Which Rush songs to listen to??

[silverfoxnik]

Hi Folks

A friend of mine is coming over from the States in October and he's a mate of Geddy Lee so he's invited me to go see them at Wembley with him; free tickets, access all areas, get to meet the band afterwards etc, etc!! All of which is brilliant and I realise I'm very lucky to be asked..I'm sure it'll be a real blast and I'm really looking forward to it!

But, to be honest, I've never listened to Rush before and don't know anything about them other than the fact that Geddy is a great player and certainly, one of the most respected bassists around. Truth be told, I'm probably more aware of him as a bassist because he has long been a user of Wal basses, rather than knowing of him through his music - though I understand he pretty much uses a Fender Jazz all the time these days?

Anyway, to spare my blushes, I really need to swot up a bit beforehand. So I wanted to ask all you Rush / Geddy fans which Rush tunes are the real gems in their collection, the ones I should definitely get to know before Oct 9th??

Any help much appreciated, thanks

Nik

[Subthumper]

Not heard the last few albums but Moving pictures was the first album I ever heard.Only seven tracks tracks but has lots of layers and some of they're best songs,though I expect there will be plenty of opinions when you consider how long they've been around.Would love to see them.Sounds like your in for a great night.
Cheers Just

[Bassassin]

Let me be the first to say - you lucky, lucky barsteward! Some of us had to [b]pay[/b] for our tickets!!

Anyway, as Rush play a marathon 3-hour set on this tour (not bad for old codgers in their 50s) I thought it would be an idea to post the entire set list that they've being playing to date:

[i]The black bars are spoiler tags, for the sake of anyone who doesn't want to see the setlist before the gig - click & drag to highlight them & you'll be able to read the text.[/i]

[spoiler]Set 1:

Video Intro

01. Limelight
02. Digital Man
03. Entre Nous
04. Mission
05. Freewill
06. The Main Monkey Business
07. The Larger Bowl
08. Secret Touch
09. Circumstances
10. Between The Wheels
11. Dreamline

Intermission

Set 2:

Video Intro

12. Far Cry
13. Workin' Them Angels
14. Armor And Sword
15. Spindrift
16. The Way The Wind Blows
17. Subdivisions
18. Natural Science
19. Witch Hunt
20. Malignant Narcissism
21. Drum Solo
22. Hope
23. Summertime Blues [i]or[/i] Distant Early Warning
24. The Spirit Of Radio
25. Tom Sawyer

Encore:

26. One Little Victory
27. A Passage to Bangkok
28. YYZ[/spoiler]

So, you've got a bit of homework to do!

And when you get to meet old Bignose, give him the address of this place & suggest he pops 'round!

Jon.

Edited September 23, 2007 by Bassassin

[beerdragon]

[quote name='Bassassin' post='63960' date='Sep 22 2007, 09:44 AM']Let me be the first to say - you lucky, lucky barsteward! Some of us had to [b]pay[/b] for our tickets!!

Anyway, as Rush play a marathon 3-hour set on this tour (not bad for old codgers in their 50s) I thought it would be an idea to post the entire set list that they've being playing to date:

[spoiler]Set 1:

Video Intro

01. Limelight
02. Digital Man
03. Entre Nous
04. Mission
05. Freewill
06. The Main Monkey Business
07. The Larger Bowl
08. Secret Touch
09. Circumstances
10. Between The Wheels
11. Dreamline

Intermission

Set 2:

Video Intro

12. Far Cry
13. Workin' Them Angels
14. Armor And Sword
15. Spindrift
16. The Way The Wind Blows
17. Subdivisions
18. Natural Science
19. Witch Hunt
20. Malignant Narcissism
21. Drum Solo
22. Hope
23. Summertime Blues [i]or[/i] Distant Early Warning
24. The Spirit Of Radio
25. Tom Sawyer

Encore:

26. One Little Victory
27. A Passage to Bangkok
28. YYZ[/spoiler]

So, you've got a bit of homework to do!

And when you get to meet old Bignose, give him the address of this place & suggest he pops 'round!

Jon.[/quote]

Why am i seeing black bars instead of a set list. but its ok in the reply

[anti-barbie]

I'd suggest listening to 2112.


Personally i like Freewill as well

[Bassassin]

[quote name='beerdragon' post='63965' date='Sep 22 2007, 11:03 AM']Why am i seeing black bars instead of a set list. but its ok in the reply [/quote]

Spoiler tags - highlight them & you'll see it OK.

J.

[silverfoxnik]

[quote name='beerdragon' post='63965' date='Sep 22 2007, 11:03 AM']Why am i seeing black bars instead of a set list. but its ok in the reply [/quote]
I'm seeing that too??

Thanks guys for the suggestions - I realise I am a lucky barsteward so my homework is my penance for that fact!

[i]"And when you get to meet old Bignose, give him the address of this place & suggest he pops 'round!

Jon."[/i]

Good idea Jon - will suggest it if I get the chance..

Nik

[Cygnus x-1]

They are all awsome, but my personal favorite is 'A farewell to kings' Xanadu & Cygnus x-1 are BBBBBBBBBBest!

[bass_in_ya_face]

I've discovered Rush recently. IMHO there are about 15% of the tracks worth listenening to....the rest were just boring.

Far Cry,YYZ & Freewill are my favourites.

Geddy Lee's playing is brilliant but his vocals really grate on me after a while....the best Rush tracks are the instrumentals!

My tip is to check what are an artists most downloaded tracks in itunes. That gives you a good idea what are the best

Edited September 22, 2007 by bass_in_ya_face

[acidbass]

Xanadu
Freewill
La Villa Strangiato
YYZ
Red Barchetta
Tom Sawyer
Spirit Of Radio
Working Man

...all spring to mind. Fantastic tunes! Anything off Exit Stage Left is required listening too IMO!

Enjoy your Rush experience - it was so much fun getting into them, hopefully you'll feel the same!

[nig]

Hi Nik, snakes and arrows, the one the tour is for is a great album, alot of it is on the set list, im going too,tuesday I think, which day are you going, i'll buy you a beer.

[ZPQ]

The new album is great and there is now a ltd edition with a dvd that includes a vid showing them recording it.

There are so many great albums that I'd probably suggest one of the compilations - the last live cd or dvd from the R30 tour takes a lot of beating imho.

Cheers
John

(I'm seeing them in Newcastle, Sheffied and Manchester )

[silverfoxnik]

[quote name='nig' post='64229' date='Sep 22 2007, 11:59 PM']Hi Nik, snakes and arrows, the one the tour is for is a great album, alot of it is on the set list, im going too,tuesday I think, which day are you going, i'll buy you a beer. [/quote]
Hi Nig,

Good to hear from you..I'm going Tuesday 9th I think so hope to see you there!! I'll PM you my mobile so we can arrange to meet somewhere inside the building??

And thanks to one and all for the song suggestions; that'll keep me busy over the next 2 weeks for sure.. Seems Geddy / Rush really have a lot of fans!

Cheers

Nik

[gypsymoth]

don't listen to anything.
be surprised/stunned/ or sadly disappointed, but take it as a opportunity to go in blind and see it for what it is, rather than comparing to this or that record or wishing they would play this or that, as fans invariably do.

[nig]

[quote name='gypsymoth' post='64265' date='Sep 23 2007, 06:59 AM']don't listen to anything.
be surprised/stunned/ or sadly disappointed, but take it as a opportunity to go in blind and see it for what it is, rather than comparing to this or that record or wishing they would play this or that, as fans invariably do.[/quote]

Thats a moot point, I do agree with you, however, im not a rush fan, but bought snakes and arrows as im a bit of a 3 piece prog rock sucker... and im glad I now have a reference on the songs for live otherwise I may not have connected with their style or indeed song length ! so without the knowledge of their back catalouge but an understanding of the sound they make, I agree that for me most of the set will be 'blind' and to that end im exicted to see them.

Nik...I still have your number im tues 9th N9 ROW V SEAT 97. hope to see ya !

[bnt]

In my experience, you can roughly generalise Rush fans in to two categories: those who think Rush stopped doing anything worthwhile in 1981 (with [i]Exit Stage Left[/i]), and those who think they've been doing good stuff all along. I'm in the latter camp, and didn't even discover them until [i]Power Windows[/i] in 1985. That was the album where Geddy first used a Wal, the lightly-strung one belonging to producer Peter Collins.

I used to be on The National Midday Sun ([url="http://www.t-n-m-s.com/"]TNMS[/url]), the UK Rush forum, which has a good proportion of members who say Rush is their favourite band, yet have very little good to say about anything they've released in the last 25 years, and wish they'd play only old tunes in concert. Well, if a band's Progressive, they're naturally going to Progress, and fans don't get to pick the direction they Progress in...

Edited September 23, 2007 by bnt

[Bassassin]

[quote name='bnt' post='64317' date='Sep 23 2007, 12:02 PM']In my experience, you can roughly generalise Rush fans in to two categories: those who think Rush stopped doing anything worthwhile in 1981 (with [i]Exit Stage Left[/i]), and those who think they've been doing good stuff all along...[/quote]

That's so very true - I'd put myself firmly in the latter camp too - although I've always felt their output was incredibly uneven - the fact they've always experimented stylistically means they miss the mark a lot, to my ears. However, their moments of brilliance are transcendent, and outweigh everything that doesn't quite work.

I think [i]Snakes & Arrows[/i] is generally excellent - the best work they've done in many years, by a long way, and the tour setlist is great from a fan's perspective - lots of new material & lots of stuff they've seldom played live before. Very confident & forward-looking for a band that's been around for 33 years.

Your comments about the TNMS forum are spot on. It's largely populated by middle-aged (hark at me! ) heavy rock fans with the same taste & attitude now that they probably had when they were at school. They felt betrayed the first time Rush experimented with a reggae feel (that little break in [i]Spirit Of Radio[/i], probably ) and it's all been downhill from there...

J.

[nig]

@bnt...get off your arse and get a gig...lol,

[silverfoxnik]

[quote name='nig' post='64306' date='Sep 23 2007, 11:29 AM']Thats a moot point, I do agree with you, however, im not a rush fan, but bought snakes and arrows as im a bit of a 3 piece prog rock sucker... and im glad I now have a reference on the songs for live otherwise I may not have connected with their style or indeed song length ! so without the knowledge of their back catalouge but an understanding of the sound they make, I agree that for me most of the set will be 'blind' and to that end im exicted to see them.

Nik...I still have your number im tues 9th N9 ROW V SEAT 97. hope to see ya ![/quote]
Hi Nig...Great - will definitely try and find you on the night!

BTW folks, I didn't mean to open a great big debate up about Rush, though it is very interesting to read it all and thanks for the help. Like all bands that are successful and have been around a long time, they obviously divide opinion which to my mind is a good thing. Much rather that than be middle of the road and keep everyone happy..

I'm going to listen to some of the songs beforehand that people have suggested but I'm expecting that they will be much better live than on record. Great players and great bands always are and I'm looking forward to that whatever the records sound like!

Cheers
Nik

[MB1]

MB1.

Rush, Rush.....sorry thats Paula Abdul......ill get my coat!....

[Tee]

What, no 'Stick it Out'? ^_^

[Paul_C]

if it's anything like the time I saw them at the MEN Arena, I'd take some earplugs

[wateroftyne]

[quote name='Paul_C' post='64862' date='Sep 24 2007, 05:07 PM']if it's anything like the time I saw them at the MEN Arena, I'd take some earplugs[/quote]

I saw them there on the R30 tour and it sounded great where I was... you just never know what you're going to get at them gigs. It's all down to your seat number.

[bnt]

[quote name='Tee' post='64843' date='Sep 24 2007, 04:36 PM']What, no 'Stick it Out'? ^_^[/quote]
No, Leave That Thing Alone!

[Lenny B]

2112
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