Rush for the rest of your life: 70's vs 80's

[KevShmev]

Most of side 2 of Grace Under Pressure isn't great, but the album still has Distant Early Warning (awesome), Afterimage (really, really good), Red Sector A (awesome, albeit better live), The Enemy Within (damn good) and Between the Wheels (killer), so I will stand firm behind it.

Afterimage never clicked with me, frankly, and it's also got the horrid "Red Lenses" and not quite mediocre "Kid Gloves".  I do like "Distant Early Warning", "Red Sector A", and "The Body Electric" live, though, particularly when Neil plays it on his regular kit.

It's RSA that has the epitome moment of why I don't like the record though:  There's the moment when Geddy sings "I hear the sound of gunfire at the prison gates..." and there's this drum fill by the greatest drummer in modern rock that's like a wet noodle.

Red Sector A is like a million times better live.  That is the one Rush song where I literally never listen to the studio version.  I mostly like the production values of that record, but that song came off as too stiff and expressionless on record.  Live, it was a beast.

[HOF]

Most of side 2 of Grace Under Pressure isn't great, but the album still has Distant Early Warning (awesome), Afterimage (really, really good), Red Sector A (awesome, albeit better live), The Enemy Within (damn good) and Between the Wheels (killer), so I will stand firm behind it.

Afterimage never clicked with me, frankly, and it's also got the horrid "Red Lenses" and not quite mediocre "Kid Gloves".  I do like "Distant Early Warning", "Red Sector A", and "The Body Electric" live, though, particularly when Neil plays it on his regular kit.

It's RSA that has the epitome moment of why I don't like the record though:  There's the moment when Geddy sings "I hear the sound of gunfire at the prison gates..." and there's this drum fill by the greatest drummer in modern rock that's like a wet noodle.

Red Sector A is like a million times better live.  That is the one Rush song where I literally never listen to the studio version.  I mostly like the production values of that record, but that song came off as too stiff and expressionless on record.  Live, it was a beast.

I feel like “stiff and expressionless” is kind of what they were going for. Describes the bleakness of the subject matter perfectly.

[pg1067]

HYF is light years better than my 2 examples of bad albums by other bands.  Ex: U2 - Zooropa, Kiss - Hot In The Shade.  Those are bad albums by bands.

To the best of my knowledge, I've never heard any song on either of those albums, so I can't speak intelligently about how they fall in the context of those bands' catalogs, but HYF is weak sauce in the context of Rush's catalog.

[HOF]

Hold Your Fire is a weird album for sure. It has 3 really great songs (Force Ten, Time Stand Still, and Mission) and 3 other songs I mostly enjoy (Open Secrets, Prime Mover, and High Water). But the other 4 tracks are among my least favorite Rush songs, especially Second Nature and Tai Shan.

[SoundscapeMN]

I've always enjoyed Second Nature.

I have come to in recent years to feel Hold Your Fire is as good if not slightly better than Power Windows.

The weakest track on it I feel is Turn the Page, and I don't hate that tune, I just feel it doesn't include any of those special, goosebump moments that nearly every other track on that album has.

Also Zooropa I find to be a lot better than many of the records that have come since, other than maybe All That You Can't Leave Behind.

[WildRanger]

I've always enjoyed Second Nature.

I have come to in recent years to feel Hold Your Fire is as good if not slightly better than Power Windows.

The weakest track on it I feel is Turn the Page, and I don't hate that tune, I just feel it doesn't include any of those special, goosebump moments that nearly every other track on that album has.

Also Zooropa I find to be a lot better than many of the records that have come since, other than maybe All That You Can't Leave Behind.

Tai Shain is on HYF. There is a very wide consensus that Tai Shain is a BAD Rush song.

[King Postwhore]

I agree WildRanger on Tai Shan.

[KevShmev]

Hold Your Fire is a weird album for sure. It has 3 really great songs (Force Ten, Time Stand Still, and Mission) and 3 other songs I mostly enjoy (Open Secrets, Prime Mover, and High Water). But the other 4 tracks are among my least favorite Rush songs, especially Second Nature and Tai Shan.

Second Nature and Tai Shan are definitely the weak spots on HYF (I don't think either is bad, but neither is very good either).   For me, the issue with that album has always been the sound of it.  Neil Peart once described it as sounding "crash-bangy" and I think that was a good way to put it.  I still love most of the songs on it, but it's an unusual-sounding record.

[HOF]

Hold Your Fire is a weird album for sure. It has 3 really great songs (Force Ten, Time Stand Still, and Mission) and 3 other songs I mostly enjoy (Open Secrets, Prime Mover, and High Water). But the other 4 tracks are among my least favorite Rush songs, especially Second Nature and Tai Shan.

Second Nature and Tai Shan are definitely the weak spots on HYF (I don't think either is bad, but neither is very good either).   For me, the issue with that album has always been the sound of it.  Neil Peart once described it as sounding "crash-bangy" and I think that was a good way to put it.  I still love most of the songs on it, but it's an unusual-sounding record.

It’s the most “artificial” sounding Rush record for lack of a better word. I think Geddy once remarked that he spent more time programming stuff on the computer than writing and playing for that album. But I also think the songwriting itself is just really clumsy in places, with some of Neil’s more embarrassing lyrics.

[Stadler]

I've always enjoyed Second Nature.

I have come to in recent years to feel Hold Your Fire is as good if not slightly better than Power Windows.

The weakest track on it I feel is Turn the Page, and I don't hate that tune, I just feel it doesn't include any of those special, goosebump moments that nearly every other track on that album has.

Also Zooropa I find to be a lot better than many of the records that have come since, other than maybe All That You Can't Leave Behind.

Hold Your Fire is way underrated, IMO. It's not a top tier Rush album, but there's no really BAD song on there (including Tai Shan).  Because it's so consistent, it's actually a record I listen to a lot.  Prime Mover is probably a top 15 Rush song (that BASSLINE!). I love Power Windows, but it drops off (in my opinion, badly) on side two.    Mystic Rhythms is the only song on side two I REALLY like.   

[KevShmev]

I can't remember where I saw it, but after Neil's passing, a close friend of his said that he and Neil listened to Hold Your Fire a lot in his last few years and it had become Neil's favorite Rush album (I think).  Slightly paraphrasing, but that was the gist, IIRC.

[hunnus2000]

I can't remember where I saw it, but after Neil's passing, a close friend of his said that he and Neil listened to Hold Your Fire a lot in his last few years and it had become Neil's favorite Rush album (I think).  Slightly paraphrasing, but that was the gist, IIRC.

I haven't heard this but you've got to think there is one last book yet to be released by his estate chronicling his last years with the disease. Maybe??

[ThatOneGuy2112]

It's not one of my favorites, but sometimes I think HYF doesn't get it's due. Force Ten and Time Stand Still are classics, and Open Secrets, Prime Mover, and Lock and Key are good tunes as well. I really don't get all the hate for Tai Shan either. It's not amazing, but a pleasant, slower paced track. The only song I really dislike is Second Nature, and High Water is pretty boring for a closer. Otherwise, it's a decent album.

[SoundscapeMN]

I've always enjoyed Second Nature.

I have come to in recent years to feel Hold Your Fire is as good if not slightly better than Power Windows.

The weakest track on it I feel is Turn the Page, and I don't hate that tune, I just feel it doesn't include any of those special, goosebump moments that nearly every other track on that album has.

Also Zooropa I find to be a lot better than many of the records that have come since, other than maybe All That You Can't Leave Behind.

Hold Your Fire is way underrated, IMO. It's not a top tier Rush album, but there's no really BAD song on there (including Tai Shan).  Because it's so consistent, it's actually a record I listen to a lot.  Prime Mover is probably a top 15 Rush song (that BASSLINE!). I love Power Windows, but it drops off (in my opinion, badly) on side two.    Mystic Rhythms is the only song on side two I REALLY like.   

I honestly have never got the hate for Tai Shan. I know you used to listen to Used Bin Radio, and that song was a constant punch-line on there, but I also got the sense Brad sincerely felt it is a track that deserved more mention (esepcially to be played live).

[King Postwhore]

Geddy and Alex joke about Tai Shan. Even they don't like it.

[KevShmev]

That's true. but I learned years ago that we can't always trust the makers of the art when it comes to how good the art is.  Heck, the band thought One Little Victory was good enough to play on multiple tours, so as highly as I think of Rush, they were not infallible when it came to judging their own music.

[TAC]

For some reason they also played The Pass on multiple tours too.

[King Postwhore]

Since Geddy used to say live it's his favorite song so...

[ThatOneGuy2112]

And The Pass is great anyways.

[TAC]

Since Geddy used to say live it's his favorite song so...

Who's Geddy?

[King Postwhore]

Since Geddy used to say live it's his favorite song so...

WTF is Geddy?

Let me help you.

[TAC]

Just saw this!

[King Postwhore]

Glorious!

[ytserush]

This is tough because Rush's best album, Snakes & Arrows, doesn't fit into these decades, I'll go with 70s

Won't say it's the best, but I'd put that, Vapor Trails and Clockwork Angels up against ANY other three that aren't live albums.

[ytserush]

A weak song here and there.  Yes.  A weak album......No.

There's your answer.

[ytserush]

A weak song here and there.  Yes.  A weak album......No.

By weak I mean below-average. I'd definitely put Rush, Test for Echo, Roll the Bones, Presto and Vapor Trails in that category. I think those 5 albums are not terrible, they do have 3 or 4 good tunes, but generally they're below-average by Rush standards.

No below average albums by Rush's standard.

[ytserush]

Most of side 2 of Grace Under Pressure isn't great, but the album still has Distant Early Warning (awesome), Afterimage (really, really good), Red Sector A (awesome, albeit better live), The Enemy Within (damn good) and Between the Wheels (killer), so I will stand firm behind it.

Yes, it's basically an EP.

I wouldn't go that far, as I do like The Body Electric, Kid Gloves and Red Lenses, but I don't think any of them are essential.

I would.

I consider every song on that album essential. The entire Grace Under Pressure album was played live for at least part of that tour. The only album other than Hemispheres to be played live to that point (I suppose you could say Moving Pictures was too since Witch Hunt debuted on the Grace Under Pressure Tour.) 

R40 of course completed the Signals collection.

[ytserush]

I agree WildRanger on Tai Shan.

May not have gone over well live, but I like it was a studio piece.

[ytserush]

Just saw this!

Awesome!

Would have been better if those images were linked to the same period of time.

[jjrock88]

That picture is spectacular 

[pg1067]

I agree WildRanger on Tai Shan.

May not have gone over well live, but I like it was a studio piece.

Considering it was never played live (thankfully)....

No below average albums by Rush's standard.

By definition, half of their albums are below average.

[WildRanger]

Just saw this!

Deep Purple are carved in rocky mountain long before them (in 1970).   

[TAC]

They were??

[King Postwhore]

Yes. You never saw that Tim?

[WildRanger]

They were??

Are you kidding?