Is Terry Brown Above Criticism ?

[rftag]

Signals sucks. And Hemispheres could have been a lot more interesting.

 

Certainly Terry Brown isn't above criticism, but in fairness to him, it's no secret that he wasn't happy with Signals; he didn't like the direction the band was determined to explore at that point. They parted ways amicably shortly thereafter.

 

Whatever one thinks of Signals, it would be interesting to hear the album Terry would've liked to have made, and it'd be interesting to hear how it might have sounded if it was produced by a top shelf producer who was enthusiastic about Rush's new direction at that point.

 

[Lorraine]

Even though I have seen the band many times, and expect quite a

lot out of a performance, there is no one more critical than

Alex, Geddy and Neil of their playing. They know when they play

badly, and appreciate it when someone is willing to tell them.

There is apparently nothing worse than doing a bad show and then

having someone tell you that you were great. Of course, a rotten

Rush concert is still better than most others.

[shail]

How can anyone criticize terry when no one posting on this topic is his equal or better at his craft.

[Lorraine]

I'm not a Rush historian, but I'm thinking that Rush (Neil and Geddy mostly) were pining to get with the in-crowd of music that was going on at the time, and lo and behold they seem to have Steve Lillywhite lined up to do the follow-up to Signals. No one was more "in" then Steve Lillywhite at the time, so there was no one better to help "rescue" Rush from their '70s prog rock image. So, as difficult as it is on a personal level, they can Terry because Steve is going to take them to the promised land of critical acceptability. But then Steve abandons them on the eve of the prom to produce Simple Minds, who were quite hip at the time (as well, I imagine someone might have whispered in his ear that being associated with Rush would tarnish his hip creds; I wonder if he regrets the decision now). So, there Rush was without Terry but also without Steve.

 

To be fair of course, it does seem apparent that they (again, Neil and Geddy it seems) sincerely wanted to go in a direction that Terry wasn't best equipped to take them. So, whether or not Steve Lillywhite was ever in the picture, Terry was going to go, and whether or not Terry had continued with them, Rush was going to sound different than they had. So, I think that Terry and Rush only works if they are going to be on the same page. Seems their sound has come back to that. I'd love to see a reunion to cap off their career, assuming there is one more album.

 

No bad reflection on Rush, but that is the way you have to be in that business or any business, if you want to make it big. And stay there. The only thing that matters is your success, and loyalty, friendship, relationships, etc. be damned - nothing gets in the way and all get put on the back burner.

 

That's why not everyone makes it, because most people aren't equipped to do it.

Edited December 2, 2015 by Lorraine

[Lorraine]

How can anyone criticize terry when no one posting on this topic is his equal or better at his craft.

 

I would never criticize him. Their best albums were with him. In my opinion.

Edited December 2, 2015 by Lorraine

[EagleMoon]

How can anyone criticize terry when no one posting on this topic is his equal or better at his craft.

 

What about movie or food critics?

 

There's criticism, which can be good or bad or just informative, and then there's ignorant or not so ignorant slamming.

[Lorraine]

Geddy was talking about branching out into film work.

Does anyone know what this means? Was Geddy interested in acting, producing, directing, or some other aspect?

 

This doesn't surprise me but it's the first I've ever read this. He's a multi-talented man.

Edited December 3, 2015 by Lorraine

[JohnnyBlaze]

Geddy was talking about branching out into film work.

Does anyone know what this means? Was Geddy interested in acting, producing, directing, or some other aspect?

 

This doesn't surprise me but it's the first I've ever read this. He's a multi-talented man.

Porn. He wanted to act in them, produce them, direct them, and write the terribly complicated screenplays for them.

[Lorraine]

Geddy was talking about branching out into film work.

Does anyone know what this means? Was Geddy interested in acting, producing, directing, or some other aspect?

 

This doesn't surprise me but it's the first I've ever read this. He's a multi-talented man.

Porn. He wanted to act in them, produce them, direct them, and write the terribly complicated screenplays for them.

 

A star is porn born.

[JohnnyBlaze]

Geddy was talking about branching out into film work.

Does anyone know what this means? Was Geddy interested in acting, producing, directing, or some other aspect?

 

This doesn't surprise me but it's the first I've ever read this. He's a multi-talented man.

Porn. He wanted to act in them, produce them, direct them, and write the terribly complicated screenplays for them.

 

A star is porn born.

It's been well documented that Geddy and the boys are big film fans. Lee has also stated several times in interviews that he's thought Rush's music is cinematic in scope. I remember one article in which he mentioned how Rush's music would fit in the framework of film. So, I assume Geddy was talking about wanting to write the musical scores for movies.

[Lorraine]

For what it's worth: from biographer Bill Banasiewicz about the period just after Signals

 

... The band then took more than a month off for the holidays during

which Geddy produced the debut album for the Boys Brigade. He had

high hopes for the band as did Howard and Ray, their managers.

But, despite a solid performance and lots of club dates, the band

were never able to gain a large following. Still, it reflected

Rush's growing interest in outside projects. Geddy was talking

about branching out into film work. Alex had a growing obsession

with flying and he occasionally said that he might like to try to

act. Neil was writing articles for Modern Drummer magazine and

writing fiction on the side. All three began to talk more

frequently about solo projects. While they had mentioned the

possibility of such work in the past, now it came up in almost

every interview they did. Much of the work on 'Signals' started

out as a G. Lee solo project. The band also began to express

doubts about 'Signals'. The strain was starting to show.

 

This was apparent at a show in San Diego in February just after

the holiday break where their performance was sloppy and the

sound was weak. About the only part of the show that was up to

their usual high standard was the lighting. However, the crowd

thought they were playing a great show. After the concert the

band didn't want to see anyone. So, I went back to talk to them.

They asked me what I thought. I said, "Don't ask me because I'll

tell you." Neil said, "That bad, huh?" We spent the rest of the

night getting drunk, laughing, telling jokes and having a good

time. Alex tried to drag me onto the bus which was heading for

Tucson, but I couldn't go.

 

...

 

 

 

I don't have a bootleg for that show, but I do have one for Long Beach from February 13/14th. I am going to listen to some songs to hear what they sound like.

Edited December 3, 2015 by Lorraine