I agree with Z on the leftover idea. I know that a lot of bands do this, but my understanding was that Rush came up with new stuff each writing session. That doesn't make the observation that some Presto songs feel similar to HYF and some HYF are similar to Windows invalid, though. In fact, you'd ex...

St. Augustine–quoting Houston eggheadbangers King's X, led by their black gay Christian bassist

Ok, that is awesome!! I love King's X - they are one of my favorite groups. Never seem to get any love, ever, from anyone, but that is a hysterical one line description.

Heh- see, I like this record. Though I will agree with a lot of the comments you guys made. Yes, the production sucks. The guitars are way too bright and trebble-y and yes, everything sounds very thin. And yes, there's just not enough guitar. And yes, every single one of these tracks that I've heard...

I liked this. It's a slim, quick read, but very nice. A good story nestled within a story, inside another story. The real Wind in the Keyhole section was a neat tale of Mid-world. A nice, mid-world style fairy story. Exciting with the usual creepiness. The original frame, Roland and the ka-tet shelt...

I agree that the 7 cities segment did feel a bit rushed, but I still found it enjoyable. The part where I felt the story was really poorly served was the segment with the confrontation between the watchmaker and the anarchist. That was quick! I would agree that this later section of the book should ...

Bitching about the set list? I don't get it. For every "I wish they would have played...." there's a "I can't believe they played.....!" I mean, they've got almost 40 years worth of stuff. Everyone is going to miss a favorite song or two, no matter what they play. With any band, ...

Z, that sounds set list sounds cool as hell! I agree, I love that they just don't play a "greatest hits" set every time. And even though some of the tunes listed aren't my favs, the novelty would be well worth it. And 9 from CA? Wow! Outstanding! Here's hoping for a second leg next year! (...

Thanks for the link, Murrin. That was cool. Av, that's interesting that you liked 7 suns. I tried the first several volumes of that and was completely turned off. I did enjoy some of the Dune prequesl that KJA wrote, though other of them were not real strong. In any event, I really like Clockwork An...

Yeah, the sound quality on the Rio DVD is none too good. I'd agree that the 80s concerts sound better. Re: the Power Windows / HYF split on my list, I think it comes down to the song writing. It's not so much the musical palate, because, in that respect, the two records are very similar. (Though I u...

:lol: Yeah, you big buzzkill, you. I was holding back on discussing specific albums until Cail introduced them, but to continue to meander: I was really surprised how hard it was to come up with a ranking for the albums. The first couple were easy, as were the last few. But the middle (from 6-16) wa...

I enjoyed My Favorite Headache, also. Some really good stuff on there. Though, honestly I like Victor (Lifeson's solo record) much better. It's surprisingly dark and even vicous lyrically in spots (which I didn't expect, coming from Alex) but a really strong effort. I flipped through the pages of CA...

Alright - onto Signals. I really like this record. The only song on it that I could do without is Countdown - it feels as though it's trying to be an epic, and instead, just falls flat. I do like the little synth melody though. Everything else on this one though is good to excellent, IMO. The excell...

Ok, Moving Pictures. Wow. Just ..... wow. Even 30+ years and how many listens later. Like Cail said: There's really no superlative superlative enough to describe this record. Yes. Exactly. This is the sound of three master musicians, who have now also become master songwriters. Absolutely amazing. E...

Echoing some of what Z said, aTOMic, I don't hold any of their output in contempt at all, and don't want to give that impression. I dislike making statements about a certain group being my absolute favorite, because that is always partly dependant on my mood at the time, but these guys are certainly...

Another thing that I thought of with regards to p/g that really stands out is how dark the record is, lyrically. Off the top of my head I can think of other songs, on other albums, that have a darker content, but this whole record is that way. Every song seems to be about fear, anger, loss. A very d...

Fantastic thread Cail! Very much looking forward to your (and every one else's) opinions. I agree that the production is the downfall of much of the 80s output. It makes you have to work to find the great songs (and there definetly are some) and it takes average songs and makes them... well, less th...

I totally agree with your placement of BU2B after CA, and with Headlong Flight at the end, and BU2B2 after Wrekcers. The only one that I'm not sold on is Halo Effect. The girl in question that he projects his illusions on to is refered to as one of the performers. I took that to mean that she was on...

Ok, so now that I got home and pulled out my lyric sheet, I remembered some of the other comparisons to past themes I wanted to bring up. Not only does BU2B thematically recall Freewill, but in my mind, Halo Effect recalls Presto ("what a fool I was for you") and Carnies recalls The Big Wh...

Oh, and Alex's guitar lead on "The Garden" is simply one of the most beautiful things I've heard from him, ever!

I did. I was holding off on commenting on it for a while to really let it sink in. Overall, I really like it. I will admit to not thinking too highly of BU2B when it first came out a couple of years back (though I always liked Caravan). Largely this was becuase of the lyrics - the music was always g...