Geddy Lee & Rush - Still Got It?

[spongebob]

Hopefully they'll be loads of people here who can help with this....

I got into Rush in the late 80's (as a teen), and after a period of putting them to the back, have been recently getting back into it. I love the stuff up to 'Moving Pictures'....but from what I heard after that (up to the late '80s), their stuff left me a bit cold. Too many synths and 80's production sounds.

However, I have been hearing some good stuff about their recent output. Any impartial Rush fans here who could help? Have they returned to the majesty of their classic years? Where can I go next?

Or did the band lose it the minute Geddy put down his Ric? Incidentally, why did he put it down in the first place??

[just_bassics]

I agree completely.

After Moving Pictures, Rush parted ways with Terry Brown and things changed quickly. Although I do like much from Signals and Grace Under Pressure, the high tech Sci Fi era left me cold and I stopped listening after that. I still love the old stuff, everything up to MP. The new CD was a return to form for Rush and I liked it when I first heard it, but haven't given it too many more listens.

They will always be great in my book, however, just not the same since Geddy put down the Ric. His Ric tone was one of themain reasons I was listening, it's one of the best out there, IMO, of course!

[Becky]

As Jim alluded to, the 80s really was the sci-fi era; digital synths were the New Magical Technology, just as Moogs and knobs and patch cords were in the early 70s. Rush wasn't alone in adopting new recording techniques, when production values brought about that super clean, sharp, zingy tone to the music. I think in some ways the instruments themselves suited different recording and production styles, when an 8-bit synth that exelled in 'chimes' and 'tings', or the more clinical active circuitry of a Yamaha or Alembic, matched the pinstripe-suited, shiny hi-tech mood of the day. A Precision or 4001 running through a '72 Marshall Superbass set to growl somehow doesn't capture that mood.

The music followed that trend as well, more slashy chords suited the shrill edge of the day; an Emulator II suddenly let you play motorcycle engines and twittering birds and bizarre combinations of organic and synthetic textures that supported - and benefitted from - the clean production. There were still just as many notes being played though, and that's perhaps why I like a great deal of the 1980s Rush catalogue. We know the boys have always tried to change and develop as much as possible from album to album, so even though they went through their Soundtrack Roland pads and sports jackets and ponytails era , they came out of it too.

I still get a kick out of listening to The Fountain of Lamneth and Cygnus X-1 and all that stuff, too. When they began to leave the 80s sound, they had their 'grunge' period with Counterparts and the global village-commentary period of Test For Echo. The latter took me a long time to like, while Vapor Trails ought to have been great but to me sounded like an aimless project without melodic hooks or guitar solos. Snakes and Arrows, on the other hand, is brilliant. It's got tunes you can sing along to and Geddy is being all inventive again, and plays the hell out of a fretless Jazz in one tune.

[mikeyesfan]

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[cassius987]

My favorite Rush albums are Permanent Waves and Signals. And... yes... Vapor Trails. I don't think they have gotten any worse over time. Their most recent album is quite solid. And they can still bring it when they tour.

Geddy's tone has absolutely nothing to do with his Ric... you could give that guy a cardboard bass and he'd still sound like Geddy.

[jps]

...or the more clinical active circuitry of [an Alembic], matched the pinstripe-suited, shiny hi-tech mood of the day.

Say that to Phil Lesh! Or any Deadheads, for that matter.

[jps]

I too, lost interest in Rush after Power Windows, which is an okay album. The glory years, for me, ended with Grace Under Pressure.

[woodyng]

i've always enjoyed rush on an intermittant basis. there are entire albums (and eras) that i am not familiar with. they were one of those bands that i never purchased albums on a regular basis,except for moving pictures,and presto,both of which i stil enjoy in terms of songwriting (lyrics) and the band sound. those are 2 pretty diverse sounding albums. i do think geddy's use of the rick is special,but it would probably have sounded out of place on presto for example.....

[leftybass]

You guys are a hard crowd.

They evolved, like any other band. 'Revolver' didn't sound much like 'With The Beatles', did it...???

Same with Rush.....their influences ebb and flow. 'Snakes And Arrows' is their best album since 'Counterparts'........

[FretlessOnly]

You guys are a hard crowd.

They evolved, like any other band. 'Revolver' didn't sound much like 'With The Beatles', did it...???

No, it sure sounded a whole lot better.

In any case, you're correct; bands evolve. Not as a musician, but just speaking as someone with ears, I do critique bands I like. That's not "hard," it's just reality. And as a consumer, I've every right to be thrilled or disappointed with whatever any band puts out, and to speak about that.

The general concensus of dozens of people I know or have spoken with is that after Moving Pictures, Rush did some lesser albums, and finally "re-saw" the light in the 90s. Your results may vary, of course.

[rickenbrother]

I didn't care for Geddy's tone with the Steinberger boatpaddle. I didn't care for the tone he got with the Wal either. Too thin and wimpy. I'm sure it wasn't the Wal that made the thin tone, it had to be the eq he used...but if he liked that, then why would he say that one of the reasons why he uses the J@zz Bass instead of the Rick, is that he gets better low end with the J@zz Bass.

[cassius987]

Ironically, Rics have more fundamental than Jazz Basses by virtue of the maple. It's actually the first harmonic that Geddy is referring to--maple has a dip in them, whereas alder is pretty even across the board.

Seriously though, I can't hear any difference with Geddy regarding the instruments he uses--just between albums, regardless. All of the "Ric albums" sound quite different because he was always experimenting with EQ. The Ric tone from Moving Pictures to Signals is RADICALLY different.

[Mossman]

Hopefully they'll be loads of people here who can help with this....

I got into Rush in the late 80's (as a teen), and after a period of putting them to the back, have been recently getting back into it. I love the stuff up to 'Moving Pictures'....but from what I heard after that (up to the late '80s), their stuff left me a bit cold. Too many synths and 80's production sounds.

However, I have been hearing some good stuff about their recent output. Any impartial Rush fans here who could help? Have they returned to the majesty of their classic years? Where can I go next?

Or did the band lose it the minute Geddy put down his Ric? Incidentally, why did he put it down in the first place??

I don't think Rush/Geddy ever lost or regained anything... As others have said, Rush were/are all about evolving and experimentation... You can't please everybody all the time. I'm a long-time Rush fan, and there are certainly some albums I could seriously do without (Hold Your Fire, Roll the Bones, Vapor Trails), but I've always respected their integrity. They never catered to the common denominator, or tailored their music to fit the commercial mainstream. There's not many bands with Rush's longevity that you can say that about. I'd rather have to put up with a few lackluster albums than listen to them churn out the same formula over and over again... If I don't like their most recent record, at least I know the next one will be different. And even with the albums I don't much care for, the musicianship and virtuosity is still in full force. It's not like they ever got lazy, or rested on their laurels.

A Rush album is a little like sex... When it's good, it's great! And when it's bad..... well... It's still kinda good.

I like Snakes and Arrows a lot... But I wouldn't say it owes anything to their 70's Prog-Rock days... I wouldn't hold my breath (or fire) waiting for them to come out with another "Hemispheres" or go back to writing 12-minute-long opuses like Xanadu... Any similarities to their "old sound" may have something to do with the fact that the producer for this outing was a genuine Rush fan, and he tried to engineer some of those old colors and textures into the music.

In regards to Geddy and the Rick; I have a lot of nostalgia for that... When I was a young lad and heard "Exit...Stage Left" for the first time, I couldn't believe a bass guitar could sound like that! It was a monster! From that point forward, I was absolutely certain that I wanted to be a bassist (Paul McCartney had something to do with that too, but for different reasons) Even though Geddy put the Rick down some 25 years ago, (and of the 17 times I've seen Rush, I've never seen him play a Rickenbacker live), I still associate him with it, and it with him.

As to why he put the Rick down in the first place; I don't think he put the Rick down so much as he picked the Steinberger up... Geddy claims that it was more for its maneuverability on stage (surrounded by keyboards and mic stands) than anything else. Plus it's a good deal lighter than a Rick... I read an interview with him once in which he said, looking back, he had no idea what he was thinking when he chose it as his main bass... It's so thin and punchy sounding, it doesn't really lend itself to Rush's sound very well... However, I do understand what he saw in the Wal... I had a friend who owned one, and it was just an amazing bass to play... It was so effortless and well balanced, it practically played itself. And it was also capable of a pretty wide range of tones. Every time I went over to his house, I couldn't put it down. The Jazz Bass is an understandable choice as well... It does have heavier overtones than the Rick, which suits the direction that Rush has been going in recent years... I can't imagine him playing the current material with a Rickenbacker. However, I don't care for his live tone so much... It's too ratty and buzzy sounding... I think he should raise the action and back off on the distortion a little. It doesn't really come out in the studio that much, but live, I think it can sound awful at times.

[spongebob]

Thanks guys.

Always nice to hear opinions from the land where the band is far more popular than here!

Did I not read somewhere that Geddy has been using a Ric again for live work? Is it just for the older material?

[jps]

Did I not read somewhere that Geddy has been using a Ric again for live work? Is it just for the older material?

He used the Rick on their last tour for Passage To Bangkok as a way to quiet the Rick maven!