Rush - Clockwork Angels DVD trailer

[jezzaboy]

[quote name='mildmanofrock' timestamp='1376651871' post='2177327']
Old Geddy's voice seems a bit weird these days. Almost like a squawk before he hits notes proper.
[/quote]

Exactly right. All those years singing high have had an effect on his voice. I noticed it on the last dvd they released.

As for the strings? Not my cup o char.

[wateroftyne]

[quote name='The Dark Lord' timestamp='1376678655' post='2178021']
It says at the start of the trailer that "In 40 years, rush has only ever performed as a trio".

I don't think that's true! Did they not used to have that Hugh Syme guy - or somebody similar - on stage playing some keyboards in the 80s?

Rush experts, please shoot me down if necessary - but I at least thought that was the case.
[/quote]

Nah - Hugh played 'em occasionally on the records. Live was always Ged, triggered or sequenced.

[discreet]

[quote name='paul_5' timestamp='1376659452' post='2177523']
How good is [i]your[/i] grandad's singing voice?
[/quote]

Not very good at all - he died in 1961.

[RhysP]

[quote name='The Dark Lord' timestamp='1376678655' post='2178021']
I don't think that's true! Did they not used to have that Hugh Syme guy - or somebody similar - on stage playing some keyboards in the 80s?
[/quote]

No, they've only ever played as a three piece.

[Cosmo Valdemar]

[quote name='Dingus' timestamp='1376671706' post='2177848']
Just had a look . No doubt ardent Rush fans will snap this latest offering up , just like everything else they do , but to my sensibilities this business with adding a string section smacks of desperation to try and inject some novelty into procedings to try and sell a few more DVDs . The simple fact is that if you've seen them play Spirit Of Radio , you've seen them play Spirit Of Radio . The something really important missing from most of Rush's music for the last couple of decades , namely enough decent songs to make an album , and if I were them I would go away and have a serious think about whether it was really a fitting end to such a monumental band's career to become a prog rock cabaret show that does the circuit between sub-standard recordings . This is , after all , Rush . Could and should do better .
[/quote]
I don't know if you've heard CA but a lot of the songs feature the string section. Rush simply wanted to be able to play the songs live as they are on the record, not simply to 'inject some novelty'. It also gave them a chance to dig out a lot of older songs they haven't played in years - The Manhattan Project springs to mind. In fact the setlist for the CA tour is very different to the last few. Having followed Rush obsessively since the age of 14 I can honestly say with CA, and the CA tour, they have done considerably better than they have done in living memory.

[Dingus]

[quote name='Cosmo Valdemar' timestamp='1376744718' post='2178590']
I don't know if you've heard CA but a lot of the songs feature the string section. Rush simply wanted to be able to play the songs live as they are on the record, not simply to 'inject some novelty'. It also gave them a chance to dig out a lot of older songs they haven't played in years - The Manhattan Project springs to mind. In fact the setlist for the CA tour is very different to the last few. Having followed Rush obsessively since the age of 14 I can honestly say with CA, and the CA tour, they have done considerably better than they have done in living memory.
[/quote]

If they didn't feature a string section on the other dates on the tour but they did for the shows filmed for the DVD then it is a novelty . I heard CA when it came out , and have absolutely no recollection of hearing a string section on it .I have no recollecttion of anything about that album except that the single , Headlong Flight , had bits that were reminiscent of "Bastille Day " , and that the rest of it sounded like the post - millenium Rush- by-numbers that , depressingly , I have come to expect . They keep turning to "hip" contemporary producers , but that can't compensate for the poor basic material they are creating , I am very sorry to say . Nick Raskulinecz was a particulaly poor choice .Those Foo Fighters records sound uniformly relentless and densely textured , an aesthetic that is the antithesis of the one Rush need to cultivate . I have been listening to and following Rush since the 1970's ( !) , and they will always be a special band , but , if they want to go any way towards recapturing former glories they need to start being brutally honest with themselves about the quality of what they are creating . They have fallen into the trap of becoming artistically lazy and relying on their reputation and their amazingly loyal fanbase to enable them to put out one substandard album after another . They should tighten up their game or call it a day , in my opinion .

Edited August 17, 2013 by Dingus

[wateroftyne]

The strings were there for the whole tour.

That's a LOT of cheese.

[Dingus]

[quote name='wateroftyne' timestamp='1376748640' post='2178653']
The strings were there for the whole tour.


[/quote]

Just shows how much I know !

Edited August 17, 2013 by Dingus

[Dingus]

[quote name='wateroftyne' timestamp='1376748640' post='2178653']

That's a LOT of cheese.
[/quote]

Cheese strings .

[toneknob]

[quote name='RhysP' timestamp='1376682661' post='2178097']
No, they've only ever played as a three piece.
[/quote]


A passing pedant just told me that they were a four-piece for a while in early 1969 when Lindy Young joined the Lee/Lifeson/Rutsey line-up, Jeff Jones having been kicked out not long before in favour of Geddy. Then Geddy was kicked out for a while, and replaced by Joe Perna, and they changed the name of the band to Hadrian. Meanwhile, Geddy forms Ogilvie with Xavier Dangle** and Sammy Roher, and they soon change that band's name to Judd. Judd end up being a lot better than Hadrian, so Lindy Young jumps ship and joins Judd, and Hadrian break up. Judd also break up soon after, and Lee, Lifeson and Rutsey get back together as Rush, again joined by a 4th member, Mitchell Bossi on rhythm guitar. Bossi stays for two or three months then leaves, and Rush are again a three-piece. They change their name to the Originals, then the Regulars, the New Originals, then back to Rush.

** said pedant swears at this point he's not making it up

[jonsmith]

I've been following Rush for years & remember eagerly anticipating their new albums. I still eagerly await each new release, but I have to say that since Presto every release has indeed been a bit of a disappointment. However that changed for me with Clockwork Angels - I think it's genuinely their best album for years & to be honest it's as good as I could have expected from a band that doesn't really have the hunger they had when they started out - what band does after 40 years? Incidentally, I can remember some fans who thought they'd gone a bit 'Human League' with Signals (seems a bit crazy in hindsight but several people did express views along those lines at the time), so I would say they have divided opinions on their releases for at least 30 years.

Besides the inevitable Tom Sawyer, YYZ & Spirit of Radio, I thought the setlist was fairly brave for this tour, delving back into some 80s album tracks that hadn't been played for years. I'd have preferred a bit more 70s material, but I don't think Geddy's voice could cope with most of that anymore. To me the strings are quite clear on the album & using them live wasn't a gimmick. Rush have used real strings on studio albums before and I felt that the strings worked live too (as did the new album in general).

Looking forward to the DVD.

[lonestar]

[quote name='Dingus' timestamp='1376678237' post='2178015']
I suspect a lot depends on how old you are , as much as anything else . I remember when each album that Rush brought out was a eagerly -anticipated event , and the L.P's they delivered - Farewell To Kings , Hemispheres , Permanent Waves , Moving Pictures , Signals - lived up to the anticipation , and exceeded expectations . For me, that set the benchmark for what these three truly gifted musicians are capable of . If you enjoy their more recent work then that is great , but to my tastes they have been in decline as a band for the last thirty years . They've still got it in them to make a great album before they call it a day , though , of that I am sure . I just hope they realise it before it's too late .
[/quote]

Hear hear

[wateroftyne]

I'm a fan across all ears - Fly By Night, Signals, whatever - but the one thing all the albums had in common up to HYF was... good songs.

Then the rot set in, and the death of the vocal melody.

Don't get me wrong, I'll buy the DVD. But I'd love to see a DVD of them tearing it up without all the distractions. It's getting silly. And expensive, ticket-wise.

[iceonaboy]

Well I even like Caress of Steel, so that shows how much a fan I am , Its all down to taste and some like them, some don't, but no one can deny that their popularity has grown and grown over they years. Ok, the 80's keyboard phase was not to everyones taste, but that was the style of the music at that time. They were experimenting with different styles. How boring would it be if a band came out with the same album year after year? Bands have to evolve, especially when their career has spanned 4 decades

[wateroftyne]

[quote name='iceonaboy' timestamp='1377074330' post='2182865']
Well I even like Caress of Steel, so that shows how much a fan I am , Its all down to taste and some like them, some don't, but no one can deny that their popularity has grown and grown over they years. Ok, the 80's keyboard phase was not to everyones taste, but that was the style of the music at that time. They were experimenting with different styles. How boring would it be if a band came out with the same album year after year? Bands have to evolve, especially when their career has spanned 4 decades
[/quote]

IMO that's the whole problem - they've stopped evolving. VT, S&A, CA... It's all getting a bit Samey... riffs stitched together.

Consider the 3-album jump from Permanent Waves to Signals. Or Grace Under Pressure to Hold Your Fire. Massive leaps with great songs at the core.

[TimR]

Neil has had a VERY hard time. In the 90s he deliberatly shifted his writing style.

Bands evolve.

Clockwork Angels is the first album I've had on permanent play in the car for quite a while. That's of any band.

[iceonaboy]

[quote name='TimR' timestamp='1377075411' post='2182890']
Neil has had a VERY hard time. In the 90s he deliberatly shifted his writing style.

Bands evolve.

Clockwork Angels is the first album I've had on permanent play in the car for quite a while. That's of any band.
[/quote]

Great album!

[wateroftyne]

The lyrics are still very 'Neil'. It's the music that's suffered.

[TimR]

[quote name='wateroftyne' timestamp='1377077191' post='2182930']
The lyrics are still very 'Neil'. It's the music that's suffered.
[/quote]

But shouldn't the music have shifted to suit the lyrics?

Phil Collins shifted his lyrics and Genises music changed style to suit.

If you're singing about Futuristic Cars and Mystical Kingdoms you need great prog opuses. If you're singing about life and love something more down to earth is required.

It would be interesting to be a fly on the wall when they write.

Neil: "Hey guys I've written some great lyrics about dragons."
Geddy: "Excellent, here's some stuff I've been working on recently."
Alex: "mmmm. Dragons."

Vs

Neil: "Hey guys I've written some great lyrics about a girl I used to know."
Getty: "Ok, I'll put together a poppy riff."
Alex: "mmmm. Girls."

[wateroftyne]

I don't mind prog or poppy, as long as the tunes are good. But they ain't.

[iceonaboy]

[quote name='wateroftyne' timestamp='1377080043' post='2183006']
I don't mind prog or poppy, as long as the tunes are good. But they ain't.
[/quote]

But thats just your opinion water, others have a different one

[wateroftyne]

I think I used 'IMO' a couple of times earlier in the thread.

[xilddx]

[quote name='wateroftyne' timestamp='1377080043' post='2183006']
I don't mind prog or poppy, as long as the tunes are good. But they ain't.
[/quote]I can't stand most of S&A but CA has some cracking tunes on it. I think it's a great album. It's hard for old time Rush fans to deal with though. And his voice isn't what it was.

[wateroftyne]

Yeah - there's some good tunes on it, but (IMO) it's not the return to form it's made out to be.

Maybe part of the problem is that albums are too long these days. There's bound to be some filler.

And some of the interludes are straight off a 90s Marillion album.

At least Geddy's playing bass properly again :-)

[xilddx]

[quote name='wateroftyne' timestamp='1377087068' post='2183138']
Yeah - there's some good tunes on it, but (IMO) it's not the return to form it's made out to be.

Maybe part of the problem is that albums are too long these days. There's bound to be some filler.

And some of the interludes are straight off a 90s Marillion album.

At least Geddy's playing bass properly again :-)
[/quote]

I don't get this return to form thing. I would have detested it if they had decided to return to the styles of their heyday, it would have sounded so contrived. I think they made the album they wanted to make.