Kevin's Watch

I don't know if I have a favorite album. I could easily name 2-3 favorite songs from each album, and probably come up with an overall top 5, but that might change depending on my mood.

RtB and Vapor Trails would certainly be contenders if I had to choose. Grace Under Pressure was the first album I heard and it made me a fan and Distant Early Warning, Red Sector A, and The Body Electric are still among my favorite tracks, but overall, it was not one of their strongest albums.

Sorus wrote:I don't know if I have a favorite album. I could easily name 2-3 favorite songs from each album, and probably come up with an overall top 5, but that might change depending on my mood.

RtB and Vapor Trails would certainly be contenders if I had to choose. Grace Under Pressure was the first album I heard and it made me a fan and Distant Early Warning, Red Sector A, and The Body Electric are still among my favorite tracks, but overall, it was not one of their strongest albums.

It is amazing how simpatico we are when it comes to music. You've listed the only 3 songs I like on Grace. Signals was a huge disappointment to me (though I grew to appreciate it), Grace was a further letdown. I wouldn't hate Power Windows any more if it had raped my mother.

RtB was a breath of fresh air, and Counterparts was really good.

Hemispheres is my favorite CD. The entire period of Hemispheres through Signals is probably my favorite. For a long time I didn't like the 80s synthesizer years, but that material grew on me. Presto came out right when I got into Rush. That was my first tour, and I've seen every one since. I didn't like RtB, was happy that Counterparts went in a harder direction (though kind of cheesy), and could not stand T4E at all. It was the only Rush CD that I ever got rid of after purchasing it. Very depressing. Then came the dark years during Neil's loss, and the triumphant return with Vapor Trails, which I still love to this day.

I have to stop here and talk about sound quality. Vapor Trails has massive amounts of "clipping" where the CD was mastered too hot, in an attempt to make it too loud, and part of that process is clipping the tops of the waveforms off the sound frequencies. It sounds like shit. It's probably the worst mastering of any modern recording by a major label or a major group ... and that's saying a lot since the modern trend in mastering is to make everything louder. So it's becoming more common, but this is just a travesty. Seriously, Google it and you'll find 1000s of people concerned about this issue.

So anyway, if you're interested in a Vapor Trails that sounds good, I know they have been tossing around the idea of a remaster for years, and I believe it will actually get made. But if you can't wait, go to the Counterparts message board I mentioned earlier, and you can download a fan remaster that was done by 3 members of that board, who used sound editing software to restore the full waveforms of the clipped frequencies. It sounds pretty damn good. They worked on it for several years, producing about 5 different versions as technology got better and they continued to experiment.

T4E isn't nearly as hateful as Hold Your Fire, which is just awful. There are a couple of good songs on there that would benefit from a different arrangement and better production (Lock & Key), but Power Windows and HYF are just awful low points.

Presto came out in '89, and I really liked Show Don't Tell, so I bought the disc. I kid you not, I never listened to any other song until a few years ago when Sorus mentioned The Pass. Presto has a few awful songs on it too (War Paint), but it's a huge step in the right direction with the title track, SDT, and The Pass.

I love RtB with the exception of Neurotica (ooooooohhhhh). Heresy is breathtakingly good.

And then I lost them again. Recently I've gained a huge respect for Counterparts and Vapor Trails, though I've never warmed up to Snakes & Arrows. S&A doesn't just flat-out suck like HYF, but it leaves me cold. Other than Malignant Narcissism, which is pretty close in awesomeness to YYZ.

Cail wrote:It is amazing how simpatico we are when it comes to music. You've listed the only 3 songs I like on Grace.

Just for fun, here's my full list:

Clockwork Angels: The Anarchist, Clockwork Angels, The Wreckers, Seven Cities of Gold, Headlong Flight

Counterparts: Double Agent, Everyday Glory, Nobody's Hero

A Farewell to Kings: Closer to the Heart

Fly By Night: Anthem, By-Tor And The Snow Dog

Hemispheres: La Villa Strangiato, The Trees

Hold Your Fire: Time Stand Still, Lock and Key, Mission

Moving Pictures: Vital Signs, Red Barchetta (Yes, Tom Sawyer and Limelight are the 'obvious' choices and both excellent, but SO overplayed.)

Permanent Waves: The Spirit of Radio

Power Windows: Territories, Manhattan Project

Presto: The Pass, Superconductor

Roll The Bones: Roll The Bones, Neurotica, Face Up

Signals: Subdivisions, New World Man

Snakes & Arrows: Bravest Face, Far Cry

Test For Echo: Driven, Totem

Vapor Trails: Ghost Rider, The Stars Look Down, Vapor Trails, One Little Victory

2112: 2112, A Passage to Bangkok



Probably missed at least a couple, but it's pretty complete.

Edit: Heresy, absolutely. And Dreamline. Keeping Neurotica, sorry.

Clockwork Angels: The Anarchist, Halo Effect, The Wreckers, Seven Cities of Gold, Headlong Flight

Counterparts: Animate, Everyday Glory, Nobody's Hero

A Farewell to Kings: Closer to the Heart , Xanadu

Fly By Night: Anthem, By-Tor And The Snow Dog, Beneath, Between & Behind

Hemispheres: La Villa Strangiato, The Trees

Hold Your Fire: Prime Mover, Lock and Key

Moving Pictures: Witch Hunt, Red Barchetta, Camera Eye

Permanent Waves: This is as close to perfect as an album gets. The Spirit of Radio, Natural Science, Freewill

Power Windows: Marathon

Presto: The Pass, Superconductor, Presto, Show Don't Tell

Roll The Bones: Roll The Bones, Dreamline, Heresy

Signals: Subdivisions,The Analog Kid

Snakes & Arrows: Malignant Narcissism, Far Cry, Workin' Them Angels

Test For Echo: Driven, Totem

Vapor Trails: Ghost Rider, The Stars Look Down, Vapor Trails, One Little Victory

2112: 2112, A Passage to Bangkok

Rush: Finding my Way, In the Mood

Caress of Steel: Lakeside Park

Edit to add: Just saw your edit......

Oops, I did miss a couple.

Caress of Steel: Lakeside Park, Bastille Day

Rush: Finding My Way, In the Mood


Pretty close. I'm not surprised.

Nope, no surprise.

Wow, you guys picked some songs that I didn't think any one else besides myself liked ... for instance, Stars Look Down.

I think my list would include a lot more than the songs you all listed. For me, it would be easier to list the songs I don't like.

Witch Hunt is amazing. I love the live version on Snakes and Arrows Blu-ray, with the fire balls launching in time to the bells. I actually love Hand Over First and Red Tide off of Presto. There's not much of that CD I don't like, except for War Paint as Cail mentioned.

Mission is an awesome song. Again, the live version off of Snakes and Arrows Live Blu-ray is amazing. Cail, seriously, give this a listen all the way to the end. You mentioned how The Garden could be on Delicate Sound of Thunder, but so could Mission (which came out around the same time). The guitar "outro" is a thing of wonder. Tear-jerkingly good. Crank the subwoofer to hear those Tauras bass pedals, and enjoy.

I like Cold Fire, Between Sun and Moon, and Cut to the Chase off of Counterparts. And the ones you all mentioned, too, except for Nobody's Hero. I can't believe the both of you agree on that one.

I LOVE Sweet Miracle, The Way Out Is The Way In, Vapor Trails, Freeze, Ceiling Unlimited, Peaceable Kingdom.

Force Ten, Turn the Page, Marathon, The Big Money, Manhattan Project, Time Stand Still ... all great songs.

Nobody's Hero could easily be a lousy song, but Geddy sings it so earnestly that it works.

Presto is a record that has really grown on me. It's a shame that it's such a product of the '80s (which is what kills HYF for me). With a thicker mix, it'd kick ass.

I remember plain as day when MTV did the World Premier Video (remember them?) for The Big Money. The first 30 seconds of that song were awesome, and then......Oh. My. God. What happened to Rush?

Ah yes, I remember that video. Unfortunately.

Presto? That's my least favorite Rush album. I like "Show Don't Tell", "The Pass" and "Available Light" The rest isn't worth remembering.

Sorus wrote:Ah yes, I remember that video. Unfortunately.

Terrible.

Grace at least had the awesome Red Sector A, Distant Early Warning, and The Body Electric. But I was having serious doubts about the band at that point.

To this day, I haven't listened to Power Windows all the way through again since it came out. I really hated it that much. But I gotta say, I really like the way they played Marathon on the last tour. It's a good song that deserved a better arrangement and production.

One of these days I'll brave the whole album again, but I hated it so much I totally walked away from the band for a decade.

I don't have any strong feelings about Power Windows. It's not their best, but it has some decent tracks.

Power Windows is a lot better than HYF, despite the similarities. Listen to the Show of Hands live CD for a slightly ballsier version of the best from this period.

I really love all the different stages of Rush (the live CD of that name is pretty good, too) and how each CD is a logical progression from the one before, with a few key direction changes. Presto was probably the most significant divergence from the past, ending the synth period and yet (as Cail points out) unable to completely extricate itself from that slick, wimpy production style. Counterparts was the culmination of this attempt to break from they synth wimpiness in the 90s, but it felt like they were trying too hard, and no longer knew how to write really complex songs in this style. That uninspired feeling was really evident on T4E, and if they hadn't suffered tragedy at this point, I think the future direction of Rush would have been just as tepid. Vapor Trails was unlike anything else, truly a new direction. The songs were not only heavy, but once again complex and original. Inspired. That trend has continued through the next two albums. I can't wait to see what they do next.

Cail wrote:To this day, I haven't listened to Power Windows all the way through again since it came out. I really hated it that much. But I gotta say, I really like the way they played Marathon on the last tour. It's a good song that deserved a better arrangement and production.

One of these days I'll brave the whole album again, but I hated it so much I totally walked away from the band for a decade.

Grace did the same thing to me; it took hearing "Show Don't Tell" on the radio to start listening to them again, and even then I wasn't convinced they were good anymore until Roll The Bones came out. After that I tried harder to accept Rush where they were, rather than where I wanted them to be, which would be the Permanent Waves Rush. With that mindset, I revisited Grace, and bought Power Windows and Hold Your Fire for the first time. I rate those 5 cd's in this order: RtB, PW, HYF/Grace, Presto. I really like HYF a lot, so that tells you how much my opinion of Grace improved. As for the videos....well, honestly, I don't think there were many videos from the '80's that don't look completely stupid now.

HYF is, to me, an example of everything that was wrong with '80s music production. It also holds the distinction of having Rush's worst song (Tai Shan).

I give them credit for not making the same record over and over again, but I think they tried to hard to follow fashion during the '80s.

T4E really didn't do much for me either, which is surprising given how much I like Counterparts and Vapor Trails.

I think that both Presto and RtB would have been received better with more muscular production.

I can't write off any album entirely, they all have at least a couple good tracks. Agreed on Tai Shan though.

thought you guys might like this. I love it when musicians talk about their work and what goes into it.

Neil Peart on 'Moving Pictures' Track By Track

the Sex Pistols bassist he mentions must be Glen Matlock. since I'm not sure Sid could even plug his bass in.

That's a great interview. I think it's awesome that he's still so enthusiastic about their older work.