I still remember when Dreamline came out. I was working my summer job, I was driving to pick up some supplies in a work truck and had the radio on. I had no idea there was even a new Rush album coming, but by this time I had been a huge fan for a couple years, starting around 1987. Then the DJ comes on and says “here’s the new single from Rush” and I’m just shouting behind the wheel “what?!” And rocking out, damn near drove off the road.
Force 10 was probably hands down top three for me as far as Rush live performances go. Every time they pulled that one out I just absolutely loved it! Epic song, in my opinion! And I'm with you, Cynthia Rush is way up there for me as well. I love it all but Signals Grace Under Pressure, Power Windows and Hold Your Fire I think are phenomenal albums!
To anyone lost after Moving Pictures, check out Counterparts. It's the heaviness coming back around. Every song on that album is a winner. And great lyrics, all about relationships.
These are all the OPENERS of their respective albums. im glad you are loving HYF as this is such a brite and blissful album, FEELGOOD!! HIGH WATER closes the album and as unpopular as this album may be to purists, so is this track. Its literally a GEM to close this JEWEL album. I really hope Lex can listen soon and love you both! GOD BLESS YOU BOTH
Nick, I watched this a second time (still miss Lex) but just want to say, you get it. You have a very good understanding of this band and the music they wanted to play. I know you haven't really heard much from Counterparts and after and I think you should keep it that way until after you have fully explored the 80s. Rush made another leap with Counterparts that lasted through Clockwork Angels. They went back to drums and guitars in their last 5 releases and you need to acquire the taste. Still lots of excellent material there.
Personally, I love that they evolved over time. Every time I listened to a new album it was an adventure, I loved that it was different and unexpected. I love all Rush, every era... Well.. Except Tai San LOL!!!
... and thus, we finally get to "Early Distant Warning". From Hold Your Fire, I also recommend "Lock and Key". From Grace Under Pressure, I recommend "Kid Gloves". From Counterparts, I recommend "Nobody's Hero". Still so much Rush to get to from the 80s and 90s. And if you don't know, there is a Geddy Lee solo album with several amazing songs!!!
As the progger who only knew "radio-friendly" Rush until the NicknLex "Hemispheres" Patreon play, I'm loving this next rabbit hole sampler. Had the same Led Zep reaction to "Finding My Way", and The Who, too, pretty sure I've heard "Distant Eatly Warning" and "Show Don't Tell" each once in my life before but don't know when/where. Thank you, Narvik...loving the many faces/phases of Rush!
Finding My Way was the very first Rush song I heard on UK TV way back, having never heard of Rush before. But it was years before I heard anything else. My first proper exposure was to A Farewell to Kings.
My only issues with Hold Your Fire and with Power Windows were the tonal areas that the instruments occupied and how the production choices shaped the arrangements. Once Geddy brought in the sequencing, arpeggiators and the brass and string samples, the bass pedals also became a MIDI component, so the bottom end was handled by the pedals. This enabled Geddy to shift the bass guitar into a more funk/jazz fusion approach. (He was a HUGE Jeff Berlin fan, and he had probably been wanting to go for that tight, popping midrange bass tone. Because the keys were filling the bottom, mid and top end, Alex had to figure out where the guitar would sit in all of this, and his choice seemed to be bright and sparse.. Then Neil 's drums, also quite bright needed to be compressed alot so they wouldn't stomp all over everythng else. So the drums wete saturated with reverb and squashed with too much compression. Flash back a few years to Signals, this was an album that showcased Geddy's keys and the warm bass pedals extensively. BUT, the moments of switching back to that nasty Rickenbauker and cutting loose into their trademark Rush outfreakages were all even more accentuated and fun because of the contrast. Also the real warm, gooey tones of tbe Analog syths were just delicious and the way Lifeson went for these vast, ambient chordal spreads to add texture to the whole pallett, that worked SOOO well. Even the headbanger old Rushies were not coming down too hard on Signals, there was no denying that Rush were making top quality music at that time, keyboards or no keyboards, synths or no synths, it just didn't matter, they were still Rush and they still had Terry Brown. The later issues in the mid-late 80s, I am convinced were really the fall-out From not having THAT guy with them, who was there right from the beginning and was their comrad and greatest ally. Without his hand in it, they just got a bit lost in the sauce. But so did Genesis, so did YES, so did Bowie, so did Styx. The late 80s was a musically unkind period for veteran players, and was an opportune cash grab for 'novelty' items and 3 minute video hits. But that decade brought us Prince, Tina, and Talking Heads, so we can't be too cynical, Rush after all, survived it without much injury ..
Alex: From the beginning, when we started using keyboards and bass pedals and things like that, it was a group effort. I was happy to use them, I thought they did a great thing for our sound... If I had any regrets with Signals, it was in the actual production of the record, which when all was said and done, sounded a little small. I recall leaning over to push up the faders [to increase the guitar levels in the mix] and Terry would smile and push them back down again ... Peter (Collins) worked out 150%, exactly what we were looking for... I think the sounds that we got were great and quite different for me--much cleaner, crisper sounds than I've ever had before. Geddy: Power Windows was a high note. That was a great record... We brought in this synthesiser guy, Andy Richards, who really brought it up a notch in terms of quality and technology. I really like the sound of that album. I thought it was a really strong production... Some of the work we did on Hold Your Fire was very positive, some of it less successful.
The members of Rush have said that Grace Under Pressure was their favorite album to make, up to that point in their career. It's my third favorite Rush album, after 2112 and A Farewell To Kings. Every song is awesome! Great marathon, Nick! ❤
Ot is interesting that directly after the YES reaction. I usually try to request that haven't been done, yet. However, I just felt this time I should do this. Great reaction.
Nick here are some Rush deep cuts to check out. Totem, Between Sun and Moon, Hand over Fist, Kid Gloves, Everyday Glory, Grand Designs and Secret Touch.
Great marthon Narvik. Nice selections. Like 80's Rush just as much as 70's Rush if not a bit more. Grace Under Pressure is a classic and the message is as important now as it was then. Cold sounding for Rush but a true masterpiece. Nice variety from different eras. Nice reaction Nick. P.S. You should be at the beach as well 👍
Narvik, thanks man for the Rush marathon. I couldn't wait to get home & watch it on my tv. All first songs on their perspective albums And i think i seen them open their show with every song except Distant Early Warning. Of coure Finding My Way was their first two tours opening for other acts. Nick, I'm a huge Rush fan. I've been buying their music & going to see them since the beginning. I have all their albums & i want to say. Rush does not have a bad album. But they have a couple that they might have a couple of great songs on them & the rest is ok. Hold You Fire is a good example. I mentioned this for your Mission reaction. You've now heard the three great songs off that album. The rest is good, not great. The thing is with Rush is i always appreciated what great musicians all three of them were. So i kept going back & buying their albums & going to see them, i think it was 28 times, 4 of them as an opening act. One more thing, the majority of there albums are killer from beginning to end. Still want to see you & Lex check out The Garden from their last studio album. As i said Nick, I'm a Rush fan from the beginning & the Garden is one of my favorites by them ever. Just a beautiful song. Thanks Nick & thanks again Navik, great marathon guys.
Nick, the reason Finding My Way sounds familiar is because you previously watched "The Greatest Intro Ever" which featured a medley before they played "Spirit of the Radio". Finding My Way was part of that medley and they played the standalone guitar riff as well as the Robert Plant sounding vocals at the beginning of the song so that is where you heard it before.
Music fans tend to be picky and they get stuck on their favorites and they don't like change...but there's very few...IF ANY... bands that have had the talent to write and play like Rush... maybe no other. Their creativity and always open to change improving and trying new things... and they were just never afraid to trust themselves 100%...without a thought about the revord companies or popular publ8c opinion. and that's a RARE thing. All of Rush is fantastic...just completely different than any other band in history...an exploration of their hears and minds as they evolved. That is why the rabbit hole is endless
We miss Lexi! She never misses Rush reactions. Oh well, sisters comes first. You heard Finding My Way clips from the documentary Beyond the Lighted Stage. Yes 80s Rush is as good as anything they've done and you have heard only a little of Hold your Fire and Power Windows so far. Two phenomenal albums. Distant Early Warning was a radio hit so you might of heard it on a classic station. I want to hear your reactions...don't apologize. I'm entering my 50th year as a Rush fan and I'm still learning new stuff from your reactions. Spot on with your evolving music thoughts! From Power Windows and after Alex does lots of harmonizing. As punishment for Lexi missing this reaction marathon, make her drag her sisters in from the beach to do these same songs (or some of them) without you. She did it once before with her sisters. 😊
Great choice of songs...Force Ten is the one for me in this group...comes in at #10 on my all time Rush list...the live version released on the Different Stages Japanese import is my favorite version of it...has a heavier tone to it and Ged sings it better than ever 🤘
You'll have to let us know what Lex thinks of them. Or let her tell us herself... 😊 Also - if you want to listen to Rush's take on grunge, there are examples on the Counterparts release (try Animate or Stick It Out).
Great marathon Nick! I see Rush, I click! I'm one of those fans that enjoy all eras of Rush! I might not like every song, but there's something in every decade to love! My top songs are Subdivisions, 2112, Mystic Rhythms, La Villa Strangiato, Working Man, Limelight & Xanadu - so that spans quite a bit there. I just love Rush...period...
But their songs on "Love" were more real and prolific. That's what set them apart, but Yes and Saga were great at that topic too . . . it was a lot more than lust and same old repeated lines in the typical love song.
Finding My Way - what a fantastic way to introduce Rush to the world. This song will always be on playlists for me. Distant Early Warning is just awash in those chorused guitars and that Steinberger bass - SO 80’s! Thoroughly enjoyed this, Nick!
Hi Nick, there are very few marathons where you stay with just the one artist/s and you just cannot go wrong. Steeley Dan is one....and Rush is another. I am well aware people may disagree. Thats fine. It's funny however ...In the 70's and 80's there were songs and artists I really didn't get into ....but now I love. Many were in the Jazz genre but there are rock groups I didn't really like much. Moods change just like tastes in foods. The reverse is also true, with for me groups that lost their way, and I just don't bother with anymore, yet love the early material. I could name some but I've learn't that mistake already. This is an excellent marathon, and the wonderful gliding through the years, with basically the evolution of a world class band is fascinating and sooo enjoyable. What a legacy in music history !!! Wow ! Thankyou ! Byee Jim X
I think you just recognize certain sounds and riffs from the documentary you watched. Grace is a great album. One of my faves. Alex is actually a genius.
Nick, you should do a song off the first album and then do the live version with Neil from All the World's a Stage and compare them. He added so much to those songs. Love it. I've been following you very early on, maybe around 5,000 subs. Love you both, and you have a sweetheart of a wife.
They started out metal, then they went prog. Then they got heavy again. There is no bad Rush, just different Rush. One album begat the next one. There all good, just some are great.
Those who say they don't like an era of Rush are not true Rush fans. Bands who didn't change didn't last. Been a fan since 1975... I am now 66 still my no.1band. 1990s they cut way back on keys went back to Bass drums guitar and jamed.try animate. Great album. From 92 . Start with stick it out ... don't compare them with other bands. Rush is in there own lane...😊❤😊
I saw the Roll The Bones tour live in 1991 in Columbus, Ohio and it was just a great show. I remember it was at Cooper Stadium where the New York Yankees Triple-A affiliate the Columbus Clippers played. I've seen Rush live more than 10 times but it was the first of only two times I ever saw them outside, the 2nd being at the Polaris ampitheater also in Columbus on the Vapor Trails tour upon Neil's return after a few years thinking that RUSH was done after Neil's daughter's and wife's deaths 11 months apart. The opening verse of "Dreamline" on Presto song #1 has references to astronomy, which Peart was inspired by after bicycling a hundred miles from Cincinnati to Columbus between two gigs on the Presto tour. Upon arrival, he watched the popular science series Nova on PBS, and a program on satellite imaging captured his imagination.[22]
A great marathon. Thanks Narvik. Every song is brilliant; it doesn't matter what era it is for me either Nick, Rush are Rush! I do want to just give a little love to Presto though. It is so underrated and 'Show Don't Tell' kicks off one of my favourite Rush albums. There's lots more to listen to Nick. I know Alexia will love this marathon.
A great collection of album openers! And there are no bad Rush records. I goof on Caress Of Steel or Test For Echo on occasion, but there's also a long list of other bands I'd say they're better than.
I also enjoyed 80's Rush. Actually I became an uber fan during the 2112 era. Since then I have really enjoyed everything they made since that time. I saw Rush in concert 7 times including their final tour. You may already know this, on the video for Distant Early Warning, Getty's young son at the time Julian was in the video riding the rocket. If you have not seen it yet it's great. Thank you so much for this fantastic combo of songs. 🙂
Yes, Nick. The best of the best of the best is already done...from one perspective 😅 My all-time favorite will forever be The Spirit of Radio, but I firmly believe some of their best work is in the last album (Rush's only full concept album (2112 doesn't count 😉)). Each era has its own unique collection of bangers, and you've only really heard the 1st two (70's and 80's). You are also right; many, many more to go 😁🤘
Excellent reaction. Yeah I never got the synth hate either. No synth in metal? How about Deep Purple. Or even Led Zeppelin. There was keyboards on Zepplin‘s first album. I love rushed in every era. Don’t love every song, of course, and there are albums that I don’t enjoy as much as others. But I never checked out.
From Presto, might I suggest Chain Lightning and especially Available Light. Available Light is one of those songs that makes me proud to be a Rush fan. It is a powerful song that NOBODY talks about.
Actually when the Cleveland DJ dropped the needle on Working Man for her “ bathroom song” they claim a lot of people phoned in requesting the “ new Zeppelin song” 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
GUP is so underrated- IMHO it was the album where Rush got the balance between guitars and keyboards spot on. Wish u had done Available Light from Presto I could come up with many many Rush playlists featuring great tracks that havent been heard before ( as most Rush fans could) - with Rush its just so easy because apart from about 4 tracks everything they recorded was just brilliant 😊
80's Rush is just as good as 70's Rush, it's just a different side of the Rush coin. Signals blew my mind as a freshman in Highschool when that was released. I was already for it because Permanent Waves was may favorite up till then.
Grace under pressure was the studio album that was released when I became a fan. I had heard Distant Early awakening ironically on an album called White Hot that was a compilation album. The I heard Tom Sawyer. Then I mowed the lawn listening to my brother’s Moving Pictures album. But I wanted to know more. So I listened to GUP. That album made me a Rush fan. 80’s Rush is quintessential Rush.
Hold Your Fire is my 2nd favorite masterpiece in all music history. Only the masterpiece of all masterpieces, Tales From Topographic Oceans, is better than Hold Your Fire. This album is one of Rush' masterpieces. You are only hearing the hits. The deep cuts are even better. My least favorite song on this album is Prime Mover, which is still a very good song. Try Turn The Page or Second Nature from Hold Your Fire next.
What can I say? I love Rush. I started getting into them in the early 80’s. Interestingly, Just JP just did Finding My Way yesterday. I confess their first album was one I just never got into as Neil’s lyrics and drumming were one of the main things that got me into them, but it’s not a bad album for what it was. Then I pretty much stopped listening to their new stuff after Presto. I recently went back and listened to their albums post Presto and enjoyed them, but thought Roll the Bones was the least of them. Hold Your Fire is definitely my least favorite Rush album. This marathon is fine, but I definitely would have picked different songs, LOL, but that’s what makes Rush fans so great. Still holding out hope that you’ll do the Todd Rundgren marathon I emailed you, though it’s been a few months. 😢
I remember Alex saying Hold Your Fire was the best thing they’d done at that point. However, artists tend to say what they’ve just done is the best. Then years later they might think differently! 😊
For me, Presto is the second best album of all time, right behind Moving Pictures, and just ahead of Close to the Edge from Yes, Heaven and Hell from Black Sabbath, and Diary of a Mad Man from Ozzy.
80's Rush kills 70's Rush in my book although all rush is great. 70's RUSH rocks for sure, but it doesn't give me that goosebump factor nearly as much as 80's. 80's is Rush at their peak starting with Permanent Waves.
Next time you pick a song from Presto let me suggest any of the following: Chain Lightning War Paint The Pass Anagram... all great songs Great choice of Dreamline
Purpose was to give him just album openers. The only openers left are Animate and Far Cry. The Pass and Available Light are on my list for NicknLex reaction requests.
So Narvik picked ALL "Openers" so Lexi should enjoy this (he _knew_ that)! NICE :D Every track are among my faves and GREAT openers . . . except 1. *And here is the reason . . .* So keep this in mind, during the 90's, California AOR FM Radio (especially in SoCal) we had 2 stations from LA; 95.5 KLOS & 94.7 KMET, and they started to become _repetitious_ in what and who they were playing, which I think this is the time Conglomerates were owning stations across the nation (so this maybe when Pop stations were acquired by "Clear Channel" and various Producers came and went trying to compete with KROQ, the Alternative/New Wave channel and "Grunge"). KMET turned into a "New Age", then a "Slow Jams/R&B" station, and KLOS unfortunately became another victim of "Disney" ownership in the 2000's. So with all that, certain songs were played to DEATH. When "Roll the Bones" debuted, I quickly got frustrated and couldn't stand listening to "Dreamline" over and over and over (and OVER). Much like Metallica's "Enter Sandman", It has to be the most played track from Rush for some reason (thanks programmers! Ugh), and I wished they played other tracks from the album as well. I LOVE the lyrics, but it was overplayed to death. The only time I gave it any time was live, it had new life everytime they played it on-stage. I have some fave tracks on that album, but its my 3rd least favorite album in their catalogue. The marathon tracks, and from their respective albums are some of my favorites in their history (especially "Presto" & "Grace Under Pressure"
Rush isn't as big in Germany. They were more into Saga and Barclay James Harvest. I cannot remember that Rush was ever played in German radio. Therefore, I didn't have that problem.
@@narvik9035 You are "lucky" (haha), you get to enjoy the song at your leisure. And yes, its strange that Saga was/is popular in Germany, when they are hardly known here in the U.S. But I enjoy most of their albums, and in my Top 10 Bands of all time. Sadler is one of the great vocalist up there with Jon Anderson and Steve Walsh.
