The History of Rush v. Discography Thread: Epilogue

[Cool Chris]

I very much enjoyed my listen to The Pass.

I was introduced to Rush in the early 90s when I got in to classic rock. I owned their Chronicles CD so I had a familiarity of the progression of their sound up through Presto. I only liked their music up through Moving Pictures, so pretty much ignored everything that followed. I heard The Pass on the radio without hearing who it was, and I loved it. I never would have associated it with Rush because the Rush I knew, the Rush I loved, was 2112, Cygnus X-1, Xanadu... songs that sound nothing like The Pass. Years later I borrowed Presto from a friend and was all "holy shit, The Pass is a Rush song?"

It is probably my #2 Rush song.

[TAC]

That's cool, Chris. 

#seewhatididthere 


I have loved Presto since the day I bought it, but I have just never been enthralled with the song like everyone else. That said, I enjoyed it as much as I ever have.

[Cool Chris]

The one Presto song on Chronicles is Show Don't Tell which I didn't care for. So when i did borrow that copy of Presto I was amazed at the many great songs on it.

[ytserush]

I love the idea of more Vapor Trails - I would have been happy with them eventually playing the whole album - adding a couple new tracks each tour.

So do I, but the band due to the circumstances and memories surrounding it, would not have been happy.

[DoctorAction]

One more for Power Windows being awesome. Just crackles with energy and the sound is SO 80s to the max. Very consistent to my ears too. It's the Rush album I usually reach for. 

Presto and Roll The Bones never grabbed me. I'll go back to them today and have an explore.

Would be great if they remastered Clockwork Angels eventually. Such a great record.

[Architeuthis]

I love the idea of more Vapor Trails - I would have been happy with them eventually playing the whole album - adding a couple new tracks each tour.

I was surprised they never played the title track "Vapor Trail"  on the Vapor Trails tour or the R30 tour,  and never beyond that. Perhaps it would have been too hard to pull off the HEY HEY-ee background vocals.. 
  Other songs that would have been great live are:
        Cut To The Chase (blows away Stick it Out) and that Lerxt solo! 
        Everyday Glory
        Available Light
        The Good News First.  (Underrated song)
        Peacable Kingdom (love the lyrics)

[ytserush]

I love the idea of more Vapor Trails - I would have been happy with them eventually playing the whole album - adding a couple new tracks each tour.

I was surprised they never played the title track "Vapor Trail"  on the Vapor Trails tour or the R30 tour,  and never beyond that. Perhaps it would have been too hard to pull off the HEY HEY-ee background vocals.. 
  Other songs that would have been great live are:
        Cut To The Chase (blows away Stick it Out) and that Lerxt solo! 
        Everyday Glory
        Available Light
        The Good News First.  (Underrated song)
        Peacable Kingdom (love the lyrics)

I REALLY wanted to hear Peaceable Kingdom and Vapor Trail live. Even some rehearsal footage would be nice.

[KevShmev]

Vapor Trail is the one non-played song from that record that still surprises me.  Seemed like it would be a natural live tune.  I just think the timing never worked out for them to hit that record hard, and I think it was clear that they wanted to welcome the fans back on the VT tour with a well-rounded set list rather than having too many new songs in it.

[Lethean]

Probably a wise decision on their part, but I would certainly have loved to have heard Peaceable Kingdom, Vapor Trail, and beyond. 

Listening to Snakes and Arrows right now, and thinking about how great it is.  That album was a grower for me but maybe I like it all the more for it.

[King Postwhore]

Vapor Trail is the one non-played song from that record that still surprises me.  Seemed like it would be a natural live tune.  I just think the timing never worked out for them to hit that record hard, and I think it was clear that they wanted to welcome the fans back on the VT tour with a well-rounded set list rather than having too many new songs in it.

💯

I would have killed to hear it live.

[DTA]

I was sure it was going to be played on R40 but How It Is was played instead...I respect the hell out of them for bringing out songs they've never done before, but Vapor Trail was definitely the one that should've been played.

[ytserush]

I was sure it was going to be played on R40 but How It Is was played instead...I respect the hell out of them for bringing out songs they've never done before, but Vapor Trail was definitely the one that should've been played.

The only shockers for me on R40 was How It Is, Losing It,  and anything pre-2112 that wasn't Working Man.  Much like R30, it was the closest they ever got to a "Greatest Hits" set.  I suppose one could argue Time Machine was one too since they played all of Moving Pictures.

[Anguyen92]

Closest to a Greatest Hits set and they didn't play Limelight or Freewill and even YYZ wasn't played every night on that R40 tour.  Dang, sometimes you wish most bands with extensive catalogs can create such interesting setlists the way Rush did theirs with their catalog.

[KevShmev]

The only shockers for me on R40 was How It Is, Losing It,  and anything pre-2112 that wasn't Working Man.  Much like R30, it was the closest they ever got to a "Greatest Hits" set.  I suppose one could argue Time Machine was one too since they played all of Moving Pictures.

Like many, I never thought we'd see Anthem, Lakeside Park or What You're Doing again, and to get all three in that encore was so great, even with Anthem slightly truncated.  The whole second set and encore was a long wet dream for the fans who love the 1974-1981 years the most.

[ytserush]

The only shockers for me on R40 was How It Is, Losing It,  and anything pre-2112 that wasn't Working Man.  Much like R30, it was the closest they ever got to a "Greatest Hits" set.  I suppose one could argue Time Machine was one too since they played all of Moving Pictures.

Like many, I never thought we'd see Anthem, Lakeside Park or What You're Doing again, and to get all three in that encore was so great, even with Anthem slightly truncated.  The whole second set and encore was a long wet dream for the fans who love the 1974-1981 years the most.

Glad you enjoyed them. Perhaps I'm not taking those in the spirit in which it was intended (they fit with the theme) but I did not really need to hear/see those songs live even if I never witnessed them played other than on that tour.  Way past the sell by date, but again I totally get why it went down that way and it did make sense in that context.

Feel a bit similar about Circumstances on the Snakes Tour. There was a time I would have killed to hear that live. I give them credit for trying but it just sounded antiquated in that set.  Digital Man seemed to hold up much better.

[Cool Chris]

So Peart's passing (and this thread) have inspired me to plow through Rush's discography, something I have never done oddly enough. My quick Rush bio: I am a huge fan of 2112-MP, a casual fan of early Rush, ambivalent to Signals-HYF, a moderate fan of Presto/RtB, largely ignorant of Counterparts-S&A, and enjoy CA quite a bit.

Rush: I enjoyed this album quite more than I expected, despite being a big LZ fan in my classic rock heyday. I don't listen to LZ ever, but they shaped my musical journey about as much as any band.

Fly by Night/Caress of Steel: I know the hits from CRR (classic rock radio) and don't need to hear them any more. Enjoyed Fountain of Lamneth and Necromancer more than I remembered doing in the past.

2112: Love it. 2112 is still my #2 favorite song of all time. The rest of the album is solid.

Farewell to Kings; Love it just as much as I always have.

Hemispheres: Great album, though I don't revere it as much as others here seem to.

Permanent Waves: Love it, top to bottom my #1 Rush album. Will never get old.

Moving Pictures: Not an album I am ever going to go out of my way to listen to considering how much still gets played on CRR but still a great album.

Signals/Grace Under Pressure/Power Windows/Hold Your Fire: I can't recall the last time I listened to any of these albums straight through. There just isn't much here that interests me, and isn't anything I am going to reach for when in the mood for Rush.

Presto: A good album, but hard to listen to without a nostalgia factor, as I listened to this a lot when it came out.

Roll the Bones: Listened to this one a lot too in real time. A few misses on this one, but some great tracks as well.

Counterparts/Test For Echo: Some good music here, but not anything I need to listen to anytime soon.

Vapor Trails/Snakes and Arrows: These are the two albums I am least familiar with. So I don't feel justified in giving them a solid judgment without further listens. I enjoyed them a fair amount. I listened to a bit of both while driving and I think that heightened the enjoyment.

Clockwork Angels: I enjoyed this as much as I did when it first came out, despite not spinning it for a long, long time.

Bottom line: The needle didn't move much for me in any direction for any era. My enjoyment of the debut surprised me the most. I've ranked 2112-MP among my favorite stretches of material of any band since high school. No change there. I've never really considered myself a Rush fan, despite them having 5 albums I'd be happy with on a desert island. But does loving 5 out of a band's 19 albums sufficient to make one a fan? 

[Stadler]

Not a critique or criticism, just an observation:  I agree on some (AFTK), disagree on others (Moving Pictures) but what I found interesting is some of your groupings.   I don't put Caress with FBN, I put it with 2112, perhaps because of the epics, perhaps because of the fact that 2112 isn't god-like to me (like MP is).   Same with Counterparts and TFE; one is a pretty good, solid record with a fair amount of variety (Counterparts) and one is a steaming pile of miss that, other than revisiting the first four songs because Jammin' suggested that we do so, I have zero desire to listen to again.   Same with the S>GUP>PW>HYF run; other than the synths, for me, those albums are not four of a kind; Signals is one of my favorite Rush albums ever, GUP is, let's just say "not", and PW/HYF are both solid records with great songs that probably translate SLIGHTLY better live. 

In any event, good run-down, it was fun to read.

[HOF]

Moving Pictures: Not an album I am ever going to go out of my way to listen to considering how much still gets played on CRR but still a great album.

This is how I’ve always felt about MP. The only songs on it I usually care to listen to are Red Barchetta and The Camera Eye, and to a lesser extent YYZ. Tom Sawyer and Limelight were kind of ruined by radio before I ever picked up the album, and Witch Hunt and Vital Signs are just awful (IMO). Don’t get me wrong, outside of Witch Hunt and Vital Signs, those are all really great songs. I just don’t have a ton of interest in revisiting them often.

[jingle.boy]

Who listens to radio (much) these days anyway?  Literally the only time I do is in the car with mrs.jingle / jingle.family, and 50% of the time it is NOT classic rock radio stations.

MP is a top 10 AOTY for me, but (like much of that top 10 list, I've gotten my fill of those over the decades, and don't go to them more than a couple times a year (at best).

[Orbert]

That's pretty much how I feel.  People say things like "hearing it on the radio so much ruined it for" and I think "why the fuck do you listen to the radio, and why do you listen to the same songs on the radio so much that you end up hating them?"  You know you can change the station, right?  And if you don't know how to do that, presumably you know where the Power button is.

The difference is that there's no "these days" for me.  I got my first car at 18, and the first thing I did was yank the factory stereo and put in one with a cassette deck.  No way in hell am I listening to what other people decide I should listen to.  Yeah, it's kinda fun to switch to radio once in a while and see what random song someone might have cued up, but intentionally listening to great songs so much that you end up hating them seems completely ass-backwards to me.

[Stadler]

That's pretty much how I feel.  People say things like "hearing it on the radio so much ruined it for" and I think "why the fuck do you listen to the radio, and why do you listen to the same songs on the radio so much that you end up hating them?"  You know you can change the station, right?  And if you don't know how to do that, presumably you know where the Power button is.

And if you don't know how to do THAT, there's always a hammer.   

[/quote]The difference is that there's no "these days" for me.  I got my first car at 18, and the first thing I did was yank the factory stereo and put in one with a cassette deck.  No way in hell am I listening to what other people decide I should listen to.  Yeah, it's kinda fun to switch to radio once in a while and see what random song someone might have cued up, but intentionally listening to great songs so much that you end up hating them seems completely ass-backwards to me.
[/quote]

This is me.   The times I'm literally beholden to radio - either that or silence - is miniscule.  Between Walkmen, stereos, iPods, phones, etc., I've spent an embarrassing amount of money on being able to program my own music.   

[romdrums]

That's pretty much how I feel.  People say things like "hearing it on the radio so much ruined it for" and I think "why the fuck do you listen to the radio, and why do you listen to the same songs on the radio so much that you end up hating them?"  You know you can change the station, right?  And if you don't know how to do that, presumably you know where the Power button is.

The difference is that there's no "these days" for me.  I got my first car at 18, and the first thing I did was yank the factory stereo and put in one with a cassette deck.  No way in hell am I listening to what other people decide I should listen to.  Yeah, it's kinda fun to switch to radio once in a while and see what random song someone might have cued up, but intentionally listening to great songs so much that you end up hating them seems completely ass-backwards to me.

I cannot agree with this post enough.  I'm astounded that people still listen to music on the radio.  And like Stadler stated, I too, have spent a considerable sum of money on being able to program my own music listening.

[HOF]

I don’t listen to the radio anymore and haven’t in years. But I grew up with it, and I’ve simply heard Tom Sawyer way too many times to have much excitement about playing it again, especially when there are nearly infinite listening choices at my fingertips and limited time.

Edit: I’ll also add that some of this is self-inflicted. My first Rush CD was the Retrospective 2 set, and I’ve spun Tom Sawyer and Limelight enough on my own to add to the burn out (even Red Barchetta a little bit). It’s not just a radio problem of course. I burned out Images and Words a long time ago too (despite never hearing it on the radio). I still think of it as a great album, but I just can’t quite get excited about throwing it on anymore.

[Orbert]

Self-inflicted burnout is a somewhat different thing, to me anyway.  I have some albums that I played to death, but I just leave them alone for a while.  When I pull them back out a few years later, they're like a visit from an old friend.

I do listen to the radio sometimes, mostly when I'm tired or just too lazy to pick something.  That's what I mean when I say it's a nice change to let someone else pick for me once in a while.  I was in the car one time with my son, and "Roundabout" by Yes came out.  Great song, I know every note, and I changed the station.  My son was confused and said "I thought you like Yes".  I do, which is precisely why I changed it.  I don't want to burn out on the song.  It is a great song, but it's one of like three that the Classic Rock stations play to death.  I also have a CD full of Yes mp3's in the dash more or less permanently and an iPod on the Aux input.  When I feel like listening to Fragile, I'll do so.  Same with "Tom Sawyer" or any of the three or four Rush songs they play to death.  I love those songs, so I'll listen to them when I want to.

[Cool Chris]

Stadler, my groupings aren't meant to be based on any sort of musical analysis. It was solely based on my opinions.

I worked for ~5 years in the home office of a classic rock lover, and aside from a couple hours of Dr. Laura, the radio was always on our local classic rock station. As he was the boss, I couldn't change the channel. Same thing with my current job (residential remodeling). The project leader has say over what music gets played. One guy loves classic rock so he is always playing the local radio station. Point being, some of this burnout is "self-inflicted" but not wholly my fault.

I asked a while ago in some other thread "Why does FM still exist?" Who listens to FM in 2020? I love internet radio stations. The variety is amazing and several times I'll hear a song and stop what I am doing to check out the song title/artist, and think "hmm.. I should check these guys out."

On topic, I think it largely goes to how I feel about these songs. I have heard so many other classic rock staples many more times, but they still sound fresh and exciting. Songs like Tom Sawyer and Limelight never reached that level with me.

Also, as a guy smarter than me once said:

I love those songs, so I'll listen to them when I want to.

[Orbert]

I don't claim to be smarter, but thanks.  Actually, it never occurred to me that some people are situations where the radio is on (or other canned music, such as in restaurants and stuff) and they can't do anything about it.  That would drive me nuts.

So I guess the answer to my question "Why the fuck do you listen to the radio?" is something like "I can't help it!  It's my job!"

[Cool Chris]

You just said what it seemed like others were saying, just more concisely

I work with 3 guys. We had a 4th, that was classic rock guy. Our tasted aligned the most. Funnily enough he always changed the channel if Floyd came on. He was so burned out it didn't matter the song, he just couldn't take any Floyd. One guy doesn't usually play music on the job; one guy plays random YT playlists, lots of Air Supply, other schmaltzy 80s soft rock; one guy plays music with either guys screaming their heads off or using the n-word with alarming frequency.

I am also at Home Depot/similar stores all the time to get supplies, and am becoming more aware of the music that is piped through the stores. If you work in a store that plays music for 8 hours a day, do you quickly learn to just tune it out?

[Orbert]

I would assume so.  I worked in restaurants for years, but I was a line cook, and basically I chose the tunes we listened to in the kitchen.

Once in a while, we'll be out somewhere and my son will say "I'll meet you guys at (somewhere)" and just bolt.  The first couple times, we asked him what happened, and he said the song playing is one that's on their canned music at work, and he just couldn't take it.  He'd rather leave than subject himself to hearing that song again, which I completely understand.  So I guess while he's there, he tunes it out, but on some level he's still hearing it and every song on their tapes (or whatever they play) has been ruined for him.  Bummer.

[cfmoran13]

Back in college, I used to work at Sam Goody's music for extra cash during the Christmas season.  The majority of the music played would be Christmas albums.  Mariah Carey's album was in heavy rotation.  I would walk around for 45 minutes muttering under by breath how much I couldn't stand the album.  There was no tuning it out.

[Silent Man]

Rush has been one of my favorite bands for many years. After Neil passed away, I felt like digging out my collection and listen again. As always, my top album is still Moving Pictures and my top song Red Barchetta...I can play that main riff again and again. One of my other top albums is Grace Under Pressure, which was the very first album I heard of them. In fact, it was a girl(!) who introduced me to Rush, she came to my house some time in the late '80ies, bringing some LPs with her, one of them was GUP. We drank beer all night, went in and out of bed and listened to Rush (no more details, sorry  ). The one song that hit me immediately was 'Afterimage' with it's catchy and brilliant counter riff guitar/bass against synth. That's the best way I can describe it, hope you know what I mean.
I'm still in awe that I got introduced to a heavy band by a girl. Never thought that would happen - and I never heard about Rush before that day.
I scanned through this thread and noticed that someone compared them with Led Zeppelin. Fair enough, I also hear that at some moments. But LZ was way more blues oriented and also had a mix of english folk music in there. I'm a bit surprised though, that noone compared them with The Who. I hear a lot more of Who than LZ in their music. But maybe it's only me...

[Cool Chris]

I scanned through this thread and noticed that someone compared them with Led Zeppelin. Fair enough, I also hear that at some moments. But LZ was way more blues oriented and also had a mix of english folk music in there. I'm a bit surprised though, that noone compared them with The Who. I hear a lot more of Who than LZ in their music. But maybe it's only me...

I think it is mostly their debut that has the LZ vibe. And if Peart is a big Who fan (correct?) it would make sense if you hear some Who in their music.

[Dublagent66]

I was familiar with a lot of Rush's earlier radio hits but didn't actually become a fan until the release of Power Windows.  That album has a special significance.  After that, I started collecting copies of their back catalog albums and new releases as they became available.  The rest is history.   

[ytserush]

I was familiar with a lot of Rush's earlier radio hits but didn't actually become a fan until the release of Power Windows.  That album has a special significance.  After that, I started collecting copies of their back catalog albums and new releases as they became available.  The rest is history.   

The Rush peak for radio was 1980 to 1983 You wouldn't have to wait more than two hours to hear a Rush song (At least in the New York-Philly area (and on MTV too.))