Members 1001gear Posted July 5, 2012 Members Share Posted July 5, 2012 I like Rush. Always did. By today's standards, their music sounds trite and dated. But in their day, they were at the forefront. No-one sounded like them. Now, so many bands have carried their torch further. Alex Lifeson was one of the first Prog Rock guitarists with a truly polished tone. Listen to "Spirit of the Radio" or "Tom Sawyer" and compare the guitar tones to other recordings from the same era. I'm sorry but very few recordings from that era will measure up. Like it or not, Neal Peart is a drumming icon. Proof? How many basements are filled to the brim with enormous drum sets? Look no further than youtube for evidence. If you know anything about Neil Peart's personal life, you might think differently about him. His drumming is perfect for the band. So much so that it's a cliche. Geddy Lee: One of the first to use the Taurus bass pedals while playing keyboards in a rock setting. His bass playing is perfect for the band. Even if you don't like it, you have to acknowledge that no-one else sings quite the way Geddy Lee does. In my mind, the fact that he never engages in Rock Star Diva behavior (that I know of) earns him points in my book. They're not my favorite band ever. Far from it. But I don't feel comfortable sitting on the sidelines criticizing them like an armchair quarterback. I'd much rather spend my time trying to make music that builds on what others have done (i.e. "do better"). I do that. Tinker wit my music. Rush not included. I just listened to a bit of Spirit ... it was included in a drum ad and ok that one has commercial appeal. The band looked young and role worthy. I get on Rush in particular because of that "greatest" crap. Neo writes this book called "The Art of the Drum Solo". Hello? Try being a drummer first? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members 3shiftgtr Posted July 5, 2012 Members Share Posted July 5, 2012 Shirley you're not serious!? Besides I don't question that they have fans - I already postulated something about browbeaten post hippies searching for legitimacy. Maybe I shoulda specified pothead rockers as well? i got my first drums in the late 60s. By the 70s I was preoccupied with Bach, Brahms, Big Band jazz, learning wtf my drumming had to do with anything and other worldly pursuits. Prog was seriously crude stuff by comparison.Anyway extended pieces of music or any kind of performance genre - ballet, movies; whatever, are the domain of people who can actually compose on that scale. Three guys; guitar bass and drums; good luck. Now I get it. You are looking down your nose at them....they don't measure up to your standards, right?.....the music you refer to, is soooo much more sophisticated.....Rush is just "crude by comparison" to the stuff you're talking about, right? Look, me and 2 other kids in a high school of 2500 were the only ones that listened to The Dregs, Mahavishnu, Return to Forever, Joe Pass, Stravinsky and Bartok. I carried the elitism torch for years. And it is a juvenile endeavor. Comparing a rock trio to Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake is like comparing a 3,000 sq ft suburban mansion with architecture of the Sears Tower. They work to different ends and their comparison therefore yields negative results. They are not even apples and oranges; they are walking shoes and airplanes. Qualitative comparison results, like what you are doing, only delivers fallacy due to the incongruous applications. Rush doesn't compare to a Beethoven concerto. And slogging them cuz it doesn't compare is illogcial. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members 1001gear Posted July 5, 2012 Members Share Posted July 5, 2012 The label said World's Greatest Rock Band. The music was long and boring.Long shouldn't be boring. Tell you what should be Rush; Star Wars I. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jeremy_green Posted July 5, 2012 Members Share Posted July 5, 2012 Honestly, if this isn't really truly excellent playing BY ALL then I really don't know what is. Add in the fact that this is three guys, add in the comparison to other bands of this time frame and it is pretty clear. Dislike them all you will, but not acknowledging their skill is simply ludicrous. Check it coming out of Alex's absolutely KILLING first solo. BTW - my guitar tech is Rush's touring and studio instrument tech. I watched their last tour from side stage and was backstage before during and after. Met all 3 guys and ALL were absolute gentleman. LOTS of time for kids, extremely generous with their time and pros from top to bottom. I always thought they were a class band before, having this experience only deepened my respect for them. Part of "Rush being Rush" and "never evolving beyond Rush" also shows their team player approach. Over all these years not one of them has ditched the others and moved on to new areas of playing - and NOT that they weren't interested in doing so. They also have a team of long standing backstage workers who have been with them for years and are like family. When "Rush stops being Rush" it puts a whole lot of people out of work. Unlike many divas these days that matters to these guys. Those boys COULD have expanded themselves but instead did what was best for them ALL. Pretty cool. If there has been a label attached to them it certainly hasn't come from the boys. They are as down to earth as it gets. Class. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members NewGuyonGuitar Posted July 5, 2012 Author Members Share Posted July 5, 2012 BTW - my guitar tech is Rush's touring and studio instrument tech. I watched their last tour from side stage and was backstage before during and after. Met all 3 guys and ALL were absolute gentleman. LOTS of time for kids, extremely generous with their time and pros from top to bottom. I always thought they were a class band before, having this experience only deepened my respect for them.Part of "Rush being Rush" and "never evolving beyond Rush" also shows their team player approach. Over all these years not one of them has ditched the others and moved on to new areas of playing - and NOT that they weren't interested in doing so. They also have a team of long standing backstage workers who have been with them for years and are like family. When "Rush stops being Rush" it puts a whole lot of people out of work. Unlike many divas these days that matters to these guys. Those boys COULD have expanded themselves but instead did what was best for them ALL. Pretty cool. If there has been a label attached to them it certainly hasn't come from the boys. They are as down to earth as it gets.Class. Even Neil was out and talking with people? Watched their documentary "Beyond the Lighted Stage" and they discuss how he doesn't usually hang out with the fans. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jeremy_green Posted July 5, 2012 Members Share Posted July 5, 2012 Even Neil was out and talking with people? Watched their documentary "Beyond the Lighted Stage" and they discuss how he doesn't usually hang out with the fans. Neil doesnt do the organized fan contact things like radio show promos and backstage stuff... But we were there as guests of the crew. So he was wandering around signing things and generally comfortable. Seems like a cool guy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Tommy Gun Posted July 5, 2012 Members Share Posted July 5, 2012 I do that. Tinker wit my music. Rush not included. Neo writes this book called "The Art of the Drum Solo". Hello? Try being a drummer first? Bull{censored}. Neal is extremely hard on himself which is why he still takes lessons with Peter Erskine. He had a DVD out called "Anatomy of a Drum Solo"..big deal. Also, if Tony Williams likes some Rush they can't be all bad "Several years ago, in the course of a Blindfold Test with the great jazz drummer Tony Williams, I decided to cross him up and play something different than the Elvin Jones, Miles Davis, and Chick Corea tracks I had been feeding him. I let him listen to Rush's "Limelight" [from _Moving Pictures_]. "This is the first one that I've really liked," said Tony. "Even though it's a 7/4 here and goes into 3 over there, it feels really relaxed. I get an emotional feeling from it. I like the bass playing and the bass sound. The groove is good, and that's the bass and the drums." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members tedmich Posted July 5, 2012 Members Share Posted July 5, 2012 one of the best Canadian guitarists! i.e. mediocre! cept this guy...DJBmzxmD5Wo and these guys... 8pZdJ2VZTcw Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members BydoEmpire Posted July 5, 2012 Members Share Posted July 5, 2012 one of the best Canadian guitarists! i.e. mediocre!He's no Jeremy Green... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Virgman Posted July 5, 2012 Members Share Posted July 5, 2012 one of the best Canadian guitarists! i.e. mediocre! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members 1001gear Posted July 5, 2012 Members Share Posted July 5, 2012 lulz Bull{censored}. Neal is extremely hard on himself which is why he still takes lessons with Peter Erskine. He had a DVD out called "Anatomy of a Drum Solo"..big deal. Also, if Tony Williams likes some Rush they can't be all bad My mistake. And these would be postmortems on his solos? How pedantic does it have to get? Course Rush int all bad. Not even Rush is perfect. I can't speak to TWs preference either. I WILL say I like a lot of what I've heard from him. Tony that is. RIP. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jeremy_green Posted July 5, 2012 Members Share Posted July 5, 2012 He's no Jeremy Green... Ha! Virgman beat me with the Homer spitting out his coffee pic : ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members NewGuyonGuitar Posted July 5, 2012 Author Members Share Posted July 5, 2012 I think we've beat the {censored} out of this thread. Let's move on to more polls! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members vikingrat Posted July 5, 2012 Members Share Posted July 5, 2012 He's a God among men. A lion among cats. A tower among mud huts. He is awesome, he is the Son Of Light. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DCurtis Posted July 7, 2012 Members Share Posted July 7, 2012 Okay, one last thing. Maybe their earlier material (pre 1990)sounds dated. But I think they've continuedto evolve their sound. a thorough listen to the CD "Vapor Trails" is evidence of this, I believe.It sounds like Rush, without sounding like "MovingPictures" "2112" or "Hold Your Fire". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members PhilGould Posted July 7, 2012 Members Share Posted July 7, 2012 I want his Gibson ES-E355...I'd go steal it from him if I wasn't scared of him kicking my ass. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members 1001gear Posted July 7, 2012 Members Share Posted July 7, 2012 Fighter pilot. You don't want none. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members PhilGould Posted July 7, 2012 Members Share Posted July 7, 2012 Fighter pilot. You don't want none. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members GreenAsJade Posted July 8, 2012 Members Share Posted July 8, 2012 This was a stupid thread from the start. I think we already agreed in another thread: it's about creativity, it's not a competition. So why do we have a thread about assessing some guitarist? NewGuy, the world will be a better place if you take your workplace boredom somewhere else than stirring up stupid debates in TLL. You've asked some good questions, but this one, which you admit you started as a time-passer, is not one of them. GaJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Poparad Posted July 8, 2012 Share Posted July 8, 2012 Enough. Let's try and be a little more civil and productive around here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.