Members Ernest Buckley Posted March 20, 2015 Members Share Posted March 20, 2015 New Years Eve… I had a good 2 hours before I had to go to work… my wife and kids were heading out to a party in which I would meet them after work… I considered going to the studio and working on a tune or I could catch something on Netflix… I decided to just relax and watch a movie. I searched through the documentary section and saw something called "Rush: Beyond the Lighted Stage". Here`s a band that I tried to listen to during their Presto period when I was back in HS… I listened to the record several times, it never jived with me. I tried listening to other Rush tunes when they came on the radio but I could never grab onto anything… I didn`t hear the melodies, the lyrics seemed forced, the drumming was over the top, but most of all, that voice… argh… I couldn`t get past Geddy Lee`s voice. Several friends of mine have tried to turn me onto Rush over the years. I even started to read Neil Pearts Ghost Rider book which entails his journey after losing his daughter and wife back in the late 90s… I got about a quarter of the way through that but had to stop, it was too depressing. Anyway… back to New Years Eve… I started to watch this documentary and before I knew it I was laughing along with the band. I had a great time. It was probably the best documentary I`ve have ever seen about a band. After the documentary, I felt like I knew the band but I didn`t know their music so I downloaded Moving Pictures on New Years Day and ever since January 1, I haven`t listened to much of anything else… I`ve tried listening to other music since then but I find it boring. Has this ever happened to you? I can`t explain it. Suddenly I feel like I completely understand the music after how many years? The vocals don`t bother me, I hear the melodies, and the lyrics… I get it. I feel like a kid again discovering the magic of music. Strange… Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mark L Posted March 20, 2015 Members Share Posted March 20, 2015 Finally, my prayers have been answered..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members AlamoJoe Posted March 21, 2015 Members Share Posted March 21, 2015 My sister got into Rush from the get-go. I never really got on with them until "Moving Pictures". There is an upside to having your drummer also be the chief lyricist. The vocals and the drums are always syncophated. Neil's early lyrics were a bit much but man how he matured...And he is a drummer without peer in rock music. Another thing I dig about them, they don't rearrange their songs for Concerts. They get it..The fans want to hear the music they love as they originally heard it, and they totally deliver that. They recreate their body of work lick for lick. It's considerate. Too many artists get bored with their songs and want to change them up and most of the time it's a disappointment. They are maybe the best rock trio around. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Ernest Buckley Posted March 21, 2015 Author Members Share Posted March 21, 2015 They are maybe the best rock trio around. Yeah, the sound that only the 3 of them can muster up is quite amazing. Geddy Lee is a monster musician… any bass player that can keep up with Peart and sing and play synth with his feet…. its scary actually. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Folder Posted March 21, 2015 Members Share Posted March 21, 2015 I was in my mid to late thirties before I got Sinatra. That was also about the time I discovered real blues music. The stuff recorded in the 40's and 50's. I still don't like very much blues recorded in the last 50 years or so. I was into progressive rock in the seventies but never really got Rush for some reason. I wouldn't say I disliked them and they have a few songs that I really like but I think I always kind of thought of them as a poor man's Yes or something. For me I think I'm more likely to not get things now that I used to get when I was younger. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members 1001gear Posted March 21, 2015 Members Share Posted March 21, 2015 Fortunately not. I find Genesis far more worthy and don't spend any time on that either. I gave up weed decades ago and without that, most rock becomes lifeless - almost inert as a pastime. I may spend a couple hours a year on coincidental listening to some old faves and the rare catchy thing. Rush never included. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members techristian Posted March 21, 2015 Members Share Posted March 21, 2015 Geddy would have never won "American Idol" or "The Voice" , but he is a great musician / PERFORMER ...and RUSH IS GREAT !!! DAN Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Ernest Buckley Posted March 21, 2015 Author Members Share Posted March 21, 2015 Geddy would have never won "American Idol" or "The Voice" , but he is a great musician / PERFORMER ...and RUSH IS GREAT !!! DAN You`re from Canada, right Dan? You`re input doesn`t count. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members blue2blue Posted March 21, 2015 Members Share Posted March 21, 2015 I caught 5 or 10 minutes of Rush being interviewed in a relaxed atmosphere and they seemed like smart, reasonably amusing guys. Their music doesn't do anything for me but it's nice to know they seemed like nice enough guys. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members nat whilk II Posted March 21, 2015 Members Share Posted March 21, 2015 Here`s a band that I tried to listen to during their Presto period when I was back in HS… I listened to the record several times, it never jived with me. I tried listening to other Rush tunes when they came on the radio but I could never grab onto anything… I didn`t hear the melodies, the lyrics seemed forced, the drumming was over the top, but most of all, that voice… argh… I couldn`t get past Geddy Lee`s voice. ......ever since January 1, I haven`t listened to much of anything else… I`ve tried listening to other music since then but I find it boring. Has this ever happened to you? I can`t explain it. Suddenly I feel like I completely understand the music after how many years? The vocals don`t bother me, I hear the melodies, and the lyrics… I get it. I feel like a kid again discovering the magic of music. Strange… That's a great experience. Being able to "get" some music or other is a subtle, strange, mysterious process. People boil it down to something we all tag as "taste" but that's just a black box placeholder concept that means almost nothing under analysis. It's the same with writing - some writer or poet will be just opaque to me for years, decades. But I'll revisit and revisit, 'cause I just sense that I'm missing something. Then one day, the stars align and some style I've never been able to resonate to all of a sudden becomes the music of the spheres. It was that way for me with T.S. Eliot - musically it was pretty much that way for me with Dylan - I was in my late 40s before I somehow caught the Dylan bug. Now, a member of the geezer brigade, I'm starting to truly appreciate some classical-style singing. I always knew I was missing something since the Opera buffs were so fanatical, so in transports, and so many genius composers considered the human voice the ultimate instrument. Interesting that in Ernest's story, it was the voice that was the main obstacle - same for me with Dylan and with classical singing. I still don't cotton on to much jazz singing, Billie Holiday aside. Human beings, I've come to believe, mostly operate out of unconscious habit, bias, and prejudice. One result being the worst examples of the operation of "taste" in it's seediest incarnation - don't bigots find other races "distasteful"? So taste is, to me at least, an unreliable guide - friendly, familiar, all-too-ready to be of service - but in the long run all too self-satisfied and narrow-minded. To be able to expand, to overcome a barrier to seeing, hearing, understanding, admiring - even if it's just an art form - it's a wonderful thing. Rather than only sitting and waiting for something to walk up and charm you spontaneously, there's a profound reward I think when you put a little effort into it and break through into new appreciations that would never come to you automatically, stuck as we all are in our tiny boxes of "personal taste". All that said, I still can't listen to Rush for more than a couple of tunes after many, many attempts. I mean it's great to expand one's appreciation, but it would be worse to fake it. So I've got a ways to go still nat whilk ii Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members AlamoJoe Posted March 22, 2015 Members Share Posted March 22, 2015 "All that said, I still can't listen to Rush for more than a couple of tunes after many, many attempts. I mean it's great to expand one's appreciation, but it would be worse to fake it. So I've got a ways to go still " Lot to be said for honesty nat. Your loss though... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Ernest Buckley Posted March 22, 2015 Author Members Share Posted March 22, 2015 Being able to "get" some music or other is a subtle, strange, mysterious process…. But I'll revisit and revisit, 'cause I just sense that I'm missing something. Then one day, the stars align and some style I've never been able to resonate to all of a sudden becomes the music of the spheres. I was in my late 40s before I somehow caught the Dylan bug. I think that mysterious process you`re referring to is called life. I think we all have experiences that change our tastes or how we view the world. Entering into our middle age, 35-50, we start to view the world differently and certain things come, others go. For me, I was growing tired of the same chord progressions, the predictable nature of most rock tunes, the limited lyrical content found in most artists. In Rush, I found the harmonic and lyrical diversity I`ve been thirsting for. In my early 30s, I started listening to more EDM, then in my late 30s I started to listen to more classical music which I grew up listening to… but in my late teens, I started to listen to more rock and heavy metal. Now in my early 40s, I find myself expanding into progressive rock…. and more atonal music. These genres of music and art were once abstract but now I find them to be more in line with my way of thinking… so I find myself relating to these art forms as I get older. ymmv, EB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members UstadKhanAli Posted March 22, 2015 Members Share Posted March 22, 2015 Here's where I'm at with Rush. - Geddy Lee has a horrid voice.- Alex Lifeson often has a horrible guitar tone.- Neil Peart doesn't groove.- Their songs are often not hummable.- Their lyrics are often beyond silly. Observe: "The Trees""There is unrest in the forestThere is trouble with the treesFor the maples want more sunlightAnd the oaks ignore their pleas The trouble with the maples(And they're quite convinced they're right)They say the oaks are just too loftyAnd they grab up all the light" "Oracle: The Dream" "I stand atop a spiral stair An oracle confronts me there He leads me on light years away Through astral nights, galactic days" Yet.....yet I really like Rush. Go figure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members BushmasterM4 Posted March 23, 2015 Members Share Posted March 23, 2015 My first experience with Rush was as a 14 year old in a Sears store music dept. There was 2112. I bought it because the cover looked cool. I played that record non-stop !!!! I then went out as my allowance allowed and bought the first three albums. Been a huge fan since. But I have to admit after Signals I never bought another Rush album. I not a huge fan of the new wave/prog stuff. I do see them everytime they come around though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Hush Posted March 23, 2015 Members Share Posted March 23, 2015 Ernest, also check out Permanent Waves the album before Moving Pictures it's just as good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Ernest Buckley Posted March 24, 2015 Author Members Share Posted March 24, 2015 Ernest' date=' also check out Permanent Waves the album before Moving Pictures it's just as good.[/quote'] Yes, love Permanent Waves. I actually listen to that more than Moving Pictures. I also love 2112. I also purchased their last record Clockwork Angels… good tunes, lousy mastering…. What other RUSH records would you recommend? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members UstadKhanAli Posted March 24, 2015 Members Share Posted March 24, 2015 Yes, love Permanent Waves. I actually listen to that more than Moving Pictures. I also love 2112. I also purchased their last record Clockwork Angels… good tunes, lousy mastering…. What other RUSH records would you recommend? I like "Hemispheres". "2112" is probably my favorite, and I also like "Moving Pictures". I'll hafta listen to "Permanent Waves" again. Haven't heard that in ages. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mark L Posted March 24, 2015 Members Share Posted March 24, 2015 Ernest, I am the world expert on everything Rush and my opinion is the only one that counts Albums you MUST own are: 2112 A Farewell to Kings Hemispheres Permanent Waves Moving Pictures Grace Under Pressure Power Windows Test For Echo The rest are optional, but as a Rush nut I love them all Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Ernest Buckley Posted March 24, 2015 Author Members Share Posted March 24, 2015 Very cool Mark. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members workstation M.I Posted April 2, 2015 Members Share Posted April 2, 2015 I'm going to test that boast right now Mark. What piece of classical music is briefly quoted in the 2112 Overture? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Ernest Buckley Posted May 26, 2015 Author Members Share Posted May 26, 2015 Ernest, I am the world expert on everything Rush and my opinion is the only one that counts Albums you MUST own are: 2112 A Farewell to Kings Hemispheres Permanent Waves Moving Pictures Grace Under Pressure Power Windows Test For Echo The rest are optional, but as a Rush nut I love them all I`ll tell you, I`ve been listening to Presto for the last two weeks. I love that record. Ironically, it was the first record of RUSH that I purchased when I tried to get into the band and I don`t remember caring for it much. The melodies are fantastic and the energy on this record is really amazing. I`ve been reading Neil Pearts Ghost Rider book as well, very interesting guy. How he was able to overcome losing his daughter and wife and then coming back to the band… incredible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mark L Posted May 26, 2015 Members Share Posted May 26, 2015 I`ll tell you, I`ve been listening to Presto for the last two weeks. I love that record. Ironically, it was the first record of RUSH that I purchased when I tried to get into the band and I don`t remember caring for it much. The melodies are fantastic and the energy on this record is really amazing. I`ve been reading Neil Pearts Ghost Rider book as well, very interesting guy. How he was able to overcome losing his daughter and wife and then coming back to the band… incredible. One of the (many) things I like about Rush is that every album sounds fresh. It's like the guys are keen to get together and record, rather than just plodding along and flogging a dying horse And yes, you have to admire Neil Peart... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mark L Posted May 26, 2015 Members Share Posted May 26, 2015 @workstation M.I - 1812 Overture Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members RockViolin Posted May 26, 2015 Members Share Posted May 26, 2015 My first Rush album was Caress Of Steel. It was the 3rd record that came into my possession after Kansas Song For America, and Jethro Tull's Thick As A Brick. A couple of hard acts to follow, but, I wasn't all that happy with that Rush purchase. Just something else to listen to at the time. 1976 or so. That summer I went to a music camp in Colorado, and one day, another violinist, who had one of those Trans Ams with the firebird painted on the hood, took a few of us down into Estes for some ice cream. He put All The World's A Stage in the 8 track. When "Bastille Day" kicked in and he punched it...and I got Rush. You could not walk into the dorm at NCSA without hearing 2112 blaring from someone's room, battling Tormato, and The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway, and *winning* the 2nd floor Moore music war. And then someone would borrow it from someone else and would be playing it for days some more. A Farewell To Kings was popular too. My band there did a Rush song. "The Necromancer" with me adding violin parts throughout. Not sure why we chose that song. All my favorite bands needed a violinist, or another violinist, back then though. I caught the Moving Pictures show at some point. Geddy would talk with his hands at the audience (while the rest of him was still occupied) and they'd go RAAAAAaaaaH. Still one of the best shows I've been to. I enjoyed the documentary also, and the part where they're in a restaurant talking about signing autographs really stuck with me. Very cool. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Temple of Light Posted May 28, 2015 Members Share Posted May 28, 2015 I got Rush in about 25 seconds. I never even considered the sum of it's parts till much, much, later on, I was immediately struck by the sheer virtuosity of each of the individual members, every one of them by themselves is a genius of their respective instruments in their own right, but it took me decades to fully digest the brilliance and progressive nature of the whole band... As a group they are nothing short of legendary... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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