I am a huge fan of all their work.

The song that has me stumped is mystic rhythms from their power windows cd. the drums, and guitars. simply amazing... i only wish i could get stuff to sound that good..

their musicianship is in another league....

WOW, I have to admit, RUSH is a big reason why I love music so much...I'd also have to agree that the guitar work on Mystic Rhythms is very cool as most of it occupies the tweeter zone of the mix. The percussion is very much electric, and I'm glad that I didn't sell all the RUSH albums I own.

It was also the first all digital RUSH album as far as the DDD(Rec, Overdub, Mix) designation.

My standard line has always been that Rush was my favorite band ... and then I hit puberty and stopped playing Dungeons and Dragons. I was watching the movie SLC Punk! a couple of nights ago on TV. In the movie, there's a scene where these guys are like 13 years old, playing D&D, listening to "The Trees" and extolling the virtues of Rush. I almost pissed myself.

I will say that their Terry Brown produced records have some cool sounds and production, but as far as prog goes, Rush never came close to the majesty of Close To the Edge. I mean, Neil Peart couldn't swing if he were hung and he sure as **** ain't Bill Bruford. Besides, Rototoms and Octabons are sofa king ghey. And that ugly chick singer has the worst possible bass tone from her 4001. Listen to Chris Squire's growling rumble and biting crunch. That's how a 4001 is supposed to sound.

Lifeson gets props for using a Leslie and actually coming up with a truly unique guitar style, though. But, maybe that band should have not done so much blow and they could have done something that actually still rocked after the beginning of the '80s. Those Who covers they did last year are embarrassing. Oh god, they are awful. When I heard them I knew what Jerry Falwell must have felt like when he saw Maplethorpe's "Christ Submerged In Urine" photos.

rush is what they is, peart's no swingin' bruford and bruford can't hold a solid groove for longer than 4 bars without ANOTHER DANDY FILL ROLL!!!

and shirley you can't speak of the gayness of octabans in the same breath that you extol the majesty of a band with jon anderson singing? he's so saccharine he makes bread sound like hulk hogan.

for the record, i love rush and i love yes. the only records by them that i ever seem to listen to anymore are moving pictures, permanent waves, and fragile; there's just too much amazing music that's come out in the last few years for me to spend much time in the deep past.


gregoire
del ubik

I would hardly call it saccharin, but Jon Anderson is sofa king ghey that he makes up words like "Khatru". All prog is rather ghey, actually. But at least he's not an ugly chick singer like Geddy Lee.

...


Rush will always and forever have honor and respect in this house....They were the reason I became a musician...Neil, I loved his drumming and his prolific lyrics.Geddy...has soul, passion and honesty and Alex had more creativity than anyone else of the time.

BTW- I love YES.......They too will always have much respect here....

Both are extremely amazing.

While I'm usually embrarassed by my occasional fondness for classic Yes albums from the 1970's, I'm not at all embrarassed to ask WHAT amazing music has come out in the last few years?

I just finished mixing a live performance of that song for a DVD .... really an amazing song and performance.

R.

lol to Bob's comments above. I was thinking the same thing.
later,
m

As a drummer, I lawfully became a Rush fanatic. I met Geddy Lee and got his autograph while in a restaurant in Florida when I was in high school. This was huge for me.

But now, I must say I can't take his voice when I go back and listen to a lot of Rush. . . .

Nonetheless, I always thought parts of Xanadu grooved pretty well in its own special way. . . .

John Rutsey!

ILMFAO!! JJ you crack me up!

I'm a big Prog fan and to me, they are all good in their own way.
Rush, Yes, Genesis(1970's) all rank up there at the top in my book, I've never understood the arguments that happen over who is better in the Prog community.

They are all good in their own way, they all did different things and like the saying goes, different strokes for different folks, no need to get worked up over the drummers style differences or who's Falsetto is worse...

that's great! GO BOB!!!

There's a line in a Nerf Herder song (Things I wish I knew in High School) that's something like; "Nobody ever got laid because they were wearing a Rush T-shirt". LMFBO!

I dig the middle period the most, Moving Pictures, Signals, Exit...Stage Left and that stuff. My band from college played a couple of tunes including "La Villa Strangito" which, not including the solo I learned note-for-note. I haven't listened to them much recently, I should break 'em out and give them a spin sometime.

EZ...I thought Moving Pictures was the first DDD Rush album. Wasn't Mystic Rhythms released a few years after that?

No, Moving Pictures was most definitely not the first Rush DDD album. It was recorded through the first SSL in North America, to analog tape. So was Signals. So was Grace Under Pressure I believe. After that their sound goes all to hell. Early digital. Yuck.

Been a Rush fan since 6th grade. Didn't listen to them for a while, then re-discovered lots of cool music from my youth. Their 30 year concert last year was great.

The guys in Rush dig old Genesis, but the guys in Yes do not dig Rush. A friend of mine used to hang out with Chris Squire and Trevor Rabin, and he said they would always thumb their noses (especially Chris) when Rush came on the radio or was mentioned.

I'm sure Geddy played a Rickenbacker because Chris did, but I guess Chris was not flattered. Personally, I put Yes and Genesis in a different vein than Rush. Rush has way more Led Zeppelin influence than the others. They're less classically influenced.

[edited off-topic Yes/Genesis war topics]

For people who laugh at prog rock, the movie Spinal Tap has a great parody of the whole genre. I believe the song they do is 'Druid'. Absolutely hilarious!

BTW, Jon Anderson in those white robes. And that high voice. He must be an angel. Peter Gabriel was much more creative with his costumes too.

Here is an amazing Peart animation doing YYZ for you Rush fans.
It's a big file, but VERY worth the download IMO.

Enjoy!
YYZ


Morris

Hilarious!

As a drummer and band geek as a kid, I was a huge Rush freak and I credit them for a lot of my understanding of odd times. I believe a big key to their records was pre-production. I believe they knew ever note that was going to go down well before entering the studio.

It wasn't puberty that made me change gears (though only a couple years in), and I never played D&D. I did however, go to see Song X with Orrnette Coleman, Jack DeJohnette, Charlie Haden and Pat Metheny. That show changed my life. Improvisation and spontaneous composition. Playing in the moment. Jumping off the cliff blindfolded. I had no ideal music could do that!

I don't agree, i think there is some great stuff on power windows, hold your fire, and presto. sure it was recorded digitally, but it was more layered and complex, old rush was simpler, not as much going on in the mix. sure i love the old recordings, but they were still good after they used the digital stuff..

if you want to talk about my fav analog recording ,its "faith" by the "the cure" this is the warmest, fattest most organic analog recording ever.. i simply love it..

But that wasnt the point here, i think the song mystic rivers is fantastic, it sound organic to me, but there is a lot of stuff swimming in the mix. it was done at abby roads studio i think.. i wonder what fx they were using during that time...

"yes". i dunno, that guys voice annoys me more than geddy, and on top of that, he is a born again christian now.. yuck... And after listening to a lot of "Yes" song, i can tell the message in most of them is a strong spiritual christian one, it makes me gag to no end. Rush is more intelligent, especially the lyrics.. to me neil peart is the best drummer that ever lived. next, the tool guy....

The difference I see with Rush vs. the other musician oriented bands, is that Rush has songs you can actually listen to. Melody, etc... I saw YES live a few years ago.. I was falling asleep after a few "songs".

There is some decent material on those albums, but Power Windows is really their departure point into the heavily layered synth era. I'm talking more about the sound quality. There's a webpage I've seen where Rush albums are shown chronologically as waveforms. They get progressively more squashed as the years go by.

The last album 'Vapor Trails' is quite good material wise, but the sound is horrendous.

Hud wins the prize for getting it. Some of you guys are waaaay too ****ing serious. I don't know if you have ever seen the Triumph the Insult Comic Dog bit where he visits the Star Wars geeks waiting to see Episode 2, and he has Spock come by and give the Star Wars geeks the finger. If you've seen that, you'll get what just transpired here.

As far as Rush's songwriting goes, from a harmonic context, it's pedestrian. The song "A Farewell To Kings" is a great example of that. It's like a bunch of triads chasing a melody around. No diminshed chords, no augmented chords, no major sevenths or anything that might support that melody and take the song from pedestrian to elegant. These guys are just not great songwriters. And no, stealing Ayn Rand and using polysyllabic verbosity in your lyrics does not make you a great lyricist.

And no, Neil Peart is not the greatest drummer ever. Hey, Kenny G plays lots of notes too, and boy are they clean and his technique is perfect! Does that make him the greatest sax player? Put on John Coltrane's "My Favorite Things" with all it's honks and squeaks, and tell me that Kenny G's technique and chops make him a better player. Then Put on the Beatles "I Saw Her Standing There". Really. Download it and listen to it. If you can't understand why Ringo and Paul are one of the greatest ****ing rhythm sections ever after listening to that, you'll never ever get what is so lame about Neil and Geddy. You ever heard Neil shuffle? Me neither. On instruments, the abilty to communicate more with less is my measure of greatness. Ringo, Hal Blaine, James Gadson, John Bonham, Jim Keltner, Mick Fleetwood ... these guys can play four on the floor and it just ****ing kills. Once you take away the flamadiddles and the blistering single strokes, there's just not much there to Neil Peart. Sorry, I know your head probably just exploded. Go listen to some Gentle Giant and you'll feel better.

Yes, again, the Triumph DVD is highly recommended.

I know we're talking about a different kinda swing here, but... About 10 years ago I walked into the drum dept of my local music store, and heard some guy swinging on an instructional video. I walked around the front of the TV, and saw Neil Peart, riding, stiff as my timex goes tick, tick, ta-tock. I looked at the salesman, and he shook his head, and I shrugged my shoulders. No words need be spoken.

I loved Rush when I was a kidd. Everything through Signals. (which I could take or leave.) As I got older I wondered what it was like to actually write a song, play for the song, groove on the kit to support the song. Seeing a common theme here?

I haven't deliberately listened to Rush in years. Someone gave me an xtra CD of Exit. I still have it, unopened... Man, the thrill is gone; long gone. FWIW I see guys mentioning Genesis, and Yes, and I still listen to them, but not Rush.

Andrew

Da dunt... Deh dun daaa... Dent... Dent dent dent... Da dunt...

I think the song was called Stonehenge. But yeah, way funny. Can anyone say, harmonic minor? Can I say Hungarian Gypsy Minor? I don't know what it is, exactly, but it sounds cool.
No offense ment to Hungarians, or Gypsies...

Andrew

That would be "What is 2112?" Alex.

Actually, I think if you had a singer who didn't sing castrato, "Bastille Day" could be a great punk rock classic.

BTW, I always saw "Stonehenge" as more of a rip on bands like Dio and all that magic elf metal more than a rip on prog.

in no particular order:

fourtet
zero 7
elbow
arovane
hamza al din
the doves
air
the goton project
phoenix
bjork
radiohead
ubik (ahem!)
mos def
nikka costa
dj food
catherine wheel


if we expanded the scope to the last decade, that list would triple again, and if we included scores and soundtracks it would double over that. additionally, there are several internet radio stations that play very cool stuff all day long that i've never heard of, will never buy, and enjoy thoroughly nonetheless.

c'mon outside fellas, the water's fine!


gregoire
del ubik

Funnily enough, Grace Under Pressure is where my Rush collection ends.

The latest DVD has some good performances, but it sounds like piss. Not sure what Alex is doing at the mic- I can't hear it. Guitar is buried in the mix and everything is overcompressed. The whole DVD has digititis. What were they thinking?

As for them not grooving, well, there's lots of music that doesn't groove. Could Hal Blaine sit in with a Gamelan orchestra? Neil Peart's drumming seemed stiff and alien to me at first, but I adjusted and can hear the beauty of it now. You could try that, drummrboy, if you wern't so busy passing judgement after hearing 10 seconds of an instructional tape. Music can be a lot more than gooves and pop songs.

$20 says Hal Blaine could sit in with ANYBODY. Maybe that's why they paid him to, more than any other drummer ever. And he was also a guy who had 8 concert toms, but didn't remind you how many he had every fill.