How would you rate a side 2 of the Rush album 2112?

[WildRanger]

Tracks on side 2 of 2112:
- A Passage to Bangkok
- Twilight Zone
- Lessons
- Tears
- Something for Nothing

What you say?

[The Walrus]

Better than side 1 to me. A Passage to Bangkok, Tears, and Something For Nothing are awesome. I'd say 'very good.'

[DTA]

Solid, but ultimately unfulfilling. I feel like every Rush album from 2112-PeW needs just one more "important" song to round it out. I love Passage and The Twilight Zone, and SFN is okay, but the other two do nothing for me.

[jjrock88]

Great

[bosk1]

I would say "weak," but only because I don't really like Rush and would rate all of their music that way.  So I won't vote.

[jjrock88]

 

[Stadler]

Something For Nothing - One of their best songs
Passage To Bangkok - Excellent song, precursor to Red Barchetta
Twilight Zone - Curiosity; only the chorus sets it apart and makes it better than filler
Lessons - Eh.
Tears - Eh. 

[pg1067]

I'd voted "very good," but it's somewhere between "solid" and "very good."

Twilight Zone - 6.5/10 (I like the verses better than the chorus)
A Passage to Bangkok - 8/10
Lessons - 6.5/10
Tears - 6.5/10
Something for nothing - 7.5/10 (16yo me would have rated it a 9+, but it gets a bit repetitive.

[?]

Voted "very good" - apart from the filler track that is Lessons, it's a cool bunch of songs.

[ReaperKK]

Great in my opinion.

Twilight Zone, A Passage To Bangkok, and Tears are among my favorite Rush songs.

[The Letter M]

Voted "very good" - apart from the filler track that is Lessons, it's a cool bunch of songs.

Pretty much this.

-Marc.

[SleeperAwake]

Mediocre. One or two good songs. (A Passage to Bangkok and Something for Nothing)

[Lowdz]

Side 1 is legendary. Side 2 is great.

[Cool Chris]

I am a little surprised Passage to Bangkok is as highly regarded as it seems to be.

I'd say solid.

Fun Cool Chris fact: I heard Tears on a DT bootleg before I heard the original, and for a long time it was a random, mysterious DT song I never took the time to find out more about.

And I believe we've had this discussion here, but do you all say Two-One-One-Two, or Twenty-One, Twelve? How do the guys say it?

[pg1067]

I am a little surprised Passage to Bangkok is as highly regarded as it seems to be.

I'd say solid.

Fun Cool Chris fact: I heard Tears on a DT bootleg before I heard the original, and for a long time it was a random, mysterious DT song I never took the time to find out more about.

And I believe we've had this discussion here, but do you all say Two-One-One-Two, or Twenty-One, Twelve? How do the guys say it?

I would probably vote Passage to Bangkok higher if the lyrics were a little better than something a 17 year old stoner could come up with.

The "proper" way to pronounce 2112 is "two-eleven-two."

Oh...wait...no...it's "twenty-one twelve" -- just like pretty much any year:  e.g., Van Halen's album is pronounced, "Nineteen eighty-four," not "one, nine, eight, four."  Listen to 2112 from All the World's a Stage:  Geddy introduces it by saying, "We'd like to do for you side one from our latest album.  This is called twenty-one twelve."

[The Walrus]

I've never heard anybody say anything but twenty-one-twelve.

[jammindude]

Side 2 of 2112 is kinda funny to me. 

You know that story that they give about how Caress of Steel tanked because of this side long track and no viable singles?  And then they re-evaluated and decided that they were NOT going to cave to the record company's demands...if they were going down, they were going down *THEIR* way?    Ya....not buying it.   And Side 2 of 2112 is my exhibit A.   

I believe that Rush actually compromised a bit.   Side 1 was their personal statement, but side 2 was their "plan B"...a way to give the record company some potential singles.   It sounds like 5 attempts (in differing styles) of something that someone might be able to play on the radio.     I don't mean to say that they are bad.  I like every single song.  I just notice that those short, tight, "verse/chorus" songs stand in stark contrast to side 1, and 80% of anything from CoS. 

That being said, I really do like most of the songs themselves.   Bangkok was a novelty when I was 13 (ooooooo...they're singing about POT).   I LOVE The Twilight Zone.   Lessons is underrated and fun and enjoyable.    Tears is....better than Rivendell.  (I kid...I like Rivendell too).     And I agree with the earlier sentiment that I used to thing Something for Nothing was an amazing song, but there's not really much to it.   It's the same chord progression over and over again, and it gets really old, really fast.   The lyrics are pretty cool, but once I revisit it, I don't feel like doing it twice. 

Twilight Zone is my favorite.   But as a whole, Side 2 of 2112 is mostly just OK and overshadowed by most of the other (far better) material from the first 12 albums. 

[pg1067]

You know that story that they give about how Caress of Steel tanked because of this side long track and no viable singles?  And then they re-evaluated and decided that they were NOT going to cave to the record company's demands...if they were going down, they were going down *THEIR* way?    Ya....not buying it.   And Side 2 of 2112 is my exhibit A.   

I believe that Rush actually compromised a bit.   Side 1 was their personal statement, but side 2 was their "plan B"...a way to give the record company some potential singles.   It sounds like 5 attempts (in differing styles) of something that someone might be able to play on the radio.

I don't really agree with this.  Bastille Day and Something for Nothing are almost exactly the same type of song, and Lakeside Park is more of a "hit single" type of song than anything on 2112.  Other than the lack of a mini-epic type song (The Necromancer), I don't think side 2 of 2112 is all that different than side 1 of Caress of Steel.  2112 is just a heavier and tighter version of Caress of Steel.  In other words, they put out basically the same album, but 2112 was just better.