Rush Fan Central

Love it, Love it, Love it.

Edited by Horizons - December 17 2013 at 12:40

Crumple wrote: I'm currently giving PW a serious listen for the first time since it came out. I've spun it 7 or 8 times all the way through in the last week. When it came out it was the final departure for me for Rush for a while (until 1999 actually). Rush was my first love, and I preferred them heavier. I stuck with them through Signals and GUP (both of which I enjoyed a lot) but PW was a big let down for me. At the time Priest, Maiden, VH, Metallica and so on were putting out the metal I loved. And the "mainstream" rock was covered by the Police, U2, Bruce, John Cougar etc etc New wave an anomaly and while I could find songs I enjoyed, it was never my preferred genre. I didn't expect Rush to have all these keyboards everywhere and it was disconcerting. that said Manhattan Project I ALWAYS loved...what a gorgeous song. As I listen now, I can say that it is growing on me. It does sound very dated...very 80s. I have visions of Alex in a button down shirt and skinny tie dancing around playing these wimpy rhythm guitar parts (not that I ever saw him do that or even know if he did, lol). Or Molly Ringwald and company dancing like this: breakfast club clip But that aside, I am finding the textures and nuances to be enjoyable on repeated listens. I read somewhere about it being a "cold" album and I agree wholeheartedly...very electronic, very techno. To me it will never, ever be close to Moving Pictures (which I consider to be one of the greatest albums of all time, by anyone) but I am slowly enjoying it. Perhaps I'll move on to HYF in the coming weeks. It's really cool to uncover old music from a band I've always loved and have the pleasure of discovering it as new

Well it's nice that you are having an open mind to do so and have some appreciation and understanding for PW given the time and popular sound wave boom it was produced in.
Give hold your fire and presto a go as well. Experience the entire 80's saga, then you will really know what you love from them. Enjoy. It's actually my favourite rush era.

Grace Under Pressure
Presto
Hold Your Fire
Power Windows
Roll the Bones

Granted, its been a while since I've heard PW, so it could move up in the list potentially.  RtB is the only one of the bunch, imo, that's a step down for the band, and it's still a good album.  Presto gets low ratings here but if you're willing to open your mind to a different kind of sound you can really learn to enjoy it.  It's one of Rush's most tasteful and mature albums and one of their best, I think.

^ yep I hear you on your love of Presto. that's what makes reviewing music so hard...no one can know the context in which people have bonded to music...

I'm currently giving PW a serious listen for the first time since it came out. I've spun it 7 or 8 times all the way through in the last week.

When it came out it was the final departure for me for Rush for a while (until 1999 actually). Rush was my first love, and I preferred them heavier. I stuck with them through Signals and GUP (both of which I enjoyed a lot) but PW was a big let down for me.

At the time Priest, Maiden, VH, Metallica and so on were putting out the metal I loved.

And the "mainstream" rock was covered by the Police, U2, Bruce, John Cougar etc etc

New wave an anomaly and while I could find songs I enjoyed, it was never my preferred genre. I didn't expect Rush to have all these keyboards everywhere and it was disconcerting.

that said Manhattan Project I ALWAYS loved...what a gorgeous song.

As I listen now, I can say that it is growing on me. It does sound very dated...very 80s. I have visions of Alex in a button down shirt and skinny tie dancing around playing these wimpy rhythm guitar parts (not that I ever saw him do that or even know if he did, lol).

Or Molly Ringwald and company dancing like this:

breakfast club clip

But that aside, I am finding the textures and nuances to be enjoyable on repeated listens. I read somewhere about it being a "cold" album and I agree wholeheartedly...very electronic, very techno.

To me it will never, ever be close to Moving Pictures (which I consider to be one of the greatest albums of all time, by anyone) but I am slowly enjoying it.

Perhaps I'll move on to HYF in the coming weeks.

It's really cool to uncover old music from a band I've always loved and have the pleasure of discovering it as new

Edited by Crumple - December 17 2013 at 09:08

Todd wrote: Hold Your Fire  Grace Under Pressure Power Windows Presto Roll the Bones

Catcher10 wrote: progbethyname wrote: Catcher10 wrote: progbethyname wrote: Catcher10 wrote: Their 70's period to their ∞ period is their best....... Oh yeah. Wanna fight?   Don't need to.... ∞ trumps all You know what the great thing is about RUSH is that they totally reshape their sound each decade they've been around. It comes down to a generational thing where by its what you grew up with. I grew up with that 80's electric sound wave, so that is one reason why I am more pro 80's rush. The 70's were amazing to. The 90's were the worst, but Counterparts was brilliant. My favourite instrumental they ever did is on that album....LEAVE THAT GHING ALONE.   As far as I am concerned......This is why they are amazing. Part of it is marketing brilliance but most of it is that when you listen to interviews during the time of these changes, it is because they embrace the musical times. They incorporate what is being discovered by others and add their twist to make it a Rush sound...ala The Police, reggae = Spirit of Radio. Electronic music, synths, synth drums = Time Stand Still.....   But at the root of Rush is hard heavy rock/metal with large doses of progressive attributes. It really is The Who, Zeppelin, Cream, Yardbirds meets Genesis and Yes. Genesis made the same transitions but to a more pop oriented sound, much more extreme. This is all due to Phil Collins becoming more mainstream, movie gigs, Miami Vice appearances...he was popular. Rush is not popular in the mainstream, more now than ever for sure...but not in the 80's. Now Rush are in the era of "the begining of the end", and it sounds brilliant! They are playing better than ever and more importantly they are having the time of their lives and it shows. They are taking all they have done these past 35-40 yrs are molding it into the current sound, there are bits of all eras in their music now.   When you think about other bands that lasted more than 35yrs, I don't think of them in the same vein as I do Rush. Still together, essentially the same lineup, same manager, same roadies......"if it aint broke don't fix it!"   Long live Rush

Beautiful. Well said. And yeah. They do have a little taste of reggae going on in their sound like police at times. Spirit of Radio does carry wisps of some reggae flavor in the guitar riffage. :)
Cool point.

verslibre wrote: Crumple wrote: Can the big 80s Rush fans rank the albums Grace Under Pressure through Roll the Bones for me? Grace Under Pressure Power Windows Hold Your Fire Presto / Roll The Bones (Tie) GUP and PW are essential, IMO!

Hold Your Fire 

Can the big 80s Rush fans rank the albums Grace Under Pressure through Roll the Bones for me?

That's the gap I skipped before coming back with Counterparts and I'd like to go back and see what's up.