Rush: Classic or Dud?

Rush Rock Like No One Ex-Cept May-Be Pla-Ce-Bo Neil Peart, Wow, He's Good.

you and my spacey invade

ers get by on you

"Non. Vous etes Le Chien d'Neige." <------------

"Les pommes frites! Mon dieu!!!"

"Begin the day with a friendly voice/A companion, unobtrusive/ Plays the song that's so elusive/And the magic music makes your morning mood"

Dud for that alone.

x0x0

Are you describing your personal development or that of the band? Because, if anything, the band got less and less showy as the years went on. "Counterparts" (the last one I heard) was even "grunge" influenced, allegedly. Rush was my favorite band all throughout high school.

Guitar mag gruel
Less smart than it wants to be
Pretty harmless now

Hey, gimme a break, I've never written a haiku before.

'Tom Sawyer' plays through art class

Turn that shit off now!

*( I reluctantly but freely admit that both Tom Sawyer and YYZ are both decent songs.)

da BA BA BA BA da-da

BA da BA BA BA...

subdivisions rocks
which counters all that i've been
told about this band

the lyrics are too
obvious but what can you
expect from hosers?

http://www.clevernet.on.ca/pierre_trudeau/images/pic_trudeau_beer.jpg

DUD thereafter

Space-jazz-rock-tronic
If rednecks didn't like them
They'd be Kraftwerk-hip

Geddyvox

Less boy or girl than
Alien; Precise
Enunciation

Great band, I think.

ya given the situation they could be forgiven for playing the same set every night but the fact that they're switching it up and doing all the most difficult stuff is really something

also apparently Sabrina Carpenter was at this show, hell yeah

To nitpick - seems to be no Power Windows, little of HYF, Presto, Vapor Trails. Seems strange given the keyboard options onstage

Further nitpicking - I think it’s a decent shout that Neil was most responsible for the static setlists and although the rotating etc they are doing now is great, I think the full song list is a bit conservative - they have staples they must play basically but I think this was a good opportunity to *really* play whatever the hell they liked beyond the ‘hits’

I guess, but it also reminds me of how the Flaming Lips would always introduce "She Don't Use Jelly" as something many in the crowd had heard a lot before, but also a song that many newbies in the crowd have never seen performed before, so just be happy for them. In the case of Rush, this is their first tour in around a decade, which means most people under the age of, I dunno, 25 or so have probably never had a chance to see the band, not to mention anyone else introduced to them in the past 10 years. So hits, whole albums, epic songs, it's nice they're shaking it up as much as they are, since they're trying to appeal to everyone from the heads to the kids.

Rush played a chunk of Power Windows on their 2012 tour, and it was awesome. With a tour this long, I wouldn't put it above them to toss in a track eventually.

I think this was a good opportunity to *really* play whatever the hell they liked beyond the ‘hits’

I think a lot of these veteran bands, even if and especially when they have played hundreds of shows, have internalized that what gets the audience reactions is "good", in spite of their own tastes. Like Judas Priest saying that when they played a song from their first album, the whole audience just stared at them, or Townshend saying the Who wouldn't be playing "Slip Kid" because no-one wants it. If the response is less than rapturous, they think they've done wrong.
Also I don't know to what extent Geddy and Alex really would enjoy playing "Take a Friend" or "Stick It Out" or whatever third-tier track.

I wonder if it's because much of Power Windows (still my fave!) and Hold Your Fire require lots of drum triggering. Anika did some of that, but that doesn't really seem to be her thing. Hence the lack of v-drums.

Magical stuff.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7_fzNfF9MeI

So apparently Aimee Mann can draw!!

https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_fullsize/plain/did:plc:hfgye22nmfg3fjiyzzf5d2ln/bafkreieqj26ept76x2p6n5oislvye5toivzigbpatefiiya3rbwdanvhpu

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y5f88fX_5M0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oO6L8oHVlrs

Think I've watched this more than any other videos from the LA run

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4kOxxMv_Z3E

Another interview with Aimee Mann, in which she says Geddy and Alex are even nicer than Weird Al.

https://archive.ph/RTYhe

Another interview with Aimee Mann, in which she says Geddy and Alex are even nicer than Weird Al.

https://archive.ph/RTYhe

Yeah, I remember an old interview with her (done by an ilxor iirc) where she talked about how funny Geddy and Alex were.

Geddy's online handle being @geddyimages always cracks me up

xpost Might have been me!

Recorded over four nights at Los Angeles' Kia Forum, this fan-produced collection documents Rush's first performances in nearly 11 years, following the band's return to the stage on June 7, 2026.

https://archive.org/details/Rush-FiftySomethingLive

cool! in one of those interviews Mann implies she might be back for the Cleveland shows, which the band is allegedly filming.

That collection of the best live tracks from the LA shows sounds FABULOUS.

Get well Geddy.

“We are deeply sorry to share that we must postpone our June 30 and July 2 shows,” the band explained via social media. “Geddy has been diagnosed with laryngitis and bronchitis. After being evaluated by his doctors, he has been advised that he needs additional time to rest and recover before returning to the stage."

https://ultimateclassicrock.com/rush-concerts-postponed-2026/

"I will never get tired of people cheering the drum interlude in the middle."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=opZiUK_NgYo

Doing 2112 in its entirety mighta contributed to that laryngitis

https://i.redd.it/0j8y8u8q63ch1.jpeg

I love the idea of Anika being dropped into this weird world that she wasn't particularly familiar with only a couple of years ago, flanked by these two goofy but friendly old guys, and maybe zoning out for a second in the middle of a song and wondering, briefly, just what the hell is going on, lol.

this moment was so cute

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tRIk6ahh_KM

(if the timestamp doesn't work go to 2:36:15)

loved it

Archive.org LA anthology is takedowned:(

When I saw this existed I was sure it would be Soto (it's not):

https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/rush-power-windows/

(Should say there are some factual flubs in it, too, sorry if another one of you wrote it, but regardless, the more love for this album the better. Def. their biggest hooks and imo Peart's best collection of lyrics; dude was definitely into John Dos Passos.)

I like how an unfairly maligned album got a neat and tidy 8.3, but to say "Power Windows was one of the last gasps of that truly open-hearted version of the band, before they felt pressured to rock out" is a stretch. Snakes & Arrows and Clockwork Angels returned to that kind of stylistic inclusivity (borne more from wisdom than curiosity) and I can't think of two Rush albums that are as truly open-hearted as those.

80s Rush is the best Rush

Co-sign. I also think "Power Windows" was the real *start* of open-hearted Rush, a shift from "Grace" (which I also love), which marked Peart at his gloomiest ("You know how that rabbit feels, going under your speeding wheels"). As I think I've posted before, "Power Windows" marks the start of the band's (which is to say, Peart's) humanist run. "Windows," "Hold Your Fire," "Presto," "Roll the Bones," "Counterparts," there are some beautiful passing lines and observations in there.

I prefer Grace (because the darkness of the lyrics speaks to me; there are many days when I'll say "Red Sector A" is my favorite Rush song) but Power Windows is great too.

I do love Grace

I like Hold Your Fire a lot too

"Hold Your Fire" and "Presto" are both good, but with a couple of exceptions I agree with that Fork review that notes they (esp. Presto) *sound* thin and weak. "Fire," for example, features some of my favorite fills and solos and riffs from the guys, but you have to pay attention for them in the mush. "Presto" is super pristine and homogenous, like one of those early CD-era experiments that boasts of an all-digital production. It's got some really cool stuff on it, too, but it sounds restrained. "Roll The Bones" sort of splits the difference and gets them to "Counterparts" (which is not the grunge album people state it to be, it just rocks a little harder again).

Gotta admit, I don't know anything about "Test for Echo." But unrelated to the discovery, I did order one of these, because I think it's cute:
https://store.anikanilles.com/cdn/shop/files/AN_T_WM.jpg?v=1782756184&width=1646

When I saw this existed I was sure it would be Soto (it's not):

I already wrote a Moving Pictures reappraisal for'em four years ago.

This is a lovely review and I know it because I immediately wanted to play "Marathon."

Except Moving Pictures didn't need a reappraisal, but this one did, and it called for a particular Soto-strain of writer/Rush fan. You would have killed it!

I think Clockwork Angels was a really strong album

I think Power Windows was the last in an incredibly strong run of top tier albums, after that quality got a bit spotty. My favorites post-Power Windows are Counterparts, Vapor Trails (despite sound quality issues), and Clockwork Angels. The rest are a mixed bag at best for me.

This is a lovely review and I know it because I immediately wanted to play "Marathon."

"Marathon" was the song in my brain when Peart died, for at least a couple of days. The live version on A Show of Hands, even more so than the Hold Your Fire singles, is what finally got me to pick up my first album from them (so yeah, my full introduction to Rush was indeed their third live album).

Iirc, me too, honestly. For the life of me I can't recall why I bought that one first. Clearly I was familiar with at least some stuff from the radio, but this live album doesn't even have many/most of those hits. The corresponding live video, I think I still have that thing memorized.

The "Mystic Rhythms" on A Show of Hands is, what, a note-for-note replication?

Boy, Lifeson's solo on "Marathon" (starting at 3:45) is a killer.

xpost Aside from the vocals, lots of the live stuff, especially from that era, is pretty well reproduced. Peart didn't make it easy for himself by being so specific and orchestrated, there's really no way to deviate, and that song is pretty percussion and keys driven. "Mystic Rhythms" specifically, there's very little bass save the solo, and the guitar is pretty spare, too.

On one of the earlier live albums Peart does break a snare head, a rare mistake captured!

It was a snare drum, during Temples of Syrinx. It’s didn’t break completely, just the snares broke off, so it then sounded like a tom tom. Listen to the 2nd chorus closely and you can hear it..

xpost Aside from the vocals, lots of the live stuff, especially from that era, is pretty well reproduced. Peart didn't make it easy for himself by being so specific and orchestrated, there's really no way to deviate, and that song is pretty percussion and keys driven. "Mystic Rhythms" specifically, there's very little bass save the solo, and the guitar is pretty spare, too.

On one of the earlier live albums Peart does break a snare head, a rare mistake captured!

It was a snare drum, during Temples of Syrinx. It’s didn’t break completely, just the snares broke off, so it then sounded like a tom tom. Listen to the 2nd chorus closely and you can hear it..

For funsies, it is amusing to find youtube videos of stuff going wrong live. It doesn't happen often, but it makes the band improvise!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5_mbYzM8axo

There is a better than zero chance of me catching the 7/22, but not much. Nosebleeds are $200, which are ... too much. This week I paid $80 for an awesome Dylan seat, then $80 for Lionel Richie/Earth Wind Fire nosebleeds. The idea of paying more than both of those tickets combined to hang from the rafters at the United Center ... I dunno, man. It bums me out. So does the rumor that the band may play the Sphere, but that is more whatever.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wome8H0GSCo

didn't get to see the show but looking forward to catching up with all these videos.