Rush

[some-guy]

So, I saw my favorite band RUSH, for the 3rd time last night.

 

07/30/03 Downsview Park, Sars Benefit Concert - Toronto, ON

09/12/07 John Labatt Centre - London, ON

03/22/08 Air Canada Centre, Foo Fighters concert - Toronto ON (special performance of YYZ by Ged, Alex and Taylor of the FF)

07/09/08 Molson Amphitheater - Toronto, ON

 

What a show. totally blew out last years show. I have got to say, the crowd in Toronto was awesome. Just great. Stood for the entire show. Loved looking back during Spirit of Radio to see 15 000 other Rush fans clapping along, what a sight. Some people on Alex's side even whipped out some blow up monkey and waved them around and tossed them in the air during The Main Monkey Business. You could see Alex and Geddy looking and just smiling and laughing. A very vocal crowd aswell. Huge sing alongs and huge apluase after every single song. My favourite was right after a big Geddy bass riff the crowd flipped. (note to Rush: put more bass solos in next album) Like during Geddy's licks in YYZ and Malignant Narcissism the crowd would loose it right after, loved that.

 

After I made my way through like 4 gates and bought my $4 hot dog , 2008 Tour Shirt and 2008 Tour Book I finally made it to my seat. Section 203 Row U. Closest I've ever been to the boys.

 

 

Had a great view of Alex and Neil had to look a little further for Geddy but that was no problem. The guys played the usual 2 sets. Made me happy that I got to hear Mission (again), The Trees (one of my favorites) and Red Barchetta (classic) and "a gazillion other songs" as Geddy would say. Geddy introduced Red Barchetta as "song from the '80s, you guys probably had mullets". They also did an original ending to it with some kinda reggae vibe to it.

 

I was with my friend who is crazy for Rush like me and it was his first show. I could tell he loved it just like me.

 

Rush took their 30 minute intermission since "they are not spring chickens anymore" and came back with some great S&A tunes like Way The Wind Blows and Armor and Sword. After those we got to hear some real classics Subdivisions, Natural Science and Witch Hunt. I didn't think it would be but I have go to say Malignant Narcissism was fdefinalty one of my favourite performance of the night. It's like YYZ for my generation Cap it off with a 7 min. drum solo and you're golden. Neil easily got the biggest reaction of the night. The entire place lost it.

 

The last 6 songs were just an amazing way to close the show. 21****ing12 was so much fun to hear live. "dunaunadada HEY!" I was so pumped for that Then TSOR, Tom Sawyer, One Little Victory, Passage and YYZ. EPIC. Passage was another highlight. You could tell some people were lighting up during that one.

 

Rush, lasers, friends, other fans, pyro. It was a great night to be a Rush fan. Even as they were tearing down the set there were some fans still screaming. Alot of people online were saying this was one of their best shows. This is coming from people have have seen them 20+ times. For some reason I was watching the show and looking around, it felt like a special show for some reason even though this was only my second time seeing them headline. Weird.

 

The only thing that pissed me off was the camera situation. Tickets said NO AUDIO/VIDEO RECORDING. OK i'm fine with that so I took my crappy digital camera they took it and said I can get it after the show I was like "WTF, were not allowed cameras? Since when? This is bull****." Whatever I'm about to see Rush I can't let this get to me. During the show I see like 10 people aroudn me whip out camera and not even get a warning... omg, lame.

[Darth Lohr]

I hate you!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

J/K...glad you got to go (again) and glad they were in top form for you! I agree about having more bass solos, I've thought that Geddy's playing should be featured more on their live albums for a long time. As for me, I'm just waiting for the next album and tour.

[Darth Lohr]

Found out after the fact that RUSH was on the Colbert report last night on Comedy Central. Luckily, they're replaying it in about an hour! Not sure if that's the same for everyone, but if you miss it, I'm sure it'll show up on youtube.

[Sheep Murderer]

Here you go.

[some-guy]

That is such a funny interview. Neil is awesome. I wish they would do these sorta htings more often.

 

Rush Attemping to Play Rock Band

[Darth Lohr]

Hey, Duke - look what I found! Now we have three threads to have private conversations in!

 

I couldn't find that Top Ten song list I thought was in here. I did, however, find a ranking I did of every album through Snakes & Arrows, though I really need to reconsider it (did 2112 really only come in 6th?!?). Anywho, I also discovered that my memory was faulty (well, that's not much of a discovery, really) and that finances and the birth of my second daughter caused me to actually miss the S&A tour. I forgot that R30 wasn't the first time I saw them, but rather Vapor Trails - and guess what? They didn't play "Subdivisions" that time! They did play "New World Man", though, which was great. One thing that hasn't changed from when I did my list is that Signals is still my favorite album.

[Ryn]

That is such a funny interview. Neil is awesome. I wish they would do these sorta htings more often.

 

Rush Attemping to Play Rock Band

 

Find this. This is pretty good.

[Duke]

Wow, don´t think I´ve ever seen this thread before. Might be some other old ones worth bumping...

[Darth Lohr]

HELL YEAH!!!

 

VAPOR TRAILS REMIX - COMING SOON?!

[Duke]

Only listened to it on Spotify so the sound quality there was awful, it´s on my buy list but very hard to find on vinyl. Is it that badly produced/mixed that it needs redoing already?

[Darth Lohr]

Way too hot in post-production and it's all a bit muddy & distorted. The songs can still be appreciated, but both the fans and the band themselves have bemoaned the quality since this album was released. They remixed two of the songs ("One Little Victory" and "Earthshine") for their 'Retrospective III' compilation (which you can find on YouTube) and, being far from an audiophile myself, even I could notice quite a difference.

 

Not sure if the new version will be on vinyl, but if it's not, I would still recommend getting the new CD version instead when it comes out.

[Darth Lohr]

Duuuuuuuuuuke...guess what?!? I found this on the band's official site today:

 

http://img.rush.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Rush_VaporTrails_Remix_Cover-800x800.jpg

 

The Newly Remixed Version Of Vapor Trails And 7-Disc Boxed Set Of Atlantic Studio Albums

 

Both Are Available On October 1 from Atlantic/Rhino (September 30 internationally)

 

In 2009, two tracks from VAPOR TRAILS (“One Little Victory” and “Earthshine”) were remixed for the Retrospective III collection, setting you all into a frenzy in anticipation of a possible remixed version of the entire album being released one day. That time has come.

 

The Vapor Trails Remixed album will be available on CD, Double LP, and digital download on October 1 from Atlantic/Rhino.

 

“Vapor Trails was an album made under difficult and emotional circumstances – sort of like Rush learning how to be Rush again – and as a result, mistakes were made that we have longed to correct. David Bottrill’s remixes have finally brought some justice and clarity to this deserving body of our work,” says Geddy Lee.

 

“Every song has been given a new life, from the fire of ‘One Little Victory,’ ‘Secret Touch,’ and ‘Ceiling Unlimited’ to the melodic musicality of ‘Sweet Miracle’ and ‘How It Is’… these songs have been redeemed. Thank you David!”

 

The remixed version of VAPOR TRAILS will also be included in the new 7-disc boxed set RUSH: THE STUDIO ALBUMS 1989-2007, which features every studio album Rush recorded for Atlantic Records. The collection includes the Gold & Platinum albums Presto (1989), Roll The Bones (1991), Counterparts (1993), and Test For Echo (1996), as well as their covers EP Feedback (2004) and the Billboard Top 5 album Snakes & Arrows (2007). THE STUDIO ALBUMS 1989-2007 features each album presented in a wallet sleeve that faithfully reproduces the original artwork (except for VAPOR TRAILS, which features a reinterpreted version of the original cover) and is also available on October 1 from Atlantic/Rhino.

 

[Duke]

Nice! Guess that will be more affordable than the original vinyl, the one copy on eBay is $375!

 

How good is Snakes and arrows, btw? I know Far cry is excellent but the rest? Just found a sealed vinyl that is just expansive, not insane as most of them.

[Darth Lohr]

I really, really love it. Very strong songs, including three(!) instrumentals (two full band + an acoustic piece by Alex); instrumentation and sound certainly a bit different than Vapor Trails or Clockwork Angels, the albums it's sandwiched between. I've said before (and still believe) that this three album stretch represents one of the strongest of their career.

 

I do absolutely love "Far Cry", but it may not even be my favorite song on the album. Here's another one in the running...

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TyNFDKcYLiA

[Duke]

Hmmm... "2112-Farewell to kings-Hemispheres" or "Signals-Grace under pressure-Power windows" were pretty strong triptychs IMO, so that´s a bold claim. But I really, really LOVE "Clockwork angels". When I stopped listening to "Rush", it was because that while I enjoyed "Presto" and "Roll the bones" when actually putting them on, I never ever felt like "I gotta hear this now" so they only got played when I could find nothing else I wanted to hear.

 

"Counterparts" was a different story, when suddenly working in NYC for half a year when I was supposed to be there for a week - long story - I realized that the combined office and flat had exactly zero albums but an ok sound system. Went out to a late open Tower Records and bought all I could afford - two cds. One was Neil Young´s "Harvest moon" and the other was "Counterparts" that had just been released. So listened to that almost nonstop. Maybe THAT was actually what killed the band for me, "Test for echo" got about three spins then I gave up. While "Clockwork angels" is my default option right now.

 

That song sounds interesting, starts out like something from "Distant early warning" with the slow buildup but has a much more organic and "rocky" sound.

[Darth Lohr]

Hmmm... "2112-Farewell to kings-Hemispheres" or "Signals-Grace under pressure-Power windows" were pretty strong triptychs IMO, so that´s a bold claim.

 

Ha, well keep in mind, I did say ONE of their strongest stretches. I agree that the Signals-GUP-Power Windows is still their best, but I'd say this one probably rivals that first run you mentioned. Either way, they are in fine form. Far closer to their peak than the vast majority of bands in their second decade are or were - and they're in their fourth decade!

[Duke]

Could actually add "Hold your fire" for a hard to beat FOUR album run.

 

Comparing new albums to old ones is always difficult, but right now I´m ranking "Clockwork angels" among the very best albums they´ve made. Not a single weak track and the kind of "flow" between songs and themes that I though went out with the 70s, it´s really and ALBUM and not a collection of songs, if you see what I mean. Not that I understan much of the concept. Have you read the book? The name Kevin J Anderson has scared be away after his horrible co-writing of the Dune novels.

 

I have to wait to see about "Snakes and arrows" and "Vapor trails" until I can hear them with good sound. Streaming or mp3 kills it with most mysic for me, but with complex bands it´s not even fair to judge, too much is lost. Doing my best on eBay right now with an upopened double vinyl send of "Snakes" - and the extremely limited red vinyl of "Clockwork angels" actually. You don´t have to be an audio snob to find that a thing of beauty!

 

Btw, have you heard Bowie´s new album? Wouldn´t say it´s at his peak, but he also had an incredibly impressive 4th decade with "Outside", "Earthling" and "Heathen" (and to a lesser degree "Hours" and "Reality". His unexpected 5th decade has started out very well indeed.

[Duke]

Btw at the moment, THIS: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDejLrzSPHA

 

...is probably the best I´ve heard from "Snakes and arows". Gloomy, spinechilling intro, love Alex´s small acoustic ditties in the start of the verses, great use of Geddy´s "new" lower key voice and some REALLY heavy stuff in the bridge that I can´t wait to hear the way it´s supposed to sound. (On my turntable that cost about as much as my car. Which might say more about my car actually.) Somehow I think this is what the average "Distant early warning" track would sound like with less keyboards and more classic rock sound. Oh and the solo snippets around the 5 minute point are great, with no need to draw the part out despite it being good enough to carry a song on itself!

[Darth Lohr]

As it happens, on most days, "Armor and Sword" usually does indeed take the title of "fav song" on that album for me, as well. Like I said, there are a few in the running (always a sign of a good album), but I would agree wholeheartedly on the greatness of that song. It also happens to have my favorite image from the album's artwork. I really wanted the t-shirt version, but wasn't able to get it (or not yet, at least).

 

http://bp3.blogger.com/_AY_4woR0GAY/R-IHiaOOeAI/AAAAAAAABkI/108fEG-anHM/s320/Rush+A:S+shirt.jpg

 

 

I hear you about Kevin J. Anderson. I only was familiar with him through his Star Wars novels and I was not at all impressed. However, I was able to find the Clockwork Angels book at a local library and was much more willing to give it a chance when it didn't cost me anything. My overall assessment would be: not great, but certainly more enjoyable than anything else of his that I've read; probably not worth buying, but it is worth reading. The album will certainly have a little more clarity for you after reading the novelization.

 

And no, Mr. Thin White Duke, I have not heard your latest album, LOL! I've never been a huge Bowie fan, but maybe I'll have to hit YouTube and check out some of the stuff you mentioned. Honestly, most of my Bowie exposure has been through radio & MTV, so I know I haven't seen the whole picture, by any means. Besides, he did recognize the awesomeness of SRV, so he and I share that. Maybe we'll have some other common ground.

[Duke]

I´ll post some other red thing that I just got in the mail: red vinyl issue of Clockwork Angels vinyl. HEAVY red vinyl made in 300 copies. I´m a happy camper. Audio nut or not, this is just beautiful!

 

And I want that shirt...

[Darth Lohr]

http://www.stereotude.com/sites/stereotude.com/files/styles/node_article_full/public/p182c5i7p417n8165h11eobuipfr5.jpg?itok=3MQgsrtv

[Duke]

So mate, what´s the verdict on the "new" "Vapor trails"? Got the boxset and it´s getting heavy rotation here, but I don´t know the original enough to compare.

[Darth Lohr]

At first, I was rather disappointed. The thing is, for years I (and many others) have longed for a remastered VT. However, not once during that time did I ever wish for a remixed VT. Some of the changes were cool, but I found myself missing several things from the original mix.

 

However, after about a week or so, I finally got to give it something that is often crucial to fully evaluating new albums: the headphones in a dark room test. After listening to the CD on the home stereo, PC, and in the car, I was finally able to truly appreciate just how much better this version is sonically. I love the songs on this album, which is obviously the most important thing, and I was able to really hear them in a way that wasn't possible before.

 

This is probably one of the densest albums they've ever made, with bass, drums, percussion, multiple vocal tracks, anywhere from 3-5 guitar tracks per song, and even the occasional bass overdub. With the original version mastered as hot as it was, not only was the quality a bit muddy and distorted, but all those different layers sort of blurred together, making it hard to really appreciate (or even tell) what all was going on. Now, everything is clear and separate, bringing out cool parts of the songs I didn't even know were there.

 

Though I will still pull out the original version from time to time, I'm now thoroughly convinced that the few minor changes I may not be crazy about are far outweighed by quality of the new sound. The new VT is certainly the superior version, in my book.

[Duke]

K, spent a long while with the box set now. I got the first four albums when they were released but some short notes on all on the seven:

 

Presto: Possibly the weakest Rush album. Thought so then, think so now. Except for opener "Show don´t tell" which is catchy enough, it just fails to grab me. It still feels like a lesser extension of the "Hold your fire" era. It´s not bad in any way, just not memorable. It sounds fine when I listen to it, but there´s not much reason to pick it over... basically any other Rush album. Especially not "Hold your fire", "Power windows" or "Distant early warning" if I want a similar sound.

 

Roll the bones: Loved it when it came out! Not as fond of it now, but it sounds like a one-off with a "modern" Rush for that time. Sometimes it works - the title track is brilliant as well as "Where´s my thing?" and "Ghost of a chance". But the majority of the tracks sound a bit tired today. Probably because now I compare them to the brilliance that is "Clockwork angels".

 

Counterparts: My nostalgic Rush album. 21 years old, living and working in NYC by chance and having TWO albums to listen to, "Counterparts" and Neil Young´s "Harvest moon". I love both of them. But I can´t be honest about them since the nostalgia of being young, perpetually drunk, suddenly a foreign correspondant interviewing Bill Gates... ah well. "Stick it out" and especially "Nobody´s hero" are great! But I listened to the album so much when it came out, I remember every single drum strike (about 666 666 per track) from it. Maybe still my nostalgia, but might be some of Peart´s best drumming on this album. And that´s saying a lot.

 

Test for echo: Well... this was the album that made me quit listening to new Rush albums. I had a black/death metal phase so that´s not their fault. But it´s still one of their weaker albums. No single track sticks out, it´s an ok sounding album but nothing special. The sound is nice and crisp even today if I want to be positive, but the material is run of the mill in the Rush catalogue.

 

Vapor trails: WOW! Took me ages to get into, but it´s fraking amazing! Dark, moody, downtuned, sounds like nothing else in the Rush catalogue... maybe if Roger Waters had recorded "The Wall" with Rush as his backing band? "One little victory" is probably my fave track, but that might be just because it´s the opener. It does give me a Floyd feeling of being one complete piece of music, not a collection of tracks. I hsve to give it some more time to give a fair comparison to the classics, but right now I feel it´s up there with the very best. No opinions compared to the original mix since I haven´t heard it.

 

Feedback: I guess i´ts kinda fun. "The seeker" sounds good, but Geddy doesn´t have Daltrey´s aggression. "Shapes of things" has been done ten million times, I think the best version was Gary Moore´s with his trademark guitar attack, but this is a good one. And "Seven and seven is" sounded better done by Alice Cooper, Alice´s sneer made the track. Rush isn´t a cover band, a good cover needs the total lack of respect that Alice had on the same track or that Hendrix brought to "All along the watchtower" or Van Halen to "You really got me".

 

Snakes & arrows: On eraly listenings, this was my fave out of the seven. "Armor and sword" is fantastic! But with repeated listenings, I give a slight edge to "Vapor trails" for being more of a coherent album while S&A might have the better songs if you pick three or four from each album. "Far cry", "The way the sind blows", "Working them angels"... DAMN!

 

Discounting "Feedback", yeah, the last three Rush albums are a fantastic run. The darkness of "Vapor trails", the variety of "Snakes & arrows" and the dreamlike quality of "Clockwork angels" are hard to compare to be honest. Apart from the trademarks - except for Terry Bozzio, noone could play those drums and you´d recognize Geddy´s voice while fast asleep even in the lower ptich - the variation makes them even more impressive. And harder to compare. I listen to "Vapor trails" the most now, but would give a very slight edge to "Clockwork angels", probably mostly because the live set was so great. Can´t wait for Satan Claws to bring me the bluray for Xmas!

[Darth Lohr]

Hard to compare anything to the runs they had in the late 70's & early 80's, I know, but as I've said over and over, this current three album run is fricking amazing. In fact, especially if you're looking back over the particular eras you're talking about, the 90's probably get a bit of harsh luck - not only do they get compared to the "classic" albums, but now they're also compared to the great things that have come in the post-hiatus era. So, it's hard to judge those albums in a vacuum.

 

On their own, individually, they're probably better than we tend to think of them when looking at the entire body of work. One thing that I think holds many songs back from that time is that Rush at that time often uncharacteristically fell into the trap of following formulas. I would also agree with you about Presto, Roll the Bones, and Test for Echo. Each has a song that is perpetually in the running as my least favorite Rush song ("Superconductor", "Neurotica" and "Dog Years", respectively). However, being Rush, they seem incapable of making a truly bad song and even in their weakest songs there is something I like. Also, in addition to the songs you mentioned, Duke, those three albums have some deeper cuts that I really love, like "Scars", "Bravado" and "Time & Motion".

 

Also, it's not simply nostalgia making you love Counterparts. It's a great album. Not quite as consistently great as some others, perhaps, but added to the two songs you brought up, I'd also mention "Animate", "Cut to the Chase", and (especially) "Double Agent". Rush has never made an instrumental I didn't love, so there's six really strong songs, plus a few more good ones. That really only leaves one or two songs on the entire album that might constitute as filler (and even they aren't bad songs). It is certainly the highlight of the 90's, I would say.

 

 

I'm with you on the Blu Ray! I also bought the album, so at least I get to listen to the concert, but I have to wait until X-Mas to watch. There's a little bit of extra added joy for me with this album/video, because I was at the Phoenix show (which is featured in a few bonus tracks). I would've loved if they had used our show for the majority of the disc, but I can't complain too much. The Dallas show had a pretty cool setlist (including one of my fav songs off the new album that they didn't play the next night in Phoenix).

 

Anywho, to tie together the concert video conversation with the "albums of the 90's" portion, I give you this little bit of awesomeness...

 

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cOWSltz9Z7s