Classic Albums Rush

[dustin1969]

no offense taken. I'm not an insane rush fan. I've only seen them twice, I don't believe that they are the greatest band in the world, but I do love their music.

[Top Jimmy B]

markd I would recommend the RUSH in Rio album as a fine starting place. Geddy's voice is down a notch, the songs are the classics and the sound is superb.

[MartinBarre]

so where is a starting point? what album of theirs is the overall "coolest"?

2112 is easily the best, it's a classic. Fly By Night and Caress of Steel are great too.

[Scooter]

2112 is easily the best, it's a classic. Fly By Night and Caress of Steel are great too.

+1, but don't forget A Farewell to Kings. (Sorry, but I've been listening to it today.)

[Cygnus X1]

But...for those that CAN'T STAND Geddy squealing to the high heavens...worst recommendation.
(2112 and prior).

I'm a fan, but that is exactly what turns most people off, despite all of the other great qualities of the tunes.
A Farewell to Kings is obvious to me.

(Look at my username, active since 1988 on the old usenet, WWIV boards, and the name of my business ventures).

Still...I completely understand people's dislike, and never try to convert.
Educate?
Sure.
But never try to convince.

Rush is non-evangalistic by their very nature.
Either you "get it", or you don't.

How many times have they left their own fanbase in the dust?
They do what they want...who even produces them?
Who manages?
Those are strictly business managers, not "creative artist development" managers.
And we keep "catching up".

[El Chiguete]

I just can't tell, what was Alex playing during the YYZ footage? Was that a white Charvel?

He was I guess endorsing Lado Guitars at that time, he didn't have a signature guitar but he played them... btw, they are made in Canada.

[Newc]

IMO the best place to start with RUSH is Chronicles, as it has a sampling of their early stuff when they were copping Led Zeppelin and blues-based hard rock, their progression into more advanced/technical writing/playing, and ending with their more "artistic" lyrical content.

Tom Sawyer has been done to death on the radio for decades, just like Iron Man, Paranoid, Stairway, and Rock And Roll. There's much better stuff that sadly doesn't get as much radio time.

I'm not a RUSH freak. I like 2112, Moving Pictures, and Chronicles, but honestly that's all I have of them (well, the Rio DVD and the last CD, Snakes and Arrows). Took me years to get 2112. I just never got around to it. I'm the same with Pink Floyd: I like what I've heard (Dark Side, Wall, Delicate Sound of Thunder) but have never tried any of their other albums.

RUSH are not for everyone, even if you are a guitarist, because a lot of what they've played is basically free jazz (which used to be known as "ensemble playing", which was a polite/artsy way of saying "no one's playing the same song" - see most of the "breaks" in most of the early Sabbath stuff).

If you don't have an ear for Classical, Swing and or Jazz in general, and go more for the "get to the point" rock and roll/metal, you're not likely going to "get" RUSH.

If you can take Jethro Tull as well as you take Metallica, you can take RUSH.

[Endrik]

because a lot of what they've played is basically free jazz

not really, free jazz is crazy even for most jazz listeners, Rush is actually very structured, it's just harmonically and rhythmically much more complex than standard rock music.

[BenoA]

For the fans (and even if you are not), you need to see the "Rush: Beyond the Lighted Stage" movie-documentary.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sk8hbSxY0sE

Very good!

[catzodellamarina]

My 2 yr old son is captivated my my Rush Live in Rio DVD. He loves the drums and the older he gets, enjoys the "guitar guys" too. For me Rush was the complicated stuff I could play in HS. I mean, I could nail the signature riffs and they'd be recognizable. So Rush has a special spot in my teething years. I can see where it's not everyone's cup o' tea. I have a buddy who swears by the musicianship of YES the same way some Rush fans worship Geddy, Alex, and Neil's skills.

[Endrik]

For me it was the other way, I grew up on prog rock, my first favorite band was Genesis, I listened to a lot of British bands, mostly Yes and King Crimson, most of them at some point had Bill Bruford who just laughs at rhythm yet the melodic side was Beatles, Floyd, Procol Harum, Moody Blues etc. influenced journeys. So Rush seemed kinda simple to me, they were a rock band with great chops but they weren't whacky like the Brits, but when I didn't rate them by "prog standards" I started enjoying them more.

[Cygnus X1]

Very interesting perspective Endrik.
Although true in my experience of the people around me at that time.
(I can guess we are of the same age, or very close).
I was always a little different...I listened to Boston Pops to Dvorak and Vivaldi
from my Dad's collection and learned guitar from the Chet Atkins side.
Then all of that stuff hit me at once...Cars, Boston, Grand Funk, good lawdy, Motown
and Chicago.
I considered myself very diverse at least as a listener and Geddy's vocals turned me
off on the spot, instantly...a born "Rush Hater".
It was much later that I really listened to "A Farewell to Kings" that I started to get it.
But it was Neil's writing that got me.
By that time I was well familiar with the subjects he was writing about, and that is what
drew me in.
I eventually became a #1 fan, old Pink Floyd being my other favorite.

But even PF seems to be amateurish in comparison on the classic writing style and
incorporation on different musical styles that Rush is not afraid of using...masterfully.
Hard rock? Prog? Jazz?
Who knows, who really cares.
They follow their own drummer (literally) and the fans follow.

[VitaminG]

no, not really. If you've seen the classic album series, it is mainly just fooling around in the studio with the mix, the band members playing various parts of songs live and then it blends into the studio recording, this one is mainly for us geeks out there that love em. (like telling the story behind the story of 2112,.... boring to anyone not already familiar with every note on that album, but a treasure for some of us).

I disagree. The whole Classic Albums series is interesting for music geeks, whether you're into a band or not. I really enjoyed the epi on Steely Dan's album, Aja. I'd never heard a note off it but the process of recording it was still interesting to me.

And despite Bat Out Of Hell being completely played out, that epi was good to.

I have the British Steel and Number of the Beast epis on dvd at home

Like the Grateful Dead and Phish, Rush has been ruined for me mostly by insane Rush fans. No offense.

I felt the same about Pantera back in the day. Cargo shorts, bare chests, shaved heads (depending on what Phil was doing today), there's no need to listen to any other pussy music because there is only ONE BAND, faggot. PANTERA!!! Raaaaarrrr!!!

[GuerillaPete]

MarkD, I agree w/ Newc, the best starting point is "Chronicles". You should also check out the Special Edition of Classic Albums 2112/Moving Pictures. You get the DVD, BluRay and the audio CDs of those titles; all in one package and decent price.

You just gotta get beyond Geddy's vocals. Once you do, there's amazing instrumentation there.

[Cygnus X1]

I love Aja.
All the way through.

Also love Pantera, especially "Cowboys From Hell", but I STILL can't take the vocals.
Give me five more years...starting to sound damned good compared to the vocoder
pitch corrected BS I hear these days.