Rush - Post Moving Pictures!

You gotta admit, Alex did play up the 'pretty boy' thing during the first half of the 80s...

Going on looks alone, he almost could have joined Duran Duran for a while there!

yeah we've gone too far off course, especially since I'm on your side of the "Rush never jumped the shark" debate. 

just want to reiterate that when a band's music becomes more generally accessible, it doesn't necessarily mean they've 'sold out' or even 'gone pop' in richardh's definition. Sometimes it just means that they've learned how to express themselves better, and that's all I'm implying when I say that later Rush is more comparatively pop-sounding than their earlier works. Any honest evaluation of the music in our collections will show that there is music that will most likely appeal to a smaller audience and music that lends itself to broader appreciation. It's not like I'm accusing Rush of becoming a boy band!

Calling Rush Pop is like saying that they've gone out of their way to appeal to more people. This obviously could'nt be more from the truth. I don't get how anyone can say this, it's like you're saying "well they're songs arent that long anymore, they must be slacking off, trying to be as popular as possible while not caring as much about the music itself" which, and i'm sure most Rush fans can agree, is anti-everything Rush has ever believed in and gunned for as a band. If there is some rule about song length being the factor of calling a band pop, then i'd like to see it. But since this is all matter of opinion, I guess that's irrelevant. I just don't get it.

rush signals is among their best albums.

power windows has one of their best guitar solos sound and nervous bass playing.

grace has excellent melodic solos, although the overall sound is, like signals, more flat.

they began to decline from hold your fire, although it is still a decent album.

'Time stand still' is a very emotional song. Its underated and ignored by progheads or some old school Rush fans because it was a single and has a happy tune. The song itself is really quite melancholic, and shows an emotionally honest side to Rush, that many think is missing in their music. How wrong they are

Prog_Bassist wrote: RUSH ARE HAVE NEVER BEEN "POP".

I can't argue with that...your name wouldn't happen to be andrea, would it?

I think you may have to live with it getting under your skin, rh...perhaps a lotion of some sort would help? 

Sure, pop means boy bands and disposable divas, but it also means The Beatles, The Stones, AOR in the 70s, New Wave in the 80s, Grunge in the 90s, Frank Sinatra in the 50s, etc...to some people, all rock music is pop music (i.e., not jazz or classical...and I'll wager that to some old school classical fans, jazz is pop music too).

If you equate 'pop' with 'disposable', then sure- Rush never surrendered to commercialism or watered down their songs for 'the kids'...but I was thinking of the term as connoting a more broadly accessible sound, and you'd be hard pressed to argue that "2112" is just as broadly accessible as "Presto", for instance...

With the benefit of hindsight the likes of Power Windows and Hold Your Fire were definitely albums of their time and probably do not stand the test of time. Grace Under Pressure sounds more "proggy" but the production does it no favours. Presto, too, suffers from underwhelming production, and not enough good songs. Roll The Bones only has 3 quality tracks:Bravado, Dreamline and Ghost Of A Chance.The last 3 albums are all well up to scratch but are probably more "sophisticated hard rock" than they are prog.

Rush have changed, for better or for worse. This is the reason they are still here as a viable recording and touring outfit.