Three masters of their craft! No overdubbing on the drums. I've seen it live and it's phenomenal. Neil was able to have all four limbs work independent of each other in amazing ways.
The only reason Alex is left out of so many "guitar greats" lists, is Geddy and Neil. Its not fair, its not right, but there it is. Alex Lifeson is one of the top guitarists in the world, in my humble opinion as a bassist.
I heard that for decades but it's nonsense, Alex lifeson has won numerous awards over the years best guitarist, guitarist magazine, guitar player magazine,etc etc many many times , what more is he supposed to win and achieve?
@ledoutofshadow8004 - Alex definitely is the #1 guitarist in MY world! 😁 Along with Andy Summers, EVH, Elliot Easton, The Edge, and some others 🙂 I play _some_ guitar but am a drummer and also a bassist 😊
I use to think lifeson was just kinda there cause I was enameled with peart and Lee, then I actually started to listen to the guitar and my gosh I was, lifeson is up there with Van Halen, ray Vaughn, Hendrix, you name it, Lifeson is up there. I also think lifeson is the supreme of guitar tuning and reverb
Oh Harri my dear friend, loved the insight! Here's the breakdown for you, Geddy is the Digital Man, Alex is the Analog Kid, and Neil is the New World Man. So glad to be back with you the Sultan of Reactions!
@@simonbarsinister8854 Rush has 3 tracks titled Digital Man, Analog Kid, and New World Man. I suggest listening to all three. Hopefully that'll help make sense of it.
@@andyburch1819 no I don't believe the song is about him. It's just a thing me and the boys came up with many years ago. Geddy using digital tones on the keyboard, Alex using a analog delay pedal in his playing, and Neil writing amazing lyrics for a new world audience. Something like that!
This band for four+ continuous, consecutive decades, pushed the boundaries and defied the norms of popular music and accepted arrangements to be the most respected and influential band of the last and current centuries. Mostly by musicians, never by critics and only somewhat by casual listeners. But us supporters and super fans know all too well how important they are.🤘🖖✌️🎸🥁🎹🎤🥇🇨🇦🎼🌎👍👌
One of my favorite versions of this song is Digital Man Live from the Snakes And Arrows tour. It also answers your questions about Neil’s drumming. It’s not overdubbed. They play it perfectly live on the Snakes & Arrows tour. The video is available on RU-vid.
Wow. The beautiful magic these 3 masters of their profession produced is mind blowing. Thanks for more Rush. 🇨🇦🇨🇦 The instruments so captivating, each drawing you in continually. Fabulous song. Great reaction Harri.You're hooked. Thanks Harri and Greybearded Music Man. 🎶 Welcome back, with a great choice. Cheers from Canada 🇨🇦
Every time a watch a reaction from someone on RU-vid of a song that I haven’t listened to for years I remember just how intense their musicianship was together. I’d forgotten about Alex’s solo until right before it started about 6 bars away and then it gave me goosebumps. This is absolutely one of my all time solos of his. Also that outro, just totally Kool, I forgot what a killer piece this is. Alex and Neil were really into the Police at this time, hence the similarities in styles. There are a handful of reactors on here that I enjoy and your channel is one of them because you totally get the music and you take the time to try and comprehend it while enjoying it and not stopping the video too often. When a RU-vidr does that too often I’ll stop looking at their channel. Cheers from the U.S. Harri.
Excellent reaction! Yeah that’s all Neil. You should really check out this song with the isolated drums. It’s called the digital man Neil takes center stage
40+ years on and the themes of the individual trying to maintain their autonomy and integrity in a digital world where they can be monitored and scrutinized so much more closely, are still very accurate and insightful.
I managed excellent judgement in seeing Rush on their Signals tour. The 3 of them are FLAWLESS live... no overdubs necessary. They make me proud to be a Canadian...
🙏✨✨✨NEIL✨✨ (I miss ya!!!) Ya know Neil WROTE LYRICS on most everything (“The Reggae Influence” came DIRECTLY from The Police….. they were HUGE at the time. I remember REVIEWS about this EXACT comparison to The Police because OF THIS!!😉 what’s it been 40 years??😳 (God I got OLD!!!!)😉
Interesting observation, the one about Babylon and Zion! Reminds me of the song 'Rivers Of Babylon', made famous by Boney M in '78: 🎵"By the rivers of Babylon, where we sat down, yeah we wept when we rembered Zion"🎵 And yes, MASSIVE The Police influence in this song in particular! By the way, it's 'bass line', not 'base' 😉 Great reaction and analysis, Harri! 😊👍
you nailed hit Harri. If you see publicity interviews from the signals album, Neil in particular admitted a fascination with reggae rhythms and name dropped the police in particular. So you’re absolutely right! Zion/Babylon also a pretty strong reference to Rastafarianism as you said.
Zion and Babylon are old testament, rastafari is a spinoff of the same content with a different twist. I don't think Neil was doing it as a nod to reggae culture so to speak, the terms apply the same in a judeo christian sphere, although Neil was an atheist, he used the terms for their philosophical points
I like your analysis of the lyrics... especially the concept of someone who is so connected with everyTHING that they lose their touch with everyONE. P.S. Subscribed!
My first "favorite" Rush song,. at ~13 years old. The subject of the lyrics is still elusive all these years later. Really a stretch for this band but they pull it off with their usual brilliant musicianship. Props to Alex L for a great solo and some REALLY dank chord progressions. Geddy's wild bass line was rightly praised in the video. Pretty sure that Neil's doing all that in one take, no overdubs.
Check out I'm Running by Yes from Big Generator and also their tribute to Bob Marley "The Messenger" from 1999's The Ladder. Their singer Jon Anderson has some nice tracks on his solo album, "The More You Know." My favs from there include Magic Love, Faithfully, and Some TV.
Digital world was still pretty limited and primitive back in 82, 8 bit computers with tiny bits of memory, nothing "online" other than early bulletin boards, mostly just video games. I think the song has a deeper meaning, but I had to go insane to realize that. Much like vital signs, I think one needs to experience "grandiose mania" to fully understand this. And I had a black sedan too.
This song is speaking of people with planets in Sidereal Gemini. A computer digital marketing and commentary person. Given to adopting many different points of view. Not that Gemini does not sleep. To him it is more important put an idea across rather than going to bed with you yourself, the only one in the world who has the ide. Gemini rules the mind with free flowing ideas. Avalon is where King Aryhur went to recuperate. In Vedic Astrology, Gemini does not represent a brother and sister. It represents a pair of lovers. Gemini people likes to have a lover. Ir they do not have one (because of responsibilities), they will fantasise having one. The lyrics are apt to say the digital man would like to fly to Avwlon (fly like a swift mind). Gemini is like no soul. Because he is so flighty. You are right!
First visit here! Really enjoyed this reaction. I hadn’t put it together before, but the guitar solo is a blatant shoutout to/impersonation of Andy Summers. You’d think I would’ve connected the dots sometime during the 40 years I’ve been listening to this song, but better late than never! A favorite Rush tune of mine for ages.
Neil's drumming is so complex yet he can reproduce it Live! Drumeo has all his drumming on sheet music. You can listen And follow along. In my opinion it is well worth going to that site to explore Neil's arrangements. Also, lol, they have 175 Rush songs with his beats from all their albums in chronological order.
Can’t get vocals ? His enunciation and timing with pitch is extraordinary.. watch a lyrical evaluation of this video.. they are specifically designed to see the greatness of this
Avalon. Referring to the mythos of early southern Britian. And in some esoteric historic paradigms, where the descendants of Jesus settled, under protection of the priests and priestesses of the old religion of the British.
This is really the first time Neil and the band moved away from progressive themes and structures. The intellectualism and chops are still there, but it’s no longer about the longest song cycle or the most time signature changes. A lot of us hardcore fans were not happy but they grew up and we had to as well.
@@kippsguitar6539 Maybe there were inklings of it but Signals truly was the break album IMO. It was Terry Brown’s last album but you can tell how much the band had taken over by that time.
Zion and Babylon come from the Bible. Zion in the Bible is the city of David. It is sometimes used as another name for heaven by Christians. Babylon was the nation that conquered Judah in the OT and became synonymous to evil. There is a whore of Babylon in the final book of the Bible, Revelation. It is used very often since then as a symbol of evil and debauchery.
Rush fans don’t recommend this song too often because it has a FANTASTIC bass line. Most Rush fans prefer Subdivisions which put more emphasis on the INFERIOR keyboards. So sad. Great reaction on your part…..thank you for having great taste in music. It’s a shame that Rush fans don’t.
@@kippsguitar6539 from the number times weak songs like Subdivisions are reacted to compared to songs that have a heavy bass presence. Also looking at Rush fans ranking weak songs like this in their top Top ten! Btw, Rush fans don’t deny my claim. Instead the say all Rush songs are equal to each other and it’s a personal choice. I can prove it also.
Subdivisions isn't a favorite because of inferior keys, it's a favorite because the lyrics hit hard with a lot of us growing up. Most RUSH fans I know prefer the technical and complex tunes because it shows the crazy talent of this great band. To judge a song strictly on complexity is missing the point of music, there are some very technical tunes with very elaborate lines and brakes etc. But are very sterile and cold. If it doesn't hit you someplace special it's just noise.
I assure you that Harri is not a swindler my dear. If you read into his post at the beginning of each month he clearly states that if he owes anyone a reaction to post it in the thread. Ask anyone in the community that Harri always makes good if he owes you a request or two. I'm sorry for your disability, but making idle threats of consequences isn't going to help your cause.
