Rush Discography Discussion 2: Caress of Steel (1975)

I love how this thread keeps hitting the refresh button on certain songs.
Lately, I can't get the melody of the Larger Bowl out of my head (listening to it right now)
And Monkey Business kicks ass; Harrisdevot nailed my feeling on that one
 
Yea Monkey Business is pretty awesome. Love the way it builds toward the end. I also really like Far Cry and Workin' Them Angels. Dog is right though, it gets a bit samey and because of that I rarely find myself listening to this album as a whole, but rather individual songs.
 
Time Machine 2011: Live in Cleveland (2011)
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Moving Pictures: Live 2011
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In 2010, to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the release of Moving Pictures, Rush took a break from the studio to embark on yet another tour. On top of a standard set spanning every period in the band's career, they also played Moving Pictures in its entirety. If that wasn't enough, 2 new songs from the still unreleased Clockwork Angels were performed: Caravan and BU2B. Also worth mentioning are the polka and reggae renditions of La Villa Strangiato and Working Man.

For this tour, Rush recorded in Cleveland. An appropriate city, as this is where Rush had their first break in the industry, with the release of Working Man.

Time Machine Tour closing tape:
 
Clockwork Angels (2012)
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In early 2009, Alex Lifeson mentioned in an interview that Rush had begun work on a new album, making this one of the band's most anticipated releases. By 2010, new information on Rush's 19th studio effort began to surface and eventually Caravan and Bu2B were released as downloadable singles. However, it would not be another 2 years until this album was completed and released. The album was finally completed in winter 2011, and released the following summer.

While the 3 years leading up to the release were long, many fans would probably agree that it was worth the wait. Clockwork Angels was very well received by fans and many considered it to be their best in years. Rush as a studio force was back and better than ever.

One of the most notable things about this album is that it is their first concept album. Rush had always been a prog rock anomaly in that they were really the only classic prog band to not have the obligatory concept and/or double album. Yes had Tales From Topographic Oceans, Genesis had The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway, and Pink Floyd had The Wall. Not being a set of musicians who easily followed trends or did what was expected of them, Rush never forced themselves to create such an album. Instead, they waited until it came out naturally, nearly 40 years into their career.

Clockwork Angels tells the story of a man experiencing the hard ships of life while searching for meaning.
Neil Peart said:
In a young man's quest to follow his dreams, he is caught between the grandiose forces of order and chaos. He travels across a lavish and colorful world of steampunk and alchemy, with lost cities, pirates, anarchists, exotic carnivals, and a rigid Watchmaker who imposes precision on every aspect of daily life.
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A companion for the album, in the form of a novel, was released later that year, written by a scifi author friend of Neil Peart.

Musically, the album has a similar sound to Snakes & Arrows but with many more progressive elements. It could be argued that this is Rush's most progressive album since Moving Pictures, at least. Segues, trilogies and extended instrumental sections are all present to give the album its progressive edge. But these are all combined with Rush's sense of good song writing that they developed in the 80's, creating the ultimate Rush album. Many songs harken back to classic Rush, such as Headlong Flight and its unmistakeable callback to Bastille Day.

The band also used extended instrumentation on this album; a string section is found on many of the songs, including Halo Effect, The Garden, and The Anarchist. The band even took the string section on tour with them to help represent the material live as well as add a new dimension to older songs.

Clockwork Angels is certainly a triumph for Rush. It's quite the achievement to not only create an instant classic, but to create it so late in your career is spectacular. Hopefully this isn't the last of Rush, as Clockwork Angels proves that they haven't ran out of things to say.

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So that's the Rush discography. Even though I had less time to spend on this toward the end, I had a ton of fun writing commentaries on these albums and reading the commentaries of others. I got a fresh perspective on many songs and albums, found some new favorites, and revisited material that I may not have noticed had it not been for this thread. And of course, I was reminded why Rush is such a great band in the first place. I'd like to take a quick break from these, but perhaps in December or the new year, I'd be interested in starting a discography discussion for another band. Maybe Judas Priest?

Anyway, thanks to all who participated/followed this thread at some point or another!
 
Clockwork Angels is an amazing record. Many have said it, but it bears repeating: it’s not often a band can come up with something so remarkable so late in its career. But they managed to somehow combine the riffing power of the early years, the creativity of their progressive years and the melodic touch of their later years into something really special.
 
Caravan rocks out with a great hesitation riff, solid chorus and lots of power. The middle section is great, with climbing and falling riffs and lots of stops and starts — vintage Rush.

After a tasty, kinda psychedelic, opening sampler of the melody BU2B slams into gear with another great heavy, crunching riff. The bit (I guess it’s a bridge) after the second chorus adds some atmosphere and sounds like it could have come from Presto. The chorus stays with you long after the song is done.

The album adds another layer with the title track. Cymbal washes, a backwards-masked chanting vocal, some throbbing strings and a portentous riff give the opening a grand, exotic feel. The band steps away for an easy, almost folky opening verse before turning up the power again and capping it all of with a heavenly chorus and brilliant solo. This song is the proggiest thing they’ve done since, what? Permanent Waves? So many parts, so many textures. It’s so huge, so exotic. Great song.

The signature bass riff to The Anarchist is one of the catchiest things ever put on record. Great energy, catchy guitar riff, an incredible melody, poetic lyrics, exotic solo, telepathic playing, whipcrack time changes — it’s like they made this song to match my exact tastes. A top 10 Rush track for me.

Carnies opens like another riff rocker with Alex dripping power and crackling electricity, but changes its colours often, maybe too often to establish a real identity. One of the weaker songs, melodically perhaps, but still pretty solid musically with a lot of shifts.

When I was first falling in love with the album, Halo Effect was one of the songs I didn’t pay a lot of attention to, but it’s grown on me. What I originally saw as obvious I now see as short, sad and sweet. Nice singing from Geddy and some delicate work from Alex. I quite like the mandolin bit.
 
The opening of Seven Cities is fantastic, the way that great heavy bass riff evolves into that great heavy guitar riff. Not a great song overall, but very groovy and cool. Very old school.

The melody of The Wreckers is gorgeous — verse and chorus. It’s an emotional song, marred only by the too-quick fadeout of what might have been a great outro solo by Lifeson.

It’s not the most melodic song in the world, but you’ve gotta love Headlong Flight for the kickass riff-fest that it is. Bang-your-head, pump-your-fist fun.

Most seem to see BU2B as filler. I doubt I’d ever put it on just to listen to it, but I think it serves its purpose and works well in the context of the album.

Wish Them Well is the type of anthemic rock song that Rush doesn’t do particularly well — see Face Up, for example. This one is not terrible, it’s just too obvious for my tastes.

Conversation about Rush sees them getting pigeonholed for the nerdy lyrics and technical prowess. What is too often overlooked is Geddy Lee’s outstanding sense of melody. Just listen to The Garden. Beautiful verse, beautiful chorus, and it’s so well-developed by the band, with solid layering and a slow, powerful build. But the melody would work equally well if it was just voice and piano.

It’s an outstanding closer to an outstanding album. I have no problem saying Clockwork Angels is one of the all-time best works from one of the world’s all-time best bands.
 
Life got busy and I've been finding it increasingly hard to spend as much time as I'd like on the forum this fall.
But I am glad I found the time to finish off this thread. Next to the Maiden Daily song threads LC hosted a few years back, it might have been my favourite Maidenfans discussion.
I really enjoyed it. Thanks to everyone who took part and especially to Mosh for a great job of hosting.
I am definitely up for doing this again sometime and I think Priest would be an excellent choice.
 
Great contributions, Mosh and McKindog. Difficult to add anything of some substance. Clockwork Angels is the first Rush album I've listened to, and it was a real shock. Now that I've listened to their entire studio discography (I didn't listen to a single live album yet), I can say that it is, by far, my favorite. There is everything I appreciate in Rush, but I think that with age, Lee's voice is becoming absolutely fantastic. It is so far from the Robert Plant painful imitation in the first records. There is a lot more depth in his voice, more subtle modulations, and it can get so emotional. The title track and Headlong Flight both have fantastic vocal melodies.
But I also love the overall sound af that album. It is quite heavy, was awesome basslines everywhere (as McKindog pointed out, Carnies' is really catchy, Headlong Flight's is incredible). I absolutely love the contrast beetween the basslines and the guitar. My only meh is Caravan : the melody line sounds twisted and strange to my ears.
 
Thanks for hosting this Mosh. Not much to more to add than agreeing that this is a very strong album. Thank you all for your contributions. Good reading.
mckindog said:
The signature bass riff to The Anarchist is one of the catchiest things ever put on record. Great energy, catchy guitar riff, an incredible melody, poetic lyrics, exotic solo, telepathic playing, whipcrack time changes — it’s like they made this song to match my exact tastes. A top 10 Rush track for me.
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:edmetal:
 
I knew I had forgotten something important : the lyrics. While I tend to be more than annoyed by the religion-related lyrics (I mean, after Faithless, BU2B), the lyrics of the title-track sound as pure poetry to me. I usally don't pay that much attention to the lyrics (music first !), but here, they are so evocative that they help to get into the song, and Lee's voice is really in line with the lyrical theme.
 
mckindog said:
Wish Them Well is the type of anthemic rock song that Rush doesn’t do particularly well — see Face Up, for example. This one is not terrible, it’s just too obvious for my tastes.
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Definitely agree with this. When I listened to Wish Them Well for the first time I felt like I had heard that song before. Feels like Rush painting by numbers, it's not bad but it doesn't have anything that makes me want to listen to it out of context of the album.
 
Bumping an old thread, I know, but I missed this discussion and I've been toying with an idea to re-listen to all Rush chronologically and then write down some thoughts on every album. Should I do it
1.) here, or
2.) in the general Rush thread, or
3.) not at all? :D

EDIT: bear in mind I am a relative newbie - I was BU2B the best prog is Yes and Jethro and Genesis and never had the chance to immerse in some of them good ol' Rush. To whom I've been turned relatively recently (2 years? More? Less? I don't know really) and who have climbed to my No. 3 spot in favourite bands unexpectedly quickly.
 
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JudasMyGuide said:
Bumping an old thread, I know, but I missed this discussion and I've been toying with an idea to re-listen to all Rush chronologically and then write down some thoughts on every album. Should I do it
1.) here, or
2.) in the general Rush thread, or
3.) not at all? :D

EDIT: bear in mind I am a relative newbie - I was BU2B the best prog is Yes and Jethro and Genesis and never had the chance to immerse in some of them good ol' Rush. To whom I've been turned relatively recently (2 years? More? Less? I don't know really) and who have climbed to my No. 3 spot in favourite bands unexpectedly quickly.
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Maybe see what @Mosh thinks, he started both this and the main Rush thread. The other option would be a JudasMyGuide's Rush Synopsis Thread. 'Not at all' isn't an option ;)
 
Your choice, Judas, here or the regular Rush thread. Definitely interested in reading your thoughts!
 
Okay, I'll put it here, since it fits the thread name better. I will try to include everything. And of course feel free to correct me or argue with me as you please. ;)

Oh, and I hope I will not forget to update this regularly/at all (better men than me have suffered that fate, if the James Bond thread is any indication :p ). But I will try to listen to every release as thoroughly and possible; that combined with my work (and holidays!) might result in various delays, so I apologise in advance. Also, the new DT album in January is bound to f*** everything up, so I'll be happy if I finish this before the next Christmas! :D

But now, without further ado…

1973 – Not Fade Away / You Can’t Fight It [Single]

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I should probably not even not include this one, but I wanted to be really thorough. :D This is to my knowledge the first release of the band, the A-side being an old cover, the B-Side a very rare track from the early years.

Now I’m generally not too crazy about my favourite bands doing covers, let alone covers of 50s songs (just a personal preference of mine), but this here one is actually quite cool. It’s energetic and catchy, it doesn’t even sound like a 50s cover, Alex sounds as if he’s having fun and while Geddy’s voice still didn’t “mature” enough here, he holds back more than on the debut and hence his voice actually sounds very nice, almost being close to lovable. In fact, this might actually be my favourite version of Not Fade Away (which is not saying much, but still).

You Can’t Fight It is surprisingly the worse one out of these two. I like Alex's “old school” solo and the song has a huge amount of energy, but it’s eventually forgettable. The riff’s cool, but after the thirtieth repetition you just don’t care all that much. Still, if you’re a Rush fan and haven’t heard these two forgotten songs, I would recommend giving it a try, at least on YouTube (where both tracks are present).

It reminds me in a way of my experience with the Police box set Message in a Box; the first few tracks are the singles predating the debut album and while those are all obviously works of an inexperienced band and don’t remind of the band they would eventually become, it’s still fun to hear and it completes the picture. I too usually play these when I’m listening to the debut.

(BTW - not to be too blasphemous, but there are actually more similarities between the two bands - that is, the Police and Rush - both power trios, both generally recognised as very proficient with their instruments, both have very prominent bassists/frontmen who also sing in high voice, both have a talented guitarist who plays in a somewhat unorthodox way, both playing a melting pot of styles including reggae, both transferring from a pure "rock" sound to being very synth-driven without losing their fans... :D )


Tomorrow I'm starting with listening to the debut - when I'm ready to post, I will. :)
 
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"Not Fade Away" isn't just a 50s song. It was one of the Stones' first big hits, and Stones version is probably where Rush got it from.
 
Heh, silly me. I was aware of the Buddy Holly version, but the Stones one really didn't come to mind - I admit I'm not all that well-versed on early Stones (my knowledge for better or worse begins with Aftermath)
 
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