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progismylife View Drop Down
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Points: 15535 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: March 07 2007 at 16:06
Originally posted by micky micky wrote:

Originally posted by progismylife progismylife wrote:

Thanks micky. I'll be sure to post reviews of Rush albums in the future(that are probably going to go into a little more depth than the ones on PA). As well as on my blog. Big%20smile 


my two cents...  disect a theme.. not meerly a rehash of  reviews. .pick a theme... like what I suggested.. the evolution in their sound.. and let that be the theme that runs through each album's 'review'  Unlike a standard review.. no one is going to care what you personally think of the album... is it good..bad.. prog?.. yadda yadda...    take a theme.. make it interesting. 

back off of the soapbox hahahha.


I'll probably do what you suggest. Starting with the debut all the way up to their newest album (but I don't have Vapor Trails Cry )
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micky View Drop Down
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Points: 46833 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: March 07 2007 at 16:03
Originally posted by progismylife progismylife wrote:

Thanks micky. I'll be sure to post reviews of Rush albums in the future(that are probably going to go into a little more depth than the ones on PA). As well as on my blog. Big%20smile 


my two cents...  disect a theme.. not meerly a rehash of  reviews. .pick a theme... like what I suggested.. the evolution in their sound.. and let that be the theme that runs through each album's 'review'  Unlike a standard review.. no one is going to care what you personally think of the album... is it good..bad.. prog?.. yadda yadda...    take a theme.. make it interesting. 

back off of the soapbox hahahha.
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Points: 13244 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: March 07 2007 at 15:47
Ben - well done. As Micky wrote you could go more in depth - and knowing you a bit, you will in due time. I agree with what you write in general, but would like to add that the fact that Rush used a bit of pop influence on their more recent albums could be considered progressive as well. Didn't they also dare to incorporate reggae influences in songs like The Spirit of Radio? Using what is new or modern (or pop if you will) and blend it into your own creative output is definitely anything but regressive. Clap

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progismylife View Drop Down
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Points: 15535 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: March 07 2007 at 15:23
Thanks micky. I'll be sure to post reviews of Rush albums in the future(that are probably going to go into a little more depth than the ones on PA). As well as on my blog. Big%20smile 
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Points: 46833 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: March 07 2007 at 14:40
not bad Ben...  I'll leave my feedback for another time.. this is your stage.. not mine for my crackpot ideas on Rush hahahhaha.  I'd suggest something like Hugues EXCELLENT Jefferson Ariplane blog... take a gander at that.  That is the way to do a single group blog subject.  Tackle them album by album.. like any group worth it's salt.. and jokes aside... Rush is...  you can't pigeonhole them and theri sound evolved over the years which is a great complement in my book... regardless of how many people want Rush to revisit the 2112 years.. they have evolved past that.  Use your blog to trace that.  I'd be curious to what you see and think.  My two cents
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Points: 15535 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: March 07 2007 at 14:32

Is Rush progressive rock?

First off they are progressive rock in the sense that they have the necessary albums to merit their inclusion (Caress of Steel through to Moving Pictures). This is not what this article hopes to discuss. I am more concerned about the later years (Signals to Vapor Trails). It has been said that these albums are not progressive albums but have progressive songs (meaning that the band has a certain element to them that can be considered progressive but the band is not, in fact, progressive rock). I disagree. The 1980's Rush output is just as prog as the '70's output.

For example, these albums may not have long songs with extended pieces in them but they do have a  theme about them. It is not a concept album but rather an album that has one singular theme in all the songs (sort of lie Dark Side Of The Moon by Pink Floyd). Grace Under Pressure is as the album title suggests is about despair and troubled times. Signals is about signals sent out in society and life. Signals being about life and societies views of what is popular and makes you "cool", Chemistry about the signals sent in the body (science stuff). Power Windows is about how power can be and is corrupted.

Now we come to what seems to be a weaker point in Rush's discography, Hold Your Fire. If you take a quick glance you cannot see anything behind the songs of this album. But once you look into the lyrics and keep the songs in context with one another, it is clearly seen that its theme is about life and aspects that come with that, Lock and Key being about the anger that dwells within us all and that we try to stifle that part of us behind lock and key.

At this point in time Rush decided to move on and progress away from the synthesizer period. Most people consider the synthesizer period as a pop side of Rush but pop means what was popular at that time and does not have connotations that it is not progressive rock music, it is just progressive rock that happens to be popular (like Pink Floyd) . If Rush was concerned about popularity they would have done what the public would want from them, more synthesizer music. But, being a progressive rock band, they decided to once again go in a different direction. It marks another section of Rush. The music changed but the theme based albums did not. Roll the Bones is about chances and Counterparts is about, well, counterparts to life. Rush may have returned to their roots, but this is not regressing. They decided to make music that was more guitar oriented that included mainstream style (a bit). But it was not mostly mainstream style. They took what was popular at that time and made it their own. They even strayed away a bit (with the instrumental tracks on Roll the Bones and Counterparts).

Clearly Rush is a progressive rock band by the way they changed musical style (a few times) and by their album content. If they stayed in the same style this would not be progressive rock since they would not be moving their music in different directions. And the fact that they have made many albums with theme based lyrics suggests that this is the work of a progressive rock band.

Thanks to Easy Livin' for helping me edit this a bit. What do you guys think?
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