Rush v. Dirk, Pratt, & Lerxst

[DTA]

What's your favorite guitar riff and solo by Lifeson?

My picks would be: riff - Spirit of the Radio; solo - La Villa Strangiato

Riff - Virtuality

Solo - La Villa Strangiato

[Lowdz]

Best riff? Between Spirit of Radio and Analog Kid.
Solo? Not sure. They all just fit. That's his superpower.

Thinking about it, I've always loved the solo in Kid Gloves. Totally different to what I normally like in a solo, but it works and makes me smile.

[Orbert]

The Spirit of the Radio

[pg1067]

What's your favorite guitar riff and solo by Lifeson?

My picks would be: riff - Spirit of the Radio; solo - La Villa Strangiato

Hmmm....

Riffs
Working Man
Bastille Day
Xanadu (7/4 riff played immediately after the intro section and at the end)

As an aside, it's interesting how little "riffing" occurred during the "prog era."

The Spirit of Radio
Jacob's Ladder (not a riff, per se, but the B-D-A-D-E/bend to F# figure that he plays between the first two vocal sections and before and after the short solo section)
Natural Science (the 7/8 riff in the Hyperspace section that is played by the full band)
Limelight
The Analog Kid
The Enemy Within
Double Agent (first couple riffs out of the vocal intro)
Virtuality (the opening riff, NOT the fake modem riff)
Earthshine
Headlong Flight


Solos
By-Tor and the Snow Dog
2112: Presentation
A Farewell to Kings
Cinderella Man
La Villa Strangiato
Freewill (it's really three solos going on simultaneously and is executed to perfection!)
Natural Science (all of them)
Tom Saywer
Red Barchetta
Limelight
The Camera Eye
The Analog Kid

**Honorable mention to Ben Mink's electric violin solo on Losing It**

Solo? Not sure. They all just fit. That's his superpower.

Yup.

[Ben_Jamin]

My favorite

Riff: Red Sector A
Solos: Natural Science

[ytserush]

The Spirit of the Radio

35 years ago, that really pissed me off.

[Orbert]

Same here.  Today, it just annoys me greatly.  So I'm making progress.  I feel like by time I've been dead for 30 years, it won't bother me anymore.

[Mladen]

What do you mean with that?

I find it odd, because for years I've though the song was called Spirit of the radio, but became later aware that it is actually The Spirit of radio. I have no idea why I was confused and why I'm bothered nowadays by what the song is actually called.

[Orbert]

First of all, I was trying to be funny with my "30 years" remark, because obviously I won't care about anything by then.  It used to piss me off, but now it just bothers me.

The name song is "The Spirit of Radio".  That's just a fact.  I had a roommate years ago who called it "Spirit of the Radio" and I corrected him, but he didn't care.  "Well, that's what I call it."  Later I ran into someone else who called it "Spirit of the Radio".  Eventually I realized that there's an entire segment of the population who doesn't know the name of one of Rush's most popular songs, and for some reason that bugs me.  It bugs me when people call things by the wrong name, and just don't give a shit that they're wrong.  "That's what I call it, and if you don't like that, you can fuck off."

But now that I'm older, and the song has been around a lot longer, I've gotten to where it bothers me less because I get it now; some people just choose to be ignorant.  I'm sorry if that comes across as a personal attack.  It's not you, personally.  I just always like to know what something is actually called, not just make up my own name for it and figure people will know what I mean.  I consider people who don't bother learning the proper names of things to be lazy, and laziness bothers me.

I mean, if you like something, wouldn't you want to know the actual correct name of it?  Why would you choose to not bother with the correct name, once it's been pointed out?

[Stadler]

I sort of get all this, and I have my moments of concern about things that don't actually carry the weight of the world on them (that's not a dig, it's just perspective).   People who abuse/torture the word "myself" are in that boat.   More relevant to this conversation, when people drop the "the" before prom sends me into internal, hidden convulsions.   But I'm not sure it's ALWAYS "ignorance" that leads to these things.   I know for me, I'm a reasonably well-read guy, relatively speaking, and yet I have blindspots with the pronunciation of certain words.  And try as I might there are people I always screw up their name.   I know for me, I have to actively think of the title when/if I say it or write it. 

Ironically, the record company released a promo single of the song and titled it "The Spirit Of The Radio". 

[Orbert]

Ironically, the record company released a promo single of the song and titled it "The Spirit Of The Radio". 

Covering both bases, just in case? 

Or just conceding that they're gonna be wrong either way? 

[jammindude]

Ironically, the record company released a promo single of the song and titled it "The Spirit Of The Radio". 

Covering both bases, just in case? 

Or just conceding that they're gonna be wrong either way? 

Isn’t that what Geddy himself called it on ESL? 

[Lethean]

I'm more with Orbert on this.  If someone makes a mistake, that's cool.  If they make a mistake after being corrected, that's cool.  But to just say "well that's what I call it" - yeah no.  Same with the pronunciation of Peart.  If you mispronounced it for 10+ years before learning the correct pronunciation, of course it's going to be hard to unlearn that. You'll probably make mistakes. But at least make the effort.

[HOF]

I'm more with Orbert on this.  If someone makes a mistake, that's cool.  If they make a mistake after being corrected, that's cool.  But to just say "well that's what I call it" - yeah no.  Same with the pronunciation of Peart.  If you mispronounced it for 10+ years before learning the correct pronunciation, of course it's going to be hard to unlearn that. You'll probably make mistakes. But at least make the effort.

I watched Beyond the Lighted Stage for the first time last night, and one of the celebrity interviewees (blanking on which one) called him “Pert,” and I’m like “Really? You’re supposed to be a big Rush fan.” At least the producers should have had him do a second take.

[pg1067]

First of all, I was trying to be funny with my "30 years" remark, because obviously I won't care about anything by then.  It used to piss me off, but now it just bothers me.

The name song is "The Spirit of Radio".  That's just a fact.  I had a roommate years ago who called it "Spirit of the Radio" and I corrected him, but he didn't care.  "Well, that's what I call it."  Later I ran into someone else who called it "Spirit of the Radio".  Eventually I realized that there's an entire segment of the population who doesn't know the name of one of Rush's most popular songs, and for some reason that bugs me.  It bugs me when people call things by the wrong name, and just don't give a shit that they're wrong.  "That's what I call it, and if you don't like that, you can fuck off."

But now that I'm older, and the song has been around a lot longer, I've gotten to where it bothers me less because I get it now; some people just choose to be ignorant.  I'm sorry if that comes across as a personal attack.  It's not you, personally.  I just always like to know what something is actually called, not just make up my own name for it and figure people will know what I mean.  I consider people who don't bother learning the proper names of things to be lazy, and laziness bothers me.

I mean, if you like something, wouldn't you want to know the actual correct name of it?  Why would you choose to not bother with the correct name, once it's been pointed out?

It's sort of like when folks say "noo-kyoo-lar" when they mean "nuclear."  Or, in reference to the abbey in London or city in Orange County, California, say "WestminIster" instead of "Westminster."  Or people who use plural pronouns to refer to an individual of known gender.

Ironically, the record company released a promo single of the song and titled it "The Spirit Of The Radio". 

Covering both bases, just in case? 

Or just conceding that they're gonna be wrong either way? 

Isn’t that what Geddy himself called it on ESL? 

ESL starts with Geddy saying, "This is 'The Spirit of Radio.'"

I'm more with Orbert on this.  If someone makes a mistake, that's cool.  If they make a mistake after being corrected, that's cool.  But to just say "well that's what I call it" - yeah no.  Same with the pronunciation of Peart.  If you mispronounced it for 10+ years before learning the correct pronunciation, of course it's going to be hard to unlearn that. You'll probably make mistakes. But at least make the effort.

From the time I became a Rush fan until probably the late 1990s, I thought/assumed it was pronounced "pert" (like the shampoo).  Sometime in the 90s, I started hearing that it might actually be pronounced like "pier" with a "t" at the end.  I thought, "nah!" and I'd swear that he did radio interviews where it was pronounced "pert."  Then when I finally had it confirmed and started tying to say it correctly, it felt awkward to the point of feeling self-conscious.

[Mladen]

I honestly cannot remember where I got the idea that the song was called Spirit of the radio. It has been more than ten years since I first heard it, thinking that was its name. Imagine living in an alternate universe where the song has a different name and discovering years later that you were wrong. I'm still getting used to The Spirit of radio. 

[Orbert]

It's sort of like when folks say "noo-kyoo-lar" when they mean "nuclear."  Or, in reference to the abbey in London or city in Orange County, California, say "WestminIster" instead of "Westminster."  Or people who use plural pronouns to refer to an individual of known gender.

I'm with you on "nucular" vs "nuclear".  I don't even understand how you can say it "nucular".  I know English is hard, but in this case it's actually pronounced exactly how it's spelled and people still get it wrong.

Westminister is more understandable because "minister" is a word and "minster" isn't.  But again, once it's pointed out, I try to say it correctly.

Using "they" sounds wrong to me in cases where you could (should?) use "him" or "her" but it's actually considered a proper alternative, which is why the trans/fluid folks have adopted it.  "they" to me sounds plural, but it's not.  It's a pronoun for an unspecified person or persons.

"Have you called the store yet?"
"Yes"
"What did they say?"

You didn't literally talk to several people at the store (well probably not); you talked to one person.  But we don't know if that person was male or female, so it's a "they".

ESL starts with Geddy saying, "This is 'The Spirit of Radio.'"

Yep.  And it always seemed to me like he says it extra carefully, because he knows people get it wrong sometimes.

From the time I became a Rush fan until probably the late 1990s, I thought/assumed it was pronounced "pert" (like the shampoo).  Sometime in the 90s, I started hearing that it might actually be pronounced like "pier" with a "t" at the end.  I thought, "nah!" and I'd swear that he did radio interviews where it was pronounced "pert."  Then when I finally had it confirmed and started tying to say it correctly, it felt awkward to the point of feeling self-conscious.

Another tough one.  It seems like there's still more people who say "pert" than "peert", so saying it correctly makes you sound presumptuous or something, and I can understand feeling self-conscious about it.  I'm arrogant enough to console myself by telling myself that I'm right, and I don't care if it sounds presumptuous, but I get it if not everyone can do that.

[HOF]

I will say that for years I thought “Time Stand Still” was “Time Stands Still.” And I don’t know how, but I always always thought Alex says “suburbs” in the chorus of “Subdivisions” and not, er, well “subdivisions.” I didn’t realize this until I saw Jacob Moon’s cover when he very clearly starts out by saying “subdivisions” into his tape recorder.

[jammindude]

WHAT?   No..    ESL was one of my first ever Rush albums and I've been listening to it on headphones for 38 years.   I just checked on YT, and it sounds TO ME like he says "This is the Spirit of the Radio".   

In fact, I've even had forum discussions about this where the fans admit that Geddy got it wrong.  I thought even Geddy admitted it in an interview once. 

EDIT - I just triple checked.  Listen to it again.  He definitely says "the spirit of the radio"

[The Letter M]

I just checked myself, and Geddy clearly says "This is The Spirit of Radio".

I think you're hearing him slide the "f" of "of" into the "R" of "Radio" and it creates a ghost-syllable that isn't really there. I could imagine how someone might mistake it, but it's quite clearly "The Spirit of Radio" to me. I even listened at 0.5x and 0.25x speeds to be sure, and both times it was pretty clear to me.

-Marc.

[King Puppies and the Acid Guppies]

Wait wait wait. Is this one of those Black and Blue vs White and Gold dress things??

Geddy clearly says The Spirit of Radio on ESL. I didn't know there were people that thought otherwise? 

[TheSilentHam]

Maybe we should avoid the controversy and instead listen to YYZeeeeee

[The Letter M]

Maybe we should avoid the controversy and instead listen to YYZeeeeee

...you mean "Y Y Zed"...

 

-Marc.

[HOF]

I just listened. Initially I thought there was an extra “the,” but after listening a few more times I hear it as a drawn out “f” sound from “of.”

[TheSilentHam]

Maybe we should avoid the controversy and instead listen to YYZeeeeee

...you mean "Y Y Zed"...

 

-Marc.

yes, yes... that was my point actually 

[Podaar]

Maybe we should avoid the controversy and instead listen to YYZeeeeee

...you mean "Y Y Zed"...

 

-Marc.

yes, yes... that was my point actually 

Not everyone is in tune with your sense of humor, Hammy, but I got it! 

[TheSilentHam]

Not everyone is in tune with your sense of humor, Hammy, but I got it! 

Thanks bro  .  But I admit, I pronounced it wrong for 15 years.  Excuse me while I go listen to some Dream Theatre

[Stadler]

I'm more with Orbert on this.  If someone makes a mistake, that's cool.  If they make a mistake after being corrected, that's cool.  But to just say "well that's what I call it" - yeah no.  Same with the pronunciation of Peart.  If you mispronounced it for 10+ years before learning the correct pronunciation, of course it's going to be hard to unlearn that. You'll probably make mistakes. But at least make the effort.

For the record (and not including whack variations like the Prince symbol or the whatever the hell it is that the youngest Musk is now called) I think people's names are different than song titles. I think song titles are what they are; I think purposefully mispronouncing someone's name is an act of disrespect, however minor.

[TheSilentHam]

Does that mean I have to stop thinking of you as "Straddler"?

[Stadler]

Does that mean I have to stop thinking of you as "Straddler"?

Depends on how you mean it.   

[TheSilentHam]

    

[pg1067]

WHAT?   No..    ESL was one of my first ever Rush albums and I've been listening to it on headphones for 38 years.   I just checked on YT, and it sounds TO ME like he says "This is the Spirit of the Radio".   

In fact, I've even had forum discussions about this where the fans admit that Geddy got it wrong.  I thought even Geddy admitted it in an interview once. 

EDIT - I just triple checked.  Listen to it again.  He definitely says "the spirit of the radio"

No, no and no.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kUOW91e_F28

There's not even a breath between "of" and "Radio," much less a word.

I think you're hearing him slide the "f" of "of" into the "R" of "Radio" and it creates a ghost-syllable that isn't really there. I could imagine how someone might mistake it, but it's quite clearly "The Spirit of Radio" to me. I even listened at 0.5x and 0.25x speeds to be sure, and both times it was pretty clear to me.

That's being generous.  "This is The Spirit UH-VRADIO."  It's not like he doing a mock Italian think and saying, "This is-a The Spirit of-a Radio."

Wait wait wait. Is this one of those Black and Blue vs White and Gold dress things??

I was wondering the same thing.   

Does that mean I have to stop thinking of you as "Straddler"?

That's an unreleased Kiss track, isn't it?

[Orbert]

Early demo version of "Strutter."

[TheSilentHam]

That's an unreleased Kiss track, isn't it?

Early demo version of "Strutter."

[KevShmev]

Same here.  Today, it just annoys me greatly.  So I'm making progress.  I feel like by time I've been dead for 30 years, it won't bother me anymore.

I am guessing your favorite part of 2112 is "Temples of the Syrinx," right?