Rush v. Dirk, Pratt, & Lerxst

[Architeuthis]

All of Power Windows has great lyrics.  Marathon, Manhattan Project,  Middletown Dreams are good too.

[pg1067]

All of Power Windows has great lyrics.  Marathon, Manhattan Project,  Middletown Dreams are good too.

Too bad the music isn't particularly good (although those are my three favorite songs on the album).

[RodrigoAltaf]

All of Power Windows has great lyrics.  Marathon, Manhattan Project,  Middletown Dreams are good too.

Too bad the music isn't particularly good (although those are my three favorite songs on the album).

I think the music on Power Windows is absolutely stellar, but I will say this: it's the Rush album that sound the most dated, purely because synths were VERY prominent at the time, and this album has those in-your-face synth sounds. But the versions of these songs that they played in subsequent tours - Big Money on the VT Tour, Marathon on the Time Machine, and many others on the Clockwork Angels Tour - are insanely heavy, with the guitars in the forefront. I love those versions!

[pg1067]

All of Power Windows has great lyrics.  Marathon, Manhattan Project,  Middletown Dreams are good too.

Too bad the music isn't particularly good (although those are my three favorite songs on the album).

I think the music on Power Windows is absolutely stellar, but I will say this: it's the Rush album that sound the most dated, purely because synths were VERY prominent at the time, and this album has those in-your-face synth sounds. But the versions of these songs that they played in subsequent tours - Big Money on the VT Tour, Marathon on the Time Machine, and many others on the Clockwork Angels Tour - are insanely heavy, with the guitars in the forefront. I love those versions!

I've always loved Marathon.  TBM much less so.  I think the song that best illustrates the instrumentation issues with the synth era songs is The Body Electric.  I really cannot stand it, but a band called YYNOT does a version that absolutely rocks.  Very up front guitar, heavy acoustic drums, and ballsy Fender Jazz bass.

[TAC]

Never been a fan of The Big Money. Marathon is OK, but had I not experienced seeing it live with the great video effects, I'd feel a lot worse about it.

[Setlist Scotty]

Never been a fan of The Big Money.

Me neither, altho I just love Alex's solo in that song.

But Marathon and Territories are two of my favorite songs from the Rush catalog, and I like just about everything else on PoW. Only 2 of them didn't make my top 75 - at least preliminary - might do a second job ranking everything if I have the time.

[wolfking]

I have PW on the car today.  The lyrics for Middletown Dreams are simply incredible.  What a song.

[HOF]

All of Power Windows has great lyrics.  Marathon, Manhattan Project,  Middletown Dreams are good too.

Too bad the music isn't particularly good (although those are my three favorite songs on the album).

I think the music on Power Windows is absolutely stellar, but I will say this: it's the Rush album that sound the most dated, purely because synths were VERY prominent at the time, and this album has those in-your-face synth sounds. But the versions of these songs that they played in subsequent tours - Big Money on the VT Tour, Marathon on the Time Machine, and many others on the Clockwork Angels Tour - are insanely heavy, with the guitars in the forefront. I love those versions!

Power Windows is definitely of its time, but it’s so well done that it doesn’t at all seem dated to me. HYF on the other hand does. Can’t really explain it, but I just think the songs and the production were just that much higher quality on PW.

[King Postwhore]

Power Windows is vibrant and uplifting in its style of music.

[wolfking]

Power Windows is vibrant and uplifting in its style of music.

It's amazing.  Only a fool would dislike this album.

[TAC]

 

[wolfking]

Tim appears.  It works both ways by the looks. 

[King Postwhore]

Hahaha!!!

[jammindude]

All of Power Windows has great lyrics.  Marathon, Manhattan Project,  Middletown Dreams are good too.

Too bad the music isn't particularly good (although those are my three favorite songs on the album).

I think the music on Power Windows is absolutely stellar, but I will say this: it's the Rush album that sound the most dated, purely because synths were VERY prominent at the time, and this album has those in-your-face synth sounds. But the versions of these songs that they played in subsequent tours - Big Money on the VT Tour, Marathon on the Time Machine, and many others on the Clockwork Angels Tour - are insanely heavy, with the guitars in the forefront. I love those versions!

Power Windows is definitely of its time, but it’s so well done that it doesn’t at all seem dated to me. HYF on the other hand does. Can’t really explain it, but I just think the songs and the production were just that much higher quality on PW.

Completely agree on the PoW HYF comparison. There are a lot of synths in Power Windows, but the guitars are still prominent. Just very “bright” sounding. I think HYF is much more guilty of the “Great Wall of synthesizers” sound, and therefore sounds more dated than its predecessor.

[King Puppies and the Acid Guppies]

All of Power Windows has great lyrics.  Marathon, Manhattan Project,  Middletown Dreams are good too.

Too bad the music isn't particularly good (although those are my three favorite songs on the album).

I think the music on Power Windows is absolutely stellar, but I will say this: it's the Rush album that sound the most dated, purely because synths were VERY prominent at the time, and this album has those in-your-face synth sounds. But the versions of these songs that they played in subsequent tours - Big Money on the VT Tour, Marathon on the Time Machine, and many others on the Clockwork Angels Tour - are insanely heavy, with the guitars in the forefront. I love those versions!

Power Windows is definitely of its time, but it’s so well done that it doesn’t at all seem dated to me. HYF on the other hand does. Can’t really explain it, but I just think the songs and the production were just that much higher quality on PW.

Completely agree on the PoW HYF comparison. There are a lot of synths in Power Windows, but the guitars are still prominent. Just very “bright” sounding. I think HYF is much more guilty of the “Great Wall of synthesizers” sound, and therefore sounds more dated than its predecessor.

I think the problem with HYF is the guitars are too bright. Even brighter sounding that on PoW. So they get buried in with the synths. And sometimes even sound like synths.

[Architeuthis]

One of my favorite songs of all time is from HYF.  Time Stand Still is.....(drum roll).......Timeless! 

[Zydar]

For a long time I had Marathon in my Top 5 of Rush songs (it's still in my Top 10). Such an uplifting song and message. The version on A Show Of Hands is even better, that glorious outro is a bit longer there.

[wolfking]

Had A Show of Hands going this arvo in the car.  I can't remember ever really listening to this live album to be brutally honest even though the CD has been there for years.  It's fucking brilliant.

[TAC]

Had A Show of Hands going this arvo in the car.  I can't remember ever really listening to this live album to be brutally honest even though the CD has been there for years.  It's fucking brilliant.

It’s excellent for sure. Just played it last week at work.

[wolfking]

Had A Show of Hands going this arvo in the car.  I can't remember ever really listening to this live album to be brutally honest even though the CD has been there for years.  It's fucking brilliant.

It’s excellent for sure. Just played it last week at work.

I love how pigeon holed it is around those specific few albums.  Reminds me what Helloween did with High Live.

[Stadler]

All of Power Windows has great lyrics.  Marathon, Manhattan Project,  Middletown Dreams are good too.

Too bad the music isn't particularly good (although those are my three favorite songs on the album).

I think the music on Power Windows is absolutely stellar, but I will say this: it's the Rush album that sound the most dated, purely because synths were VERY prominent at the time, and this album has those in-your-face synth sounds. But the versions of these songs that they played in subsequent tours - Big Money on the VT Tour, Marathon on the Time Machine, and many others on the Clockwork Angels Tour - are insanely heavy, with the guitars in the forefront. I love those versions!

Power Windows is definitely of its time, but it’s so well done that it doesn’t at all seem dated to me. HYF on the other hand does. Can’t really explain it, but I just think the songs and the production were just that much higher quality on PW.

Completely agree on the PoW HYF comparison. There are a lot of synths in Power Windows, but the guitars are still prominent. Just very “bright” sounding. I think HYF is much more guilty of the “Great Wall of synthesizers” sound, and therefore sounds more dated than its predecessor.

I think the problem with HYF is the guitars are too bright. Even brighter sounding that on PoW. So they get buried in with the synths. And sometimes even sound like synths.

But to me, the SONGS are better on HYF.   My top 75 has 3 (out of 8) songs from Power Windows and 7 (out of 10) for Hold Your Fire.  I just find myself humming the melodies for "Second Nature" or "Mission" or "Prime Mover" more often than I do anything other than "Manhattan Project" from PW.

[nick_z]

I have PW on the car today.  The lyrics for Middletown Dreams are simply incredible.  What a song.

Yes, yes, yes. I love that song.

[Architeuthis]

Anybody notice the insanity of the bassline during the guitar solo in Emotion Detector?? 

[RodrigoAltaf]

Anybody notice the insanity of the bassline during the guitar solo in Emotion Detector??

Absolutely!

[HOF]

Anybody notice the insanity of the bassline during the guitar solo in Emotion Detector??

Yep. It’s an amazing song all around. The instrumental section rips.

[RodrigoAltaf]

Actually underneath the solos of Grand Designs, Emotion Detector and Marathon, Neil and Geddy are running a completely different game, and they all sound incredible!

[HOF]

Actually underneath the solos of Grand Designs, Emotion Detector and Marathon, Neil and Geddy are running a completely different game, and they all sound incredible!

Yep! The instrumental sections on Power Windows are amazing. Main reason why I consider it to be one of Rush’s most progressive albums of the 80s (maybe their last really progressive album until Clockwork Angels).

[Setlist Scotty]

Had A Show of Hands going this arvo in the car.  I can't remember ever really listening to this live album to be brutally honest even though the CD has been there for years.  It's fucking brilliant.

It’s excellent for sure. Just played it last week at work.

I love how pigeon holed it is around those specific few albums.  Reminds me what Helloween did with High Live.

That's the way Rush did it in the 70s and 80s. AtWaS and ESL were the same way, altho I grant you AtWaS their first live album and they only had 4 studio albums at that point. But that was their MO. It wasn't until the 90s when 2CD sets became more common place that they finally started including a lot of songs from outside the 4 latest studio albums and included several songs that had previously appeared on other live albums.
 
 

Anybody notice the insanity of the bassline during the guitar solo in Emotion Detector??

Yep. It’s an amazing song all around. The instrumental section rips.

I agree - one of my favorites from that album. Shame it's the only one that never was played live.

[pg1067]

Had A Show of Hands going this arvo in the car.  I can't remember ever really listening to this live album to be brutally honest even though the CD has been there for years.  It's fucking brilliant.

It’s excellent for sure. Just played it last week at work.

Man am I at the other end of the spectrum on this.  ASOH is, without question, the worst live album Rush ever did.  Two-thirds of the track list is songs that are just meh....  In some fairness, I doubt I've listened to the actual album in 30 years.  I have, however, watched the DVD (and before it, the VHS) every now and then, and it has a slightly better track list.

[Architeuthis]

I wonder why in the world they didn't include Time Stand Still in the live VHS/dvd ?? 
They included it on the audio version and it sounds great.

[Stadler]

Had A Show of Hands going this arvo in the car.  I can't remember ever really listening to this live album to be brutally honest even though the CD has been there for years.  It's fucking brilliant.

It’s excellent for sure. Just played it last week at work.

I love how pigeon holed it is around those specific few albums.  Reminds me what Helloween did with High Live.

That's the way Rush did it in the 70s and 80s. AtWaS and ESL were the same way, altho I grant you AtWaS their first live album and they only had 4 studio albums at that point. But that was their MO. It wasn't until the 90s when 2CD sets became more common place that they finally started including a lot of songs from outside the 4 latest studio albums and included several songs that had previously appeared on other live albums.

Kiss did the same thing; actually there were a fair number of similarities between Kiss and Rush in the early days.

I loved when we started to get the full shows from Rush. That's where my love for their live work really takes off.

[King Postwhore]

I've been listening to Rush covers of late.  I love Kyros versions of Force Ten & Leave That Thing Alone and Allegaeon's version of Subdivisions.

[wolfking]

Actually underneath the solos of Grand Designs, Emotion Detector and Marathon, Neil and Geddy are running a completely different game, and they all sound incredible!

Yep! The instrumental sections on Power Windows are amazing. Main reason why I consider it to be one of Rush’s most progressive albums of the 80s (maybe their last really progressive album until Clockwork Angels).

Going back to Middletown Dreams, that baseline near the end is just masterful.

[wolfking]

I've been listening to Rush covers of late.  I love Kyros versions of Force Ten & Leave That Thing Alone and Allegaeon's version of Subdivisions.

I challenge people to check out Omnium Gatherums cover of Subdivisions. 

[King Postwhore]

I've heard that.

Fates Warning cover of Closer to the Heart is great as well.