is really edgy and dark stuff, all that paranoia and darkness, and at first listen it kind of made me wonder how it fitted with the other two parts.

 

And then I listened more closely (and, this time round, remembered where some of my favourite lyrics came from), and I realised that this is actually a very strong and positive song about conquering your fears, and being yourself to your full potential - not just a 'two sides of the coin' thing, either; the final part is a real (and pretty subversive, when you come to think of it) call to action. Don't just stand there; do something!

 

It's fun to hear the way this sounds again after all this time; I'm not sure there was much more mileage to be had from these choppy rhythms and Caribbean rolls, but it is so of its time that it makes me smile to remember how odd it sounded - this can't be the same band who did '2112', can it?

 

 

It sure can.

[The Writer]

The Body Electric

 

Sometimes, I think I read too much into Rush songs. One of the things I have always liked about Neil's lyrics was that he did SF properly; treated it as a viable genre for songwriting, and managed to use SF tropes without making them sound silly or contrived. Now, here comes a song which could have been written as a response to 'Blade Runner', but with a title from Walt Whitman.

 

Before I go on about the poetry, let me just say that I love the drums on this, and the way in which the music is carefully put together to simulate the robotic existence; and in particular the way in which the guitar solo seem - to me, at any rate - to represent the human elements of the android, yearning to be free of the metal body

 

And then I go back to Whitman, and try to make the connection. In the end, of course, it was probably just a play on words; the poem is a celebration of humanity and the joy of the human body; this is a song about a robot. However, the robot is raging against the decay of its artificial shell, and something akin to its spirit or 'soul' is behaving in a particularly human way, and I think of ' And if the body were not the Soul, what is the Soul?'

 

Like I say, I read way too much into Rush lyrics.

 

Kid Gloves

 

Confession time. I really didn't like this song at the time; I always thought it was the weak link on an otherwise impeccable album. Perhaps it was because it somehow sounded different from the others - it has a obvious and clear guitar riff, for example - or maybe I resented the fact that it seemed to be speaking to me in my comfort zone; not having to take responsibility for anything very much.

 

However, after I first started re-listening to this, I found that this was the one which lodged in my brain and refused to go away. Now, I can hear the riff for what it is; an irresistible hook. Now, I can hear the lyrics for what they are; the wisdom of someone who has done the growing-up thing, and is able to say: 'hey, don't be so hard on yourself'.

 

And, in the end, what's not to like about this? It's sharp, and to the point; it has one of the great Rush drum moments in it, and a wild and crazy solo. And, although it's still thoughtful, it is a respite from the relentless seriousness of the rest of the album. Now I'm older, and I can relate to it a bit more, it speaks to me. And it rocks, which can't be bad.

 

red lenses

 

(Yes, no capitals; that's one of the things I remember).

 

I also remember the way that this stood out from all the others; it really is the 'light relief' track. It's fun, and playful, and - possibly for the first time - Neil's verbal playing really does work.

 

And then, after a while, I listen again, and realise that it's just a distillation of all three parts of the 'Fear' trilogy; the fears of ordinary people and the way they are manipulated by those with an agenda to produced received wisdom.

 

And then I listen again, and hear the fun that these three guys are having, especially with the instrumental section; Neil taking the melody off on percussion; Geddy doing that funk thing, and I'm really not sure what I think about this song at all.

 

And that, my friends, is a good thing.

 

Plus, it has the word 'Soviets' in it; which is kind of retro-cool these days; we didn't see that one coming at the time...

 

Between The Wheels

 

Starts kind of dirge-like, and not even some fine guitar work can pull it out of the doldrums. But this is all part of the masterplan; this is a song designed to pull you down before it launches you to the stratosphere, so as Geddy starts to sing, you listen carefully to his litany of complaints about the modern world, and by the time you're running over the rabbit, you're singing along, thinking "Oh, I get it".

 

Except, of course, that you don't get it. This is the song which explains exactly what it was like living in 1984, under the shadow of voodoo economics, nuclear standoffs and pensionable world leaders. If you're not old enough to remember it, friends, let me tell you; we were frightened. Well, some of us were. And Rush articulated that fear perfectly, all the while giving us something to sing along to. This little gem, long neglected by me, is a real Rush classic; full of memorable lines (I always loved 'To live between the wars, in our time', because that's exactly how it felt) and cunning musical hooks, it wraps up this heavyweight album on a suitably serious note. Wonderful stuff.

 

 

Summary

 

I lived in this album for the better part of a year, and, to me at least, despite all the resonances, it hasn't dated at all. It's a solid, serious, thought-provoking work, and - in spite of what I used to think - it doesn't have a weak moment. I have enjoyed rediscovering this more than anything else I've done so far, because it is so much part of me, and the man I used to be. Is it their best album? Maybe. Better than Moving Pictures?

 

Ah, you can't ask me that; I won't murder my darlings...

Edited June 29, 2006 by The Writer

[Middletown Dreamer]

No way can I match Writer's introduction or insights (great stuff, by the way), but I'd like to introduce myself as well.

 

I've been a huge Rush fan ever since I first heard Tom Sawyer. Over the years, their music has amazed, entertained and inspired me. I don't just like it, it "means someting" to me. I can't always put it into words, but there's a deeper connection than just liking a song. I'm sure a lot of you understand...

 

Anyway, I thought that the forum looked like fun, and a good place to talk about Rush without getting the weird looks that sometimes follow my ramblngs.

 

 

[clearingsky]

Nice work Writer,love the descriptive nature of your rediscovery.Your thoughts here on GUP really serve to buttress my own feelings about this 1984 release.I like to point to this album too,as a stamp in time when I looked around with the excitement of a "new"Rush album,only to realize that others around me had moved on and didn't really care.

[The Writer]

Power Windows

 

History

 

This is where I started telling this tale, and as I said then, this is where (at least for a while) I stopped. This was the last Rush I bought on vinyl, possibly even the last vinyl album I bought. I remember being not quite as excited as usual waiting for this to come along, and I remember being disappointed by the cover (I still don't particularly like it, but it's no reason to go off a band). And then I played it, and something was not quite right; for the first time since I discovered this band, Rush songs just weren't doing it for me - I don't remember clearly now what was failing to grab me; in truth it was almost certainly me, not them - I was moving on, getting married, working insanely hard and expanding my musical horizons beyond long hair and guitars.

 

And thinking about that now, maybe that's it - Rush kind of went back to guitars just as I was heading in the opposite direction; maybe 'Grace' had given me ideas which I took in one direction, but the band just turned a different corner.

 

Anyway, we'll see. I do remember that at least two of the songs on here were particular favourites of mine, in spite of me moving off in search of other things, so I have a completely open mind about this...

[The Writer]

The Big Money

 

And right away, I hit upon the problem - I just don't like this song. As soon as I heard it again, it all came back to me; I didn't play this album much because I knew I'd have to plough through 'Big Money' before getting to the good stuff. And now I listen to it again, for the first time in maybe 20 years, I think I was wrong.

 

For example, I've spent a lot of time recently just listening to the bass line here, and I cannot begin to imagine how anyone can play that and sing at the same time. The drumming is as fine as ever, and there are some nice fills and flourishes in the middle eight, underpinning Alex's gradually insistent solo, which takes its time, but eventually takes flight.

 

No, I think what still doesn't quite work for me is the lyric, which just isn't as inspired as I have come to expect. That and the riff, which doesn't quite have the drive it promises when it starts. For the first time since I started this exercise, I'm finding it difficult to express just exactly what's wrong here - in the end, I realise that my former prejudice against it is still informing my opinion. This is actually a perfectly good song, but I think it could have been a great one, and it seems to me that the problem is that the lyric is somehow stripped down too far; I don't see the connections Neil's making here, and I think that when it's sung over the driving melody, it comes out like just an ordinary rock song. And ordinary is not what we have come to expect. Still, I'm not going to allow it to spoil the rest of the album, because this might just be another unjustly neglected gem.

 

 

Grand Designs

 

Don't remember this at all, so the opening is a nice surprise, much more like the Rush I'd been expecting, moving on from 'Grace'. Lyrically, it seems to be much more on form, too - it's a bit more personal and thoughtful, in a way, this is a bit of a manifesto from a writer who knows he's never going to be the mass-market superstar he might once have dreamed about, and is perfectly OK with that: "listen," he says, "you have to work a bit harder to get this stuff, are you with me?"

 

Musically, it has a nice bounce, which I had completely forgotten about. Several of the times I listened to this in preparation for this were during my endless drives through northern Italy, and this surprised me a bit by going particularly well with tearing down the autostrada late at night. I never really considered Rush to be a 'driving songs' kind of band, but sometimes it just happens. Nice; I'm warming up to this album now, give me more...

 

Manhattan Project

 

Ah, now I remember this. And I remember that it contains one of my favourite images in all of music, when 'Enola Gay' flies out of that shockwave, and elevates this song way above the standard.

 

So, I remember it, and review what I remember, and then I listen to it, and discover all sorts of neat things going on under the sombre history lesson. I spend way more time than is good for me listening to each part in isolation; focussing on the drum part one pass, on the guitar the next and so on - and are those real strings, or synthesised ones? Eventually, I come to the conclusion that this is a technically brilliant piece of music, with a neat kick in the pants just when it's needed.

 

And then I listen to the lyrics again, trying to hear them as if I didn't actually remember them by heart, and I discover that this is an incredible piece of writing; a documentary narrative which presents the facts of a particular turning point in human history, and without preaching manages to underline the view that progress isn't always necessarily what's best for everyone. There are two ways for a rock band to approach the story of the first atomic bomb; the obvious way, and the right way.

 

This is the right way.

 

Marathon

 

Confession time - I was never in a band, but I used to imagine I was, and I (and I doubt I'm unusual in this) used to write lyrics to imaginary songs. Once, I wrote a song using the conceit of a marathon runner (remember, mass marathons were new things then) as a metaphor for life, and comparing it to the sprinter's view of things. I have to say, it was terrible, although I kind of liked it at the time (I would tell you what it was called, but time has mercifully erased that). A couple of years later, I heard this. I stopped trying to write songs.

 

This lopes along like a marathon runner; it hints at the highs and lows of that particular sporting madness through the music as much as the words, and (not incidentally) uses language in the style of a master; someone who is comfortable now with the tools of his trade. the younger Neil Peart was not entirely surefooted playing with words (I think I may have mentioned this before), but the mature one can make "in the long run..." sound great, and only reveal its double meaning on a second or third listen, and end a song with "first, you've got to last", which is just terrific.

 

And it feels like a natural side closer, too. Worth observing, since this will be the last time I pick up a piece of black plastic and turn it over to hear the next bunch of new Rush songs. It'll be interesting to see if there is a noticeable difference in the way albums are paced from now on. Halfway through this one, and it's beaten my remembered skepticism. This is good stuff; not quite at the peak of the previous three, but nothing like as far from it as I remembered. Let's turn it over...

[The Writer]

Territories

 

Nope, doesn't ring any bells here. Let's see what it has in store: great opening drum riff; nice eastern melodies; sudden brassy stab; lyric which explains the eastern influence. Good stuff.

 

And then it slides effortlessly into a superb guitar riff; much tighter and more effective than the 'Big Money' one. And now the lyric is beginning to hit home - this is important stuff, as relevant - perhaps more so - than when it was written. If I wasn't sure about this album at first, this has sold it to me completely - this is a wonderful song; firing on all cylinders. For weeks after I first reacquainted myself with it, I have been singing the 'chorus' part, the bit about 'can't really feel what international means'; maybe it's because I've just moved to another country, maybe I'd have been singing it anyway, but it really makes an impression on me - how could I have neglected this for so long?

 

Oh, I'm really enjoying this now; it's flying, and so am I.

 

Middletown Dreams

 

And then this.

 

As soon as I heard the bubbling introduction, it all came flooding back to me; this was (and is) one of my favourite songs by anyone, anywhere. When I needed a strapline for the account I am writing of our emigration, there was no contest: 'It's understood, by every single person who'd be elsewhere if they could".

 

Why do I like it so much? Because it speaks directly to me (and millions of other people, I have no doubt); for so many years I had those middletown blues, and those dreams. Well, here I am - i 'retired' at 43, and moved halfway round the world to have the life I actually wanted to lead. I'm sitting here in my writer's den, conjuring up words with no thoughts of being under any kind of work-related pressure, and it feels great.

 

Oh, also I like it because, like 'The Analog Kid', it feels Carver-esque to me, and there's no higher praise than that - from me, at any rate.

 

Apropos of nothing at all, I recently discovered (by reading one of his books) that Neil is a fan of my other favourite American author, John Barth. I can't tell you how much that pleased me - pretty much he same feeling I got on discovering that Spike Milligan was a Mahler fan.

 

Back in the world of Middletown, I'm not neglecting the music just because the words are so good - this has a kind of hopeful, yet sad feel to it - particularly in the bass line, which just about nails the song, don't you think?

 

Emotion Detector

 

Are we back in China? Could be (I'm guessing that - at least - Neil, visited, if not China, then the far East around this time) - I'm not sure how that relates to the song, which lyrically comes from the same place as the personal stuff on the second side of 'Permanent Waves', but with a new layer of experience. This is the song of the wary, the bruised, not the unsure.

 

There's a nice bit of percussion-y keyboard in the middle of it, and a confident and mature feel to the whole thing. That said, I'm not sure I have much more to say about it - I like it, but it doesn't detain me the way some others here have.

 

Mystic Rhythms

 

Now, this is just asking for trouble. You're a drummer and a lyricist, and you're going to write a song about the spiritual power of rhythm? The drum track's going to have to be pretty damn good, isn't it?

 

And to start with, I wonder, but listen closely; that's not going to be easy to play; it's kind of spare yet complex; lots going on under the surface, with seemingly random effects building a bigger pattern than first appears. It's not Neil's first take on mysticism and spirituality, but it's his most clearly thought-out; I don't think there's anything out there, but I'm not going to close my mind to anything. Nice Shakespeare quote, too...

 

Musically, this is pointing to the future; when I first re-heard it, I was shocked, because I could have sworn this was on 'Hold Your Fire'. Nice way to finish, I think; we're a long way from what irritated me about 'The Big Money', and that can only be good.

 

Summary

 

Well, I was wrong. This is a great album, partially let down (in my eyes) by its opening song, but more than redeemed by what follows. I was wrong about it being more guitar-oriented, too. It certainly has revised the mix, and you can hear Alex much more clearly than on the previous two, but it's not a rock-out 'guitar' album at all. Which therefore leaves me puzzled as to why I fell out of love with Rush at this point, because there's nothing here to scare me off, and I'm more than glad to have rediscovered it. It'll never be my favourite, but it will be right up there in future, which I'm happy about.

[drumstruck]

Greetings to The Writer and all others.

I had some time and poked around this forum for a bit when I found this thread. It has been enjoyable to rediscover the albums through someone else's eyes. Being the same age as The Writer, I had similar experiences discovering Rush the first time around. One difference being that I never lost contact with Rush and they have part of my musical life since I was a punk 13 year old kid.

I did a similar "revisiting" of the albums in another forum years ago and found it to be a lot of fun. Looking forward to hear your take on the remaining albums. And seeing what else this forum has to offer.