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The Debut


Lucas
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BTO and Foghat were mainstays in the "B" level on constantly touring rock bands back during Rush's early days.

 

They made great records, were great live bands to see but we're never going to named in the same sentences as the heavyweights like Led Zeppelin, etc.

 

Neil's presence and influence elevated Rush into the major league from the minors.

 

This does not diminish just how great of an album the debut is.

 

It is the merits of this album the got their foot in the door and caught the eyes and ears of Mercury Records.

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I listened to it just a couple of weeks ago. Love it.

 

Just a really, really good rock and roll album.

 

Am I the only one who loves Take a Friend?

 

I also love a couple more of the lesser-talked-about songs on it- Here Again and Before and After.

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It's full of enthusiasm and reckless abandon. I love the naivete and the passion.

 

I give FBN the nod for my favorite Alex tone, but his tone on the debut is pretty enviable.

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Oh yeah.

 

How many of you old timers got the debut as part of archives?

 

Archives was a christmas present for the young tangster!

I sure did!

I've still got the triple vinyl which i got in the early eighties.I still remember that i thought it was going to be crap because i had looked at the original cover and thought it was going to be like Garry Glitter or T Rex.How wrong I was.I dropped the needle and i was amazed at the power of Ged's voice and Alex's guitar and John was no slouch either.I bought the original lp soon after.Archives goes down as one of the most useless releases along wih Working Man dvd.
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FyGey5mKXic

 

:notworthy: :haz: :rush: :dweez: :Alex: :dweez: :geddy: :dweez: :rush: :haz: :notworthy:

 

I love that guitar solo! This is the only song on the debut, imo, that hinted at what was to come.

 

Agreed. Like BC, I set the debut apart a bit because it is so distinctly different in the history of the band, but I do think the album greatly hints at things to come.... particularly B&A.... I love the guitar progression at 1:13 and 2:20. Alex always seemed to have different gears he so easily moved in and out of.

 

I tend to listen to this album when I am going to put in a bike ride with climbs. The overall groove is the right mood.

Edited by WorkingAllTheTime
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Oh yeah.

 

How many of you old timers got the debut as part of archives?

 

Archives was a christmas present for the young tangster!

I sure did!

I've still got the triple vinyl which i got in the early eighties.I still remember that i thought it was going to be crap because i had looked at the original cover and thought it was going to be like Garry Glitter or T Rex.How wrong I was.I dropped the needle and i was amazed at the power of Ged's voice and Alex's guitar and John was no slouch either.I bought the original lp soon after.Archives goes down as one of the most useless releases along wih Working Man dvd.

I cut my RUSH teeth on Archives... recorded on reel to reel.

 

http://djapollo2k.files.wordpress.com/2014/05/akai-4000ds-mkii-reel-to-reel-1977.jpg

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Oh yeah.

 

How many of you old timers got the debut as part of archives?

 

Archives was a christmas present for the young tangster!

I sure did!

I've still got the triple vinyl which i got in the early eighties.I still remember that i thought it was going to be crap because i had looked at the original cover and thought it was going to be like Garry Glitter or T Rex.How wrong I was.I dropped the needle and i was amazed at the power of Ged's voice and Alex's guitar and John was no slouch either.I bought the original lp soon after.Archives goes down as one of the most useless releases along wih Working Man dvd.

I cut my RUSH teeth on Archives... recorded on reel to reel.

 

http://djapollo2k.files.wordpress.com/2014/05/akai-4000ds-mkii-reel-to-reel-1977.jpg

Ahh,a reel to reel,beats flipping the sides over.
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Right on Lucas! The debut is killer.

 

I think its far better than anything post grace under pressure.

 

Working man imo is the most "important"

Rush song.

 

Not to be a schmuck.... but, yeah, of course Working Man was the most important song. It set all other things into motion!

 

We can talk all day long about 2112.... and it giving Rush the open forum in the industry to do what they want.

 

or The Spirit of Radio.... it being the a quintessential Rush song.

 

or Tom Sawyer.... it being *the* quintessential Rush song.

 

or Superconductor.... it being proof that even the greatest guys have a bad day.

 

But no Working Man... no Donna Halper on WMMS.... no breakthrough.... no nothing. Without Working Man, Neil never gets the gig and sells tractor parts the rest of his life (but still has a blog these days).... Alex is a plumber.... Geddy is probably the Prime Minister of Canada, but that's a whole other story.

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Right on Lucas! The debut is killer.

 

I think its far better than anything post grace under pressure.

 

Working man imo is the most "important"

Rush song.

 

Not to be a schmuck.... but, yeah, of course Working Man was the most important song. It set all other things into motion!

 

We can talk all day long about 2112.... and it giving Rush the open forum in the industry to do what they want.

 

or The Spirit of Radio.... it being the a quintessential Rush song.

 

or Tom Sawyer.... it being *the* quintessential Rush song.

 

or Superconductor.... it being proof that even the greatest guys have a bad day.

 

But no Working Man... no Donna Halper on WMMS.... no breakthrough.... no nothing. Without Working Man, Neil never gets the gig and sells tractor parts the rest of his life (but still has a blog these days).... Alex is a plumber.... Geddy is probably the Prime Minister of Canada, but that's a whole other story.

 

Since we seem to agree about the subject i dont think your post is shmuck like.

 

I do like to point that fact out from time to time to either reinforce that notion or just to aggravate those who dislike the debut.

Edited by tangy
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I'm not a huge fan of the debut, but it has its bright spots. Finding My Way, In the Mood, What You're Doing, and Working Man are all really good. The rest, though, I don't much care for. It sounds…generic.
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I listened to it just a couple of weeks ago. Love it.

 

Just a really, really good rock and roll album.

 

Am I the only one who loves Take a Friend?

 

I also love a couple more of the lesser-talked-about songs on it- Here Again and Before and After.

 

I LOVE Take A Friend. Never mentioned positively, and never played live? How can this be?!?

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... a Top 5 RUSH album for me

 

( Narps, where are you ?!?!? )

 

Just listening to it again, and realizing how fantastic is sounds - the production is great in its simplicity, and Alex's tone was never better .

 

John Rutsey and Geddy are so locked in with each other, and the way Geddy's vocals are recorded is perfect ..

 

The best version of What You're Doing - Rutsey nails this song like Neil never did ( sorry, but it's true )

 

Listen back to back and tell me Neil played it better - you can't ..

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fvg2yTDkvmQ

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ARYUDj4EBNM

 

I completely agree about Rutsey's drums on What You're Doin'. Neil overplayed it a bit on ATWAS but Rutsey nailed it IMO.

 

Come to think of it, this may be an unpopular Rush opinion.

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On a scale of 1 to 10, "10" being the best:

 

"Finding My Way" - 9 - A smash-bang introduction that grabs you by the collar and doesn't stop shakin' you silly until it's over.

 

"Need Some Love" - 7 - A damn cool song. They kept it to just the right length.

 

"Take a Friend" - 6 - The weakest song on the album is still pretty darn good. Lyrics are a bit strange, but nothing wrong with that.

 

"Here Again" - 10 - An absolutely beautiful song. Everything comes together and works perfectly. Guitar, bass, drums, vocals. Gorgeous.

 

"What You're Doing" - 9 - Really powerful song that goes for the gut. Awesome all around.

 

"In the Mood" - 10 - Just a fantastic, very basic and very fun song!

 

"Before and After" - 10 - Another song that starts out beautiful and then grows, hit's the mark and keeps right on hitting it.

 

"Working Man" - 10 - The only negative I've ever found in this song is that if you pay attention to the lyrics, you realize that the subject of the song, this Working Man, actually doesn't really do much working. I mean, he gets up at 7. He goes to work at 9. Note that he doesn't say that he starts work at 9. From what he says it would seem that he leaves his house at 9 to head to work. So saying he lives close to where he works, he possibly actually starts working at 9:30. But then, he's home by 5. That would mean that he would have to leave work around 4:30. So he "works" from 9:30 to 4:30. He'd have to have at least a half hour for lunch. That means this "Working Man" actually works a 6.5 hour day. 6 and a half hours?! Not really much of a working man! Musically, the song kicks major ass. As a matter of fact, maybe we should say that "this one goes to 11"!

Edited by Geddyleegenes
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Funny thing is, if you listen to early boots when Neil first joined the band, he really kicked ass on the debut songs. They grooved, but he played with his trademark ferocity, and they were killer. Somewhere along the way,he got a little fancy and if you listen to Working Man off of DS, he almost gets out of control, aND loses the groove. On more recent tours, he seems to be holding back too much.
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Funny thing is, if you listen to early boots when Neil first joined the band, he really kicked ass on the debut songs. They grooved, but he played with his trademark ferocity, and they were killer. Somewhere along the way,he got a little fancy and if you listen to Working Man off of DS, he almost gets out of control, aND loses the groove. On more recent tours, he seems to be holding back too much.

 

We talk about the synths and Alex's guitar sound in regards to the change in their sound, but Neil and his approach to the drums is something that I feel killed a lot of what they were ..

 

Granted, times were different in this video, but WTF is he doing in the second verse ( starts @ :22 ) ??

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sUGoJ5W1KfM

Edited by Lucas
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