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Never said the musicianship in Counterparts isn't good....it just seems more straight ahead power rock than their typical records. Which isn't a bad thing at all.Well, while I don't think more complex music automatically means better musicianship, I can see where you are coming from. But Rush's musicianship has been stellar from 1-3 since the Fly by Night album, so discussing which albums essentially "show off" the best seems rather mundane.Cool to see Caress of Steel in your top 10! It doesn't quite make my top 10, but it is still really, really good; easily my favorite of the first three.
Hard to keep Caress of Steel out of my top 10 when The Necromancer and Bastille Day are 2 of my top 30 favorite Rush songs of all time.
Tons of great stuff on this record. The best four or five songs from this are probably better than everything else since Counterparts.
Those are two favorites of mine as well! And even a lot of The Fountain of Lamneth is really good, although it is ponderous at best as a single epic. No One at the Bridge has one of Alex's best solos ever.
As does the three chord glory of Return of the Prince.Those are two favorites of mine as well! And even a lot of The Fountain of Lamneth is really good, although it is ponderous at best as a single epic. No One at the Bridge has one of Alex's best solos ever.
Same here. November 3rd in Tampa. But 15th row dead center!Can't wait!I bet they play the entire album.
I don't see them doing that. I could see them playing the majority of it in the next year, and then maybe the rest of it plus some of the ones they play this year on a 2nd leg in the latter half of 2013, but I'd be shocked if they play all of it this year.
On the TheRushform.com, many think that the album sounds "hot" or "loud". At first, I thought the bass was a little too loud and I couldn't hear Neil or some of the guitar parts clearly. All I did was turn down the bass on the car stereo and cranked up the treble. Oh my god it now sounds incredible. So there is nothing wrong with the production, it's how it's mixed, IMO.Unlike Vapor Trails which has a clipping problem, CA's mix can be somewhat altered by adjusting the bass and treble on your stereo. Try reducing the bass if you think the album is too loud. Unfortunately, most engineers today mix hard rock records pretty loud.
Hey Ghost. I am a long time musician and I am not overly pleased with the mix at all. But some of the posts over on The Rush Forum (where I post as well) are down right venom. I want a better mix as much as the next Rush fan...but this is far from a disaster like Vapor Trails was. Not even close.I would love Steve Wilson to engineer and mix one of their records badly.Again, I am loving this album, but, Todem, I don't think it is fair to call those who are not pleased with the sound audiophile geeks. That implies that they are all high and mighty with their attitudes, which really isn't fair. I don't think it is too much to have asked that they made this CD sound great, especially in light of the Vapor Trails sonical disaster a decade ago. This material is more than great enough that it deserved a great mix, which it didn't get. Steven Wilson, who is a big fan of theirs, is probably listening to this and thinking, "Gah, why didn't they let me mix this?!"
Including songs on Clockwork Angels?
Gosh, he must be really smart because he uses lots of words I don't understand.
He's being obnoxious. And normally I would say #### him and his fixed-gear bike in the face, but the laugh was involuntary. He got me.Gosh, he must be really smart because he uses lots of words I don't understand.
It is interesting that Snakes & Arrows is actually the only Rush album I don't have. Good pick-up.Perhaps I said what I was thinking in the wrong way. I did not mean that Rush were selling out or weren't writing from the heart. I think thatonce a band reaches a big audience they naturally want people to continue to like them. To me, it sounds like they were trying to appeal to this bigger audience with songs like "New World Man" off of Signals, "Kid Gloves" off of GUP, and "Time Stand Still" off of Hold your Fire. Just my Opinion. I actually like all those songs. But when you get down to the core of what Rush is, it is three amazing musicians, who kick ### playing drums, bass, and guitar, all shining on their individual instruments, while at the same time meshing with the other two. I love that they can not only play complicated music at the highest of levels, but that the music is actually appealing. I think that on Clockwork Angels they have gotten back to what their core is. And it is awesome.
But back to my main point, I doubt they were writing that thinking, "We need a hit." They wrote it thinking, "We need a song that is 3:57 or shorter to fit on Side 2 of Signals, and we need it now."Manhattan Project was my first thought.New World Man was a throw-on at the last minute. They needed one more song for Signals, and they needed it fast, so they wrote it really fast and just threw it on the album. And it turned out to be their biggest hit ever on the top 40 chart.
), so it would be sweet to see that one finally get played.
IIRC, from the biography written way back in the early 90's, New World Man was originally titled "Project 3:57"New World Man was a throw-on at the last minute. They needed one more song for Signals, and they needed it fast, so they wrote it really fast and just threw it on the album. And it turned out to be their biggest hit ever on the top 40 chart.
Yes! I was hoping someone would catch that reference.
On another note. They had the Coronado bridge closed this morning on my way to work, so It took me just over 67 minutes to get to the base this morning. First time I have been able to listen to CA all the way through without interruption.I always get excited over new Rush material. I liked Vapor Trails when it came out, but it is hard to listen to these days. I am not a "sound snob", but even my ears can tell that it just doesn't come across right. Snakes & Arrows is still awesome to me, but I don't listen to music, in general, as much as I used to.Clockwork Angels has everything that I could ask for in a Rush album. I can't even name a favorite song since I like them all. Usually, there is one song off every album that I have to get used to. I still can't get into "Good News First", but every song on CA is great. I find something new that I like every time I listen. Put it all together straight through, and I think it is the best collective work they have done, possibly ever. I might show too much of the geek in me here, but every time I hear the title track, I think of Final Fantasy X. Anyone else have any mental images brought to mind from any of the new songs?
Yes! I was hoping someone would catch that reference.
I always get excited over new Rush material. I liked Vapor Trails when it came out, but it is hard to listen to these days. I am not a "sound snob", but even my ears can tell that it just doesn't come across right. Snakes & Arrows is still awesome to me, but I don't listen to music, in general, as much as I used to.
Clockwork Angels has everything that I could ask for in a Rush album. I can't even name a favorite song since I like them all. Usually, there is one song off every album that I have to get used to. I still can't get into "Good News First", but every song on CA is great. I find something new that I like every time I listen. Put it all together straight through, and I think it is the best collective work they have done, possibly ever.
I might show too much of the geek in me here, but every time I hear the title track, I think of Final Fantasy X. Anyone else have any mental images brought to mind from any of the new songs?
I hesitate to say this is their best album ever because it is so new, and they have had such great albums, but as I listen to it more and more (I am listening to "The Anarchist" right now) I am leaning towards exactly what you said in the bolded above. The thing that amazes me about that statement is that their first ten or so albums were done on vinyl and thus limited to about 40 minutes of music. CA is about 66 minutes of music, and yet is consistently good throughout.
11) AFTK12) CounterpartsI love Xanadu and the title track. Cygnus X-1 while a sizzling track....has not exactly aged as well for me. Cinderella Man is a solid song and of course Closer to the Heart. But AFTK is not a top 10 album for me anymore.....it used to be.Counterparts is a kick ### record. Sonically it is one of their very best as well.Wait, A Farewell to Kings isn't in your top 10??
I can't rank them. I think the ones that I listen to the least anymore would be Presto, Fly by Night, and Vapor Trails.I have always loved Hold Your Fire, Hemispheres, Grace Under Pressure, 2112, and now Clockwork Angels.Other than that, change the rest in any order and I will be happy.I once drove from Cincinnati to Orlando playing nothing but Rush and didn't hear the same song twice. Awesome.
Back in the cassette days I made rush A to Z mixes which were every song they've written in alphabetical order.
Funny Turn the Page is a top 3 track on that one for me.1) Mission2) Time Stand Still3) Turn the Page4) Force 105) Lock and Key6) Open Secrets7) Prime Mover8) High Water9) Second Nature10) Tai ShanI like every track. Not a weak one. Not even the lambasted Tai Shan and High Water. This album was the last of the truly great, ambitious masterpeices. Then we got Clockwork Angels!!!So yes Clockwork Angels is my favorite since Hold Your Fire.
HYF might be the last one I liked.
