As far as the MP thing, I can't really articulate why, but that doesn't sound appealing to me. Maybe it's because I haven't enjoyed what I've heard of MP's post-DT stuff. On the other hand, if MP's energy and enthusiasm can get Geddy and Alex to start making music again, that would be pretty awesome!
I'm sort of with you on this. Mike and Neal are both on my drumming Mt. Rushmore, but I just feel like all the baggage around it might be too much. And then if it's more "Grace Under Pressure" than "A Farewell To Kings", that won't be good either.
Given that they seemed to be headed back into a prog-ish direction on the last one or two albums, I'd imagine that such a project would be in more of a CA meets AFtK vibe.
One can hope; I like CA, but don't love it like some do. S&A is the pinnacle of that latter day era for me. That's a beautiful album, to my ears.
Well, generally, I AM old school, but not Rush. Signals and Presto are at the top of my list (though "Hemispheres" is one of my favorite records of all time, ever, and La Villa Strangiato is my favorite Rush song), and a big fan of Power Windows (Hi, TAC!) and Snakes And Arrows. I just hate p/g for some reason; well, I know why: I think it's one of the few Rush albums where they let the "moment" (the mid-80's) influence them, and I think it's the worst drum sound Neil ever got, and it ruins the record for me. I DO like AFTK, though.
SO Stads, how do you feel about the songs themselves? For instance, when you heard those songs live or on their live albums? For example, I think BtW is *anything* but mid-80s sounding, especially on the live releases. To varying degrees, I think the same could be said for the other songs.
Several of the songs are good, some very good.
- DEW is pretty good
- Afterimage is overrated
- RSA is the example I give about the album: I think had that been recorded in 1981, it would be a top Rush song. That fill right before "I hear the sound of gunfire at the prison gate..." is the example I give as to what I don't like about that album. That fill is just so lame, coming from a drum GOD like Peart (contrast to that subtle drum roll at the end of the intro to Subdivisions. So much nuance, so much feel...)
- TEW is pretty good
- TBE is the best song on the album for me
- Kid Gloves blows chunks. Strongly dislike that song.
- I'd rather listen to Kid Gloves than Red Lenses
- Rush was always fabled to have one song that wasn't intended to be played live, that was a "kitchen sink" song. I don't know if BTW is that song, but it's a great tune that deserves a better presentation. Rush (and Judas Priest, oddly) are two bands that you can track the progression of their sound. They have a number of songs that sound very much of ANOTHER album, and BTW is one of them. It sounds out of place on p/g but would sound perfect on Side Two, just as it is, on Power Windows.
And by the way, fair is fair; I listen to that album every six months or so to "revisit" it, to see if my opinion has changed. it has softened, but it hasn't changed. One thing that has been clear almost from the get-go, is that for all the controversy about the "keyboards" vs. "guitars", Alex is the star of the show. There are so many little snippets and riffs on that album that are SO COOL. It's not enough to salvage the album, but you hear a lot of "p/g" in Petrucci's work on Images And Words, for example.
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