Author Topic: Getting into Rush for the first time, going album by album  (Read 2487 times)

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Offline npiazza91

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I’m no stranger to Rush, I know all their hits and I owned their debut album, 2112 and Moving Pictures. Ive also heard some of Clockwork Angels, and I owned a ton of their songs in Rock Band back when I had an obsession with those games because I had the drum set and I always loved the drumming in this band (Rest in peace).

But...I’m more of a “casual” fan. I’ve never actually dug deep and explored their catalogue. Well, that’s gonna change. I’m gonna go through their entire discography, about 1-2 albums per night (maybe more or maybe none, depends on my mood that night).

So far tonight I’ve listened to their first two albums. I was gonna rank every song on each album individually, but that’s just...way too many songs to cover. I’m just gonna give my overall thoughts on each album as I go, and highlight the strong points, the weak points, and even point out a couple underrated gems or oddities that I come across. Anyway, let’s go.

So...the first album. Their debut. Like I said before, I used to own this album for a while and I would occasionally give it a spin. Led Zeppelin is one of my favorite bands, so I really liked the Zeppelin type sound that they did here. But thinking about it now, I don’t think it was really suited for Rush, they didn’t really start finding their footing until their next album. Overall, this album is decent. The best tracks are definitely Working Man and Finding My Way, those songs are awesome, Working Man especially is like top tier from what I’ve heard of the band. Everything else ranges from “good” to “meh”. Not a bad album, definitely worth listening to so that you can appreciate the beginning, but it’s really not a prog album. This is less Rush than WDADU is Dream Theater. Good album, just not a very good RUSH album.

Fly By Night is their second album, and...it’s much better. Rush feel like they're hitting one all cylinders here, and they’re getting closer to their quintessential sound. To be honest, there’s only one song here that I found weak, and that’s Beneath, Between & Behind. Everything else ranged from good to great. By-Tor and the Snow Dog is an awesome mini epic and it finally feels like I’m listening to the Rush I’ve been wanting to listen to. Fly By Night is a classic as always. Anthem and Best I Can open the album in a strong, fun way. And I actually really like Rivendell a lot and was disappointed to see that a lot of fans don’t seem to like it, from what I’ve seen online. I get that it’s cheesy because it’s about LotR, but uh...yeah, Zeppelin did a song about LotR and it’s one of their best songs (Ramble On), so I don’t get that complaint. Rivendell is a beautiful piece in my opinion. It’s soothing and so different from everything else so far that it stands out, in a good way. Overall, this was a great album, a big improvement from their debut. But...we can still get better. Let’s see what we got next. Oh wait I forgot to mention, the drumming is a HUGE difference from the last album to this one, because Peart has joined the band. The guy was a monster.

One random thought I have...I wish Rush used a piano like DT does. It’s something that I feel is missing. Not a huge deal, but just something I noticed. It would have made Rivendell even better, imagine if that was all piano. One of the things that pulls me into a band like Dream Theater is that you can have beautiful songs like Finally Free that makes great use of the piano to create emotion. I kinda missing that. Like I said, not a huge deal, but just thought I’d mention it. I know not every band is gonna be the same. And yes, I’m aware that Rush does use a keyboard sometimes, but it’s not the same, they mostly use it for electronic effects and stuff (at least so far, who knows what’s coming in this marathon).

Offline The Walrus

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Re: Getting into Rush for the first time, going album by album
« Reply #1 on: May 20, 2020, 11:17:05 PM »
The piano comment is really good. I never thought about it but yeah, I would've loved to hear some piano in Rush's music.

I went through their entire discography for the first time a few years ago and it really blew my mind what an incredible band they were. I love most of their records, there's very little I don't like, and Power Windows and Hemispheres have become two of my all time favorite albums. Even picked up a bunch of DVD concerts and Peart's Ghost Rider book. Enjoy the ride, dude. Phenomenal music from start to finish.
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Re: Getting into Rush for the first time, going album by album
« Reply #2 on: May 20, 2020, 11:21:16 PM »
Glad you are taking the dive! Also glad you are starting out digging the early albums, because to be honest Fly By Night and 2112 almost turned me off of early Rush. I was already somewhat of a fan of the 80s and 90s Rush when I got those two, but I sort of wrote off the 70s after that and it took me a LOOONG time to start to appreciate 70s Rush.

Regarding piano, I guess there are some piano sounds on some of the 80s Rush albums (Available Light from Presto immediately comes to mind), but you’re right that a natural piano sound is not really part of Rush’s pallet.

Rivendell is sort of of its time, and I guess I don’t hate it, but the melody isn’t especially memorable and the lyrics are a little awkward. I think it was an attempt at being kind of like Genesis? Rush wasn’t especially adept at quieter moments, so it’s probably best that they didn’t really try anything like this again.

Offline Lethean

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Re: Getting into Rush for the first time, going album by album
« Reply #3 on: May 20, 2020, 11:30:27 PM »
This is awesome.  I'll be following this; interested in reading about your Rush journey.

Offline npiazza91

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Re: Getting into Rush for the first time, going album by album
« Reply #4 on: May 21, 2020, 12:14:33 AM »
Ok so I decided to do three albums tonight and...to be honest, I’m kinda speechless. Caress of Steel is...I don’t really know what to think.

I had always written off Rush as a “commercial prog” band, like I always had it in my head that they were “radio friendly prog”, you always hear their stuff on the radio all the time. And I know they had huge epics like 2112, but I just always assumed those were outliers. I always just kinda pegged them as like “the Aerosmith of prog”. I swear I don’t mean that in a bad way at all, of course I always thought all three members were some of the most talented in the music industry, but I never imagined they’d ever write some of the insane off the wall stuff I’ve just heard on this album. Like...what the hell did I just listen to? Octavarium is one of my favorite songs of all time, and I can listen to Six Degrees (the song) straight through and the song won’t lose me for a minute. But...that last song on Caress of Steel, The Fountain of Lamneth...I don’t think I’ve heard a song more proggy in my entire life. To be honest, I don’t really like it. It’s too much. It lost me early on, and kept continuing to lose me. I felt like every time I was starting to get into a section, it just lost me again. By the time the last few minutes came around, I couldn’t even remember how it started. I never thought I’d say a song could be too proggy for me, but...I think I found it. It felt like five songs in one, literally the song went to black, and another riff started up. This happened five times. And I couldn’t pinpoint what the common thread was that was connecting all of these parts. Was there one? I felt like this whole song I was swimming in the ocean looking for a small key that I dropped and not being able to find it. I don’t know, it just didn’t leave me satisfied. Is this song a grower? Because I feel like I’m gonna need years to appreciate that one. God damn dude, I did NOT expect anything like that by this band. That’s raw prog right there holy shit. Anyway, getting back to the other four songs.

The first song, Bastille Day, is a f-ing awesome opener. Love it. The next song, I Think I’m Balding...it’s decent. Not bad, but out of those first four (I’m not counting The Fountain of Lamneth) it’s definitely the weakest. I LOVE the atmosphere in Lakeside Park, it feels like I’m outside with nature, fantastic song. And THE NECROMANCER. Wow guys, just wow. Like I said before, I thought because I’m used to listening to 12+ minute crazy songs with tons of transitions by a band like Dream Theater, that not much can really shock me musically (naive I know lol), but this song...was an experience. Contrast this epic with the other one, i was able to follow this song 100% and I absolutely loved it. Ugh that was so good, how have I not heard that song before? THE BASS in that instrumental section...was amazing. And just the way the song flows from beginning to end...it might be my favorite Rush song yet. I don’t know though, I’ve only heard it once. The thing with a lot of these epics is you need a ton of listens over a longer period of time to really let them sink in. It could still go down, or it could end up being my favorite song by them. We’ll see. But first impressions are “f- yeah”.

All this being said...Caress of Steel is a very strange album. It only has five songs, one of which takes up literally half the album on its own, and, like I said, I wasn’t vibing with it. This album feels like a very deep cut to me. Like I don’t think a lot of casuals have heard ANY of the songs on this album, and I don’t think they’d like them. I don’t know how to feel about this one. It feels very “Black Clouds and Silver Linings” to me, if I’m gonna compare it to a DT album. I don’t think I like it as much as Fly By Night to be honest. I think it’s less relistenable (is that a word?). I’m honestly still shocked that Rush did something like this. Just when I thought my all my prog doors were open, it feels like I’ve gone DEEPER than I ever have.

Now...onto 2112, an album that I am more familiar with (at least the title track and Passage to Bangkok, don’t remember the others).

Offline Lethean

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Re: Getting into Rush for the first time, going album by album
« Reply #5 on: May 21, 2020, 12:32:55 AM »
That's fascinating to read.  :)

I had a somewhat similar experience with 2112, but at the time I was not really familiar with "prog."  I'm not even sure if I'd heard the term yet or not.  I had a couple Rush albums from the 80s and 90s and was completely unprepared for 2112.  And it did take me a long time to get into it.  Caress of Steel didn't have that complete shock effect, so I don't think that one took me as long.  I do like The Fountain of Lamneth a lot.  But I certainly didn't feel that way after the first few listens.

Offline The Walrus

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Re: Getting into Rush for the first time, going album by album
« Reply #6 on: May 21, 2020, 05:44:36 AM »
CoS is one of my favorite Rush albums where 2112 is one of my least favorites. CoS is underrated as heck.
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Re: Getting into Rush for the first time, going album by album
« Reply #7 on: May 21, 2020, 06:16:04 AM »
Lamneth is an oddball...the drum solo really throws it off and the lack of continuity between sections makes it feel less like an epic and more like a collection of separate songs. I can't imagine what the hell they were thinking with Didacts and Narpets. The Necromancer is a standout and has a really cool vibe throughout, I've grown to appreciate it more recently and it may be my favorite longer song of theirs.


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Re: Getting into Rush for the first time, going album by album
« Reply #8 on: May 21, 2020, 07:47:51 AM »
Count me as another who likes Caress of Steele as much or more than 2112. Bastille Day, Lakeside Park, and The Necromancer are all great. Going Bald is not great. Then as you said, Lamneth is weird. The band basically attributes it to too many drugs. But I do like several of the riffs and passages. The main riff (if you can call it that) is really cool, and I don’t know that it’s that much less cohesive than 2112 or Hemisphere’s to be honest, and it’s certainly less weird than Cygnus X-1.

Offline Samsara

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Re: Getting into Rush for the first time, going album by album
« Reply #9 on: May 21, 2020, 07:56:12 AM »
LOVE this thread npiazza91. You're doing exactly what I did probably around 10 years ago. I had seen Rush a few times (2002 in Hartford, CT; 2006 in Concord, CA;, and after I saw them at the White River Amphitheater in Auburn, WA, on the Time Machine Tour in Aug. 2010, I just absolutely became a huge Rush fan (which also sucks, because I wasn't able to get to the tours after that, so I never saw them live again). Before that I was a fan, but mostly of just what I remember hearing on the radio and the standard hits. So once I became a big fan, I went down the rabbit hole just like you. So much fun.

Enjoy the trip. Looking forward to reading your thoughts.
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Re: Getting into Rush for the first time, going album by album
« Reply #10 on: May 21, 2020, 08:08:47 AM »
Sam, you were at the opening show of the Vapor Trails tour?  So was I!  A magical show.  I thought they would never play again.
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Re: Getting into Rush for the first time, going album by album
« Reply #11 on: May 21, 2020, 08:43:56 AM »
Listening to Lamneth again now. The first 9 and a half minutes are really strong and flow really well. If they stopped there this would be seen as one of their top epics probably. Then you get the awkward Panacea passage that kind of bogs it down a bit. If they had stopped before the “naked in our unity” part maybe it wouldn’t be so bad... But then it picks back up again with the next section, which features a nice guitar solo then fades out completely before that cool main riff comes back and we’re back to a passage that recalls the first part of the song. Honestly really digging all of this outside of the Panacea section, which I guess isn’t so bad when you consider it’s the one relative weak spot in a 20 minute epic.

I don’t think it’s really all that incoherent at all. Just a winding prog song, but it has a recycled theme and doesn’t just go from random section to random section. I do really prefer it over 2112.

One of the challenges for Lamneth might be that it follows the 12+ minute Necromancer. Both of those back to back is a little bit of a trip and takes a pretty good attention span to listen in one sitting.
« Last Edit: May 21, 2020, 08:51:19 AM by HOF »

Offline Stadler

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Re: Getting into Rush for the first time, going album by album
« Reply #12 on: May 21, 2020, 09:07:01 AM »
I LOVE the Fountain Of Lamneth.   I think Caress is way underrated.   I don't care for "....Bald" or "Lakeside Park", but the rest makes up for it.   I prefer both Caress and FBN over 2112, actually.   

Offline pg1067

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Re: Getting into Rush for the first time, going album by album
« Reply #13 on: May 21, 2020, 09:39:53 AM »
One random thought I have...I wish Rush used a piano like DT does. It’s something that I feel is missing. Not a huge deal, but just something I noticed. It would have made Rivendell even better, imagine if that was all piano. One of the things that pulls me into a band like Dream Theater is that you can have beautiful songs like Finally Free that makes great use of the piano to create emotion. I kinda missing that. Like I said, not a huge deal, but just thought I’d mention it. I know not every band is gonna be the same. And yes, I’m aware that Rush does use a keyboard sometimes, but it’s not the same, they mostly use it for electronic effects and stuff (at least so far, who knows what’s coming in this marathon).

The piano comment is really good. I never thought about it but yeah, I would've loved to hear some piano in Rush's music.

I don't know that Rivendell would have been any better with piano, but the fact is that Geddy, Alex and Neil never wanted to bring in a fourth member, and I don't believe either Geddy or Alex had significant piano chops back in the 70s.  Nor would either of them have had the time to abandon their primary instruments to play piano without DRASTICALLY changing the sound that made Rush Rush.  They did, however, feature piano pretty heavily on Different Strings (played by Hugh Syme) and Available Light (although there's no piano credited on Presto).

As far as COS, I do not agree that it's underrated among folks who consider themselves to be more than casual fans of the band.  Casual fans don't seem to like it much, but that's why they're casual fans.  That said, it's still not great.  Fountain was an experiment that had some great moments (e.g., Bridge), but it also had stuff that didn't work well (D&N and Panacea).  As for side 1, Bald is what it is, but the rest is solid (although I much prefer the All the World's a Stage version of Lakeside Park to the album version).
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Offline Architeuthis

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Re: Getting into Rush for the first time, going album by album
« Reply #14 on: May 21, 2020, 10:27:20 AM »
Fountain of Lamneth is a grower, but I really love it nowadays!  Great riffs and beautiful melodies in a melting pot.   :metal
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Re: Getting into Rush for the first time, going album by album
« Reply #15 on: May 21, 2020, 11:27:58 AM »
Sam, you were at the opening show of the Vapor Trails tour?  So was I!  A magical show.  I thought they would never play again.

I was! I didn't realize the gravity of the show at the time. I had gotten into Rush a little bit with Test for Echo. I bought it, liked it, but passed on seeing them at Jones Beach on that tour (stupidly). Then when they got back together and did Vapor Trails, I bought that immediately and really liked it, and a few friends were going and said I HAD to go, so I did. I had a good time, but not having been at a Rush show before, I didn't know what to expect. I'll be honest -- they were good, but I still wasn't INTO the band at the time, if you know what I mean.

The next time I saw them was out in California. I think it was R30? It was the tour where they had just put out the covers album. I was WAY into that show (not because of the covers) and more familiar with them. I considered myself a casual fan. But by the time we got to 2010, I was much more familiar, and at the end of the Time Machine show I saw, I was a BIG fan, and went down the rabbit hole like npiazza is doing now, and I never came up!  :lol

My biggest RUSH regrets are:

Not going to the Test for Echo show (which would have gotten me more into them sooner).
Not making the effort (3 hour drive each way, mid-week) to see the Clockwork and R40 tours because of the difficulty.

I'm very fortunate to have seen them three times, including that comeback Hartford show (the sucky thing is, I don't remember anything from it). But man, to think I could have seen them six times...SMH, that was dumb of me.
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Offline Architeuthis

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Re: Getting into Rush for the first time, going album by album
« Reply #16 on: May 21, 2020, 01:08:26 PM »
But man, to think I could have seen them six times...SMH, that was dumb of me.
Oh c'mon, be harder on yourself than that.  :biggrin:    (fixed)
« Last Edit: May 21, 2020, 05:20:27 PM by Architeuthis »
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Offline npiazza91

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Re: Getting into Rush for the first time, going album by album
« Reply #17 on: May 21, 2020, 02:42:03 PM »
Alright guys I’ve listened to 2112 now. And, I might get hate for this, but...I feel like it’s the weakest album so far out of the four.

I remembered it more fondly than it actually ended up being. The title track is a good song (I don’t think it’s GREAT but it’s good, I like it better than Lamneth), but the rest of the album dissolves into background filler for me. It felt like they put everything into the title track, then threw a few B sides on there and called it a day. I think this album is the reason why I wrote them off as like “the Aerosmith of prog”, that’s exactly what this album sounds like. Twilight Zone is kinda cool, Bangkok is alright, Tears brings some emotion which I feel this band lacks, but the others...I don’t even remember them. They felt like filler to me.

It’s funny...apparently Caress of Steel was the album that almost killed the band, so they went all out and made 2112 as a last f- you, but...I think this album feels safer and more commercial than anything that had come before. Without the title track, it’s not even a prog album. The songs are just kinda boring. It’s the safest style of classic rock you can get. It’s almost like they wanted to make their epic and then said “let’s just throw a few radio hits on there too, maybe we can please everybody”. That’s the impression that I got.

I still like the title track...it’s a bit nerdy and weird and I can’t say it’s the type of prog I go after, but I like it. The Temples of Syrinx section is badass and I love the solo and the grand finale parts. The rest of the album...meh. Working Man alone from their debut kicks the crap out of anything on 2112 in my opinion. I want more songs like that and The Necromancer.

Overall...it was just ok. It’s not a bad album, but to me it’s definitely the weakest of of the four. It’s the only album so far where I have no desire to listen to any of the songs again to try to dig deeper. I also noticed a big downgrade with the bass and drums on songs 2-6, again, it felt like they were playing it way too safe. Where’s the instrumental sections? The cool proggy stuff? It wasn’t there. Again, not bad, I understand it’s appeal, it pleased the critics and the masses, but it just felt a bit too generic to me.

One random thought I have. Why does Rush write epics that feel like they’re a bunch of songs stuck together as a single track? I don’t mean they sound very different, all the sections on 2112 flow together quite nicely thematically, but I mean when they end a section and start the next one, they fade to black a lot, and it completely throws me off. It’s very jarring to me. It makes it feel like a bunch of separate tracks that share a theme or a story (like Meteopolis Pt 2) rather than one cohesive song like Octavarium. The Necromancer didn’t do this, but both 20 minute epics did.

Order so far

1. Fly By Night
2. Caress of Steel
3. Rush
4. 2112
« Last Edit: May 21, 2020, 02:47:20 PM by npiazza91 »

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Re: Getting into Rush for the first time, going album by album
« Reply #18 on: May 21, 2020, 02:52:08 PM »
IMO, the best song on 2112 is Bangkok, and it’s kind of a joke song. It’s not a great album by any stretch of the imagination, even if you like the title track. It’s amazing that the band survived this album, but I’m really glad they did!

Offline The Walrus

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Re: Getting into Rush for the first time, going album by album
« Reply #19 on: May 21, 2020, 02:56:16 PM »
It's an unpopular opinion for sure, and although I disagree with the criticisms about the commercial nature of the music and that being a bad thing, I do think it's the weakest of the first four records, and the title track just doesn't do anything for me which is a shame since it's the centerpiece of the record. I also agree that their tendency in the early years to fade out of each section in their epics is jarring and doesn't lend a cohesive feeling to the epics. The Necromancer is the best in that regard, and partially why it's my second favorite of their super long songs. My ranking of the first four looks like yours, except swapping Fly By Night with Caress of Steel. I like Bangkok and Something For Nothing, though.

This is fun to follow!
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Offline KevShmev

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Re: Getting into Rush for the first time, going album by album
« Reply #20 on: May 21, 2020, 03:40:01 PM »
2112 is the greatest song of all-time, and any poster failure to acknowledge this should be banned immediately.  Or forced to have a 3-hour texting chat about music with WildRanger.

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Re: Getting into Rush for the first time, going album by album
« Reply #21 on: May 21, 2020, 04:44:20 PM »
I don't think 2112 is the weakest of the first four albums (I would probably call it the strongest, on a push), but I do think it's markedly weaker than most of their later material. I basically just don't think Rush hit their stride until A Farewell to Kings. There are good songs from the first four albums, but none of them holds together as a full experience. FBN comes closest to being a complete album, but 2112 is clearly the best song, and comprises half the album, which is why I put that album ahead of FBN.

The Fountain of Lamneth, in my opinion, is pretty much a failed experiment for exactly the reason you point out: it's not at all cohesive. Although I'm not sure I would say that makes it particularly "proggy," unless you measure progginess in terms of having a lot of discrete sections. 2112 is also not as cohesive as it could have been, but I'd call it a significant, significant improvement over Lamneth.
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Re: Getting into Rush for the first time, going album by album
« Reply #22 on: May 21, 2020, 05:03:30 PM »
2112 is the greatest song of all-time, and any poster failure to acknowledge this should be banned immediately.  Or forced to have a 3-hour texting chat about music with WildRanger.

You son of a bitch.
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Offline Architeuthis

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Re: Getting into Rush for the first time, going album by album
« Reply #23 on: May 21, 2020, 05:16:02 PM »
2112 title track is epic awesomeness imo! 
 Bangkok is ok on the album, but wait til you hear the live version from Exit Stage Left.  It destroys the studio version.   :hat

Btw, don't forget to check out the Live albums along the way.
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Offline The Letter M

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Re: Getting into Rush for the first time, going album by album
« Reply #24 on: May 21, 2020, 11:30:01 PM »
I guess I'll jump in on this thread. As a Rush fan for nearly 20 years now, it's interesting reading a casual fan's impressions of the band's earlier works as they are "discovering" them for the first time, as well as reading everyone's reactions. I'm surprised by your thoughts on TFOl and 2112, which makes me wonder how you'll take "Hemispheres" once you get to that album.

Also, will you be listening to the live albums in order as well? If so, I'm interested in reading your thoughts on All The World's A Stage. It's a live album that definitely brings in new energy to all of their Sector 1 material, especially "2112" (albeit in a truncated format). It's their only Pre-2000 live album to feature one entire show in its entirety, whereas the next three live albums all feature songs from various shows and tours (ESL, DS), or isn't a complete show (ASOH). Also, you hear a lot of the energy that the band put out in those early years, and Geddy's vocals are a powerhouse as well!

-Marc.
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Offline npiazza91

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Re: Getting into Rush for the first time, going album by album
« Reply #25 on: May 22, 2020, 01:21:18 AM »
A Farewell to Kings is in the bag. And...I actually really liked it. This was a very strange album to me. I have a lot of thoughts right now and I hope I can get to all of them. First, let me just say that i definitely feel like this is one of those albums that can definitely get better with time. This is one that I will 100% have to dig deeper into and give some time to grow. My first impressions right now is that there was not one weak moment on it...but I don’t think there was anything outstanding either. It was all...very solid.

They seem to have gotten back some of that energy that they haven’t really had since Caress of Steel. This doesn’t feel like a band playing it safe. This feels like a band that is very comfortable on its own skin. It knows what it is, it knows what its target audience is, and its confident in its approach. However, that isn’t to say it feels totally disconnected from 2112. I think there is definitely some songwriting elements that got taken from that album, but I also think they borrowed a lot from Fly By Night and Caress of Steel. Using elements from all their previous albums they managed to create a much more focused, matured sound. They’ve already figured out the kinks, and now here they are writing an album that in some ways might be their best yet. I can hear it...I hear the greatness in there. But I’m just not sure if the songs themselves hold up to me as much as some of the other albums. Let’s go track by track.

Opening up the album is the title track, and this might be my favorite song on the album. It’s great stuff. Loved it.

After that we had Xanadu, and I really liked this song. I think it’s gonna take me some more listens to fully appreciate it, but from a first listen, I enjoyed it. I wasn’t blown away but it, but this song gets a thumbs up from me.

Then we got Closer to the Heart. Of course I know this one like the back of my hand already. Truthfully, I think it’s one of their weaker hits. I always loved playing this on the Expert drums in Rock Band lol because it was quick and fun to play and had some great fills, but wasnt really that hard. Listening to the song on its own...it’s decent, but like I said, I think it’s one of their weaker hits.

Then we got Cinderella Man. I liked this song, it had some pretty neat sections. Not much to say here but I liked it.

Madrigal might be the weakest song on the album. It’s not bad, it’s still alright, but it was kinda like background music to me.

The final song, Cygnus X-1, is by far the most interesting song on the album to me. That was quite a right. At the moment I feel like I’m 50/50 with it, leaning a bit more towards the positive side than the negative. I definitely liked it, there were some awesome sections in there, but it didn’t feel all that cohesive to me. This is definitely one I need to check out over a longer period of time to let it fully sink in. It was definitely weird, and I don’t know how to fully feel about it yet, but overall I’d say I liked it. It was kinda frustrating because a certain riff or a certain section would kick in and I’d be like “hell yeah this is interesting, I like this”, but it wouldn’t last very long. This song seemed to be in a hurry to get to the next section all the time, which was kind of a shame because like I said, I did like some of the sections quite a bit. Overall, it was good. Solid. But definitely one I’m gonna have to come back to.

Overall, this album was a solid listen. I think it might be their most confident, focused work yet, which may translate to strongest, so I fully understand if people love this one. And who knows, I may grow to love it, but first impressions...i enjoyed it. It’s a marked improvement over 2112 for sure though.

As for where it ranks? It’s definitely not cracking the top two for me, but...I’m struggling with whether to put it above or below their debut. See, the thing is, Working Man is so f-ing good, that song ALONE is hard to beat. Take out that song and “A Farewell to Kings” definitely beats it out. But...idk, does Working Man alone beat that entire album? Hmmm.

You know what, I’m gonna give the SLIGHT edge to AFTK. I don’t think it’s fair to let one song from an album beat another album full of solid songs. AFTK is much more focused and consistent, it’s clearly the better work. So yeah...AFTK gets 3rd place right now. Sorry, you’re not beating the trilogy of Bastille Day, Lakeside Park and The Necromancer.

One last thing I wanna mention. I do kinda miss that raw energetic sound they had on Fly By Night and Caress of Steel. There was a raw grittiness there that kinda got lost after those albums. I think AFTK is closer to that sound than 2112 was, but I don’t think they’ve quite gotten back to that. It’ll be interesting to see how the band evolves going forward.

Online HOF

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Re: Getting into Rush for the first time, going album by album
« Reply #26 on: May 22, 2020, 08:16:27 AM »
AFTK is another one I really don’t listen to much outside of Closer to the Heart and Xanadu. I actually think Closer to the Heart is a brilliantly written popular rock song. Love all the different elements and the unique song structure. Check out Rick Beato’s “Whar Makes This Song Great?” episode about it for a better breakdown. It’s also really the first hint of Rush’s more streamlined approach that will come to the forefront in the 80s.

Xanadu is a fun epic, I love the intro and instrumental parts. The “Xan-ah-doooo” part is a little obnoxious and I don’t love the screamy vocal parts. But it’s a song I really enjoy.

I like the title track well enough, but Cinderella Man is kind of weak and Madrigal I really cant even recall how it goes off the top of my head. Cygnus is probably my least favorite Rush song. It just meanders and they fail to capitalize on any of the cool moments that pop up from time to time.

I think I tend to view this album somewhat positively because of Closer to the Heart and Xanadu, but the band really hadn’t quite hit its stride just yet.

Offline The Walrus

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Re: Getting into Rush for the first time, going album by album
« Reply #27 on: May 22, 2020, 08:28:26 AM »
Brother, you are in for a real treat with Hemispheres. AFTK is probably 3rd from the bottom for me personally but Hemispheres is the second best Rush record imo. It is something magical. I hope you love it.
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Offline Stadler

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Re: Getting into Rush for the first time, going album by album
« Reply #28 on: May 22, 2020, 10:22:07 AM »
2112 is the greatest song of all-time, and any poster failure to acknowledge this should be banned immediately.  Or forced to have a 3-hour texting chat about music with WildRanger.

Well, it's been nice knowing you guys.  See you all on Mother's Day!

(2112 isn't even the best song on the ALBUM - that's "Something For Nothing" - and only barely gets best song on it's own album side.   :) :) )

Offline pg1067

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Re: Getting into Rush for the first time, going album by album
« Reply #29 on: May 22, 2020, 10:35:16 AM »
AFTK is so fucking good.

The title track and Cinderella Man are criminally underrated songs.  Listen carefully to some of the stuff that Alex plays on Cinderella.  I didn't notice it for years, and then it hit me out of the blue.

Xanadu is widely regarded as a top-10 Rush song for good reason.  Watch the Exit...Stage Left video to get a new appreciation of the song (Alex's seamless switches between the two necks of his guitar continue to astound me, as does the precision with which Neil played the wood blocks near the beginning of the song).

Cygnus is admittedly an odd duck.  You'll either grow to love it or just say, "whatever."  Give it a listen with headphones.

I share your feelings on CTTH.  It's fine.  And Madrigal is a nice little distraction before you move to the boss level that is Cygnus.
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Re: Getting into Rush for the first time, going album by album
« Reply #30 on: May 22, 2020, 11:34:21 AM »
It's crazy how overlooked the title track for AFTK is. It's really got everything they're about packed into a relatively short, accessible package. Too bad this was removed from consideration for one of their recent tours due to the vocal line being too high.

Offline Architeuthis

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Re: Getting into Rush for the first time, going album by album
« Reply #31 on: May 22, 2020, 11:41:52 AM »
Xanadu is amazing on Exit Stage Left!  I love the way how they transitioned from The Trees to Xanadu, it works perfectly!
Also the performance of that song on the R30 blu-ray.   :omg:
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Offline Stadler

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Re: Getting into Rush for the first time, going album by album
« Reply #32 on: May 22, 2020, 01:12:23 PM »
AFTK is so fucking good.

The title track and Cinderella Man are criminally underrated songs. 

It's crazy how overlooked the title track for AFTK is. It's really got everything they're about packed into a relatively short, accessible package. Too bad this was removed from consideration for one of their recent tours due to the vocal line being too high.

I'm with you both on that.  The title track is easily in my top 10 or 15 Rush songs. 

Uh, oh.  Uh, oh.  Arrgh, I feel it coming.... YES!  A LIST!

1. La Villa Strangiato
2. The Analog Kid
3. The Camera Eye
4. Prime Mover
5. A Farewell To Kings
6. Tom Sawyer
7. War Paint
8. Manhattan Project
9. Xanadu
10. Something For Nothing
11. Subdivisions
12. The Main Monkey Business
13. New World Man
14. Red Barchetta
15. Losing It

Honorable Mention:   Cygnus Book II, Presto, Double Agent, Mission, Circumstances, Fountain Of Lamneth

Online HOF

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Re: Getting into Rush for the first time, going album by album
« Reply #33 on: May 22, 2020, 01:17:01 PM »
It’s a small thing, but I wonder if the band would have preferred to sequence Closer to the Heart directly after A Farewell to Kings (following the lyric “Can't we find the minds/To lead us closer to the heart?) if not for the limitations of vinyl? It definitely seems that CTTH is an answer lyrically to the title track.

Offline pg1067

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Re: Getting into Rush for the first time, going album by album
« Reply #34 on: May 22, 2020, 01:27:03 PM »

1. La Villa Strangiato
2. The Analog Kid
3. The Camera Eye
4. Prime Mover
5. A Farewell To Kings
6. Tom Sawyer
7. War Paint
8. Manhattan Project
9. Xanadu
10. Something For Nothing
11. Subdivisions
12. The Main Monkey Business
13. New World Man
14. Red Barchetta
15. Losing It

Honorable Mention:   Cygnus Book II, Presto, Double Agent, Mission, Circumstances, Fountain Of Lamneth

I couldn't even begin to make a list of my favorite Rush songs (so maybe I shouldn't critique someone else's list), but I can tell you that those that I bolded wouldn't even be within sniffing range of the top 15.


It’s a small thing, but I wonder if the band would have preferred to sequence Closer to the Heart directly after A Farewell to Kings (following the lyric “Can't we find the minds/To lead us closer to the heart?) if not for the limitations of vinyl? It definitely seems that CTTH is an answer lyrically to the title track.

I always wondered about that -- not so much the album sequence but the fact that the last words of the title track are the name of another song on the album.

As far as the song order, putting CTTH on side 1 actually would have made the two sides more balanced.  CTTH is 2:54.  The title track plus Xanadu are 16:56 seconds, so there was more than enough room to put CTTH between the title track and Xanadu.  That would have had side one be 19:50 and left side 2 with Cinderella, Madrigal and The Voyage, which total 17:20.
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