ctbadger Posted June 22, 2015 Share Posted June 22, 2015 Listened to Emtion Detector last nite. I know thats a special one for many synth fans. I would say its the earliest I can recall hearing a significant tin sound, similar to what unfortunately took Presto down a couple pegs. But what I think of as the strength of the synth era, Alex' solos (ironic!) the solo is a monster on ED. Bass and guitar. But halfway thru, Ged switches from bass to Keys with the main song melody (a huge strength of synth era) the walls of the famous Alex space begins to close in on him, and I hear the anger in the end of his solo. FWIW! ---- (why is this guy talkin ED on an open secrets thread!!) LOVE the ED solo - one of Alex's finest IMHO. HYF is underrated. Yes, lush and jazzy but that's what I like about Rush - every album is different and reflects who they are and their interests at that point in time. They are not afraid to move in different directions. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick N. Backer Posted June 22, 2015 Share Posted June 22, 2015 Listened to Emtion Detector last nite. I know thats a special one for many synth fans. I would say its the earliest I can recall hearing a significant tin sound, similar to what unfortunately took Presto down a couple pegs. But what I think of as the strength of the synth era, Alex' solos (ironic!) the solo is a monster on ED. Bass and guitar. But halfway thru, Ged switches from bass to Keys with the main song melody (a huge strength of synth era) the walls of the famous Alex space begins to close in on him, and I hear the anger in the end of his solo. FWIW! ---- (why is this guy talkin ED on an open secrets thread!!) The funny thing about the synth era is that in Beyond the Lighted Stage he said that he felt pushed out by the keyboards. But I actually blame him for what happened after Signals. I remember reading an interview with him, maybe in Circus magazine (?) when GUP was released. He talked about how much he had been influenced listening to the Edge and a couple of other New Wave guitarists. I think it showed on GUP, PoW and HYF. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rftag Posted June 23, 2015 Share Posted June 23, 2015 (edited) The funny thing about the synth era is that in Beyond the Lighted Stage he said that he felt pushed out by the keyboards. But I actually blame him for what happened after Signals. I remember reading an interview with him, maybe in Circus magazine (?) when GUP was released. He talked about how much he had been influenced listening to the Edge and a couple of other New Wave guitarists. I think it showed on GUP, PoW and HYF. Sounds a lot like this interview he did with Guitar World around the time Snakes and Arrows was released. He talks alot about the influence of The Police and U2's The Edge: http://www.guitarworld.com/rush-vital-signs-0?page=0,1 Edited June 23, 2015 by rftag 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RUSHHEAD666 Posted June 23, 2015 Share Posted June 23, 2015 One of the most epic bass-driven songs ever written. Jeeus I love this song! 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghostnotes Posted June 23, 2015 Share Posted June 23, 2015 Selfless plug........ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GabesCavesOfIce Posted June 24, 2015 Share Posted June 24, 2015 Listened to Emtion Detector last nite. I know thats a special one for many synth fans. I would say its the earliest I can recall hearing a significant tin sound, similar to what unfortunately took Presto down a couple pegs. But what I think of as the strength of the synth era, Alex' solos (ironic!) the solo is a monster on ED. Bass and guitar. But halfway thru, Ged switches from bass to Keys with the main song melody (a huge strength of synth era) the walls of the famous Alex space begins to close in on him, and I hear the anger in the end of his solo. FWIW! ---- (why is this guy talkin ED on an open secrets thread!!) The funny thing about the synth era is that in Beyond the Lighted Stage he said that he felt pushed out by the keyboards. But I actually blame him for what happened after Signals. I remember reading an interview with him, maybe in Circus magazine (?) when GUP was released. He talked about how much he had been influenced listening to the Edge and a couple of other New Wave guitarists. I think it showed on GUP, PoW and HYF. Poor Alex gettin blamed just trying to fit in, was he listening to the Edge or the alarm clock, hard to tell ;) I recall Ged actually took the rap for the guitar sound issue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madrushian Posted June 24, 2015 Share Posted June 24, 2015 First I like but. I think back a few tours ago I recall open secrets being sound check. It was back when rush started doing multiple setlist tours. I think that hyf is better and can be appreciated as a whole album or 1 piece of music Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
x1yyz Posted June 24, 2015 Share Posted June 24, 2015 HYF ended my first love affair with the band. You and me both. It took me a decade to rediscover their new stuff, and luckily it sounded nothing like HYF. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tombstone Mountain Posted June 24, 2015 Share Posted June 24, 2015 Hold Your Fire is almost a perfect album the only thing Tai Shan on the album is Tai Shan.Time Stand Still and Tai Shan take it down several notches for me. It's got some outstanding songs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fraroc Posted June 24, 2015 Share Posted June 24, 2015 I'd rather they do Second Nature. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
psionic11 Posted June 24, 2015 Share Posted June 24, 2015 I would love to see Open Secrets live as well. Everything about it is over the top to me. Guitar, bass, drums, vocals and lyrics are all awesome on this song and it would probably transfer really well in a live setting. The way the outro / ending propels is one of my favorite Rush moments, and the guitar solo section is goose-bump inducing every time! Yeppers. Bass line and the tone are awesome. Guitar solo full of emotion, as well as Geddy's vocal delivery. Drums are intricate, tasteful, and yet driving. Open Secrets is one of their better kept secrets. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
That One Guy Posted June 26, 2015 Share Posted June 26, 2015 Half of HYF is definitely not my jam Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
K.K.VanMalmsteen Posted April 21, 2020 Share Posted April 21, 2020 Well I'm definitely late to the Hold Your Fire party. In it's time, I probably listened to it twice and threw it on my CD rack to gather dust for the next 3 decades. It just wasn't the Rush I was interested in.Over time I came to really like Force Ten. And when Neil passed, Time Stand Still was the song I immediately went to. Other than that I couldn't be bothered. And guess what? I WAS WRONG. And have no problem admitting it. I've been taking a deep dive in to the post P/G synth era albums, and this is a GREAT album. It only took me 30 years to get it.I would say the only issue I have with it, is that it's 2 songs too long. And the extra 2 songs are NOT GOOD and drag the album down in my opinion. If they released it like this: Side One:Force TenTime Stand StillOpen SecretsSecond Nature Side TwoPrime MoverLock and KeyMissionTurn The Page I think it would have had a little more punch, and a little less drag, and be more highly regarded. Then again, probably a lot of dudes like me at the time wouldn't have gave a shit and still bagged on the album. My adult ears certainly hear this much, much differently than my teenage ears did. And with that said - OPEN SECRETS is a phenomenal song! Oh my God how did I miss this? And for that matter - how did Rush never play this live??? That is a HUGE mistake if you ask me.And while I'm at it, I also found a new appreciation for Emotion Detector off of PoW (which was mentioned up the thread) Another homerun tune that never got played live!!! 2 of my favorite synth era tracks, and they are finally clicking for me in 20freaking20! God I love this band... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jnoble Posted April 21, 2020 Share Posted April 21, 2020 I've always liked to pretend that Tai Shan and High Water were two bonus extra outtake songs tacked on to the end with the real official last song being most appropriately Turn The Page 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yyz305 Posted April 21, 2020 Share Posted April 21, 2020 I've always liked to pretend that Tai Shan and High Water were two bonus extra outtake songs tacked on to the end with the real official last song being most appropriately Turn The Page I'd rather have High Water in that group of eight, replacing Lock and Key, or maybe Second Nature or Force 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
K.K.VanMalmsteen Posted April 21, 2020 Share Posted April 21, 2020 I've always liked to pretend that Tai Shan and High Water were two bonus extra outtake songs tacked on to the end with the real official last song being most appropriately Turn The Page I'd rather have High Water in that group of eight, replacing Lock and Key, or maybe Second Nature or Force 10 :o Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
londonguy Posted April 21, 2020 Share Posted April 21, 2020 Always loved that song and also Second Nature Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ST3V Posted April 21, 2020 Share Posted April 21, 2020 Hold Your Fire is top 5 for sure. The only song I would ever even think about skipping is Tai Shan. The lyrics are ok, but the music makes up for it 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
New Digital Man Posted April 21, 2020 Share Posted April 21, 2020 Geddys playing and tone are unsurpassed on this album! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lurkst Posted April 22, 2020 Share Posted April 22, 2020 Never understood why High Water gets paired with Tai Shan so much, it's a decent album closer although not a classic.Is it because Tai Shan is so unenjoyable it's impossible to recover from? (I'll admit there are even parts of Tai Shan I don't mind :o ) Anyway as for Open Secrets, would've loved to have heard it live. I think it's much better than some songs they played on the HYF tour like Prime Mover or Lock & Key (actually I find that one a bit of a clunker). 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thizzellewashington Posted April 22, 2020 Share Posted April 22, 2020 Never really gave Open Secrets much thought but I spent weeks revisiting the whole catalog after Neil died and now it's one of my favorites. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Entre_Perpetuo Posted April 22, 2020 Share Posted April 22, 2020 I need to get a CD of HYF or something. My record has horrible scratching all over the start of Open Secrets and it just totally takes me out of the album. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Weatherman Posted April 29, 2020 Share Posted April 29, 2020 You know it's a great band when you can rediscover songs twenty years later after you stopped listening to it ... and the songs sound better than you remember them. Open Secrets is one of them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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