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General => General Music Discussion => Topic started by: KevShmev on April 10, 2018, 05:39:59 PM
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I picked songs from 1976-1987, but with a twist: I left out the heavyweights from the 1976-1981 era, as I was curious to see how well the most popular/best songs from the synth era would do against the non-heavyweights from the Big 5 (although some included are still pretty popular).
Also, I would ask that no one else do a similar-type poll for Rush this week, as I have another idea or two in mind.
You can vote for up to 7.
I went with:
Marathon
Mission
Territories
Subdivisions
Witch Hunt
Distant Early Warning
Manhattan Project
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Subdivisions
A Farewell to Kings
Different Strings
Circumstances
Between the Wheels
Witch Hunt
Enemy Within
Would have liked to sneak Analogue Kid in there. Maybe on another day it take's Circumstances' slot.
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Vital Signs
A Passage to Bangkok
Digital Man
Marathon
The Analog Kid
Distant Early Warning
Entre Nous
Boy, I'm glad all of those tracks I picked were played live in the 2000s tours and was recorded in the DVDs. Good stuff.
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Yeesh...
On my original pass through the list, I clicked on 12 songs. Paring the list down to 7 was painful.
I selected
Subdivisions
AFTK
Digital Man
Circumstances
Analog Kid
Cinderella Man
Enemy Within
The five I unclicked were Entre Nous, Marathon, Between the Wheels, Mission and Vital Signs
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What an odd selection of choices... ;D
In no particular order:
Enemy Within
Digital Man
Analog Kid
Between The Wheels
Something For Nothing
Turn The Page
Distant Early Warning
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Subdivisions
Vital Signs
Territories
The Big Money
Time Stand Still
Marathon
The Analog Kid
Not listed in order of preference. I'm a pretty big fan of the synth era, I guess.
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I don't really give a crap about "eras", really, but I do tend to listen to and like some of the less popular songs, so this was hard. I could have easily picked 10 or even more songs.
I finally went with:
Subdivisions
A Farewell To Kings
Mission
Circumstances
Something For Nothing
The Analog Kid
Manhattan Project
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This was hard
Subdivisions
Vital Signs
Red Sector A
Marathon
The Analog Kid
Witch Hunt
Manhattan project
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This was hard
Understatement of the century..
Subdivisions
Red Sector A
Vital Signs
Witch hunt
Enemy Within
Manhattan Project
Time Stand Still
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Good lord, was this tough. I don't dislike anything on that list.
Subdivisions
Territories
A Farewell to Kings
Red Sector A
Between the Wheels
Distant Early Warning
The Enemy Within
Hah! I just realized that I checked half of Grace Under Pressure. I honestly didn't realize. Guess I'm not lying about my love for that album.
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Subdivisions
Territories
Mission
Circumstances
Between the Wheels
Marathon
The Weapon
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Marathon, Manhattan Project, Territories
Subdivisions, The Analog Kid, Digital Man
A Farewell To Kings
I'm not surprised I picked 3 songs from POW, but 3 from Signals did surprise me. This was a tough one!
-Marc.
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Subdivisions
Territories
The Big Money
Marathon
Manhattan Project
The Enemy Within
The Weapon
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Proof that I am not a Rush fan: I don't know ANY of these songs. :lol
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Subdivisions.
That's the only song I like on that entire list.
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Proof that I am not a Rush fan: I don't know ANY of these songs. :lol
Now you are pulling our legs. All of them. :lol You've never heard Subdivisions?
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Proof that I am not a Rush fan: I don't know ANY of these songs. :lol
Time to edumacate yerself - you might be surprised how you might like some of the songs.
My choices (including my twp faves from PoW):
Subdivisions
Territories
Between the Wheels
Marathon
Something for Nothing
Witch Hunt
The Enemy Within
Those that just missed the cut include The Weapon, Red Sector A and Turn the Page.
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Proof that I am not a Rush fan: I don't know ANY of these songs. :lol
Now you are pulling our legs. All of them. :lol You've never heard Subdivisions?
I've heard of it. But I don't believe I have ever heard it (unless it was on whatever greatest hits compilation I briefly had in the late '80s before I gave it away).
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Wow, bosk, you need to fill that hole in your life with some Rush. And I thought I was late to the party getting into them at 26! :biggrin:
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Proof that I am not a Rush fan: I don't know ANY of these songs. :lol
Now you are pulling our legs. All of them. :lol You've never heard Subdivisions?
I've heard of it. But I don't believe I have ever heard it (unless it was on whatever greatest hits compilation I briefly had in the late '80s before I gave it away).
I figured with all the radio play it got in the 80's on your remember it.
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Subdivisions, Territories, Between the Wheels, Marathon, Force Ten, The Enemy Within, and Entre Nous.
Had Lock and Key been in the options, it’d take Force Ten’s place. Easily my favorite from HYF.
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Man talk about TOUGH
subdivisions
time stand still
between the wheels
entre nous
witch hunt
a passage to bangkok
red sector A
those last two could've been switched out for several songs on here
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Proof that I am not a Rush fan: I don't know ANY of these songs. :lol
Proof that I am not a fan of 80s Rush, as I know very few of these, and could honestly only vote for 4 as songs I really like.
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Ooh, here we go!
Subdivisions
Territories
Red Sector A
Marathon
Force Ten
The Analog Kid
Manhattan Project
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Proof that I am not a Rush fan: I don't know ANY of these songs. :lol
Now you are pulling our legs. All of them. :lol You've never heard Subdivisions?
I've heard of it. But I don't believe I have ever heard it (unless it was on whatever greatest hits compilation I briefly had in the late '80s before I gave it away).
I figured with all the radio play it got in the 80's on your remember it.
Nah. They were one of those bands where if I heard them, I would instantly change the channel.
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All songs have at least 3 votes. That's a bit surprising to me. And I'm glad to see all the love for Between the Wheels. Didn't see that one coming. I reckon we could all see Subdivisions running away with it, though.
Since the poll function on this forum kind of sucks, hopefully Kev will compile some of this data and tell us what it all means when it's all said and done.
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It means that all of us voting in this poll are smart and recognize their greatness, and those not voting in the poll need to get up to speed and acknowledge their greatness. :biggrin:
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I was bored and threw the numbers into a spreadsheet and fucked around with Google's chart options until I got something that looked sort of decent. These first two are just the total points grouped by album, and then by era.
(https://imgur.com/5nGg2tY.jpg)
(https://imgur.com/bKW3WN1.jpg)
Then I thought that might not be an accurate portrayal of people's preferences, since some albums (Signals, Grace Under Pressure, etc.) have 4 songs represented here, whereas others (Hemispheres) have only one. So I tried taking the total score for each album, and dividing it by the number of available songs from that album, basically getting an average point score for each album, and then comparing those proportions. I did the same thing for the eras as well.
(https://imgur.com/t244pnS.jpg)
(https://imgur.com/UtBdGlQ.jpg)
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I love Marathon
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I find HYF to be an interesting album, because to me there are at least 7 songs where there is no unanimous favorite or clear standout. For me, Turn The Page is the best song, but I could easily say Time Stand Still is the best, or Prime Mover, or Open Secrets, etc. And I feel like there's a lot of fans who are the same in regards to this album. In that sense, it's a lot more solid throughout than other albums with clear favorites and standout tracks (Subdivisions, Between The Wheels, Natural Science, Xanadu, The Pass, etc.)
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I was bored and threw the numbers into a spreadsheet and fucked around with Google's chart options until I got something that looked sort of decent. These first two are just the total points grouped by album, and then by era.
(https://imgur.com/5nGg2tY.jpg)
(https://imgur.com/bKW3WN1.jpg)
Then I thought that might not be an accurate portrayal of people's preferences, since some albums (Signals, Grace Under Pressure, etc.) have 4 songs represented here, whereas others (Hemispheres) have only one. So I tried taking the total score for each album, and dividing it by the number of available songs from that album, basically getting an average point score for each album, and then comparing those proportions. I did the same thing for the eras as well.
(https://imgur.com/t244pnS.jpg)
(https://imgur.com/UtBdGlQ.jpg)
A Rush thread with a poll, graphs and statistics? I have never been so proud as I am right now. I'm choking back tears, actually.
:)
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Man, this was hard! Witch Hunt and TSS were no-brainers, but having to narrow the whole list down to 7 was cruel.
Witch Hunt
Distant Early Warning
Between the Wheels
Marathon
Force Ten
Time Stand Still
Mission
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It means that all of us voting in this poll are smart and recognize their greatness
Or all the songs are equally mediocre :yarr
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It means that all of us voting in this poll are smart and recognize their greatness
Or all the songs are equally mediocre :yarr
Or you have bad taste. Tee Hee.
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I was bored and threw the numbers into a spreadsheet and fucked around with Google's chart options until I got something that looked sort of decent. These first two are just the total points grouped by album, and then by era.
(https://imgur.com/5nGg2tY.jpg)
(https://imgur.com/bKW3WN1.jpg)
Then I thought that might not be an accurate portrayal of people's preferences, since some albums (Signals, Grace Under Pressure, etc.) have 4 songs represented here, whereas others (Hemispheres) have only one. So I tried taking the total score for each album, and dividing it by the number of available songs from that album, basically getting an average point score for each album, and then comparing those proportions. I did the same thing for the eras as well.
(https://imgur.com/t244pnS.jpg)
(https://imgur.com/UtBdGlQ.jpg)
A Rush thread with a poll, graphs and statistics? I have never been so proud as I am right now. I'm choking back tears, actually.
:)
It's so beautiful!
I went with:
Terrritories
The Big Money
Between the Wheels
Force Ten
Witch Hunt
Manhattan Project
Turn the Page
I could have easily voted for 10 or so more. The consistency and quality of their output during this time is something else.
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I find HYF to be an interesting album, because to me there are at least 7 songs where there is no unanimous favorite or clear standout. For me, Turn The Page is the best song, but I could easily say Time Stand Still is the best, or Prime Mover, or Open Secrets, etc. And I feel like there's a lot of fans who are the same in regards to this album. In that sense, it's a lot more solid throughout than other albums with clear favorites and standout tracks (Subdivisions, Between The Wheels, Natural Science, Xanadu, The Pass, etc.)
I would agree. In fact, I think HYF would rate higher if they had lopped off the last two tracks. Tai Shan and High Water are, to me, the lowest points in their discography.
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This was surprisingly easy. I mean, I absolutely LOVE nearly everything on that list, so I thought it would be hard. So I figured I would start by selecting the "GOD TIER" songs and then see what there was to work with after that. Turns out, it was exactly 7 songs, so I didn't have to do a thing.
In the order I would put them in:
Territories
The Weapon
Between the Wheels
Subdivisions
Manhattan Project
Marathon
The Analog Kid
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This was surprisingly easy. I mean, I absolutely LOVE nearly everything on that list, so I thought it would be hard. So I figured I would start by selecting the "GOD TIER" songs and then see what there was to work with after that. Turns out, it was exactly 7 songs, so I didn't have to do a thing.
In the order I would put them in:
Territories
The Weapon
Between the Wheels
Subdivisions
Manhattan Project
Marathon
The Analog Kid
Subdivisions
Territories
Mission
Circumstances
Between the Wheels
Marathon
The Weapon
Close!!
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COOL!!!
And I only just now realized that all 7 of my picks are from the synth era....which is a bit surprising. But I guess that’s just song selection. Most of my favorites from the classic era are missing from that list. Natural Science, Hemispheres, Xanadu, Red Barchetta, Jacob’s Ladder, La Villa....
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I find HYF to be an interesting album, because to me there are at least 7 songs where there is no unanimous favorite or clear standout. For me, Turn The Page is the best song, but I could easily say Time Stand Still is the best, or Prime Mover, or Open Secrets, etc. And I feel like there's a lot of fans who are the same in regards to this album. In that sense, it's a lot more solid throughout than other albums with clear favorites and standout tracks (Subdivisions, Between The Wheels, Natural Science, Xanadu, The Pass, etc.)
I would agree. In fact, I think HYF would rate higher if they had lopped off the last two tracks. Tai Shan and High Water are, to me, the lowest points in their discography.
I didn't really like HYF the first time I heard it, and I really don't like the Aimee Mann guest vocals (I think they're cheesy), but it seems like every time I listen to it, I can't help but thinking how solid it is. It's never going to top Hemispheres, MP or AFTK (especially after listening to the last one in 5.1 on my home system) but it's really good from top to bottom. I get it that the band (or at least Geddy) doesn't like it, and I respect that, but I fail to see where the 'experiment' with Tai Shan failed. It's not as bad as some of the press would have you believe.
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I find HYF to be an interesting album, because to me there are at least 7 songs where there is no unanimous favorite or clear standout. For me, Turn The Page is the best song, but I could easily say Time Stand Still is the best, or Prime Mover, or Open Secrets, etc. And I feel like there's a lot of fans who are the same in regards to this album. In that sense, it's a lot more solid throughout than other albums with clear favorites and standout tracks (Subdivisions, Between The Wheels, Natural Science, Xanadu, The Pass, etc.)
I would agree. In fact, I think HYF would rate higher if they had lopped off the last two tracks. Tai Shan and High Water are, to me, the lowest points in their discography.
I didn't really like HYF the first time I heard it, and I really don't like the Aimee Mann guest vocals (I think they're cheesy), but it seems like every time I listen to it, I can't help but thinking how solid it is. It's never going to top Hemispheres, MP or AFTK (especially after listening to the last one in 5.1 on my home system) but it's really good from top to bottom. I get it that the band (or at least Geddy) doesn't like it, and I respect that, but I fail to see where the 'experiment' with Tai Shan failed. It's not as bad as some of the press would have you believe.
I've always had a soft spot for the album. I'd place it in the top 5 of Neil drumming performances for sure.
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Subdivisions, Analog Kid....one of my favorite 'two fers' ever
Friends in a band played 'Distant Early Warning' and 'Red Sector A' in the late 80s.....can't help but vote for those two. They played them with a much heavier guitar/less synth sound, something I wish that 'Grace Under Pressure' would have followed.
'A Farewell To Kings', 'Circumstances', and....obviously, 'Big Money', round out the top seven of this very, very unusual poll.
Curious as to where this is headed.
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I find HYF to be an interesting album, because to me there are at least 7 songs where there is no unanimous favorite or clear standout. For me, Turn The Page is the best song, but I could easily say Time Stand Still is the best, or Prime Mover, or Open Secrets, etc. And I feel like there's a lot of fans who are the same in regards to this album. In that sense, it's a lot more solid throughout than other albums with clear favorites and standout tracks (Subdivisions, Between The Wheels, Natural Science, Xanadu, The Pass, etc.)
I would agree. In fact, I think HYF would rate higher if they had lopped off the last two tracks. Tai Shan and High Water are, to me, the lowest points in their discography.
I didn't really like HYF the first time I heard it, and I really don't like the Aimee Mann guest vocals (I think they're cheesy), but it seems like every time I listen to it, I can't help but thinking how solid it is. It's never going to top Hemispheres, MP or AFTK (especially after listening to the last one in 5.1 on my home system) but it's really good from top to bottom. I get it that the band (or at least Geddy) doesn't like it, and I respect that, but I fail to see where the 'experiment' with Tai Shan failed. It's not as bad as some of the press would have you believe.
Does Geddy not like the album as a whole? I've never heard that. I actually remember reading that "they" felt that Hold Your Fire was stronger than Power Windows. Or maybe it was just Neil saying that and it's how he feels/felt at the time...
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Actually, I heard exactly the opposite. That the whole band felt that Power Windows was the peak of the synth era and that they all feel the synths got way too overboard on HYF. In fact, I believe it was felt that Presto was an intentional attempt to get back to being more “organic” because they felt HYF had gone too far away from that.
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I think Jammin is right, but to be fair, I was only talking about "Tai Shan" the song.
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My bracket was:
A Passage to Bangkok
Circumstances
Witch Hunt
Vital Signs
Distant Early Warning
Red Sector A
Time Stand Still
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I think Jammin is right, but to be fair, I was only talking about "Tai Shan" the song.
That Geddy doesn't like Tai Shan?
I think you're probably both right, but for some reason I could swear that at least one of them had said Hold Your Fire was better than Power Windows. But I have no idea where I might have read that, and it's quite possible that I'm mixing it up with something else.
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I think Jammin is right, but to be fair, I was only talking about "Tai Shan" the song.
That Geddy doesn't like Tai Shan?
I think you're probably both right, but for some reason I could swear that at least one of them had said Hold Your Fire was better than Power Windows. But I have no idea where I might have read that, and it's quite possible that I'm mixing it up with something else.
No....that Power Windows is the bands "high mark" of the synth era.
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https://www.loudersound.com/features/the-history-of-rush-by-geddy-lee-alex-lifeson-moving-pictures-and-the-1980s
Overall, I thought Power Windows was a great accomplishment for us. But maybe not so much on the couple of albums after that – Hold Your Fire and Presto. On those records the keyboards were still present, but not in so positive a way.
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each time a new album out I've been always talks up oh and Alma's better than the previous and that the new album is everything they wanted to do. Only after reflection the band can look at the album I don't really say what they feel. Just like Presto, Roll The Bones. they always thought that it sounded so much better live than it did Studio and that's why they went the with the balls sound of Counterparts.
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Hmmm, I had never seen those comments by Geddy. I know he had called Hold Your Fire one of their dark horse records in the Contents Under Pressure book that came out in the mid 00's, but like all of us, opinions change over time.
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"...Rush themselves (bassist/vocalist Geddy Lee, guitarist Alex Lifeson, drummer Neil Peart) have some major issues with Hold Your Fire, at least looking in hindsight. In 2009, the ever-candid Lee remarked to Blender magazine, 'You're supposed to be crappy when you make your first three or four records. But even in our middle period, we did this song called 'Tai Shan,' using a poem Peart wrote about climbing a mountain in China, and when I listen to that, it's like 'Bzzt.' Error. We should have known better.'"
https://ultimateclassicrock.com/rush-hold-your-fire-turns-25/
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The funny thing is, Tai Shan is not that bad. It doesn't stand out at all, but it's not as bad as some, or Geddy, make it out to be. Besides, Geddy thinks Far Cry was great, so what does he know? :biggrin:
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The funny thing is, Tai Shan is not that bad. It doesn't stand out at all, but it's not as bad as some, or Geddy, make it out to be. Besides, Geddy thinks Far Cry was great, so what does he know? :biggrin:
Tai Shan is pretty bad. Pretty much on the same level as Mystic Rhythms, but both are relatively inoffensive songs. Songs like The Body Electric and Hand Over Fist are offensively bad.
Far Cry generally pees all over all of those those songs and laughs while doing so.
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Mystic Rhythms blows away Tai Shan.
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Mystic Rhythms is awesome.
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Mystic Rhythms and its exotic awesomeness pisses all over Far Cry and its boring and (rare for Alex) unimaginative riff.
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:sadpanda:
Mystic Rhythms and its exotic awesomeness pisses all over Far Cry and its boring and (rare for Alex) unimaginative riff.
The thing I hate about Far Cry, especially live, is that the opening riff is never played the way it is on the studio album.
On the album, the last note of the 2nd measure is played on the "e" of beat 4, while live, they play that note right on the "&" of beat 4, so it goes into the first 3 notes of measure 3 at an even rhythm, rather than the syncopated rhythm the studio version has.
It sounds so...pedestrian when played live because of that, and it ruined the song for me. Also, the band's insistence to continue playing it after the S&A tour like it was their next big hit single was a bit off-putting. With other better songs to play live, they picked the one I couldn't care less about.
-Marc.
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The opening riff is fine. It's that riff that kicks in after the Hemispheres chord that makes the song plunge. Alex Lifeson is still the man, but I just can't believe how generic and boring that riff is.
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Just shows how "mailed in" S&A is. One listen to Clockwork Angels proves it.
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Just shows how "mailed in" S&A is. One listen to Clockwork Angels proves it.
Yeah, no.
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my choices from this list are:
The Weapon
Marathon
Red Sector A
Cinderella Man
A Farewell To Kings
Circumstances
Something For Nothing
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I don't dislike anything on that list.
That's my assessment.
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My votes:
Territories
Manhattan Project
Red Sector A
Distant Early Warning
Subdivisions
Between The Wheels
Marathon