@@mck7646 Yes, I listened to both albums and some others a few times last week. I was binging on Rush again 😁 And I'd say the quality of the compositions and the production are slightly better on GUP. Which says something about the band itself.
I could never understand why some people didn't rank Power Windows higher in their fav's list. From a lyrical standpoint, this is some of Neil's best song writing - very meaningful songs. From the musical side, it's also some of Neil's best drumming too. Power Windows is so underrated.
Driving the Last Spike may not be as complex as the 70s long tracks, but it definitely feels epic and reaches the heart, and the main synth melody is just beautiful.
I think you're spot on regarding Rush. Grace Under Pressure is easily the best of that lot, and the song "Afterimage" is amazing, though tough to listen to after Neil's passing. Distant Early Warning is fantastic! As for Genesis, I mostly agree, but I feel you're shortchanging Invisible Touch a tad. Sure, it's really pop music but it is INCREDIBLE pop music and a true work of art. No, I never listen to it anymore because it was on the radio every minute of 1986-87, but that doesn't take away from it's status. Even the ballads "In Too Deep" and "Throwing It All Away" are fantastic. And yes, "Domino" is a killer prog-ish tune. I actually feel bad for the band because the album gets knocked so much only because it was overplayed to death, but the reason it was overplayed is because it was so damn good.
Totally agree with you that "Grace Under Pressure" is the best post-"Moving Pictures" album for Rush in the 1980s. Back in the day, I preferred "Power Windows", but "GUP" steadily eclipsed it over time.
Many bands in the 80s relied too heavily on drum machines and electric keyboards. That said, I've never understood the venom directed at Invisible Touch in particular. To my ear, "Tonight Tonight Tonight" and "Land of Confusion" rock harder than almost anything Genesis ever did before.
I have all the Rush albums and Grace Under Pressure is still my favourite. It’s pretty much self produced as Peter Henderson would not give them much direction in the studio which makes the high quality of the record even more remarkable. I love Lifeson’s guitar sound throughout the record.
Many thanks for this excellent vid. I recently stumbled across your channel and enjoying the content so much that I'm looking back over your older videos such as this. I haven't listened to much Rush in a long time but was really into them back in the eighties and was fortunate enough to see them live. After watching your video I slapped on Grace under pressure and wow - what a great album. Thanks very much for reawakening my appreciation of this great band!
Very fair assessment all around! You really nailed it. And this is coming from someone who has listened to Power Windows thru Presto more than any other period of Rush by far.
Glad to see a lot more love for Power windows. Easily a top 5 for myself. It's the album that made me love Rush. After Neil passed I went back and listened to Emotion detector, Middletown dreams, and Mystic Rhythms and remembered why this band made me a firm fan
Glad The RANT Series Is Back, However I Got Into Both These Bands From Their 80's Material And Then Went Backwards I Understand Your Point But I Love Them Especially Rush Thanks Pete
Great Video! I think Genesis wanted success with their pop albums, while Rush was trying to evolve their sound! Meaning , they didn't want people to think every album after " Moving Waves" was going to have that same formula sound! I think the 80's for Rush was a path for musical exploration, between having keyboards and Alex's textured guitar work! Anyway the Rant about the phone was great!
Pete this was an excellent show, being younger I got rush's catalog very quickly and the 80s stuff was very solid. Grace under pressure is one if my top 5 rush albums.
For me its "Available Light" . . . that snare "snap", and melody in general, and I never heard Geddy play that type of rhythm during his vocals before and after the chorus.
For me, The Pass suffers from what a lot of Rush tunes in that era do - too long without any interesting trademark Rush instrumental twists. Just long verse/chorus songs. The Pass is nearly 5 minutes and I feel like it should be 3 because that's when I'm pretty much done with it.
I also really loved the "Duke" album. The last Genesis album I bought was "Abacab", and I still like it quite a bit. I did like select few songs after that, and I did purchase Phil Collins' first two albums, though I only listened to them a few times. I really still dig Collins' "I Don't Care Anymore". The last Rush album I purchased from the 80s was "Moving Pictures" (I've gone through 2 copies of the LP, and also have it on CD.) I did like select songs from the rest of their albums. I did not purchase another Rush album until "Test for Echo", and I still like it pretty much. Great video! Got a kick out of the thing with your phone! Can't wait for your Steely Dan vid! Also looking forward to your next Q&A!
Permanent Waves kicked off the 80s for Rush! Signals is my second favourite Rush album after Caress of Steel. It's a really great album for its time. To me, Power Windows was the last really great Rush album. I like the production on it a lot. I'm not as forgiving as you about the later Genesis stuff, though there are good songs to be found. (Keep it Dark)
@@mck7646 - I said the same thing about Power Windows until Clockwork Angels came out... but then after many listens I began to be bothered at how noisy and cluttered it sounded and I backed off my high opinion of it. I'm back to rating Power Windows as the last great one.
@@robertsmithers9059 That's a fair assessment I would say. I'm not big on Clockwork Angels at all, though The Garden is a decent track. It's just not up to standards and the mixing is loud and muddy. Most seem to like it though.
Presto is my favorite late 80s RUSH album. Not having really been a die hard Rush fan it just came out at the right time for me. Superconductor has such great, visual lyrics. The title track has beautiful guitar textures and was an obvious antithesis to the heavily distorted guitar songs dominating the airwaves in the late 80s. Scars, The Pass, Show Don't Tell... That albums carries great memories for me. I wore it out. Still... Love your channel and respect your opinions. You make me think. Thanks brother. Keep em coming.
Grace Under Pressure is one of my three favorite Rush albums. You perfectly summed up the brilliance of that record - Alex Lifeson. He just owns on that album! Lyrically, thematically, harmonically one of their darkest most emotional releases. A+ perfection in my book!
Power Windows is the last classic RUSH album for me. Grace Under Pressure is probably in my top three RUSH albums. Pretty much agree with everything here, but I rank Presto a bit higher.
More importantly, the penny had never dropped with me in regard to how much Phil Collins sounds like Bon Scott on that song- now that you mention it, you are absolutely right!
Love your rants. Share several of your opinions. Genesis is one of my favorite programs bands( 70s stuff anyway) . Wondering if you have heard Nick DiVirgillio`s version of the lamb lies down album. It's called rewiring Genesis, and in my opinion, he does a fantastic job. Really enjoy listening to your music talks, and you have a fan in me.
I’m diggin’ your thoughts on these albums, Pete. Re: Signals, I think this is where Alex’s guitar approach really came into its textural voice that was hinted at on the 2-3 albums before it, and formed the essence of his style moving through the remainder of the decade. I think this is why I love everything up through PW and some of HYF. As a young guitarist in the early 80s myself, I found Alex’s delayed-chorused arpeggios so much more interesting than the Page influenced blues-based riffs of much of Rush’s 70s output. Don’t get me wrong, I love the 70s Rush albums, but from a guitar POV, I found Alex’s 80s textures so appealing. Also, one cannot overlook the influence Alan Holdsworth’s playing on Alex’s work during this transition. MUCH more use of glissando textures with the vibrato bar ala Holdsworth. This was helped, of course, by how Alex moved towards Strat styled guitars at this point. One more point: The Police used the same trio format to explore space in the music, rather than density. Although for Rush, that instrumental density shifted from guitars to sequencers/synths in the 80s, Alex found the space pioneered so well by Andy Summers and created his own style from it.
Good comment about Rush using the space in the music, which was a characteristic all the way through Roll the Bones... then Counterparts came along and started the cluttered, multi-tracked Rush that had to fill up every space with a flurry of notes with little contrast and dynamics.
I've always loved "In The Glow Of The Night" from "Domino" has always stood out as a great single with still a flair for the deep cut stuff Genesis is good for.
I appreciate that you are giving these 80's albums some good reviews. I still think that Grace Under Pressure and Presto are the best albums of Rush's 80's periods. Its nice to hear that you are giving Genesis some love for their 80's stuff even though it can be very commercial. Love the review
Hi Pete! I agree with most of what you said here about the Genesis albums from the 80s. As far as We Can't Dance goes, I think Driving the Last Spike is the best song by far on that album. It has this sweet melancholic synth theme at 1:28 which is one of Genesis's most beautiful melodies, and the approach to its subject is as epic as emotional. Though not complex, it reminds of Genesis's prog days when you look at its suite-like structure and dramatic buildup.
When I bought Grace Under Pressure when it was released, I couldn't get into it. Then when I saw Rush in concert for the first time and they played some tracks from that record I was impressed. I revisited the album and was hooked. I understood it ! Great album!!!
I always loved the interplay between synths and guitar on those eighties albums of Rush. Alex really reinvented himself there. The humorous solo on Kid Gloves is my second favorite of his.
Hot take here 🔥. I think power windows is a sonically perfect record. The balance between guitar and keys . Neil's drum sound on top of his playing is at its peak.
I remember getting the 12 inch single of New World Man, around August 1982 before the album came out, and putting it on and getting really worried. I was like where's the heavy guitars? And whatever happened to the Geddy Shriek?? He sounded like he'd dropped a couple of octaves all of a sudden!
First Rush song i ever heard was Finding My Way ! On the radio, no less ! Very Zeppelin influenced of course, which is a great thing. I was mindboggled. At the time, i didn't know they were Canadian, surprise ! First Rush album i listened to was All The World's A Stage, from then on, i was hooked forever. Such awesome musicianship
@@rickleblanc8900 Next Rush I got after those two was a three cassette set called 'Archives' which consisted of 'Rush', 'Fliy By Night', and 'Caress of Steel'. It was 1989 I think.
Great topic! SIgnals was different but I still loved it, still proggy and still with analog synths. Grace Under Pressure ended my fanaticism going back to the first album. I didn't like their sound without Terry Brown at the helm and the songs were too basic, not adventurous/proggy enough for me. I did hear tunes from the next two albums when I bought A Show of Hands and thought they sounded better than the album versions, again blame it on the absence of Broon. When Vapor Trails came out I decided to catch up on all the Rush albums I missed. I found that I hated Presto, Roll the Bones and Counterparts so much that the 80's albums sounded good by comparison. Today I LOVE Power Windows; despite the over-the-top synths the album crackles with kinetic energy and the arrangements are very proggy. I'm still indifferent on Grace but don't hate it like I used to. Hold Your Fire - eh... wish it was recorded and produced with more fire. Some really good tunes, proggy, and Mission is fantastic, but I'd rather hear these tunes live with more energy. And Signals I still love. But Presto? BLAH....who are these imposters and what have you done with the real Rush?!
Finally you've seen the light on 80s Rush. Agree with your choices but would switch DEW for PW which has IMO a much better and warmer production. So thanks for that video :)
Grace under pressure is hugely overlooked. There is some awsome songwriting, great guitar work, insane lyrics, and an overall dark theme that makes it arguably Rush' s darkest album
For some reason , i kinda prefer Farewell To Kings to Moving Pictures or 2112. I just find that album really hard to beat, Cygnus X-1, Xanadu? Really ?! How the hell did they come up with this magnificence ! You really have to search high and low to find anything that sounds this awesome nowadays. Overall, Rush are beyond talented and definitely one of the top bands of all time. No wonder they're so revered by the rock, progressive and metal bands we all love
I’m definitely one of those guys who love the Rush that was inspired by Led Zeppelin and Yes, not the Rush that was inspired by the likes of Simple Minds. Nothing can top the feeling I had when first listening to Xanadu.
But through it all, "Red Sector A" is maybe one of the most important set of lyrics I've heard my entire life and makes the song one of their "post-Moving Pictures" career best.
Yep, Invisible Touch and We Can't Dance ??!! Man, what were they thinking? I can't fault Phil Collins' talent and keeping Genesis going after Gabriel left, but wow wtf ! Imo Abacab was the last fairly decent album they put out and even then, they were sounding like a different band. Btw, Phil was a great prog drummer in the 70's, on par with Bruford imo
This was a real good assessment of the era of Rush and Genesis. I feel some similar reactions to these albums and for some reason I am more willing to be forgiving to Genesis then Rush here
Hey Pete, Have you heard of the new Rush movie/biopic/whatever you want to call it? Will you go see it when it comes out in August? It is supposed to play one night only nationwide. I live in Central Oregon and ona limited budget, so I probably won't be able to go see it. So I'll wait till it comes out on Netflix or video. Love your show, and your knowledge of music is great You rock.
Duke (on vinyl) was the first Genesis album I ever bought. "Behind the Lines", "Misunderstanding", "Duchess", "Turn it On Again", and "Duke's Travels" are my favorites from it.
90125 is a top 10 desert island disc for me. I remember going thru a period in early high school where I would listen to it on stepdad's stereo system every night before bed.
A Show of Hands hooked me on Rush in high school, which was mostly the post Moving Pictures 80s stuff live.Worked back through the catalog from there and was blown away. Similar experience with Genesis where Invisible Touch made me investigate the prior catalog.
Invisible Touch sounds like a whole different band, right ? Lol ! Their 70's material is so majestic imo. And Phil Collins' drumming was amazing back then. Abacab was my favorite 80's album btw
@@rickleblanc8900 , Would probably go with Selling England and Trick of the Tail as my favorites with Duke favorite from the 80's.....rarely pull out Invisible Touch these days, almost like a solo Phil album. They are probably still cashing the checks though!!
@@cbciosubs oh, my bad ! Yes, Selling England and Trick Of The Tail are indeed solid albums for sure. What i really meant was Abacab was imo their last fairly decent 80's album. I did enjoy that one. Afterwards, it was the Phil Collins solo show and they lost me by then
Saw The Musical Box twice, simply brilliant. Note for note, bang on musically and visually. I remember leaving those concerts and going: "wtf did i just witness?" Lol ! Mindboggled !
The day Grace Under Pressure came out, I skipped school so I could go downtown and buy it as soon as it hit the store shelves. I remember standing outside in the cold, waiting for the record store to open. When I got it home and put it on my turntable, I LOVED EVERY FRICKIN' MINUTE OF IT, from beginning to end! It was exactly what I expected from Rush... Something different. Signals was a good album, for the most part, but it felt kinda like a sequel to Moving Pictures to me, and like most sequels to great movies, it just failed to match its predecessor. P/G was something completely fresh, and new. I like Power Windows too. In a lot of ways, I think it's a more solid Rush album than P/G, but it just didn't excite me as much, and that's when that slick, '80s (over)production was starting to come into play. I don't like Hold Your Fire much at all (I think I've only listened to it a couple dozen times since it came out), but I REALLY blame the production on that album more than anything else. I think if they went back and remixed Power Windows and Hold Your Fire, and got rid of the glossy '80s production, it would make Hold Your Fire a much better album, and it would make Power Windows a GREAT album.
I have similar memories of GUP. Except that after school I recorded this album from the radio in the spring of 1984. I'm from Poland, at that time we had a communist system and our country was behind the Iron Curtain, there was no chance to buy a vinyl record or cassette in a store. Fortunately, there were people on the radio who presented music "from the West" :) GUP literally blew me away and it continues to this day! Tłumacz Google
Watch live tonight, tonight, tonight. You might think differently. Listen to Dreaming While You Sleep, especially live. Driving the Last Spike and Fading Lights are also very good. Outside of a couple of songs, I like We Can't Dance.
Invisible Touch was my first foray into Genesis and Counterparts was the first Rush album I got (went from Dream Theater to Rush - not the other way around) so I like them both.
Grace under pressure for me is one of Rush’s best; I’d put it ahead of some of their 70’s record, ahead of Self titled, Fly by night and Caress of Steel for sure. 80’s Genesis is great pop music, but from the self titled to We can’t dance, it’s Phil Collins and a backup band.
Just listened to Hold Your Fire the other night here on RU-vid. I've been on a CD kick lately trying to rebuild a small collection again. I want to choose ones that I never listened to much back in the day to get the most out of them. I'm surprised how good Hold Your Fire is. Sure it's more light and poppy but I like it. I remember seeing it at Hills and wanting to buy it back in '87. I'm surprised it didn't sell better than it did as I find the album to be immediate and accessible. Big Generator by Yes wasn't bad either. If you ignore the 70s output by these prog bands the albums seem decent enough. :-/
Great video Pete! I hear you on this. The thing is, Rush and Genesis are great bands so even the stuff that isn’t top of the heap is still very solid. I am a huge Genesis fan and we can’t dance did nothing for me. I agree that it was the end, just not many memorable songs. I think Grace under pressure is excellent.
GUP is pretty much a concept album to my ears. It’s a dark album that hints at apocalypse via the convergence of technology and human fallibility. The songs are really well written and the arrangements and instrumentation is 80’s in the best sense. I think at the time Neil in particular was into bands like Ultravox, Simple Minds and Japan. They took the influence of those sounds and made their own statement. To me, the last great Rush album.
I think at the time with the development of new synth/ keyboard sounds that was seen as a step forward experimentally. It wasn't long before a lot of those sounds became quite dated and sounded pretty tired when compared to more natural sounding piano/organ sounds. Similar with the overuse of guitar effects pedals....I remember first hearing Grace Under Pressure and thinking The Edge from U2 had joined the band! Must go back and give that one a relisten!
Hi steve I am a lifelong Rush fan! I,m 58 btw. Permanent waves was a 1980 album but I guess that wasnt the point! The 90,s albums were pretty good also! Yet again I implore you to review King Gizzard and the Lizzard Wizzard!
To this day, I cannot listen to Presto without skipping over several songs. A low point in Rush's discography selection that makes you go what were they thinking...
The problem with We Can't Dance is that they tried to fill the full 80 minutes of CD with filler. If they kept it down to 45 minutes and just kept the top 6 songs on there it could have been a pretty good album.
m t well said. It even applies to the clothings bands wore: the cheesy, ultra bright and colorful suit, with sleeves rolled up. The obligatory headband was also a must.
Hey Pete, I would suggest you listen to "Dreaming while you Sleep" from We Can't Dance. It's among the best off the album, a lengthy, dark, remorseful tune about loss and tragedy. Its very similar to Phil's "In the Air Tonight", but it's souped up with classic prog embellishments and clocks in around 7 or 8 minutes, giving it that epic fantasy vibe of vintage era Genesis. Also, "Driving the Last Spike" has a very progressive structure underneath the bright melodies and trademark solo Collins style lyrics and vocal delivery. It was my second Genesis after Invisible Touch (which is much better) being an 80s puppy. Later would dig deeper after discovering Peter Gabriel and learning of his early involvement with Genesis. The band basically relied on a cult type following during the Gabriel era (1969-1974 approximately), they had to prove themselves to their fans when Phil became lead vocalist, and they lost many fans after only a few albums . "Trick of the Tail" was the first post-Gabriel album, and of all Phil albums is closest in style to vintage Gabriel era Genesis. They started making a hard left turn the remainder of the 70s, seeking a new musical identity on "Wind and Wuthering", "and then there were Three", etc. They really started to gel around the turn of decade on "Duke", "Abacab", and the curiously eponymous "Genesis". They really started dabbling more heavily in 80s synth pop on "Genesis", but as you mentioned there are some classic Genesis tunes here (particularly "Home by the Sea"). Clearly Genesis decided to progressively become less avant garde and more accessible and radio friendly after Gabriel left. However, I feel like they get alot more flak than other pioneering prog rock bands like Yes, Pink Floyd, and Rush who also trended towards commercial oriented, contemporary flavored, watered down prog during the late 70s and/or early 80s. Even 80s prog super groups like Asia and GTR reek of the time period. There were plenty of vintage quality moments for each of those transitioning bands during that era, but basically every notable prog rock band patronized pop radio and Billboard charts in the 1980s.
In conclusion, I don't blame a band like Genesis that largely traded commercial appeal in favor of artistic integrity for 5-6 years before taking the huge risk of ditching the art and underground respect in favor of international appeal and immense commercial success. They were a great band that deserved to be as successful as less talented, overrated bands of the time like Kiss, Journey, Boston, etc.
I actually really enjoy Hold Your Fire. Lock and Key, Prime Mover, Mission and Time Stand Still are some of my favorite Rush songs. Power Windows is also very strong. Mystic Rhythms, Marathon and Middletown Dreams are fantastic.
Nice job with this re-evaluate. I’m more of a Genesis fan so I have knowledge of them. You were generous with your comments on Genesis and Miserable Touch. Those sort of stink with the exception of the songs you noted. I do very much agree with ABACAB. Definitely has some good tunes, who dunnit aside. That album for me ended the bands appeal. I will say, the unreleased songs Evidence of Autumn, Me and Virgil and You might Recall are really strong. Those should’ve ended up on the album of their period. Not exactly sure if that was ABACB or not.
Presto is actually my fave post Signals 80's Rush album. I kind of consider it a 90s album though. I guess because I didn't actually hear it until summer of 1990 and it was released very late 89. Genesis/Phil Collins had some decent pop songs
Enjoyed the Rush analysis...I'm not familiar with Genesis to comment. I agree with your Rush ordering. Grace Under Pressure is awesome. I've heard it referred to as Cold War music and that feels accurate. Signals through Power Windows captures my 80's adolescence like no other music. Presto and Hold Your Fire don't do much for me. The Pass is a powerful song though.
