So excited to be putting videos out more regularly again! Thanks for the comments, suggestions, likes and Subs! Part 1 Here: ruclips.net/video/Ko5mt-PoiAo/видео.html
you have to do 2112, Freewill, the Garden (last song on their last album) and Cygnus X-1 Book 1 and 2. Good instrumental is The Main Monkey Business - Live Rotterdam. you won't be disappointed and love your reviews. Great job. Thanks man.
Dude you need to hear the song "MiddleTown Dreams". I believe that this song is an icon of reinvention in the way Alex plays the guitar. He makes a great combination of his guitar sounds and Ged Lee's keyboards. Many more hardcore Rush fans wrinkle (or wring) their nose at songs written at the time of synthesizers, but the 3 Rush members are musicians above all , not excerpts of a style or sound. They went where their spirit points, and fearlessly explored a new form. They are like a sponge for music, they capture the vibe that surrounds them and manage to synthesize it into music. If music were like architecture, they would be sculptors ...
My all time favorite Rush song. Out of the many AWESOME songs short and long, this one is the winner. I was 12 when this Signals came out and only new RUSH from this song on the radio. I fell in love with it as a 12 year old. I lived in suburbia. Played the video games, lived through that era in some respects as that kid. TIMELESS.
This is Rush, being Rush, in my opinion. The "mature era" or Rush surpasses anything they did before this. I think everyone has been touched in one way or another by any and every song out of their 80's and 90''s catalog. If you haven't heard it before, The Pass, is one that's musically "normal" but has an extremely deep message to it.
It's easy to relate to this song, given how many folks grow up in the burbs or at least spent some portion of their lives there. I like your analysis of how people that live in the burbs tend to settle for what life deals them and not dream, and those that want more are ridiculed. This was kind of the song that transitioned Rush into their synth heavy phase. I think the success of this song back in the 80's may have influenced Rush to continue to make more commercial-friendly music, because they really didn't release too many extended length songs after the album prior to Signals, which of course is Moving Pictures. Most songs from Signals on were in the 3:30 to 5:30 minute range, with only a few topping out at 7+ minutes.
I grew up in that neighbourhood about 60 years ago and this song still kicks me in the nuts. There's a time when all of your possibilities are waving in front of your face. The problem is the same for everyone: which one do you grab and swing out into space on? Just embrace the space, space baby, 'cause the clock is ticking.…
Thank you Tim for checking this one out and thank you for GETTING IT! I alos love the sound of the Oberheim and the Moog and the Rickenbacker! Alex does the bass pedals as well as guitar. Try that out sometime. When you start, you're tripping all over yourself as well as messing up on your main instrument! To play 2 separate lines in tandem, it takes time! Neil is just Neil. If you pay attention, the older stuff that people call "fantasy" from Rush, it's much deeper. Hemispheres when broken down is talking about the 2 Hemispheres of the brain. The fight between love and practicality, arts and science. The last line is "We can walk our road together if our goals are all the same, we can run alone and free if we pursue a different aim. Let the truth of love be lighted, let the truth of love shine clear, sensibility, armed with sense and liberty, with the heart and mind united in a single, perfect, sphere. It's kinda the long way around Subdivisions. What people call fantasy from Rush isn't just fantasy. It's telling a story of fantacy with a real human story behind it. 2112 is fighting oppression over freedom to be who you want to be! Think of Hitler, Joseph Stalin, anybody? Bytor and the snowdog, Angel verses the devils prince, Good verses evil. It goes on. Look past the story. What is the story telling you, teaching you without being like political bands today where the beat you over the head with what they see as right. Rush kind of did that without beating you over the head. You are supposed to come to your own conclusions! Tom Sawyer, thats a shorter version! Dig deeper than what is called fantasy. Rush was called the thinking man's and women's band for a reason. Fantasy comes from reality.
Love this song, definetly in my top 5 of RUSH songs. The lyrics are really relatable, didn't go the traditional route in life myself. Great band, great song with great emotions. Great videos, thank you and much love from Finland.
Haven't read any of the comments, so excuse me if this has been discussed to death. I got into Rush in 1979. I really like the music, but for me, it's always been the lyrics. Just like you with this song, they always make me think. Recommend: 1. Witch Hunt 2. Entre Nous 3. Circumstances 4. The Trees ( a personal favorite) HIGHLY recommend watching the documentary "Beyond the Lighted Stage". For anyone just finding their way to, IMO, the greatest band of all time, it gives a real insight to the band. The bonus "outtake" disk is fantastic as well. Sorry, can't help it. When I see or meet someone starting to get into Rush, I just can't stop talking about them. At 60 years old, you'd think I'd gotten over it :P *edit* If you have an hour to spend, please do 2112 :)
Beyond the Lighted Stage is amazing. The dinner scenes are some of the best insights into how these three goofballs interact and what made them stay so close for all these years.
Analog Kid from their Signals album is a good song with a killer guitar solo in it. Plus the usual all around good musicianship from the three of them. PS huge Rush fan and i love the channel and what your doing with it. Keep cranking those Rush videos out:)
Fun watching your progression into Rush Fan. Now you are beginning to understand their fans and their loyalty over the years. Rush was never just a band to those of us who were hooked. Musically, lyrically, socially. Highly recommend watching their documentary films "Beyond the lighted stage" and "Rush: time stand still". Sorry you weren't there for the whole ride, blessed that I was. Induction ceremony into Rock and Roll hall of fame also a must see.
@@TheAlibabatree no I don't think that's crazy at all , I have been a fan since the early 80's and loved every album. But clockwork angels is a masterpiece. It's not just Owen's story, it's the story of all our lives.
@@chardo3440 I mean crazy, in the sense that its like their 20th album or something, almost 40 years into their career. I dont know of any other artist that has produced such a masterpiece that late in their career.
TheAlibabatree I’ve always been Hemispheres, Grace Under Pressure and Permanent Waves. Just recently though I’m starting to really think that their best might have been their Last!
Really nice personal reflections, man. Like many many Rush fans, I too felt disenfranchised and a poor fit with what I was told I was supposed to want and be happy with, growing up in the suburbs of Denver (on the edge of Lakewood in a SUBDIVISION, before the foothills sprang up, literally "in between the bright lights and the far unlit unknown") where money, fashion, cars and empty pop music held sway. The few of us who gravitated to deeper music and ideas hung together and quietly exchanged records, tapes, movies and art. I agree 1,000% percent with the commenter below who recommended Middletown Dreams, probably my favorite tune off Power Windows and a similar vast and orchestral feeling yet grounded and bittersweet.
In the 80's, after this album Rush became more synth heavy and lighter sounding, until Counterparts in the 90's. A lot of older Rush fans were turned off by this phase, but for me, it's when I initially discovered them. i would say that Neil's lyrics became deeper in a more mature way in this period, and that trend never stopped all the way to the end. I think of Neil more as the lyricist than as the drummer.
Sounds familiar...I "abandoned" Rush after Signals until I took a little notice of Show Don't Tell but fully got back on board with Counterparts. I then revisited the 80's material and, with some time and perspective on my part, found that it was actually incredible. Power Windows is still one of my favorite albums: great melodies, great synths, and moving, relatable lyrics from Neil.
@@randylevy Grace Under Pressure is one of my favorite albums from that time period. I think Hold Your Fire is where they seemed the farthest from their original home genre. They gradually got catchier with Presto and Roll the Bones... but yeah, Counterparts was sort of a homecoming.
Great to see more reaction videos to Rush songs. I was introduced to Rush by a friend in high school in the early 80's. We used to play our Rush music cassettes on our "Boom Boxes" on the school bus going to sporting events. Whenever I hear certain songs I remember those good times. I'd like to suggest "The Camera Eye" from the Moving Pictures album as a reaction video. Thanks for your videos.
You definitely "got" this song. It spoke to you on a level that many of us that were growing when it came out dealt with. Neil's lyrics are so deep here and honestly all of their songs. The song spoke to how he grew up as well as his band mates...they were those outcasts. Check out Losing it, The Garden, Witch Hunt, Spirit of Radio, Closer to the Heart, and the Trees...
there's a series from cradle to stage with the mom of dave grohl interviewing rock moms including grddy. so many were not interested in school and schools didn't really deal with creative kids like alex and geddy.
Meaningful humanity? Check out their “Counterparts” album. Try “Nobody’s Hero” and then “Cold Fire.” I believe that “Animate” is also from that album, which closes with a very inspirational number. A very well produced album that has songs that go up and down the emotional spectrum but that is well balanced if you were to listen to the entire disc.
Hey man I agree. I live my life by asking the question am I happy? My parents are always fretting about money and progressing career etc. I am just like I’m good. I’m happy. There are other things in life that are important to me. I agree with you, I’d rather live modest and be happy than have a bunch of money and be unhappy. Thanks. Signals is becoming my favorite album by them.
Thanks again. All Signals songs were great just like the black album (moving pics) before it. I loved the video to this song as well. Used to wait long hours n suffer all other junk vids for it to come up on mtv Now we take Internet for granted . Hah. Thanks. The last song on Signals is about space shuttle n has actual nasa mission control sounds n sights. Rush actually went there to visit launching of SS Columbia. ..
Being into music so much in high school they did not hang out with the general crowd , they were more into the music , being an outcast does not mean you won’t have a meaning full life , these guys did ok
Analog Kid follows Subdivisions well. Similar theme but more hopeful, less bleak, and great musically. Limelight and Spirit of Radio are both excellent blends of lyrics and amazing music. For truly thought-provoking lyrics, the Fear cycle is great.
It's about a pressure to comply to the system. If you want something that flat out rocking by Rush I'd suggest Headlong Flight off Clockwork Angels. The book is a very dry read but it tells you the concept behind the album. It's was one hell of an album to go out on with their "Swan Song" (The Garden) included.
As someone said in part 1 , The Pass is do touching musicly and lyrically. Gives me goosebumps Everytime I listen to it. Another great one is, Ghost of a Chance. Enjoy the reactions
This was the anthem for every awkward teen Rush fan that felt like they didn't fit in. The lyrics are so poetic: "...in geometic order, and insulated border..." Just so well done. This is obviously from their more synth-heavy era. Neil's playing at this time became so tight and percise. When you listen to Subdivitions again, listen specifically to his cymbal work. He rarely plays a straight rhythm on the ride or high-hat - there's always an interesting little pattern - one of his signatures. As for Alex's playing, he had to reinvent his style during this time as the synths took more prominence. The music was less riff focused, and he was able to create those expansive soundscapes with complex chords, spacy arpeggios and harmonics, and generous use of the whammy bar. Because the synths carried a lot of the rhythm, Alex was able to create parts that accented or were counterpoint to the main theme. Big Money is a cool song where there is good interaction between the guitar and synths. Also, listen to the solo in Red Sector A - it starts with an arpeggio of harmonics and goes into a rhythmic part, playing diads and triads instead of just single notes. Then he ends on a straight-up chord progression that carries the melody. I know they lost fans at this point because the music was less guitar focused, but I can't understand how people can't appreciate the musical growth. On their later albums, Alex had even more tools at his disposal because of this phase, and it made him one of them of the most versitile rock guitarists ever. He never lost the ability to shred either - the live performance of Working Man in Cleveland 2011 (when he was 57) is evidence of that. Cheers!
For Signals, Geddy (mostly with Ben Mink) went off and wrote most of the songs with synths, so Alex didn't have the room to take the lead. On "The Weapon", it's Neil basically playing a drum machine part from Geddy (which Neil has said makes it one of the hardest to play). For Grace Under Pressure, it's almost a reaction from Alex: he goes absolutely riff-crazy to reduce the synths to droning accompaniment (and Power Windows is where the guitars and synth really balance and play off each other). Since I tend to think of Grace Under Pressure as the beginning of the modern Rush sound (there's a lot I hear in every album from then to Clockwork Angels that's not present before Signals), I view Signals as the necessary, but far-from-perfect transition album from Moving Pictures to Grace Under Pressure.
I wish I could describe to you what it was like going to school in the 80s I wish I can take you back there in the song would really it really would blow you away even more if this song was for people like myself they felt like they were cast out they weren’t part of the pool groups
You should try reacting to Roll The Bones, by Rush. Really good song, and even has a rap section of the song, sang by Geddy in a digitally altered version of his voice.
So, more of their songs that reach you on a more personal level. Where does one start for that, there are so many. How about Marathon, The Pass, Mission, Losin it, Roll The bones, Middletown Dreams, Time Stand Still(but don't watch the official video), Between the Wheels, The Weapon, Lock and Key, War Paint, Something for Nothing, and Hemispheres, Cygnus X-1 Book II (but you have to listen to Cygnus X-1 Book I first. There's a few for you to get started.
The word Subdivisions definitely has a double meaning here. There are physical suburban subdivisions full of cookie cutter houses, and then there are the clique subdivisions in High school designed to produce particular forms of teenage rebellion: Underage drinking, underage sex, and, of course, rampant consumer competition. This is the mass production zone designed to produce happy workers and happy consumers. Where do you go when that's not your gig? Into the waiting arms of Rush, that's where. This song is a big hug to every skeptic and cynic who ever looked behind the curtain of the high school experience. Of course drinking, sex, and consumerism were, at worst, greeted with a wink and a smile because all tend to eventually lead to conformism. Drunken sex leads to early marriage and diminished choices. Consumerism leads to more consumerism and the need to fill up the empty hole in your life with stuff. The heart of the song: Detached and subdivided in the mass production zone. Nowhere is the dreamer or the misfit so alone.
Whats takin you so long to do 2112 man? You dont know what you're missing. Just try listenin to the 1st part and you'll find out what earth-shattering music of rush means! Lol!😁
I might offer a slightly alternative conclusion you might draw from this song... I think a reasonable case can be made that normal is not the villain of this story... I think the "villain" is conformity and sheepishly going through life without questioning why and not having purpose. I think one could choose a "normal" life or to even live in a "Subdivision" but it would be for the utility of that lifestyle. If one wanted to raise children and have a fulfilling career that rewarded reliability and/or reputation. This is what city's are meant for... I am a non-conforming musician that did not choose the homogeneous path and I can assure you that my life has still been fraught with anxiety and financial hardships. I did not free myself from being "cast out"... I just was not cast out by the "cool kids"... I understand this mat seem a bit pedantic, particularly when discussing a bands' song lyrics... I am a bass player (30 years now) and RUSH is my "all-time" most inspiring bands... (I hate using terms like favorite) but the lyrics are HUGE part of enjoying RUSH... Did you already do "The Trees (live)"? La Villa & Xanadu are ofcourse amazing but you should check out "Jacob's Ladder" as it has one (I think) the hardest hitting life son guitar solos ever... for Lyrical tune, check out "New World Man" (which I always related to so very much)... Anyway, great video, thanks!
On topic of writing about humanity, I would say maybe almost half of their material has a theme of humanity behind it. Neil was always very connected in that way, especially after his wife and daughter passed away and he went to travel the world.... when they came back to make music again that humanity side to his lyrics was really strengthened. Especially their last 3 albums (vapor trails, snakes and arrows, clockwork angels) are heavily themed on humanity. Some great examples of this from each album starting in 1980: Permanent Waves- Entre Nous Different Strings Moving Pictures- Witch Hunt Vital Signs Grace Under Pressure- Distant Early Warning The Enemy Within Red Sector A Power Windows- Marathon Hold Your Fire- Open Secrets Presto- The Pass Roll The Bones- Dreamline Bravado Counterparts- Nobody's Hero Test For Echo- Driven Half The World Resist Vapor Trails- One Little Victory Ghost Rider Secret Touch Snakes and Arrows- Armor and Sword The Larger Bowl The Way The Wind Blows Faithless Bravest Face Clockwork Angels- BU2B Clockwork Angels Halo Effect The Garden
you mention at the beginning that you have mostly been listening to their older stuff on the channel (which is great!) Would you be interested in listening to some modern stuff as well? they really never stopped making great music... If you do, check out The Garden Live from the clockwork angels tour. Its the last song from their last album, and this song is soaked in emotion. I believe the band wrote it as a goodbye to their fans.
So excited to be putting videos out more regularly again! Thanks for the comments, suggestions, likes and Subs! Part 1 Here: ruclips.net/video/Ko5mt-PoiAo/видео.html
you have to do 2112, Freewill, the Garden (last song on their last album) and Cygnus X-1 Book 1 and 2. Good instrumental is The Main Monkey Business - Live Rotterdam. you won't be disappointed and love your reviews. Great job. Thanks man.
The camera eye
The thing that sticks out to me in Subdivisions is Peart's drum work especially his attention to cymbals/ high hats during track.
Hey guy! I'm surprised that no one has suggested The Camera Eye by Rush. Seriously great song!
Dude you need to hear the song "MiddleTown Dreams". I believe that this song is an icon of reinvention in the way Alex plays the guitar. He makes a great combination of his guitar sounds and Ged Lee's keyboards. Many more hardcore Rush fans wrinkle (or wring) their nose at songs written at the time of synthesizers, but the 3 Rush members are musicians above all , not excerpts of a style or sound. They went where their spirit points, and fearlessly explored a new form. They are like a sponge for music, they capture the vibe that surrounds them and manage to synthesize it into music. If music were like architecture, they would be sculptors ...
Yes, power windows is amazing 😀
One of my favorite songs from Power Windows.
Power Windows may be divisive but IMO one of their best albums.
Those LYRICS and classic time changes! Damn!!🎸🎶👍🎧♥️
My all time favorite Rush song. Out of the many AWESOME songs short and long, this one is the winner. I was 12 when this Signals came out and only new RUSH from this song on the radio. I fell in love with it as a 12 year old. I lived in suburbia. Played the video games, lived through that era in some respects as that kid. TIMELESS.
This is Rush, being Rush, in my opinion. The "mature era" or Rush surpasses anything they did before this. I think everyone has been touched in one way or another by any and every song out of their 80's and 90''s catalog. If you haven't heard it before, The Pass, is one that's musically "normal" but has an extremely deep message to it.
It's easy to relate to this song, given how many folks grow up in the burbs or at least spent some portion of their lives there. I like your analysis of how people that live in the burbs tend to settle for what life deals them and not dream, and those that want more are ridiculed. This was kind of the song that transitioned Rush into their synth heavy phase. I think the success of this song back in the 80's may have influenced Rush to continue to make more commercial-friendly music, because they really didn't release too many extended length songs after the album prior to Signals, which of course is Moving Pictures. Most songs from Signals on were in the 3:30 to 5:30 minute range, with only a few topping out at 7+ minutes.
Emotion Detector will give you chills.
That solo...
@@ctbadger Geddy's bassline, The Professor's cymbal work/percussion and that transition to the 2nd half of the solo? phenomenal
Yes!
I grew up in that neighbourhood about 60 years ago and this song still kicks me in the nuts. There's a time when all of your possibilities are waving in front of your face. The problem is the same for everyone: which one do you grab and swing out into space on? Just embrace the space, space baby, 'cause the clock is ticking.…
Thank you Tim for checking this one out and thank you for GETTING IT! I alos love the sound of the Oberheim and the Moog and the Rickenbacker! Alex does the bass pedals as well as guitar. Try that out sometime. When you start, you're tripping all over yourself as well as messing up on your main instrument! To play 2 separate lines in tandem, it takes time! Neil is just Neil. If you pay attention, the older stuff that people call "fantasy" from Rush, it's much deeper. Hemispheres when broken down is talking about the 2 Hemispheres of the brain. The fight between love and practicality, arts and science. The last line is "We can walk our road together if our goals are all the same, we can run alone and free if we pursue a different aim. Let the truth of love be lighted, let the truth of love shine clear, sensibility, armed with sense and liberty, with the heart and mind united in a single, perfect, sphere.
It's kinda the long way around Subdivisions. What people call fantasy from Rush isn't just fantasy. It's telling a story of fantacy with a real human story behind it. 2112 is fighting oppression over freedom to be who you want to be! Think of Hitler, Joseph Stalin, anybody? Bytor and the snowdog, Angel verses the devils prince, Good verses evil. It goes on. Look past the story. What is the story telling you, teaching you without being like political bands today where the beat you over the head with what they see as right. Rush kind of did that without beating you over the head. You are supposed to come to your own conclusions! Tom Sawyer, thats a shorter version! Dig deeper than what is called fantasy. Rush was called the thinking man's and women's band for a reason. Fantasy comes from reality.
Love this song, definetly in my top 5 of RUSH songs. The lyrics are really relatable, didn't go the traditional route in life myself. Great band, great song with great emotions. Great videos, thank you and much love from Finland.
Haven't read any of the comments, so excuse me if this has been discussed to death.
I got into Rush in 1979. I really like the music, but for me, it's always been the lyrics. Just like you with this song, they always make me think.
Recommend:
1. Witch Hunt
2. Entre Nous
3. Circumstances
4. The Trees ( a personal favorite)
HIGHLY recommend watching the documentary "Beyond the Lighted Stage". For anyone just finding their way to, IMO, the greatest band of all time, it gives a real insight to the band. The bonus "outtake" disk is fantastic as well.
Sorry, can't help it. When I see or meet someone starting to get into Rush, I just can't stop talking about them. At 60 years old, you'd think I'd gotten over it :P
*edit* If you have an hour to spend, please do 2112 :)
Beyond the Lighted Stage is amazing. The dinner scenes are some of the best insights into how these three goofballs interact and what made them stay so close for all these years.
You made mom and dad proud on this one.
🎸🥁🎸 ... 🐐🐐🐐 ... 🎯🎯🎯
Analog Kid from their Signals album is a good song with a killer guitar solo in it. Plus the usual all around good musicianship from the three of them.
PS huge Rush fan and i love the channel and what your doing with it. Keep cranking those Rush videos out:)
My favorite Rush song!!
Fun watching your progression into Rush Fan. Now you are beginning to understand their fans and their loyalty over the years. Rush was never just a band to those of us who were hooked. Musically, lyrically, socially. Highly recommend watching their documentary films "Beyond the lighted stage" and "Rush: time stand still". Sorry you weren't there for the whole ride, blessed that I was. Induction ceremony into Rock and Roll hall of fame also a must see.
"THE GARDEN" live . Clockwork Angel Tour. It's their swan song, last song on their last album. It will bring tears to your eyes
Clockwork angels...best rush album
@@chardo3440 It honestly might be my favorite, which is kinda crazy. The only other albums in contention for me are Hemispheres and Permanent Waves.
@@TheAlibabatree no I don't think that's crazy at all , I have been a fan since the early 80's and loved every album. But clockwork angels is a masterpiece. It's not just Owen's story, it's the story of all our lives.
@@chardo3440 I mean crazy, in the sense that its like their 20th album or something, almost 40 years into their career. I dont know of any other artist that has produced such a masterpiece that late in their career.
TheAlibabatree I’ve always been Hemispheres, Grace Under Pressure and Permanent Waves. Just recently though I’m starting to really think that their best might have been their Last!
It's definitely easier to get wings and follow dreams when you are super talented like these guys! The rest of us drones, well....
Red Barchetta. There's a great song with a great storyline to it.
I'm 22 and love rush, me and the wife , their amazing all 3 guys....RIP NEIL PEART.. I have no idea how they could remember all that that they do lol
Great reaction to "Subdivisions" I somehow missed before...you're one of the best in the business..keep it up brotha .....mean it..Peace!
Marathon is the best song from the Rush 1980's
Really nice personal reflections, man. Like many many Rush fans, I too felt disenfranchised and a poor fit with what I was told I was supposed to want and be happy with, growing up in the suburbs of Denver (on the edge of Lakewood in a SUBDIVISION, before the foothills sprang up, literally "in between the bright lights and the far unlit unknown") where money, fashion, cars and empty pop music held sway. The few of us who gravitated to deeper music and ideas hung together and quietly exchanged records, tapes, movies and art.
I agree 1,000% percent with the commenter below who recommended Middletown Dreams, probably my favorite tune off Power Windows and a similar vast and orchestral feeling yet grounded and bittersweet.
This entire album is awesome.
Geddy's basswork on Digital Man is some of his best work ever.
In the 80's, after this album Rush became more synth heavy and lighter sounding, until Counterparts in the 90's. A lot of older Rush fans were turned off by this phase, but for me, it's when I initially discovered them. i would say that Neil's lyrics became deeper in a more mature way in this period, and that trend never stopped all the way to the end. I think of Neil more as the lyricist than as the drummer.
Sounds familiar...I "abandoned" Rush after Signals until I took a little notice of Show Don't Tell but fully got back on board with Counterparts. I then revisited the 80's material and, with some time and perspective on my part, found that it was actually incredible. Power Windows is still one of my favorite albums: great melodies, great synths, and moving, relatable lyrics from Neil.
@@randylevy Grace Under Pressure is one of my favorite albums from that time period. I think Hold Your Fire is where they seemed the farthest from their original home genre. They gradually got catchier with Presto and Roll the Bones... but yeah, Counterparts was sort of a homecoming.
Have you listened to Witch Hunt. My favorite Rush song and being a huge Rush fan that says something. Give it a shot I feel you would love it.
You obviously liked this. as do I. I would suggest " Middletown Dreams " that kind of plays in this same thread
Great to see more reaction videos to Rush songs. I was introduced to Rush by a friend in high school in the early 80's. We used to play our Rush music cassettes on our "Boom Boxes" on the school bus going to sporting events. Whenever I hear certain songs I remember those good times. I'd like to suggest "The Camera Eye" from the Moving Pictures album as a reaction video. Thanks for your videos.
You definitely "got" this song. It spoke to you on a level that many of us that were growing when it came out dealt with. Neil's lyrics are so deep here and honestly all of their songs. The song spoke to how he grew up as well as his band mates...they were those outcasts. Check out Losing it, The Garden, Witch Hunt, Spirit of Radio, Closer to the Heart, and the Trees...
there's a series from cradle to stage with the mom of dave grohl interviewing rock moms including grddy. so many were not interested in school and schools didn't really deal with creative kids like alex and geddy.
Meaningful humanity? Check out their “Counterparts” album. Try “Nobody’s Hero” and then “Cold Fire.” I believe that “Animate” is also from that album, which closes with a very inspirational number. A very well produced album that has songs that go up and down the emotional spectrum but that is well balanced if you were to listen to the entire disc.
Try "Spirit of Radio" and "Freewill".
Hey man I agree. I live my life by asking the question am I happy? My parents are always fretting about money and progressing career etc. I am just like I’m good. I’m happy. There are other things in life that are important to me. I agree with you, I’d rather live modest and be happy than have a bunch of money and be unhappy. Thanks. Signals is becoming my favorite album by them.
Thanks again.
All Signals songs were great just like the black album (moving pics) before it. I loved the video to this song as well. Used to wait long hours n suffer all other junk vids for it to come up on mtv
Now we take Internet for granted .
Hah.
Thanks. The last song on Signals is about space shuttle n has actual nasa mission control sounds n sights. Rush actually went there to visit launching of SS Columbia. ..
Being into music so much in high school they did not hang out with the general crowd , they were more into the music , being an outcast does not mean you won’t have a meaning full life , these guys did ok
Man, you are gonna love Power Windows... start with Middletown Dreams or Mission
John Davis 100% agree.
Mission is on Hold Your Fire.
Mission, it’s pure genius.
Analog Kid follows Subdivisions well. Similar theme but more hopeful, less bleak, and great musically. Limelight and Spirit of Radio are both excellent blends of lyrics and amazing music. For truly thought-provoking lyrics, the Fear cycle is great.
It's about a pressure to comply to the system.
If you want something that flat out rocking by Rush I'd suggest Headlong Flight off Clockwork Angels.
The book is a very dry read but it tells you the concept behind the album.
It's was one hell of an album to go out on with their "Swan Song" (The Garden) included.
You got to check out “The Analog Kid”, “Losing It” and the Cygnus series. I prefer Cygnus X1 book 2, but I suppose you should start with book1.
Cygnus x2 is the best i do not consider Cygnus x1 one of their best
Like this old gentleman told me once, when he found out he was dying. He’s said he worked,worked, worked all is life, yet he never lived.
Awesome video man
The whole Power WIndows album. You won't be disappointed.
Counterparts is another album worth checking out.
The camera Eye ,,, Yes but also Jacobs Ladder from R40's
The Garden (live version from final tour), will bring a few years to your eyes. Check it out!.
Caravan or headlong flight from their last album,clockwork angels.
Losing it or Analog Kid. Losing it has a wicked Electric violin solo by Ben Mink who sits in.
Agreed on "Losing It," it is an utterly amazing song with heart-wrenching lyrics. Also "Countdown" from the same album.
Witch Hunt by RUSH, is pretty heavy. The Trees, Losing it are in the same category, listen to the words. Peart was a great lyricist.
Have you reviewed 2112? The live 1997 version is special! Lyrics and theme are influenced by Ayn Rand's writing.
I second this! The 1997 live version of 2112 complete on the Test For Echo Tour is phenomenal. A good vid to react to and enjoy.
As someone said in part 1 , The Pass is do touching musicly and lyrically. Gives me goosebumps Everytime I listen to it. Another great one is, Ghost of a Chance. Enjoy the reactions
This was the anthem for every awkward teen Rush fan that felt like they didn't fit in. The lyrics are so poetic: "...in geometic order, and insulated border..." Just so well done. This is obviously from their more synth-heavy era. Neil's playing at this time became so tight and percise. When you listen to Subdivitions again, listen specifically to his cymbal work. He rarely plays a straight rhythm on the ride or high-hat - there's always an interesting little pattern - one of his signatures. As for Alex's playing, he had to reinvent his style during this time as the synths took more prominence. The music was less riff focused, and he was able to create those expansive soundscapes with complex chords, spacy arpeggios and harmonics, and generous use of the whammy bar. Because the synths carried a lot of the rhythm, Alex was able to create parts that accented or were counterpoint to the main theme. Big Money is a cool song where there is good interaction between the guitar and synths. Also, listen to the solo in Red Sector A - it starts with an arpeggio of harmonics and goes into a rhythmic part, playing diads and triads instead of just single notes. Then he ends on a straight-up chord progression that carries the melody. I know they lost fans at this point because the music was less guitar focused, but I can't understand how people can't appreciate the musical growth. On their later albums, Alex had even more tools at his disposal because of this phase, and it made him one of them of the most versitile rock guitarists ever. He never lost the ability to shred either - the live performance of Working Man in Cleveland 2011 (when he was 57) is evidence of that. Cheers!
For Signals, Geddy (mostly with Ben Mink) went off and wrote most of the songs with synths, so Alex didn't have the room to take the lead. On "The Weapon", it's Neil basically playing a drum machine part from Geddy (which Neil has said makes it one of the hardest to play). For Grace Under Pressure, it's almost a reaction from Alex: he goes absolutely riff-crazy to reduce the synths to droning accompaniment (and Power Windows is where the guitars and synth really balance and play off each other). Since I tend to think of Grace Under Pressure as the beginning of the modern Rush sound (there's a lot I hear in every album from then to Clockwork Angels that's not present before Signals), I view Signals as the necessary, but far-from-perfect transition album from Moving Pictures to Grace Under Pressure.
I wish I could describe to you what it was like going to school in the 80s I wish I can take you back there in the song would really it really would blow you away even more if this song was for people like myself they felt like they were cast out they weren’t part of the pool groups
The only issue us die-hards had during this synth period in their musical progression was the fact that Alex's role was minimalized somewhat.
Anything that has happened in your life can be found is Rush's catalog......
You should try reacting to Roll The Bones, by Rush. Really good song, and even has a rap section of the song, sang by Geddy in a digitally altered version of his voice.
The rap portion is actually Alex. Saw it at a concert.
So, more of their songs that reach you on a more personal level. Where does one start for that, there are so many. How about Marathon, The Pass, Mission, Losin it, Roll The bones, Middletown Dreams, Time Stand Still(but don't watch the official video), Between the Wheels, The Weapon, Lock and Key, War Paint, Something for Nothing, and Hemispheres, Cygnus X-1 Book II (but you have to listen to Cygnus X-1 Book I first. There's a few for you to get started.
Between The Wheels off of Grace Under Pressure is a good one to react to and appreciate Alex’s killer solo.
Alex let’s go on Driven. Official video.
Great reaction/ analysis. Check out the Big Money ( studio version NOT edited video version), Animate, Everyday Glory.
DUDE!!!!!! LISTEN TO "THE PASS" and "THE GARDEN" you will bow further.........
I recommend 2112
The word Subdivisions definitely has a double meaning here. There are physical suburban subdivisions full of cookie cutter houses, and then there are the clique subdivisions in High school designed to produce particular forms of teenage rebellion: Underage drinking, underage sex, and, of course, rampant consumer competition.
This is the mass production zone designed to produce happy workers and happy consumers.
Where do you go when that's not your gig?
Into the waiting arms of Rush, that's where. This song is a big hug to every skeptic and cynic who ever looked behind the curtain of the high school experience.
Of course drinking, sex, and consumerism were, at worst, greeted with a wink and a smile because all tend to eventually lead to conformism. Drunken sex leads to early marriage and diminished choices. Consumerism leads to more consumerism and the need to fill up the empty hole in your life with stuff.
The heart of the song: Detached and subdivided in the mass production zone. Nowhere is the dreamer or the misfit so alone.
Check out "big money" from RUSH.
Please please do cygnus x1 book 1 at the least it's going to blow your mind
Can't wait till you get to Afterimage
The problem with this song is, when growing up in the city, group think takes over and is almost impossible to get out of it.
how 'bout some uncle neil young? down by the river...on the beach...cortez the killer...like a hurricane...et. al
I can tell you that you are on the money. Sticking with a job that you hate will break you down, if you get my meaning.
Check out The Pass off of Presto! Great story and thought provoking’
vital signs atlanta
Whats takin you so long to do 2112 man? You dont know what you're missing. Just try listenin to the 1st part and you'll find out what earth-shattering music of rush means! Lol!😁
I might offer a slightly alternative conclusion you might draw from this song... I think a reasonable case can be made that normal is not the villain of this story... I think the "villain" is conformity and sheepishly going through life without questioning why and not having purpose. I think one could choose a "normal" life or to even live in a "Subdivision" but it would be for the utility of that lifestyle. If one wanted to raise children and have a fulfilling career that rewarded reliability and/or reputation. This is what city's are meant for... I am a non-conforming musician that did not choose the homogeneous path and I can assure you that my life has still been fraught with anxiety and financial hardships. I did not free myself from being "cast out"... I just was not cast out by the "cool kids"... I understand this mat seem a bit pedantic, particularly when discussing a bands' song lyrics... I am a bass player (30 years now) and RUSH is my "all-time" most inspiring bands... (I hate using terms like favorite) but the lyrics are HUGE part of enjoying RUSH... Did you already do "The Trees (live)"? La Villa & Xanadu are ofcourse amazing but you should check out "Jacob's Ladder" as it has one (I think) the hardest hitting life son guitar solos ever... for Lyrical tune, check out "New World Man" (which I always related to so very much)... Anyway, great video, thanks!
Witch Hunt if you like meaningful and relevant philosophy/
...Get caught in clicking traps!
Red Sector A IS NO FANTASY SONG!!!
They don't write songs like that now...most shit is garbage..dumbed down..
On topic of writing about humanity, I would say maybe almost half of their material has a theme of humanity behind it. Neil was always very connected in that way, especially after his wife and daughter passed away and he went to travel the world.... when they came back to make music again that humanity side to his lyrics was really strengthened. Especially their last 3 albums (vapor trails, snakes and arrows, clockwork angels) are heavily themed on humanity.
Some great examples of this from each album starting in 1980:
Permanent Waves-
Entre Nous
Different Strings
Moving Pictures-
Witch Hunt
Vital Signs
Grace Under Pressure-
Distant Early Warning
The Enemy Within
Red Sector A
Power Windows-
Marathon
Hold Your Fire-
Open Secrets
Presto-
The Pass
Roll The Bones-
Dreamline
Bravado
Counterparts-
Nobody's Hero
Test For Echo-
Driven
Half The World
Resist
Vapor Trails-
One Little Victory
Ghost Rider
Secret Touch
Snakes and Arrows-
Armor and Sword
The Larger Bowl
The Way The Wind Blows
Faithless
Bravest Face
Clockwork Angels-
BU2B
Clockwork Angels
Halo Effect
The Garden
you mention at the beginning that you have mostly been listening to their older stuff on the channel (which is great!)
Would you be interested in listening to some modern stuff as well? they really never stopped making great music...
If you do, check out The Garden Live from the clockwork angels tour. Its the last song from their last album, and this song is soaked in emotion. I believe the band wrote it as a goodbye to their fans.