Can we put Rush in the super prog category?

 

If you take their most commercial album from the 80's, say Power Windows or Hold Your Fire... it is still far less of a cop-out and sell-out than 90125, Love Beach, Abacab, etc. I personally don't believe Rush ever had much of a "low". They have been pretty consistent.

 

They have been very influential, if you remember who they influenced. Prog metal bands owe alot to Rush, where the neo prog bands do not.

 

They are good live. Nice long sets and obvious ability.

 

There is an overlying theme in their music. I guess that's due to the lyrics. But even when the music doesn't sound that proggy, there is still a complex theme that runs through all of their music. There is an arc of progress that only long time fans would notice... but it's there, and it shows that they have a long term plan to put out ideas.

 

Or I could be totally wrong !

 

 

it's because of you Rush fans that still live at your parents house, play Dungeons and Dragons, go to euro board gaming conventions to play tournaments of Puerto Rico and Transamerica, and can't get a girlfriend, that us normal Prog Rock fans have to put up with the stereotype of progheads being dorks that like all that fruity sh*t

 

Aaron

Don't know, never heard the song. It's possible that this song is prog in itself, but it would have to be representative of the majority of their output to make them a prog band.

 

And now for something completely different  ...

 

About the Rush compositions: in the era 77-88, especially between A Farewell To Kings and Moving Pictures, Rush made many longer compositions featuring lots of shifting moods, great dynamics (surprising breaks, mellow and heavy parts and acoustic - and electric movements), tasteful ingredients (Moog Taurus bass pedals, Moog - and Oberhem synthesizers, assorted percussion) and excellent soli. These elements made listening to Rush to a very exciting experience  !

 

 

 

 

More Rush Albums post Hemispheres than pre, therefore the majority of their output isn't Prog. 

 

So Rush (who used to have some Prog tendencies) are not (based on the majority of their output) Prog

 

 

 

Unfortunately,though I am on Holiday,I am still bound by the ancient laws of The Grand Moderator.

 

Therefore I cannot possibly describe Aaron as a moron as that would be disrespectful.......

.....to morons.

 

Nor could I suggest that his presence on this forum is about as welcome as a fart in a space suit.

 

Why the likes of BF get involved in a discussion about Rush is beyond me.We have all accepted that Gong are the only important band in Progressive Rock,despite the fact that Gong are neither progressive nor do they rock.

Whilst Gong were happily ensuring through their winning formula of combining a throwaway joke with soporific musicianship that prog would be confined to the margins,Rush with their lack of imagination,terribly unappealing vocalist and ill-educated unintelligent drummer were struggling to have an impact in the US charts with their #3 albums Permanent Waves,Moving Pictures and Signals.This at a time when Punk and New Wave had ensured the extinction of the dinosaurs.Heck even their Live album ESL got to #6 in the American chart and all the subsequent 80s output went top 10. In the Uk more affected by the Punk explosion Rush managed a string of Top 5 albums and a Top 20 single-this from a Canadian Band! Rush have been a band since 1969 BTW and released their first album in 1974.

Ok so popularity is not a sign of quality,but Rush have never been a commercial band nor have they ever had the weight of the media behind them to help them along.They have always done things their way and are easily the most professional Prog band around.

 

Rush are far more influential to todays Rock,Prog and Metal bands than any of the 70s so-called Supergroups. Read any drum magazine and you will see Peart feted as a god by hundreds of top drummers and the band in general gets namechecked more than all the so-called Prog Supergroups put together. I am not making this up.

But for Rush,none of us would probably be here......

Personally, I have enjoyed Rush since Caress Of Steel came out. I think most of their output has been solid to excellent, whatever the phase. Funnily enough, I was never keen on 2112, or Fly By Night. But the rest of their early stuff, up to Permanent Waves, was, and still is, superb. And yes, I think thair early stuff does have proggish qualities, though the band themselves are, probably, overall, not truely prog in the accepted term.

Caress Of Steel, 2112,A Farewell To Kings and Hemispheres are all very much prog influenced albums. But I also love the later stuff, like Presto, Roll The Bones and Counterparts, though these have little in common with prog really.

Yes, I would say they were and are influencial enough to include in the big 6, they are certainly better than ELP for instance!

(Incidentally, I thought they actually formed back in 1968, while still at school. Of course, this would make them as old, or older than some of the so-called giants. (Yes formed also in '68. ELP came later)

Just out of interest, I do agree that, just because a band rose to prominence early on, it doesn't make that band the best. A quick example: Yes were my second favourite band (behind Genesis) in the '70s. However, I think The Flower Kings, obviously influenced in a big way by them, are far superior, and more consistent musically. (And I still am a Yes fan!)

So yes, give Rush a vote from me. A consistent band over a long period who have been influencial in prog, though mainly in the prog-metal sub genre.