The Rush Thread v. Clockwork Angels

[King Postwhore]

Found it (it's the same link you threw at me 6 or 7 pages ago, your highness). https://www.rushisaband.com/blog/2011/12/13/2937/Alex-Lifeson-talks-Clockwork-Angels-in-new-Guitar-World-interview

"... Alex Lifeson stops short of calling Rush's upcoming Clockwork Angels a concept record, but he does admit that a theme runs through most the songs. "We have Caravan and BU2B; both of which we released already and played on the Time Machine tour," he says, referring to the group's extensive 2010-2011 outing. "Those two, along with three other songs, form a suite. The story of Clockwork Angels is in those five tracks.""

Looks like you have a good memory since I can't remember what I said this morning.

[Orbert]

I know it's not uber important, but if they never do one it will just leave a lot of fans wondering what if...

It would've been very cool.  But I get the feeling that they just don't "feel the prog" these days as they did in the old days.  Things like Hemispheres and 2112 show that they weren't afraid of long-form tunes.  But it's one hell of an undertaking to make a full concept album.  I shouldn't presume to speak for them, but if you asked Neil if they're ever gonna do one, he'd probably just say "Why?"

[KevShmev]

Rush isn't the only classic prog band to never do a concept album; off the top of my head, ELP never did one either.

But it doesn't bother me that Rush never did one.  They were never a prog band in the symphonic rock sense, more of a hard rock band with occasional prog leanings, so this really is no big deal.

[Mosh]

A tad off topic but which is Yes' concept album? I assume Tales from Topographic Oceans but is there one I'm missing?

[KevShmev]

Tales is more of a thematic album than anything, but I won't split hairs over that.

[Orbert]

Tales from Topographic Oceans for sure.  There are many definitions of "concept album" and a lot of folks like to split it into subtypes or make up differences and whatnot, but in general, if the whole album tells a story (Tommy, The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway) or is all one continuous musical work (Thick as a Brick) or is composed of multiple pieces with a unifying theme (Tales from Topographic Oceans), then it fits the most general definition of concept album.  Note that there are probably other subtypes I'm not thinking of off hand, and that many concept albums will satisfy the requirements of more than one.

[dbrooks22]

i love rush

[Orbert]

"The Neil Peart"?  Fake.

Well, that's my first impression anyway. Neil can seem full of himself sometimes, but once you get past that, you realize that he's just very sure of himself and has definite opinions and isn't afraid of expressing them.  Not the same thing.  I just don't see him using "The" in that way.  It strikes me as incredibly arrogant, and out of character for him.

[dbrooks22]

Yeah, i realized shortly after i posted that it was a fake.  Thanks

[theseoafs]

Fakeness aside, what was it?

[Orbert]

I don't use Twitter so I don't know how it works, but I guess it was a Twitter account supposedly for Neil Peart.  The username was "the_neil_peart" which I thought was kinda bizarre.  Why would Neil create an account under "the_neil_peart"?

[ytserush]

Have at it:
From Rushisaband:

UPDATE - 4/5@1:38PM: Here are some of DJ_Carter's comments regarding the radio-edit of Headlong Flight that he listened to:

... The opening chords sound almost EXACTLY like a heavier version of Bastille Day. ... There's some Bastille Day rhythms, a more raw guitar tone that sounds less polished and more Hemispheres-y, an absolutely bone-shattering drum break in the middle that sounds like a modern version of Neil's break in By-Tor, and some really audible and fun shifts in the structure of the song, a la the transitions in Natural Science. If I had to encapsulate the sound in just a few words, it would be Caress of Steel crossed with Vapor Trails. Headlong Flight doesn't feel as heavy as BU2B; it's very much Vapor Trails-y, but with much more tasty bass. Truly, the bass in this song is killer. I think we can count on seeing a lot more of the Leave That Thing Alone live solo stuff on this record. ... One thing that was really encouraging about this track was the fact that Neil's drumming was very fast in certain places. BU2B was ... heavy but plodding, not challenging or rhythmically complex. Headlong Flight is totally different. This is Neil at his best, and the break I mentioned earlier feels like his classic fills. There is indeed a guitar solo, towards the end of the track. But it's a solo in the sense that Alex's solo from Caravan was a solo. He's shredding, no doubt about it, but it isn't like a Freewill type of shredding that has a pattern and a resolution. Very frenetic and exciting, though! ...

----- snip -----

UPDATE - 4/5@8:00AM: I have a few more details regarding the track lengths of the various edits from reader DJ_Carter. He let me know that the album version of Headlong Flight runs in at 7:20. The original length of the radio-edit of the track was 5:20, but once it was confirmed that it would be the first single they produced another, shorter version that clocked in at 4:50. He was played both of these cuts (the 5:20 and 4:50 versions) but couldn't tell any significant difference.

[skydivingninja]

. I think we can count on seeing a lot more of the Leave That Thing Alone live solo stuff on this record.

That sounds AWESOME!

UPDATE - 4/5@8:00AM: I have a few more details regarding the track lengths of the various edits from reader DJ_Carter. He let me know that the album version of Headlong Flight runs in at 7:20. The original length of the radio-edit of the track was 5:20, but once it was confirmed that it would be the first single they produced another, shorter version that clocked in at 4:50. He was played both of these cuts (the 5:20 and 4:50 versions) but couldn't tell any significant difference.

I'm not sure if that's necessarily a good thing if he doesn't notice 30 seconds of music missing...:/

[King Postwhore]

So the big rumor on rushisaband.com is that Rush will be playing all of Signals on the new tour.  I would kill to hear Losing It and Chemistry and the Weapon which I haven't heard since the Power Windows tour.

[Phoenix87x]

So the big rumor on rushisaband.com is that Rush will be playing all of Signals on the new tour.  I would kill to hear Losing It and Chemistry and the Weapon which I haven't heard since the Power Windows tour.

I can definitely get down with that. Would love to hear losing it.

   If playing the whole album becomes a trend, I would like to see 2112, Power windows and Hemispheres eventually.

[King Postwhore]

Power Window would be great.  I'm only missing seeing Emotion Detector live and that solo is killer.

[PlaysLikeMyung]

Power Window would be great.

Underfuckingstatement

[Scrub206]

So the big rumor on rushisaband.com is that Rush will be playing all of Signals on the new tour.  I would kill to hear Losing It and Chemistry and the Weapon which I haven't heard since the Power Windows tour.

what? imho the weapon is the WORST song rush has ever written in their entire career. its soo bad. .__.

[The Letter M]

So I just had a thought...the band has been touring pretty consistently since the Vapor Trails tour in 02/03, but they've always had a REASON (release) to tour, but after Clockwork Angels, could we be due for a long break between tours?

I mean, we had Vapor Trails come out, and then they toured on that, and then a year-and-a-half later we had Feedback come out and they did the R30 Tour.

But then, after 2.5 years, Snakes & Arrows was released and they toured on that for awhile.

Then not long after the end of the year-long S&A tour, they released the "Caravan"/"BU2B" single and did the year-long Time Machine Tour.

Perhaps the Clockwork Angels Tour will be SUPER long like the S&A and TM tours were (a year, at least? June-to-June/July)...but what about AFTER that? Are we to see a live release a year after the tour ends(May/June of 2014)...then what? If they take another 5 years for another studio album (assuming they still have one more left in them, which I really hope), that won't come out until 2017.

That leaves a huge gap between summer 2014 (CA Live release) and summer 2017. Would they release something small (like Feedback or the Caravan single?) in-between to do a small tour in 2015/2016? Or will they take a much needed 3-year break off touring and writing/recording?

-Marc.

[PlaysLikeMyung]

So the big rumor on rushisaband.com is that Rush will be playing all of Signals on the new tour.  I would kill to hear Losing It and Chemistry and the Weapon which I haven't heard since the Power Windows tour.

what? imho the weapon is the WORST song rush has ever written in their entire career. its soo bad. .__.

GET. OUT.

[Scrub206]

oh god i just tried listening to it again and i couldnt get through it .___.

[Nick]

The Weapon was my favorite on the album for a long time, before I finally gave in to Subdivisions being better.

[The Letter M]

This was bound to happen...

Subdivisions
The Digital Man
The Analog Kid
Losing It
New World Man
The Weapon
Chemistry
Countdown

-Marc.

[King Postwhore]

So the big rumor on rushisaband.com is that Rush will be playing all of Signals on the new tour.  I would kill to hear Losing It and Chemistry and the Weapon which I haven't heard since the Power Windows tour.

what? imho the weapon is the WORST song rush has ever written in their entire career. its soo bad. .__.

Well since I've seen it live on 2 tours and you haven't.

[Phoenix87x]

1. Losing it
2. Subdivisions
3. Digital man
4. Chemistry
5. New World man
6. Analog Kid
7. The Weapon
8. Countdown (don't really like countdown, but then again its extremely hard to follow Losing It)

     and about The Weapon being Rush's worst song? I would say that stuff like Dog Years is worse. I do think that The Weapon is the weakest part of Fear though.


   

[Scrub206]

So the big rumor on rushisaband.com is that Rush will be playing all of Signals on the new tour.  I would kill to hear Losing It and Chemistry and the Weapon which I haven't heard since the Power Windows tour.

what? imho the weapon is the WORST song rush has ever written in their entire career. its soo bad. .__.

Well since I've seen it live on 2 tours and you haven't.

yes yes this probably could be the reason idk.  i love every othe song on the album. just not the weapon. it just rubs me the wrong way.

[DarkEternalNight]

Losing It
Subdivisions
Countdown
Digital Man
The Analog Kid
New World Man
Chemistry
The Weapon

[KevShmev]

The Weapon was also my favorite from Signals for a long time as well, but over time Subdivisions, The Analog Kid and maybe even Losing it now have creeped past it.  I still love it, though.  Oddly, Digital Man has gone down for me in recent years, even after seeing it live.  Strange.  Chemistry has some great stuff going on, especially Lerxst's guitar work, especially at the end, but I can't call it anything more than the 6th best song from this record.

[ZBomber]

Subdivisions
Losing It
The Analog Kid
Digital Man
The Weapon
New World Man
Chemistry
Countdown

[Mladen]

The Analog kid
Subdivisions
The Weapon
Countdown
Losing it
New world man
Chemistry
Digital man

[KevShmev]

Here's a fun idea: Imagine the tragedies in Neil Peart's life had not happened, and the band decided to do a 25th anniversary tour in 1999 on just the material they had at that point (Rush thru Test for Echo).  What would the set list have looked like?  I will do mine with the first song in the first set, last song in the second set and the encores picked on merit, but everything else done in reverse chronological order.  And Geddy's voice maybe could have pulled off some older songs back then, so that is a factor.  I also factored in what their sets had looked like in the 90s (this was before they were pulling out major deep cuts like Between the Wheels, A Passage to Bangkok, Digital Man, etc.).  I also think doing this only make sense if it is fairly realistic, as opposed to someone putting all of both Hemispheres and The Fountain of Lamneth in theirs.

Here goes:

Set 1
Dreamline
Driven
Animate
Leave That Thing Alone
Bravado
Roll the Bones
The Pass
Force Ten
Mystic Rhythms
Red Sector A
Subdivisions
Red Barchetta

Set 2
Limelight
Freewill
Natural Science
The Trees
Xanadu
Closer to the Heart
Drum Solo
2112 (Parts I, II and VII)
Bastille Day
By-Tor and the Snow Dog
In the Mood
Tom Sawyer

Encore
The Spirit of Radio
Anthem
YYZ

[Ben_Jamin]

Here's a fun idea: Imagine the tragedies in Neil Peart's life had not happened, and the band decided to do a 25th anniversary tour in 1999 on just the material they had at that point (Rush thru Test for Echo).  What would the set list have looked like?  I will do mine with the first song in the first set, last song in the second set and the encores picked on merit, but everything else done in reverse chronological order.  And Geddy's voice maybe could have pulled off some older songs back then, so that is a factor.  I also factored in what their sets had looked like in the 90s (this was before they were pulling out major deep cuts like Between the Wheels, A Passage to Bangkok, Digital Man, etc.).  I also think doing this only make sense if it is fairly realistic, as opposed to someone putting all of both Hemispheres and The Fountain of Lamneth in theirs.

Here goes:

Set 1
Dreamline
Driven
Animate
Leave That Thing Alone
Bravado
Roll the Bones
The Pass
Force Ten
Mystic Rhythms
Red Sector A
Subdivisions
Red Barchetta

Set 2
Limelight
Freewill
Natural Science
The Trees
Xanadu
Closer to the Heart
Drum Solo
2112 (Parts I, II and VII)
Bastille Day
By-Tor and the Snow Dog
In the Mood
Tom Sawyer

Encore
The Spirit of Radio
Anthem
YYZ

That's almost the Rush in Rio set.

[KevShmev]

The Rio set did not have:

Animate
Force Ten
Mystic Rhythms
Subdivisions
Red Barchetta
Xanadu
Bastille Day
In the Mood
Anthem

And the order is completely different. 

But considering the Rio set wouldn't have happen yet in 1999, I think my set list looks pretty realistic.

[Nick]

As much as I'd like to see them, I don't think it would have been realistic to see Anthem or Bastille Day, even in 1999.

[theseoafs]

It's a pretty cool set, but I don't care for the ordering too much. I think there's a reason Rush doesn't organize their sets that way, even on anniversary tours: an entire set of modern Rush and an entire set of classic Rush doesn't really feel right.