The Rush Thread v. Clockwork Angels

[skydivingninja]

Better beer!

[Orbert]

Grace Under Pressure is still the best synth album.

I have to agree with this part. Honestly, out of the four synth albums, it's the only one that has really clicked with me.

The four synth albums?  Signals through Hold Your Fire, I presume?  Obviously they started using synths much earlier than that, and continued after, but I guess these four are the most synth-based.

While there are synths on other albums, those are the four albums where the synths have such a prominent role throughout.

Yeah, I gathered from subsequent postings that these are the ones referred to as the "synth" albums.  Rush had that thing where they'd do four studio albums, then a live album, then the next four studio albums constituted something of a new "phase" or "era", so this is the synth era.

I listened to Signals yesterday, and will continue with Grace Under Pressure next.  I missed a lot of the 80's, due to various things going on in my life, and in general need to try and increase my appreciation for this most ridiculous decade.

[Seventh Son]

Grace Under Pressure is still the best synth album.

I have to agree with this part. Honestly, out of the four synth albums, it's the only one that has really clicked with me.

The four synth albums?  Signals through Hold Your Fire, I presume?  Obviously they started using synths much earlier than that, and continued after, but I guess these four are the most synth-based.

While there are synths on other albums, those are the four albums where the synths have such a prominent role throughout.

Yeah, I gathered from subsequent postings that these are the ones referred to as the "synth" albums.  Rush had that thing where they'd do four studio albums, then a live album, then the next four studio albums constituted something of a new "phase" or "era", so this is the synth era.

I listened to Signals yesterday, and will continue with Grace Under Pressure next.  I missed a lot of the 80's, due to various things going on in my life, and in general need to try and increase my appreciation for this most ridiculous decade.

Grace Under Pressure feels the most organic to me and probably why I love it more than any other synth album. PW is awesome as well. Signals/Hold Your Fire have their moments but are "meh" for the most part for me. I still really enjoy the synth era though! Their 90's stuff has been hard for me to get into though. The only 90's album I truly like all the way through would be Roll The Bones.

[Orbert]

There's something about the second album from a band, or from a certain part of a band's catalog.  Most of the time, the first album either fires on all eight cylinders, and the second album fails to follow up; or the first album shows great promise, and is good, but things don't really gel properly until the second album, when the band really figures out how to make it all work.

[KevShmev]

[ZBomber]

 

And I actually temporarily forgot about Clockwork Angels. HOW MUCH LONGER?!?!

[The Letter M]

Another update from Geddy about the Time Machine Tour going to Europe, and a bit of Clockwork Angels-related news:

"We're in discussions right now trying to firm up some dates so I think we're gonna try to come over here in the late spring. If all goes well - we're supposed to be going right back into the studio and finish the work that we started before the last tour but there's something about the way the Time Machine Tour came together that we'd like as many Rush fans as possible to experience it. So I think we're gonna try and bring that tour to Europe." - Geddy Lee, Planet Rock, November 12, 2012

So if all goes to plan, they'll finish the album through the winter, probably gear back up for the tour early Spring, then take off for probably a month or two in Europe. Then probably take some time off while the new album gets mastered and produced, then probably released mid-summer. I'd expect a Clockwork Angels-tour to begin next fall (or even late summer), with a US Tour before Christmas 2011, then a European tour after New Years 2012. I hope for the fans' sake, they hit places like Asia and South America as well!

-Marc.

[skydivingninja]

The date is listed as "november 12 2012."  Something's fishy there.

[The Letter M]

The date is listed as "november 12 2012."  Something's fishy there.

Oh, that might just be a typo. It's copied directly from https://news.2112.net/

Also, in case anyone missed this quote from Nick about the title track of the upcoming album:

"I can already tell you that the title track is going to be one of the coolest things they've ever done. It's going to be epic. I told them, 'Don't try to write a single. Don't try to do anything conventional. Give me Rush from back in the day.' They don't need to write something for the sake of radio play. They're Rush! [laughs] So I think the record is going to be a little more bare bones, a little less produced. It's going to be more direct, with killer riffs, solos, pounding drums and Geddy singing up high the way he should. That, to me, is the sound of Rush." - Nick Raskulinecz, MusicRadar.com, November 3, 2010

Sounds like we may get something like FBN-2112 era Rush...maybe just without as HIGH of a voice as Geddy used to have, but I'm kind of hoping for one or two banshee screams/yells. Even just a "Finding My Way"-esque "YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH"  

-Marc.

[KevShmev]

Yeah, and maybe they'll do a tour where they play nothing but epics.

Hehe, forgive me for my pessimism, but every time Rush is working on a new album, we get that "It is gonna sound like old Rush" line...and then it never does.  Not that that is a bad thing.  I just think people shouldn't get their hopes up that they are suddenly gonna release an album that sounds like their material from their early days, because the odds of them doing that are slim to none.

[PlaysLikeMyung]

I don't know. I feel really good about this album though

[Seventh Son]

Oh hey, Roll the Bones is the best 90's Rush album.

And "the rap" is actually pretty good. 

[PlaysLikeMyung]

Oh hey, Roll the Bones is the best 90's Rush album.

And "the rap" is actually pretty good. 

I agree with this

[ZBomber]

Oh hey, Roll the Bones is the best 90's Rush album.

And "the rap" is actually pretty good.  

I agree with this

This. I'll agree RTB isn't the strongest album Rush has ever put out, but I've always had a soft spot for it, for one reason or another.

I really like Presto too. I think Presto/RTB are vastly underrated by the fanbase.

[DarkEternalNight]

I hate Roll The Bones. I love the title track though.

[skydivingninja]

Roll the Bones is a good album.  The title track is good.  The best 90s album?  Hell naw.

[Seventh Son]

Well, Test for Echo is crap and I'm not a fan of Counterparts.

That only leaves Roll the Bones as the best 90's Rush album.

[skydivingninja]

Except Counterparts is the best.

[Seventh Son]

And I'm not a fan of Counterparts. 

[PlaysLikeMyung]

Except Counterparts is the best.

Counterparts barely loses to Roll the Bones for me because it has a fair bit of filler, unlike RTB

[skydivingninja]

I don't think of filler songs when I think about Counterparts.  MAYBE "Alien Shore."  Songs like "Neurotica" and "Face Up" I'd consider filler on RTB though.  "Face Up" is one of their worst songs, actually.

[Seventh Son]

I love Neurotica and Face Up 

[PlaysLikeMyung]

I really like Face Up and Neurotica though .

I guess given that Roll the Bones was the first Rush album I ever heard I have more of an affinity for it

[skydivingninja]

I just figured "Face Up" was a song no one talked about because it was so cringe-worthy.  I can understand liking Neurotica though.  I found the chorus a bit too cheesy for me.

[Seventh Son]

The chorus to Neurotica is catchy as fuck though, all cheese aside.

[King Postwhore]

Counterparts wins the 90's battle.  I favor Presto over RTB's by a hair.

Neurotica's chorus is killer but the rest of the song lacks.

[KevShmev]

I guess given that Roll the Bones was the first Rush album I ever heard I have more of an affinity for it

I like it more than most because a) it had just came out when I was getting into Rush, and b) my first serious girlfriend (several months later) and I listened to it like crazy for most of the year we went out.  So, it will always be a nostalgic favorite of mine.  "Face Up" and "You Bet Your Life" are still pretty weak, however, and "Neurotica" could have been great with a much better chorus.

[Lowdz]

Awesome

Grace
Power Windows
Roll the Bones

excellent

Counterparts
Signals (half of it is awesome... the other half synthy, Police-ish, Reggae bollocks)
HYF

Not great
Presto
TFE

[Seventh Son]

I relistened to Test for Echo again today. Still don't like the album but I realized the album has 3 gems. Driven, Time and Motion, and Resist are really good songs stuck in an album of mediocrity.

[PlaysLikeMyung]

I guess given that Roll the Bones was the first Rush album I ever heard I have more of an affinity for it

I like it more than most because a) it had just came out when I was getting into Rush, and b) my first serious girlfriend (several months later) and I listened to it like crazy for most of the year we went out.  So, it will always be a nostalgic favorite of mine.  "Face Up" and "You Bet Your Life" are still pretty weak, however, and "Neurotica" could have been great with a much better chorus.

You Bet Your Life is easily my least favorite track on RTB. I still love Face Up though. And I'd love to see Where's My Thing? and The Big Wheel live

[KevShmev]

I would also love to see it again, but sadly, I think "Where's My Thing" was one of those "one tour and done" songs.  Then again, they could always want to add in another instrumental or two on future tours, to help save Geddy's voice over the course of a long tour, so you never know...

[The Letter M]

I would also love to see it again, but sadly, I think "Where's My Thing" was one of those "one tour and done" songs.  Then again, they could always want to add in another instrumental or two on future tours, to help save Geddy's voice over the course of a long tour, so you never know...

I always would've like to have heard this brought back after the hiatus. I think it would've been interesting to hear with maybe some slight re-arrangements or sound/tone changes, something to give it a BIT more "oomph". I'd also like to see/hear them bring back "Limbo"... Perhaps a 90's Instrumedley of "Where's My Thing/Leave That Thing Alone/Limbo"... call it "Where's My Thing Alimbo?" And make it an exciting mash-up for bits and pieces of those songs...then dive into Neil's solo!

-Marc.

[KevShmev]

Eh, no more medleys for me, please.  Rush hasn't done those in years, except for the "R30 Overture," so hopefully they are finished with them.   

[glaurung]

Yeah, I would always prefer just hearing one song over a medley.

[ZBomber]

I normally don't like medleys, but I actually wouldn't mind hearing a Rush 90s instrumental medley. I could see that working very well, actually.