T.O.- RUSH

[yogi]

I saw Rush last night in Dallas for the first time ever. I have NEVER owned a Rush album, casette or CD. UNBELIEVEABLE show. TRULY incredible. No opening act, they took the stage @ 7:50 pm. They had a 20 minute intermission and they played until 11pm. 27 songs and just a GREAT GREAT show.

There was over 15,000 in attendance and their music was the type of music that Styx used to make on albums such as Equinox, The Grand Illusion & Pieces Of Eight. Their( Rush) fans were rabid. It really made me wonder if Styx may have made somewhat of a mistake when they changed directions on Cornerstone.

This was a TRUE rock concert. Man do their fans love them and damn were they good. This from a band that had a total of 1 top 40 song. Classic, Classic progressive hard hitting rock and roll. One of the best concerts that I have ever been to.

[StyxCollector]

lol where the fuck have you been? How is it possible you don't even own Moving Pictures?

And no offense, but Styx never, ever sounded like Rush. Having played in a Rush tribute band and loving Styx I can tell you the bands aren't even in the same ballpark.

[yogi]

There was too much other music at the time that I liked better( Styx, Journey, Pink Floyd, Triumph etc...).

Styx was in' The Rush' the ball park with albums like Equinox, Grand Illusion, Pieces Of Eight. Not the same, but they were an album oriented type of band. Just listen to side 2 of Equinox, The Grand Illusion & Pieces of Eight. These are all DEEP album classic tracks. The type of rock music that I heard last night.

It 'now'( where the hell have I been???) seems to me that these are the type of bands that have the rabid TOTAL die hard fans. Once Styx got away from album type rock to singles type rock( Cornerstone, Paradise Theatre, Kilroy) they may have pulled in literally thousands of more fans but they sure were not the die hard fans that I saw last night.

The fans I saw last night were almost cultish they were so into these obscure progressive unbelieveable tracks of music.

I still probably wont go out and purchase a Rush CD, but I for sure would go see them again.

[Born4adventure]

There was too much other music at the time that I liked better( Styx, Journey, Pink Floyd, Triumph etc...).

Styx was in' The Rush' the ball park with albums like Equinox, Grand Illusion, Pieces Of Eight. Not the same, but they were an album oriented type of band. Just listen to side 2 of Equinox, The Grand Illusion & Pieces of Eight. These are all DEEP album classic tracks. The type of rock music that I heard last night.

It 'now'( where the hell have I been???) seems to me that these are the type of bands that have the rabid TOTAL die hard fans. Once Styx got away from album type rock to singles type rock( Cornerstone, Paradise Theatre, Kilroy) they may have pulled in literally thousands of more fans but they sure were not the die hard fans that I saw last night.

The fans I saw last night were almost cultish they were so into these obscure progressive unbelieveable tracks of music.

I still probably wont go out and purchase a Rush CD, but I for sure would go see them again.

Triumph? Really?

[yogi]

LOVED Triumph!!

[cittadeeno23]

Triumph.....a talented group of musicians who cannot stand to be in the same room together! Sound familiar???!!

[StyxCollector]

There was too much other music at the time that I liked better( Styx, Journey, Pink Floyd, Triumph etc...).

Styx was in' The Rush' the ball park with albums like Equinox, Grand Illusion, Pieces Of Eight. Not the same, but they were an album oriented type of band. Just listen to side 2 of Equinox, The Grand Illusion & Pieces of Eight. These are all DEEP album classic tracks. The type of rock music that I heard last night.

It 'now'( where the hell have I been???) seems to me that these are the type of bands that have the rabid TOTAL die hard fans. Once Styx got away from album type rock to singles type rock( Cornerstone, Paradise Theatre, Kilroy) they may have pulled in literally thousands of more fans but they sure were not the die hard fans that I saw last night.

The fans I saw last night were almost cultish they were so into these obscure progressive unbelieveable tracks of music.

I still probably wont go out and purchase a Rush CD, but I for sure would go see them again.

I don't think you get it ... and that's speaking as a die hard Rush and Styx fan. And after seeing the show you still wouldn't go get a Rush CD? I don't get that even more.

Er, no. The 1st Rush album sounds nothing like Styx. Neither does FBN, CoS, 2112, AFTK, Hemispheres, etc. If you were comparing, say, Styx I and songs like "Movement for the Common Man" - maybe. Many "die hard" Rush fans dislike the keyboard era (82 - 88 ), others anything after Moving Pictures (post-1981). Some love it all.

Rush stopped really doing anything truly "progressive" I would say after Hemispheres or PeW (Jacob's Ladder and Natural Science are the last true songs like that; Camera Eye is just the same song twice). Rush made the transition to a band who wrote 4 - 7 minute songs starting in 1979/80 with PeW. Styx always tried to have hit albums. Rush would have been done if 2112 didn't make it.

I suggest you see the documentary just done on Rush (Beyond the Lighted Stage).

[cittadeeno23]

Allan,
I love 2112 and all the early stuff and was into Rush in the 70's. But for some reason, I like the later stuff better. I think they are getting better as time rolls on. I think Counterparts is my favorite album. I know most diehards would disagree with me.
What did you think of Snakes and Arrows?

Jim

[Born4adventure]

LOVED Triumph!!

emmet is great but other than some really good songs they are kind of a joke

[StyxCollector]

Allan,
I love 2112 and all the early stuff and was into Rush in the 70's. But for some reason, I like the later stuff better. I think they are getting better as time rolls on. I think Counterparts is my favorite album. I know most diehards would disagree with me.
What did you think of Snakes and Arrows?

Jim

Well, as much as I like most Rush, my favorite is the Signals to Hold Your Fire period. That's the one thing about Rush - you won't get all fans unanimously saying which is the best era unlike most bands (for example, people will generally point to GI, Po8, or PT for Styx).

From a playing standpoint, I think they are better now although I think they do need to dial some stuff back a bit.

Honestly, I don't really like T4E, VT, or S&A. CP was the last album I really liked from them. T4E, VT, and S&A had some OK songs but overall they don't really work for me and rarely see rotation.

[yogi]

Yo Arthur, I mean Alan. Just because I didnt play in a Christopher Cross cover band doesnt mean I dont get it.

Are you hearing through my ears?

I probably NEVER purchased a Rush album because I do not really like Getty Lee's vocals. I like him in limited doses( 1 or 2 songs at a time on the radio), but NOT an entire albums worth.

The concert was GREAT. They are TRULY fantastic. Their fans worshipped them something like I have NEVER seen before. Something I believe could have happened to Styx had they remained true to their roots and continued to produce albums like Equinox, Grand Illusion & Pieces Of Eight.

That is what I believe.

I would see Rush again in a minute. But I wont purchase an album. Does that make me a bad person???


P.S. Just A Game & Rock & Roll Machine were GREAT albums!!! Also loved The Cars back then!!!

[MCM]

I saw this show a few weeks ago here in Pittsburgh, it was truly a fantastic show, it could very well be the best Rush show I've seen. The Pittsburgh show was spot on with none of the technical difficulties which seem to have plagued this tour. They were on fire all night with a lot more interaction between the three of them than what we normally see. I think so far this entire tour I've only read one unfavorable review.

Yogi - I'm one of those Rabid fans that you speak of, following them thru all of their musical incarnations since 1978. As much as I love Styx, I'm thinking they were never in the same ball park with Rush, but I'm not a musician so what do I know. I think the Rush fan is a much more "fanatical" being than the Styx fan is, at least from what I've seen, not having the normal band tensions, breakups and replacements may be part of that. With Rush you don't have any division in the fan base aside from those who are pro-keyboard and anti-keyboard or the "old Rush good-new Rush bad" You need to go out right now and purchase the entire catalog, Ged's voice is an acquired taste, if you start at the beginning you'll love it by the time you get to Caress of Steel.
If you're in the "I hate Geddy Lee's voice" camp, You may have enjoyed the show more than you thought you would as his voice is much different that it was at the time they were getting a lot of airplay. His voice has matured of course and is quite different that what most people expect based on something like Anthem or even the studio version of Tom Sawyer.


Allan - I'm one of those crazys who really does like almost all eras of Rush, with the exception of T4E. If Ged is singing it, it can't be bad, that's my theory. Some took longer to love but it's all the evolution of the same "sound" I know I would love VT more if it were cleaned up and you could just hear it, but that's a whole other topic. The earlier albums Rush, CoS, 2112, Hemispheres, AFtK, do get much more time in my player that those that you cited, (signals to HYF) but I do tend to gravitate to the albums I loved when I was a kid. I've said for a long time that HYF has some of Ged's best vocal work, even if the album itself is a little more poppy and softer than you would expect from Rush. It seems that his voice is/was very well suited to that whole middle section of their career. Given what we've heard so far from the two new tracks, which are very heavy and busy, I'm looking forward to the rest of this new album. I was lucky enough to see the new doc on the big screen and it was well worth the wait, it was very well done and I think it would be entertaining for even a non fan or casual fan.

[stmonkeys]

rush was here last night? really? where did they play? i saw them on the signals and grace under pressure tours. back in the good ol' days when i went to shows! LOL


gotta chime in on triumph. saw them 3 times back in the day. always put on a great show! saw rik a few times solo/acoustic in the late 90s/early 00s. go check him out if you can! i know he was recently in cleveland and detroit. you will NOT be disappointed!

[StyxCollector]

rush was here last night? really? where did they play? i saw them on the signals and grace under pressure tours. back in the good ol' days when i went to shows! LOL

Did you see them at Radio City during the warmup tour before they recorded GUP? If so I hate you ... lol

[StyxCollector]

I saw this show a few weeks ago here in Pittsburgh, it was truly a fantastic show, it could very well be the best Rush show I've seen. The Pittsburgh show was spot on with none of the technical difficulties which seem to have plagued this tour. They were on fire all night with a lot more interaction between the three of them than what we normally see. I think so far this entire tour I've only read one unfavorable review.

I saw the Boston show and I've seen Rush on every tour since '88 (and Tommy opened for them when I saw them at the Spectrum in '88 ) ... this was the best Rush show I've ever seen even with some technical glitches.

Yogi - I'm one of those Rabid fans that you speak of, following them thru all of their musical incarnations since 1978. As much as I love Styx, I'm thinking they were never in the same ball park with Rush, but I'm not a musician so what do I know. I think the Rush fan is a much more "fanatical" being than the Styx fan is, at least from what I've seen, not having the normal band tensions, breakups and replacements may be part of that. With Rush you don't have any division in the fan base aside from those who are pro-keyboard and anti-keyboard or the "old Rush good-new Rush bad" You need to go out right now and purchase the entire catalog, Ged's voice is an acquired taste, if you start at the beginning you'll love it by the time you get to Caress of Steel.
If you're in the "I hate Geddy Lee's voice" camp, You may have enjoyed the show more than you thought you would as his voice is much different that it was at the time they were getting a lot of airplay. His voice has matured of course and is quite different that what most people expect based on something like Anthem or even the studio version of Tom Sawyer.

CoS isn't as bad as people make it out to be, but much better than the past few. Sadly, I think I listen to more Rush than Styx ... yet Styx is my favorite band. Go figure.l

Allan - I'm one of those crazys who really does like almost all eras of Rush, with the exception of T4E. If Ged is singing it, it can't be bad, that's my theory. Some took longer to love but it's all the evolution of the same "sound" I know I would love VT more if it were cleaned up and you could just hear it, but that's a whole other topic. The earlier albums Rush, CoS, 2112, Hemispheres, AFtK, do get much more time in my player that those that you cited, (signals to HYF) but I do tend to gravitate to the albums I loved when I was a kid. I've said for a long time that HYF has some of Ged's best vocal work, even if the album itself is a little more poppy and softer than you would expect from Rush. It seems that his voice is/was very well suited to that whole middle section of their career. Given what we've heard so far from the two new tracks, which are very heavy and busy, I'm looking forward to the rest of this new album. I was lucky enough to see the new doc on the big screen and it was well worth the wait, it was very well done and I think it would be entertaining for even a non fan or casual fan.

Actually HYF is my favorite Rush album (but admittedly I listen to PoW and GUP more ... GUP is a VERY close second), and has some of Ged's best bass work ("Turn the Page" ... 'nuff said). That said, as with Styx, I may be a die hard, but I'll call a spade a spade if I don't like it. The past few albums seem uninspired to me - very much a ProTools cut and paste, Rush riff affair. I'm hoping the new one is better. T4E has one of my favorite songs to play - "Driven". It always went over well when we were doing the tribute band.

[Don]

Pink Floyd is the king of stage works, then you have Rush, followed by Iron Maiden. The top three of great live productions.

[masque]

i am also a DIE HARD Rush fan. my favorite string of albums from rush are a farewell to kings thru Hold Your Fire. I like the early stuff and I like some of the later stuff.....2112 and counterparts are huge to me as well. but overall they are one of the few bands that I can actually listen to just about any of their albums and enjoy.

to my ears their is really nothing similar about styx and rush. styx with their big vocals always sounded much more commerical than rush even when they were being a little "progressive".....songs like midnight ride and born for adventrue, while less commercial dont sound like anything rush ever did to me.

i think one of the primary reasons rush fans are so rabid is because they never had mainstram radio succes with hit singles. so their fans are just that.....true fans......rush has never really been the flavor of the month.....they got real close in the summer of 1981 but for the most part their fan base grew from live perfomance and word of mouth because their albums were incredible. sitting at a rush concert for the vast majority of the audience means that they know every song, ever word, what amps were used to record the album, what book Neil was reading at the time he wrote the lyrics etc...

when styx exploded and were all over the radio like tons of other bands you had lots of people showing up at the shows because they loved that song they heard on the radio but knew little about the album the song was from or the band in general.....it's like when you hear people say "oh, i love pink floyd....HE's so good" or "man that jethro tull is a great flute player". that dont really know anything about the band other than they like th esong on the radio.

99% of rush fans are not like that and that isa big part of their rabid fan base in my opinion.

[cinj]

I would agree that Rush and Styx are not very similar, but I do think it's funny that there are so many people, including myself, who love them both.

I DO NOT, however, think Styx would have been "another Rush" had they continued in the vein of GI and PO8. I think the public would have gotten tired of them very quickly and, instead, they would have turned into another .38 Special.


Cinj

[stmonkeys]

rush was here last night? really? where did they play? i saw them on the signals and grace under pressure tours. back in the good ol' days when i went to shows! LOL

Did you see them at Radio City during the warmup tour before they recorded GUP? If so I hate you ... lol

no, both times were at the nassau coliseum.

[MCM]

I saw this show a few weeks ago here in Pittsburgh, it was truly a fantastic show, it could very well be the best Rush show I've seen. The Pittsburgh show was spot on with none of the technical difficulties which seem to have plagued this tour. They were on fire all night with a lot more interaction between the three of them than what we normally see. I think so far this entire tour I've only read one unfavorable review.

I saw the Boston show and I've seen Rush on every tour since '88 (and Tommy opened for them when I saw them at the Spectrum in '88 ) ... this was the best Rush show I've ever seen even with some technical glitches.

Yogi - I'm one of those Rabid fans that you speak of, following them thru all of their musical incarnations since 1978. As much as I love Styx, I'm thinking they were never in the same ball park with Rush, but I'm not a musician so what do I know. I think the Rush fan is a much more "fanatical" being than the Styx fan is, at least from what I've seen, not having the normal band tensions, breakups and replacements may be part of that. With Rush you don't have any division in the fan base aside from those who are pro-keyboard and anti-keyboard or the "old Rush good-new Rush bad" You need to go out right now and purchase the entire catalog, Ged's voice is an acquired taste, if you start at the beginning you'll love it by the time you get to Caress of Steel.
If you're in the "I hate Geddy Lee's voice" camp, You may have enjoyed the show more than you thought you would as his voice is much different that it was at the time they were getting a lot of airplay. His voice has matured of course and is quite different that what most people expect based on something like Anthem or even the studio version of Tom Sawyer.

CoS isn't as bad as people make it out to be, but much better than the past few. Sadly, I think I listen to more Rush than Styx ... yet Styx is my favorite band. Go figure.l

Allan - I'm one of those crazys who really does like almost all eras of Rush, with the exception of T4E. If Ged is singing it, it can't be bad, that's my theory. Some took longer to love but it's all the evolution of the same "sound" I know I would love VT more if it were cleaned up and you could just hear it, but that's a whole other topic. The earlier albums Rush, CoS, 2112, Hemispheres, AFtK, do get much more time in my player that those that you cited, (signals to HYF) but I do tend to gravitate to the albums I loved when I was a kid. I've said for a long time that HYF has some of Ged's best vocal work, even if the album itself is a little more poppy and softer than you would expect from Rush. It seems that his voice is/was very well suited to that whole middle section of their career. Given what we've heard so far from the two new tracks, which are very heavy and busy, I'm looking forward to the rest of this new album. I was lucky enough to see the new doc on the big screen and it was well worth the wait, it was very well done and I think it would be entertaining for even a non fan or casual fan.

Actually HYF is my favorite Rush album (but admittedly I listen to PoW and GUP more ... GUP is a VERY close second), and has some of Ged's best bass work ("Turn the Page" ... 'nuff said). That said, as with Styx, I may be a die hard, but I'll call a spade a spade if I don't like it. The past few albums seem uninspired to me - very much a ProTools cut and paste, Rush riff affair. I'm hoping the new one is better. T4E has one of my favorite songs to play - "Driven". It always went over well when we were doing the tribute band.

Since I don't seem to have the skills to break up a post and reply to individual paragraphs, I'll just throw all this our there:

You got the show with the impromptu Alex Rant during La Villa? We got a little replay of the Boston show when they started La Villa, Alex stepped up to the mic and stated "I have guitar"

Styx was my first love, but I do listen to a lot more Rush these days than Styx, I think this is because there is just so much more to choose from with Rush that it doesn't get stale as quickly. Even I get bored with GI and Po8 over and over.

CoS has morphed into one of my favorites lately, I think that it is a much better album than it gets credit for, I can't understand why it gets thrown to the bottom of the pile.

HYF is a very good album, start to finish, even Tai Shan That was the first tour that I attended, missed seeing Tommy as the opener, I saw the Buffalo show and we got MSG. I think Tommy was the opener on the show before and after the one I saw. I do prefer earlier over some of the latter, S&A is not what I had hoped after hearing the first few seconds of Far Cry. I skip about half of the songs when I listen to it but always pick Working them Angels at least twice over. Driven is at the bottom of my list, everyone else seems to love it but I just don't seem to get that one.

[StyxCollector]

You got the show with the impromptu Alex Rant during La Villa? We got a little replay of the Boston show when they started La Villa, Alex stepped up to the mic and stated "I have guitar"

Yes I did see the rant. At first it almost seemed like a joke but you quickly realized it wasn't. Rush of old would probably have not handled that well. Now, they roll with the punches and it created a great moment.

Styx was my first love, but I do listen to a lot more Rush these days than Styx, I think this is because there is just so much more to choose from with Rush that it doesn't get stale as quickly. Even I get bored with GI and Po8 over and over.

I have to agree with this. Styx doesn't come close in terms of variety and depth of catalog. Anyone who argues otherwise is off their rocker. HYF and the S/T album are about as different as different can be, yet both great in their own way.

CoS has morphed into one of my favorites lately, I think that it is a much better album than it gets credit for, I can't understand why it gets thrown to the bottom of the pile.

CoS is clearly a bridge album - even they call it that. And the fact it tanked at the time and almost ended their career I think has a lot to do with it.

Driven is at the bottom of my list, everyone else seems to love it but I just don't seem to get that one.

It rocks, it's got energy, and fun as hell to play (especially on bass). It sounds more like a CP leftover to me.

[yogi]

So Allan why not be in a Rush tribute band instead of a Christopher Croos tribute band??? That would have carried alot more weight and I would probably go out and purchase Moving Pictures or Spirit of Radio( Greatest Hits).

P.S. Is a tribute band the same as a cover band? Is it kind of like a pre owned car used to be a used car???

Its harder to say that a pre owned car is a piece of shi t, It was easy to say that a used car was a piece of shi t!!

[Mr JY Roboto]

Styx and Rush sound nothing alike. There were some similarities between them though.....toured some together, were on FM radio, shared many of the same fans, Gowan is Canadian, etc. They did not however share female fans early on as Rush had practically none prior to 1979. The 3 members of Rush truly like each other. The Styx guys never have. BIG difference when it comes to longevity.

[pinkfloyd1973]

The 3 members of Rush truly like each other. The Styx guys never have. BIG difference when it comes to longevity.

Not necessarily, egos just got in the way later on

[Everett]

The 3 members of Rush truly like each other. The Styx guys never have. BIG difference when it comes to longevity.

Not necessarily, egos just got in the way later on

Doesn't help when one guy writes ballad after ballad.

[pinkfloyd1973]

The 3 members of Rush truly like each other. The Styx guys never have. BIG difference when it comes to longevity.

Not necessarily, egos just got in the way later on

Doesn't help when one guy writes ballad after ballad.

Are you quoting that tired old argument too? And btw...what the hell is "Yes I Can"?

[StyxCollector]

The 3 members of Rush truly like each other. The Styx guys never have. BIG difference when it comes to longevity.

Not necessarily, egos just got in the way later on

Doesn't help when one guy writes ballad after ballad.

Guess you're ragging on Tommy, too, for showing his soft side. "Sing for the Day", "Boat on the River", "She Cares", "Haven't We Been Here Before" (which happens to be one of my favorite Styx tunes), "Yes I Can" ... and so it goes.

And for the record, I think the guys in Styx DID like each other and were friends. At some point as happens in most bands they drift, get into other things (musically and otherwise), and grow apart much like any other normal relationship. No way they stuck it out that long if even on some level they didn't like each other.

[SuiteMadameBlue]

The 3 members of Rush truly like each other. The Styx guys never have. BIG difference when it comes to longevity.

Not necessarily, egos just got in the way later on

Doesn't help when one guy writes ballad after ballad.

Do you really think you're going to sit by me or participate in any "events" at the DDY show in Chicago with that comment? Seriously?

Really? it didn't help that one guy was writing ballads? That's one thing that made Styx so unique, it was the variety of songs that they wrote and sung. No songs really sounded the same as the other, that's one reason they lasted long as they did compared to other bands during that time.

Some of you on here that bash Dennis are real idiots and not true Styx fans, really!

[Saint John]

lol ... if Everett gets out of line before, during or after Dennis' set, SMB is gonna kick his ass while I hold him down. Here's to hoping he acts like a doucher.

[Archetype]

The 3 members of Rush truly like each other. The Styx guys never have. BIG difference when it comes to longevity.

Not necessarily, egos just got in the way later on

Doesn't help when one guy writes ballad after ballad.

Tommy has written plenty of ballads. So there's two out of the three.

Plus the Damn Yankees ballads, which are generally atrocious, are associated with Tommy Shaw. "Here I Come Again"...*puke*