Misdee

Rush trying to be the Police worked pretty well, I agree. It was a refreshing shift in direction. By the time they were trying to channel the Foo Fighters, however, the game was up.

I know the don't, but I could console myself with one.🙂

Everyone is entitled to their own favourites, that's great, but what strikes me when I listen even to the older Rush albums is that right from when Neil Peart joined the band everything was there in place even then. If you listen to Fly By Night they're already three individually brilliant musicians who combine to make a whole even greater than the sum of those parts. The opening track, Anthem, is a tour de force that lets the world know something special is happening here so pay attention. Not many bands can play like that, then or now.

I first saw them live on the Permanent Waves tour in 1980. I remember my older brother's friends going to their gig at Sheffield City Hall on the Farewell To Kings tour, and that was their first ever UK performance. I also remember my school friends going to the one-off show at Stafford New Bingley Hall in the autumn of 1979, also now a legendary gig. Rush were a special band in those days, they had a certain mystique that probably couldn't exist nowadays in the post-internet age of unbridled access. That was their golden age.

I always felt about Rush that from the mid-'80's onwards their songs and arrangements got progressively worse to the extent that they were making albums that were mainly dense,dreary and very hard to listen to. Musically, their best albums were busy but still with space and contrasting textures. Geddy's keyboard playing contributed a lot to that, I think. . Like so many bands, as they aged it became find that elusive thing that made the songs interesting in their earlier days. It's to Rush's credit that they experimented and tried to stay current, but at a certain point it wasn't working but they kept doing it anyway because they couldn't think of anything else to do

The last time I saw Rush was in Sacramento on the Counterparts tour. They were flawless but a bit detached. Seemed like to them it was just another gig to notch off the schedule, which I suppose is understandable. Anyhow, What's for certain is that Anika Niles will now be the most Googled drummer in the world! The more I see her play the more I think she's a good fit for Rush.

It's easy to forget nowadays, but for a very long time I mostly had one bass at a time, at the most two, and I had to sell that bass in order to buy whatever I fancied to replace it. I figured it was better to have one or two good basses than a few cheaper ones. This back in the days when most inexpensive instruments were pretty poor. From when I started playing I always aspired to the best quality instruments, and I was in a process of progressively trading upwards from that point. Having a few basses is a luxury I really appreciate nowadays, even if I'm not using most of them regularly. I just like having them around.

Your right, it's a conspiracy.

Again, stillI don't really know what reverse misogyny is or how I would be involved. I never said it was a fact that they had chosen a female drummer to divert comparisons with Peart, I explicitly said I didn't know. I just said it was very significant that they had, and that would be the effect. They have created a narrative of how and why they chose her. I was reading it this afternoon. And as with any narrative, what's left out can be as important as what's included.

I think vintage instruments can get better with age to the extent that over time owners might have gotten their faults addressed by a luthier. I've played countless vintage Fenders over the years, some were enjoyable, some less so, but they didn't sound other-worldly compared to a nice new one. The sound just isn't that different. It's more the feel and what that gives you. I don't think there's much milage in their electronics maturing like wine and improving. The pickups do tend to get more microphonic over the years and I suppose that will change the tone a bit.

I don't think Rush having a female drummer is any kind of a token gesture or social statement. It is, however, a way of circumventing comparisons with Neil Peart. I've been watching Anika Niles a bit on YT. She's obviously a very technical player and will easily be able to play those songs. It's more Geddy and Alex I'm worried about! She's the right kind of drummer for Rush. The wrong kind of drummer would have been a groove-based player, like most famous session drummers.

What I indignant reverse misogyny baloney is that ? I think what you mean is that you don't feel the drummers gender is relevant, and feelings are not facts. You have no more evidence that gender isn't relevant than I have that it is. If your so sure it isn't relevant tell us why. I'm genuinely interested to hear why you feel the need to forbid discussion on the subject.

I don't like late-era Rush with Neil Peart on drums. I wouldn't like that music with a new drummer, either. That's the point. I would say Grace Under Pressure was the last decent Rush album. After that they made albums with a few good tracks on, at best, then after Test For Echo they made albums with no good tracks on.

I know, but nothing sounds like a Wal. A proper Alembic would be an acceptable substitute, I suppose. That's a whole other can of worms.

I think it's very significant that they've chosen a female drummer. Any male drummer is going to be directly compared to Niel Peart, probably not favourably no matter how well he plays. Choosing a woman for that role opens any such criticism to claims of misogyny. I don't doubt there has already been a narrative created that detracts from that motive, but it's unlikely to be a complete coincidence. I have to be honest and say that, although I'll be interested in how this all turns out, I wasn't that keen on the later era of Rush with Neil Peart, let alone a stand-in. I wouldn't have turned out to see Rush nowadays, regardless. It's not just Rush, I find all these stadium-filling rock legends shows to be a hollow shell of whatever they are trying to recreate. The Rolling Stones are still touring, but if you go to the show you still haven't really seen the Rolling Stones. That ship sailed decades ago. Your just seeing a few guys who were there at the time, probably from a great distance. It's not so much a celebration of the music as a chance to marvel at seeing them in the flesh for a bit while they are still alive. The same with The Who, et al. I expect this will be a greatest hits kind of show, fair enough I hope everyone enjoys it,bbut I saw Rush play live plenty of times in their heyday. They were a special band in those days, and that's how and when I like to remember them. I don't need any more momentos.

I have to take issue with the idea that Neil Peart could be bettered as a drummer in the sense that it's not a case of good, better, best. There are better drummers than John Bonham, but none of them could have improved Led Zeppelin. There are and always were much better trumpeters than Miles Davis, but he was Miles Davis. Niel Peart had a style and a delivery that made him iconic. It's not just what he played, it's what he represented at a particular time. Put a "better" drummer in Rush and their music would be diminished, not enhanced. I thought most of his lyrics were bloody awful, though. I am sure this semi-reunion will be rapturously received but I think it's a bit of a tragic to be yearning so strongly for the past. I never imagined Rush would go this route. I suppose Geddy must be bored of polishing his basses. I just hope the intervening years haven't diminished Geddy and Alex's prowess. I see so many artists who go on performing after time has robbed them of what once came so effortlessly. It's painful to watch.

Waller, but without the "ler" at the end. From Ian Waller, co-founder of the company.

If people are willing to pay £9 grand for a vintage Wal then good luck to them, and well done to whoever is managing to sell them at that price. I would love to buy a Wal but I don't want an old one and all the associated problems for that kind of money. I'd much rather have a new one made by Paul Herman, but last I heard it was a six year wait. When you get to a certain age six years is a maybe rather than a when. I'll just have to make do with something else.

The Who were never the same again, and they have staggered on making increasingly worthless music into the present. And as for the The Foo Fighters, Taylor Hawkins seemed like a lovely chap and a decent drummer, but he wasn't comparable to Neil Peart or indeed Keith Moon in terms of his sonic imprint on the sound of the band. Led Zeppelin packed it in after John Bonham died. Good decision. The reunions with Jason Bonham were a mistake, and Jason's a fantastic drummer in his own right uniquely placed to substitute for his truly iconic dad. It's nothing to do with playing ability or even music. It's about accepting that something very special is over and cannot be recreated. Everything in life is a time and a place. The time and place that Rush belonged to is gone now, nothing will ever bring it back. That's nothing to be sad about, though. It's what makes what they had so wonderful.

I'm not saying they shouldn't do it, but I wish they wouldn't do it. If Geddy and Alex want to get out there playing music together again, fantastic. Get this drummer and keyboard player in and start a new band. Trust me, people would turn out to see them in droves. They've got nothing to prove, their legend is intact. They should leave it that way.

1988 waste fledgling days of five string basses. More often than not bass builders were offering designs that were essentially 4 string models with a fifth string added, not necessarily likely to garner good results when it comes to a successful and satisfactory five string design. This Alembic may well have fallen in that category. If you've got that kind of cash to spend you can do much better. Feel free to run your next prospective purchase by us first. As someone once wisely said, not many great ideas were come up with by a committee, but a lot of bad ideas were killed off by one.

I can actually remember when these colours were on the newest USA Fenders in my local music shop. I can vividly recollect a bright yellow Jazz Bass. That was just around the time I was shopping for my first proper bass. I think they were Fenders attempt to stay relevant to the "new wave" of that time. General consensus at the time was that they looked bloody awful, but nowadays they look pretty good to me! Just shows you how times and tastes can change.

A good bass is a good bass, expensive or not so expensive. It's just that if a brand loses it's aspirational dimension then it has no direction. It becomes like trying to sell replica kits for a mid-table Sunday League football team. Why would people want them? G&L is such a loss to the market because they have unique features and sounds that no one else has to offer. The L1000 and L2000 are inimitable, nothing else sounds like them.