Rush - Post Moving Pictures!

I listened to and binned "Signals" - I haven't listened to any Rush album that was after MP!

Point is - Have they produced any tracks since that are longer than 5 minutes and are not POP!

Edited by Swinton MCR

 

My post-MP Rush albums are 'Power Windows', 'Hold Your Fire', and ' Test for Echo'. The first 2 reflect their finest hour during their techno-pop oriented era, since it recaptures much of the complexity of symphonic prog in many tunes (Marathon, Manhattan Project, Mission, Turn the Page). I also enjoy commercial tracks such as Big Money, Time Stand Still and Force Ten, since they are well crafted (besides catchy, of course). The latter also includes lots of complex passages and clever arrangements (Test for Echo, Driven, Time and Motion, Limbo), giving an air of exquisteness to the rough sound they already had achieved in the previous album 'Counterparts'; there is also this beautiful acoustic ballad titled Resist - nevermind the 6 minute stuff, it's a beautiful ballad, with some clever chord twists, and amazing sounds on dulcimer, acoustic guitars, and a delightful eerie guitar solo.  

Regards.

Rush are not and never have been 'POP' (he says again).That descrription of Rush's music really gets under my skin.The nineties albums are excellent and 'Animate' is one of the greatest songs ever written.Prog is not just defined by how long the songs are.

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.

richardh - you don't think the term "pop"  applies to "Time Stands Still" or "Roll the Bones"?

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...

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?

'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

 

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.

Edited by greenback

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.