Rush!

[Mark Lanctot]

Just ripped "Chronicles" and I forgot how good those guys can be!

There are some rather boring 9-minute guitar songs, and then there are more than a few gems:

Closer to the Heart
The Spirit of Radio
Distant Early Warning
Limelight
Manhattan Project
New World Man
A Passage to Bangkok
Tom Sawyer (of course)

I've never been good at understanding/hearing lyrics, but from what I heard of Manhattan Project, I knew I wanted to read it all.

The lyrics are here: http://www.lyricscafe.com/r/rush/068.htm

Awesome.

[Mark Lanctot]

...and I turn on my TV and they're playing "Rush: Live in Frankfurt".

Now that is timing.

BTW in the background they have a video of Jerry Stiller (George's Dad from Seinfeld) asking the band to play A Passage to Bangkok, then jammin' when they do. Heh.

[mrfantasy]

"Chronicles" is probably decent, sound-wise, but the recent remasters are quite good. The original CDs really were lacking, especially considering the care with which the albums were recorded.

I think, most days, "Signals" is my favorite Rush album--although "Power Windows" may have some of my favorite songs, there are some clunkers (I generally find "The Big Money" annoying.)

But I like all phases of the band. R30 is worth picking up (which is I assume the same coverage as the TV show you mention. What channel is that on?)

[Mark Lanctot]

But I like all phases of the band. R30 is worth picking up (which is I assume the same coverage as the TV show you mention. What channel is that on?)

This was on MuchMoreMusic here in Canada from 9-10 PM tonight. http://www.muchmoremusic.com/extra/rush%5Fr30/

What's with the clothes dryers on stage? :-)

[Michaelwagner]

Toronto band, by the way. Toronto & St. Catherines.

[Mark Lanctot]

They are more popular that I realized.

From http://www.artistdirect.com/nad/musi...24,00.html#bio

...twenty-three consecutive gold and platinum records, the third-longest string behind the Beatles and the Stones (and tied with KISS) in popular-music history.

Whoa!

Even the Beastie Boys did a live remix of Tom Sawyer. And it was complimentary, unlike their send-up of Elton John's Benny and the Jets.

[Khuli]

There are some rather boring 9-minute guitar songs, and then there are more than a few gems:

Funnily enough, I thought they became boring when they stopped doing any long guitar songs.. there's hardly a hint of a solo on their last few albums, though Vapor Trails has some great guitar work.

Personally I prefer their early/mid phase up till Power Windows, but one of my favourite bands for sure - caught them in concert for the R30 tour which was great after a 10-year break. The washing machines were bizarre though....

[zooropa320]

I'll add Working Man to the list of stellar tracks from Chronicles.

[Craig]

What's with the clothes dryers on stage? :-)

I think it's just a joke because Alex has loads of amps and Geddy's not using any.

Craig

[chris.mason]

I'm a big Rush fan, have been for years, so you can imagine my Rush collection was the first thing to re-appear as FLAC...!

As a guitarist, learning to play Alex's rifs is enormously challenging, and has given me an even greater admiration for his off-the-wall style and talent.

The one thing that has annoyed me over the years is the inconsistent production on their albums. Its rarely bee good - often too quiet, flat and thin. Hold Your Fire (esp. the remastered version) sounds good. So does Power Windows.

As for favourates, oooh, thats a hard one. Pretty much all the albums have things I love on them. Grace Under Pressure is probably one of my favourates - I love the intensity to it.