Second half of Rush

[Finch Platte]

I doubt that anything anyone says in response to this will change the OP's opinion. We like what we like because we like it.

For me the following tunes resonate every time I hear them. In the case of the non-instrumentals it's the perfect combination of music and lyrics that gets me.
Emotion Detector
Prime Mover
Mission
Turn The Page (Live from Show Of Hands)
War Paint
Hand Over Fist
Dreamline
Ghost Of A Chance
Leave That Thing Alone
Cold Fire
Virtuality
Malignant Narcissism
Headlong Flight
The Garden

Some of these tracks have been dismissed as lacking/unworthy/trivial/<insert descriptor here> in the past and will no doubt continue to be dismissed in the future.

I'm not a big fan of latter-day Rush, but I took all these songs (adding a live Territories to get close to 80 minutes) and made a comp to listen to in the car. We shall see if it helps.

[ThomasKDye]

I'm always a bit astonished Grace Under Pressure doesn't get more love. It's a powerful, hard-hitting, EMOTIONAL album from beginning to end. I think that its lack of typical heavy metal riffs (even Signals had one or two of those), the brighter-sounding keyboards, and the departure of Terry Brown colors people's opinions a bit. Power Windows is fine for what it is, but that album feels more heady and clinical, whereas GUP feels like a wail of sorrow to a driving, relentless beat.

(Insert usual legally-mandated YMMV caveats.)

[ThomasKDye]

I'm not a big fan of latter-day Rush, but I took all these songs (adding a live Territories to get close to 80 minutes) and made a comp to listen to in the car. We shall see if it helps.

I will say that is a GOOD sample of latter-day Rush, for sure. I'd only make two changes personally, but in general that cross-section is solid.

[Guitarplyrjvb]

I got the impression that Alex Lifeson wanted his playing to sound more like the Fixx or U2 with Grace Under Pressure. That, mixed in with Geddy Lee's fascination for keyboards, caused a defanging of Rush's sound IMHO.

[pb2015]

Snakes & Arrows was the only Rush tour I saw. They did a "new album" suite at the beginning of the second set (as well as playing the instrumentals elsewhere in the show): Far Cry/Armor And Sword/Workin' Them Angels/Spindrift/The Way The Wind Blows. Of those I thought Spindrift was a bit dreary, but I liked the others, particular Workin' and The Way.

[moecurlythanu]

I'm with ya Thomas. I think p/g is an excellent album.
I like it better than Signals, but not quite as much as Hold Your Fire.

[EBES]

I doubt that anything anyone says in response to this will change the OP's opinion. We like what we like because we like it.

For me the following tunes resonate every time I hear them. In the case of the non-instrumentals it's the perfect combination of music and lyrics that gets me.
Emotion Detector
Prime Mover
Mission
Turn The Page
War Paint
Hand Over Fist
Dreamline
Ghost Of A Chance
Leave That Thing Alone
Cold Fire
Virtuality
Malignant Narcissism
Headlong Flight
The Garden

Some of these tracks have been dismissed as lacking/unworthy/trivial/<insert descriptor here> in the past and will no doubt continue to be dismissed in the future.

I'll pay special attention to those tracks -- thanks for the list. The last few albums are so long and there's not much stylistic variation; it might be helpful to have a few highlights to start with.

[Jerjo]

Hold Your Fire, Presto, Roll the Bones, and Counterparts are arguably weak points but I've made peace with them. I took the best tracks and made them into a playlist titled "Rush - Unloved". It's fun to hear now and then because these are songs that obviously were never played to death like the rest of the catalog. Vapor Trails holds up better once it was remixed but it was baby steps, getting their fire back. The tour was just magnificent. Snakes and Arrows was better with better songs, tones, and even three instrumentals. This was the last tour I saw and at that volume you really didn't notice how Geddy strained on the oldies. The new stuff kicked ass. The final album was a masterpiece. There's a reason that it's called on this site: Clockwork Motherfucking Angels. I rank it with the prime Rush era.

[Tom]

I doubt that anything anyone says in response to this will change the OP's opinion. We like what we like because we like it.

For me the following tunes resonate every time I hear them. In the case of the non-instrumentals it's the perfect combination of music and lyrics that gets me.
Emotion Detector
Prime Mover
Mission
Turn The Page
War Paint
Hand Over Fist
Dreamline
Ghost Of A Chance
Leave That Thing Alone
Cold Fire
Virtuality
Malignant Narcissism
Headlong Flight
The Garden

Disclaimer aside, this is a very nice list of partly-familiar stuff. Between that and the copious love for CmfA, enough for a days-long binge!

[Vic2012]

Eesh. I had HYF and got rid of it. It was like 90125. Gag.

[rushfan]

One song that I absolutely love and has been in my top 5 Rush songs is Available Light from Presto. I have such an emotional response to that song.....

[chalkpie]

This video totally kicks ass. Hats off to this cat for his tribute to the Professor. You're gonna need 24+ minutes, but its worth it. "Red Lenses" was the drum part that really impressed me . OK back to Canterbury....

https://www.musicradar.com/news/drum...-of-neil-peart

[IMWeasel]

granted I didnt have much of a choice -- I wasn't born until the end of 1979 so I wasnt even a Rush fan until the mid 90s. But I connected hard with Counterparts, Test for Echo, and Vapor Trails as much as I did Tom Sawyer and 2112. And in the wake of more personal stuff that has happened in the 2 years, "The Garden" is one of the best songs I can think of by anyone, period.

[Interstellar]

I'm probably in a small minority, but I find it easier to get into late 80s Rush than classic 70s / early 80s Rush, just because of the vocals. To my ears Geddy Lee was first an annoying singer and became a really good singer once he found the kind of voice he has on Hold Your Fire for instance.
I guess many people like or love Geddy's voice on the classic albums as a part of their sound, and it's fine. To me it almost ruins the experience.

[hFx]

The fastest way to get a grip on their continuous development is to analyse Alex's hairstyle!

The variety - ups and downs - is what makes Rush one of my favourite band, if not the best considering all the output. The guys continued to develop and try new things, often in resonance with what was happening in the general music scene, as well as in their personal lives - and not getting stuck in some formula and leaving conservative fans behind. There are high and low points throughout any album of any era. While most bands eventually become their own weak tribute bands (not the least all those comebacks), they continued to (try to) be innovative and they stayed skilled (except Geddy's voice) all the way through "Clockwork Angels" - even excelling on that one. Who else 60+ have achieved that? Every album has its place in the story of Rush - live with it!

[the winter tree]

Hold Your Fire is one of my favorites.

[MudShark22]

One song that I absolutely love and has been in my top 5 Rush songs is Available Light from Presto. I have such an emotional response to that song.....

^^ absolutely

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[Steve983]

Eesh. I had HYF and got rid of it. It was like 90125. Gag.

I disagree but it's an interesting point to compare the 70's & 80's output of say Yes, Genesis & Rush. I loathed what happened to Yes & Genesis but quite happily stayed on board the Rush bus. Why? For me Rush's change was more organic and gradual whereas perhaps the other two were more like a 'handbrake turn' suddenly heading in an altogether different direction.

[Boceephus]

I celebrate every era of Rush! A high level of musicianship was on display on each album. I embrace the whole catalogue & cycle through the albums regularly. [emoji3590]


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[zeprogmeister]

Rush is one of my favorite bands, but I find their catalog fairly consistent and they definitely never had a "Love Beach" or "Giant For a Day" type disaster. One of my favorites has always been "Presto" which a lot of people don't rate highly. I thought it was a return to their earlier sound somewhat after the slickness of Power Windows and Hold Your Fire, although I like those albums quite a bit as well. I wasn't high on Counterparts when it first came out because it seemed to be influenced by the grunge scene somewhat, but over the years it has improved to me and a quite like it a lot.

I also wasn't crazy about Vapor Trails when it came out, but after getting the remixed version I quite like a lot of it A lot of Snakes and Arrows is very good, but has a few songs on the back side that are just ok so I think that album would be better with a few tracks cut out. And Clockwork Angels was a strong finale full of inspiration, despite the over-compressed sound.

If I have a least favorite it would be Test For Echo. It's good, but just seemed not as inspired. Decent though.

[progholio]

Somewhere around the middle of their output, after Signals, Rush… kind of lost me. I think I mostly get Hold Your Fire, and I enjoy Roll the Bones, but beyond that I’m scratching my head and hovering near the skip button.

So, as a favor, does anyone want to proselytize for Rush in their second half? What should I listen to, and what am I listening for — what have you found in it that makes it excellent?

Thanks in advance.

I sort of shared your sentiment many years ago but about 10 years ago I started taking a great new interest in Rush. I've found that P/G, Power Windows and Roll the Bones to be absolutely fantastic. Later I discovered the Atlantic Years boxed set that has their last 7 releases up to Clockwork Angels collected and remastered which helped me re-discover their later period. I'm also quite a fan of Snakes and Arrows (Faithless is one of Neil's best). Clockwork Angels I think is sort of a crowning achievement and one hell of a way to close the book on a fabulous career.

[IMWeasel]

Also recently got a copy of Power Windows on vinyl and I never realized how freaking *amazing* that album really sounds.

[chalkpie]

Also recently got a copy of Power Windows on vinyl and I never realized how freaking *amazing* that album really sounds.

Totally! Peter Collins seemed to have a huge influence and as great and legendary as the Broon albums are, this new direction was so fresh and unique when you look in the rearview mirror. The strings, sequencers, Wal bass, Signature guitars, etc I think it's still a very underappreciated Rush album.

[progholio]

Also recently got a copy of Power Windows on vinyl and I never realized how freaking *amazing* that album really sounds.

I have all of my original vinyl release up to Grace Under Pressure, I need to start acquiring the later period vinyl and maybe some of the reissues.

[chalkpie]

I have a fairly noisy picture disc of PW....once you get past the quiet sections where it sounds like a Canadian campfire, then its stunningly wonderful.