Rush Discography Discussion 2: Caress of Steel (1975)

@Harrisdevot: check the awesome solo in this 1979 version (PinkPop, Holland):
Also, this official live version from the Exit Stage Left live-album is very enjoyable I think:
One of the best songs they ever did. That solo is phenomenal. It merges in and out of the riff.
Also the build-up in the drumming. :notworthy:

I can't disagree much with your comments on the album, although I wouldn't say that the songs don't do anything to me. And I'd give The Twilight Zone more credit.
Quite mysterious sounding, subtle song. Good guitar work.

Overall, not a bad album with one massive stand out song (Passage to Bangkok) but it's got more credit than it deserved. Especially relatively speaking: because Rush made more than a handful of better albums which got less attention. So, I find it an overrated album.
 
Interesting that our impressions have been pretty much in consensus for the first four albums.
 
Forostar, thank you for the links. In the 1979 live rendition, the solo is actually great, but I can't stand the vocals : Lee sounds like a parody of himself. But you are right, this song is a masterpiece. One of the things I love with Rush is the polished sound, the quality of the production. All this is difficult to achieve live (the same reason why I HATE Live After Death).
@ McKindog : I really thought that 2112 would gather more positive comments. I thought it was a massive stand out for the fans. As for myself, I was a little disappointed when I bought it, 'cos I was expecting a real masterpiece. Sorry for always citing this one, but I was expecting a "Thick as a Brick" kind of album. I'm much more impressed by their more recent stuff.
 
All The World's A Stage (1976)
Rush_ATWAS.jpg


The beginning of a tradition that would continue up until their hiatus, after completing 4 albums it was time for a live record. Culled from the band's 3 night engagement at Massey Hall in Toronto during the 2112 tour, All The World's A Stage features a decent overview of Rush's early career. The band's fierce energy as a live act is very much on display here, with a setlist that largely contains the band's highly energetic songs. Many of these songs aren't played live anymore, which makes the set more special. There are also some interesting arrangements, such as the seamless transition from Fly By Night to In The Mood.

All The World's A Stage is a worthy closer to the first chapter in Rush's history. We get to see just how much the band evolved in the span of only 3 years and 4 studio albums which only adds to the anticipation of what's to come.
 
Forostar said:
@Harrisdevot: check the awesome solo in this 1979 version (PinkPop, Holland):
Also, this official live version from the Exit Stage Left live-album is very enjoyable I think:
One of the best songs they ever did. That solo is phenomenal. It merges in and out of the riff.
Also the build-up in the drumming. :notworthy:

I can't disagree much with your comments on the album, although I wouldn't say that the songs don't do anything to me. And I'd give The Twilight Zone more credit.
Quite mysterious sounding, subtle song. Good guitar work.

Overall, not a bad album with one massive stand out song (Passage to Bangkok) but it's got more credit than it deserved. Especially relatively speaking: because Rush made more than a handful of better albums which got less attention. So, I find it an overrated album.
Click to expand...

Passage to Bangkok a must listen on 4/20. Twilight zone also a must on 4/20
 
By the way, I don't expect there to be as much discussion of this as the studio albums, so unless someone has an objection I won't wait a full week to start AFTK.
 
No prob Mosh.

This album I have hardly played because it was in a time when I obtained lots of Rush within a short period. The next live was much more of my liking. All the World's a Stage misses Passage to Bangkok (at least it landed on the next!) but looking at the tracklist, this live album certainly contains the rest of their best songs (although I wouldn't have minded if it featured some others like Twilight Zone and Here Again).
 
Good song selection and very powerful sounding. Can't say I listen to it much.
Sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words.

rush3.jpg
 
Well that was for when they were playing Xanadu. Alex's 2nd neck is a 12 string which he definitely used on most (if not all) the clean bits. Geddy's 2nd neck is a 6 string guitar, not sure exactly when he used that, but I don't think it was very often.
 
Thanks. I didn't notice Lee's second neck was actually a guitar. Anyway, those instruments were usefull in that case.
 
harrisdevot said:
Thanks. I didn't notice Lee's second neck was actually a guitar. Anyway, those instruments were usefull in that case.
Click to expand...
I'm pretty sure they were only used on Xanadu, but I could be wrong. The bass/guitar thing is pretty cool, I don't see it very often though.

As for Maiden, looks like he has different presets for each neck. A clean preset for one neck and a distorted preset for the other.
 
Well, to be honest, I tinhk that most of the time these intruments are for posers. In this case, Maiden is a three guitar band, so there are enough possibilities to obtain a certain sound using normal guitars. But maybe Adrian wanted to show is brand new guitar...
 
Posers may be a bit harsh. But a lot of times they are just for show. Nothing wrong with that in my opinion. John McLaughlin would play them all the time and he's definitely not a poser.

mclaughlin.jpg
 
This is from a few years later (81) than where we're at in our discussions chronologically but this version from Exit Stage Left might answer harrisdevot's question:

 
You are right Mosh, posers is a bit too much. But there is a whole catalogue of things and attitudes a guitarist is supposed to do/adopt to deserve the title of guitar-hero, and I'm a bit annoyed by this. Sixes, thanks for the link : even the drummer uses all the possibilities of his impressive kit (I had never noticed before how much the drums were great on that song).
 
The most famous example of a double-neck guitar is Jimmy Page during live performances of "Stairway To Heaven." The 12-string is used for everything except the solo, I believe. Definitely different sounds coming from the two guitars, though I'm not sure why the same effect could not be achieved with the tap of a pedal.
 
Well a 12 string can't be replicated with a pedal. Even a harmonizer doesn't get the right sound. Especially since the top two strings are paired with strings the exact same pitch, which really adds to the 12 strings sound more than one would expect. Just the overall sound difference between 12 and 6 string guitars is huge, a pedal wouldn't do it justice. Also, say what you will about Zeppelin, but apart from Genesis I can't think of a band that utilized 12 strings as well as they did.
 
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