I was listening all day long yesterday to "Moving Pictures" and just mesmerized by all the tracks, but especially the first 4 ("Tom Sawyer", "Red Barchetta", "YYZ", and "Limelight") tracks. Peart is unreal on the drums and although incredibly ugly to look at, you have to respect Geddy's bass/keyboard playing plus he is a unique but good singer. The one thing that always puzzles me about Rush is that people go on and on in praising Peart and Geddy (and deservedly so) but they sorta forget about Alex Lifeson. That dude is one of the most underrated guitarists ever, IMO. Well, at any rate, I know that Drewdog, Surfguy, and I think Behad are all Rush fans, but I am sure there are more. What are the essential Rush albums besides "Moving Pictures"? I am looking at getting "Permanent Waves" and "Grace Under Pressure" (because I love "Distant Early Warning"). Is "2112" as good as the 3 albums that I have already named (that includes "Moving Pictures")? Tell me the essential info that a Rush newbie needs to know. Thanks.
Manny, I always thought Moving Pictures, Permanent Waves and 2112 were the big three for Rush. So 2112 is definitely the next step. my brother was a long haired product of the late 80's early 90's and saw their Presto tour, he always made me listen to that stuff as a kid and i have an appreciation for them now. I think my favorite Rush song is "Free Will" or "Spirit of Radio" both from PW.
"Permanent Waves", "2112", and "Grace under Pressure" are all must haves in my opinion. Lord, don't forget about "Hemispheres". The thing to know about Rush is there are fans who love old Rush, there are fans who love new Rush, there are fans who love all Rush(like myself), and there are fans who despise all Rush. Old Rush fans generally like everything before Geddy and Rush brought in significant use of keyboards or synthesizers. This happened signficantly for the first time on the "Signals" album. All of the subsequent albums then emphasized the keyboards in their music. These include "Grace under Pressure" which I consider to be a very good album. Then, you have "Power Windows" which I also consider to be a very good album and is known for producing it's hit song "Big Money". A lot of the other albums in this era are not as great depending on who you speak to. Albums like "Presto", "Hold Your Fire", "Counterparts", "Test For Echo", etc. use a lot of keyboards. After "Test For Echo", tragedy struck Neil Peart who lost his daughter and wife within a year of each other. There was then a long hiatus and Rush came back after 5 years or so with a new album without keyboards but heavy use of layering guitars/vocals. This album is "Vapor Trails" and I found it to be really good personally although it is "hot" in that the mix is over the top and can be frustrating. It's the loudest album Rush has ever produced. If your checking out Rush, then you definitely want to check out "Rush in Rio" on CD or DVD. They play music from almost every album in a huge set-list. Plus, they play in front of an enthusiastic Brazilian crowd. This will give you a taste of all the popular songs from history of Rush.
If you wanna stick with "old Rush", 2112 is definitely a must have. Surfguy pretty much said everything I would have said. Everyone likes Moving Pictures, so that was the correct place to start, and 2112 is probably the quintessential album from the old era. You might also want to consider Exit Stage Left, which is a great live album from that whole era. It's actually the first album I bought, and I think it's a good introduction. Hemispheres is my favorite of the early era. As far as newer Rush is concerned, I've met a lot of people who really like Presto a lot. Roll the Bones and Counterparts seem to be pretty popular, too. But if you ask me, those are their 2 worst albums. Great... now everyone knows I was a Rush geek in high school.
I thought Rush was in Rehab after being fired for his comments on ESPN. He is doing music now? Weird ! DD
"They" are chasing the kid. It's in the future where internal combustion engines are not allowed. The kid goes to his uncle's house in the country where he has secreted away a Ferrari Barchetta (which Geddy mis-pronounces in the song, btw). The kid fires it up for a Sunday spin but the authorities chase after him for breaking the "no internal combustion engine" (or motor) law. I got all that from reading the short story the song was based upon "A Nice Morning Drive" by Richard Foster (I think). Manny, 2112 is probably the Rush album that made Rush. Their record company wanted them to write short-pop songs and, instead, Rush wrote an album-side piece about non-conformity. If it bombed there would have been no more Rush. Fortunatly, it did pretty well (by 1976 standards) and Rush is still here. One thing about Rush is they really go through big changes in their song writing style over the years. From hard rock/metal in their first two or three albums to a prog-rock/hard-rock mix on the next two or three to writing "normal" rock songs on later albums. The glue that makes it Rush, IMO, is Geddy's singing and the incredible instrumental abilities of the three musicians. Personally I feel that Rush does the absolute best job of combining great melodies (i.e. pop song-ish) with excellent musicianship of any band out there. Just listen to Limelight. If you can count meter you'll hear that song changing time signatures like crazy (from 7/4 to 6/4 to 4/4 to 3/4) but you really don't notice the shifts unless you count them out. It sounds very smooth and "normal" but it's not. As for Alex, he's got one of the most distinctive styles in Rock. He's not, IMO, the technician that Neil or Geddy are. I think that's why those two guys get more attention. Neil, especially, is an amazing technician (some would say at the expense of "feel" but I disagree). Geddy is (once again, IMO) the best bridge between technical viruosity and feel and Alex is mostly a "feel" player. He doesn't do anything that's technically challenging (not easy but not in the same league as others) but his stuff just sounds cool and very original. He's the guy that inspired me to play guitar.
I'm more of an old rush fan myself than a new rush fan... although I like it all. IMO the great RUSH albums ended with power windows. If I could only have 5 rush albums for the rest of my life (excluding compilations and live) I'd have to go with fly by night, 2112, hemispheres, permanent waves, and moving pictures. (man that was harder than I thought) On a side note... RUSH is always great. I've seen them live almost a dozen times. ALWAYS GREAT.
I'm actually writing a paper for one of my classes on the evolution of Neil Peart's playing style, and the transformation he underwent while studying with Freddie Gruber. This thread rocks.
I find alot of his stuff technically challenging. Ever try to play the "Freewill" guitar solo or the "Working Man" solos. I couldn't play either in a million years probably...lol. I agree that Alex is an instinctual and a "feel" kind of player. Geddy even says on the documentary on the RIR DVD that Alex doesn't need to think about writing guitar parts. He can just play something instinctively without thinking about it and it makes sense/works. I don't know Alex's history on technical ability but deep down he has to have a lot of technical ability to put together some of that stuff. But, a lot of his guitar stuff does come from spontaneity and jams. They were showing him playing by himself warming up and outside of shows. He just plays whatever he is feeling and was jamming out. It's almost like he's not writing music note-by-note that makes sense...he's just coming up with stuff that feels, sounds, and plays well. He is just a natural talent I guess. He never ceases to amaze me on guitar. He inspired me to play guitar as well and I've been playing Rush for about 20 years now on guitar as a hobbyist. He is an amazing guitarist IMHO. His riffs, melodies, and solos define the Rush sound. It doesn't hurt that you have Neil and Geddy who are very talented in their own rights. These three guys coming together with their musicianship was one of the best things to ever happen in this world from a music perspective. Even if you hate Rush, then you hate them for the wrong reasons because their musicianship is top notch.
I'd have to say Exit Stage Left if you're just getting into them. IMO it's one of the best live albums ever. It sounds as if there are 8 guys playing, but it's just the 3 of them. Neil's extended YYZ solo forever made him a drumming icon. I think it captured them in their prime. Like 111chase111 said, there are really 3 different versions of Rush. They started as a metal band (without Neil), then progressive rock, then...well, I can't really describe the current version. I still like them, just not like the old days. A little too much keyboards. They were one of the first rock bands to use odd time meters. They introduced me to 7/8, 4/4-3/4, 6/4 etc. As a high school kid, they blew my mind. Also the lyrics were very mystical and poetic. My 7th grade English teacher had us study The Trees, Jacob's Ladder and Xanadu for our poetry class. My favorite era is between 2112 and Signals.
Did you go to Clear Lake Intermediate School? I swear to God I was studying the same things in my 7th grade English class. No joke!
Also a good time to show off my signed memorabilia, i.e. photos taken by Andrew MacNaugtan(photographer and long-time friend of Rush) where he had each member sign the prints in his presence. These photos were taken during the song "Bytor and the Snowdog" on the last Vapor Trails tour. All proceeds went to an AIDs charity. I was one of the lucky 500 who got a print. Yes, after all the years of following Rush, it is great to have this on my wall.
I thought it was an underrated movie with both Jennifer Jason Leigh and Jason Patric (ewww, Jason Patric) giving wonderful performances. Not to mention, a pretty decent soundtrack. I'd check it out if I were you.
