RUSH …. It’s time

[ViperDoc]

Huge Rush fan here. I did the chronological thing in the last couple of years. I noticed that my feelings toward many of the songs changed over the years, for better and for worse. My faves are still the Moving Pictures through Hold Your Fire albums. MP is the best, but I'm a huge fan of Grace Under Pressure. It's one of Alex's best guitar albums, IMO.

I also payed in Rush bands for almost 10 years. Here's a vid of my first one from over 10 years ago. (I know, it's a 4-piece, but what are you gonna do?) I'm playing my first ever PRS, a 1997 black cherry CE24. It's just like Alex's, which he used a lot on the Counterparts tour.

And @bodia I was surprised to see you have some books on your bookshelf that I have owned and read. Rush, PRS and Antietam/Gettysburg books? We might possibly be related.

Very nice playing and use of the harmonizer, well done! And I love the vibrato on the Geddy vocals! HAH! Great performance.

 

[Max Headroom]

Rush were one of my most expensive vinyl pursuits.
I decided I had to have every single official release on vinyl (already had all on CD).
That started to get a bit spendy after Hold Your Fire as I wanted originals not rereleased albums.
Counterparts was the worst believe it or not as only officially released on vinyl in Brazil and unofficially in Russia( I have both versions).
But all done and dusted.
Only got to see them once in England and I'm ashamed to say I honestly don't remember the year or tour but best guess is early eighties.
Now yes, a GREAT idea to go through them and play every single record in order and cleaning them all at same time.
Thank you for the idea!

 

[Andrew Paul]

I've been a Rush fan since Moving Pictures came out and as for many other people, they were the band that inspired me to get into music. They will forever cast a long shadow in the rock music world. I've been playing guitar in Rush tribute bands for over 30 years now, along with many other projects, but they have been my greatest influence. I like the idea of reviewing the entire catalog now that some time has passed since their final show.

Hemispheres is definitely a seminal album in that amazingly creative 1976-1981 period. We did a lot of shows over the years, including attempting a reproduction of the Moving Pictures tour, but once show where we bit off more than we could chew was playing Hemispheres back-to-back. The Villa Strangiato clip below is from that show. I'm playing my 1990 CE3 in that one. The Trees clip is from a different show. During the pandemic I recorded a demo of Cygnus X-1 Book II in the basement. I had to overdub a few flubs as it is pretty much impossible to get through the whole thing flawlessly, so you can imagine how it went live. It was a lot of fun to try, though .

FYI. I waited for some quiet time and gave it my undivided attention with headphones, of course.

Freaking well done!!!! Loved it. La Villa sounded excellent! Loved your playing in The Trees (if I was there, I would be the other drunk guy, playing air guitar and air drums right in front of you )

APOLLO WAS ASTONISHED
DIONYSUS THOUGHT ME MAD!

Excellent playing through Hemispheres!
Do you even do the Taurus pedal parts Freakin impressive!!

Well done Permanent Waves. Thanks for sharing!

 

[Andrew Paul]

I won’t be able to start it til tomorrow on the way to work.

I will wait to comment on Wednesday

Commons won’t be earth shattering just some tidbits and thoughts

 

[Andrew Paul]

Huge Rush fan here. I did the chronological thing in the last couple of years. I noticed that my feelings toward many of the songs changed over the years, for better and for worse. My faves are still the Moving Pictures through Hold Your Fire albums. MP is the best, but I'm a huge fan of Grace Under Pressure. It's one of Alex's best guitar albums, IMO.

I also payed in Rush bands for almost 10 years. Here's a vid of my first one from over 10 years ago. (I know, it's a 4-piece, but what are you gonna do?) I'm playing my first ever PRS, a 1997 black cherry CE24. It's just like Alex's, which he used a lot on the Counterparts tour.

And @bodia I was surprised to see you have some books on your bookshelf that I have owned and read. Rush, PRS and Antietam/Gettysburg books? We might possibly be related.

Gave it my undivided attention with Headphones The Analog Kid. I absolutely love that song!! Your playing was amazing, fantastic on that lead.... Well Done TFC !!! Thanks for sharing!

 

[Andrew Paul]

Rush were one of my most expensive vinyl pursuits.
I decided I had to have every single official release on vinyl (already had all on CD).
That started to get a bit spendy after Hold Your Fire as I wanted originals not rereleased albums.
Counterparts was the worst believe it or not as only officially released on vinyl in Brazil and unofficially in Russia( I have both versions).
But all done and dusted.
Only got to see them once in England and I'm ashamed to say I honestly don't remember the year or tour but best guess is early eighties.
Now yes, a GREAT idea to go through them and play every single record in order and cleaning them all at same time.
Thank you for the idea!

I wish I still had my original vinyl from the early days before CD's. I think some are in my brothers attic.

 

[Max Headroom]

I wish I still had my original vinyl from the early days before CD's. I think some are in my brothers attic.

I'm probably on my third copy of 2112...lol

 

[Permanent Waves]

FYI. I waited for some quiet time and gave it my undivided attention with headphones, of course.

Freaking well done!!!! Loved it. La Villa sounded excellent! Loved your playing in The Trees (if I was there, I would be the other drunk guy, playing air guitar and air drums right in front of you )

APOLLO WAS ASTONISHED
DIONYSUS THOUGHT ME MAD!

Excellent playing through Hemispheres!
Do you even do the Taurus pedal parts Freakin impressive!!

Well done Permanent Waves. Thanks for sharing!

Thanks! You're too kind . It's hard to find good live videos in our performances, and there's always a few flubs here and there. No way I could do Cygnus X-1 Book II live without a few overdubs, which there are about half a dozen in that video (mainly the solos and transitions). Synchronizing the pedals is what needs the most rehearsing.

Also, the white Signature guitar on the stand in the Trees videos is the actual "Great White" guitar used by Alex in the "A Show Of Hands" videos. It was brought at the show by a local collector. He wanted me to play it but I was too intimidated . I did use it for "Marathon" but I messed it up big time due to the "weight of expectations" of playing Alex's actual guitar .

 

[Draconomics]

OK, time for a question: What do you think is the toughest Rush song to play, be it drums, guitar, or bass, or spoons.

For me, on guitar...Jacob's Ladder

I know what youre thinking. "Jacob's Ladder?! Seriously?"

Seriously.

So why is it so difficult? Let's start at the beginning. First we have a guitar theme played in alternating bars of 5/4 and 6/4 meter. OK, not easy but not terrible. Then, once the vocals kick in, we have a polyrythym. The instrumentation is keeping the same alternating meter, but the vocals are in 4/4. Great. The chord shapes arent the most challenging, all are variations of a Lifeson chord, using your top two open strings. Solo is short but one of Alex's best. So up to the end of the synth section, its more or less straighforward with small changes in how the theme is played.

Then...it comes.

e|--------------|-----------------|
B|--------------|-----------------|
G|o----4-----7-|----4-----7--o|
D|o--7---5-4---|--7---5-4---7o|
A|-5------------|5---------------|-
E|--------------|-----------------|

This riff isnt the most complicated thing ever. Its tricky, but not overly tricky. What makes it hard is this:

- You must play the riff over 40 times in a row, for nearly two minutes.
- You must play it in three different positions
- The riff is in alternating 5/8 and 6/8 bars
- You must play it with increasing volume. You will need either a volume pedal or be some kind of wizard with your guitar's volume knob.
- You must have tight control over your picking. You must play it softly sometimes, palm mute the notes other times, and sometimes play all notes as pinch harmonics.
- You are basically the only one keeping time. Drums and bass get to play more or less around you. You can't rely on them to tell you where you are.
- Its near impossible to correct yourself if you flub the riff. It's too fast.

This part is the most difficult section of any Rush song I've played. Even over Freewill, even over Strangiato. I often use this part as a practice riff to test both finger dexterity and endurance. There's only a handful of times I've played it perfectly. There's guitar lines that are more challenging, but usually I get to move around the fretboard, which I find far easier. Repeating a line over and over in one position tests your endurance like nothing else. My hand cramps up almost everytime. Then theres the meter change. It would kill my runs all the time, I'd always miss that last note in the 6/8 bar. This part sucks...straight up.

 

[Andrew Paul]

Thanks! You're too kind . It's hard to find good live videos in our performances, and there's always a few flubs here and there. No way I could do Cygnus X-1 Book II live without a few overdubs, which there are about half a dozen in that video (mainly the solos and transitions). Synchronizing the pedals is what needs the most rehearsing.

Also, the white Signature guitar on the stand in the Trees videos is the actual "Great White" guitar used by Alex in the "A Show Of Hands" videos. It was brought at the show by a local collector. He wanted me to play it but I was too intimidated . I did use it for "Marathon" but I messed it up big time due to the "weight of expectations" of playing Alex's actual guitar .

Marathon, love that song. I forgot to comment about the white Signature guitar. I saw in an interview somewhere, Alex said that Guitar was harder to play than some of his others. What did you think of it compared to PRS?

 

[Andrew Paul]

OK, time for a question: What do you think is the toughest Rush song to play, be it drums, guitar, or bass, or spoons.

For me, on guitar...Jacob's Ladder

I know what youre thinking. "Jacob's Ladder?! Seriously?"

Seriously.

So why is it so difficult? Let's start at the beginning. First we have a guitar theme played in alternating bars of 5/4 and 6/4 meter. OK, not easy but not terrible. Then, once the vocals kick in, we have a polyrythym. The instrumentation is keeping the same alternating meter, but the vocals are in 4/4. Great. The chord shapes arent the most challenging, all are variations of a Lifeson chord, using your top two open strings. Solo is short but one of Alex's best. So up to the end of the synth section, its more or less straighforward with small changes in how the theme is played.

Then...it comes.

e|--------------|-----------------|
B|--------------|-----------------|
G|o----4-----7-|----4-----7--o|
D|o--7---5-4---|--7---5-4---7o|
A|-5------------|5---------------|-
E|--------------|-----------------|

This riff isnt the most complicated thing ever. Its tricky, but not overly tricky. What makes it hard is this:

- You must play the riff over 40 times in a row, for nearly two minutes.
- You must play it in three different positions
- The riff is in alternating 5/8 and 6/8 bars
- You must play it with increasing volume. You will need either a volume pedal or be some kind of wizard with your guitar's volume knob.
- You must have tight control over your picking. You must play it softly sometimes, palm mute the notes other times, and sometimes play all notes as pinch harmonics.
- You are basically the only one keeping time. Drums and bass get to play more or less around you. You can't rely on them to tell you where you are.
- Its near impossible to correct yourself if you flub the riff. It's too fast.

This part is the most difficult section of any Rush song I've played. Even over Freewill, even over Strangiato. I often use this part as a practice riff to test both finger dexterity and endurance. There's only a handful of times I've played it perfectly. There's guitar lines that are more challenging, but usually I get to move around the fretboard, which I find far easier. Repeating a line over and over in one position tests your endurance like nothing else. My hand cramps up almost everytime. Then theres the meter change. It would kill my runs all the time, I'd always miss that last note in the 6/8 bar. This part sucks...straight up.

Well, I would definitely have to try that part out. Never learned Jacobs ladder. I freaking love that song, I love that nasally neck pickup 335 sound on the lead. I’ve always found the speed of the classical guitar fast part at the beginning of La Villa impossible for me. Easier to get away with an electric guitar on that. It’s been a real long time, but I remember getting hand cramps with the acoustic chords on Nobody’s Hero.

 

[WingerRules]

For me, on guitar...Jacob's Ladder

I know what youre thinking. "Jacob's Ladder?! Seriously?"

Seriously.

hmmm, while it's not AC/DC, I never found this song to be one of their most difficult to play. It probably just falls more into my wheelhouse.

 

[WingerRules]

Ok, back to topic. This was not my introduction to Rush. I was introduced to Rush at a party, by a friend who insisted on playing the classic All The World's A Stage. In a social setting with lots going on, it only took a couple songs until I was focused on the music and not the party going on around me. I immediately started discussing it with some friends there between songs, and got a few of the usual "yeah, I like their music a lot I just don't like the vocals" comments. But by the time side 1 was done, I was hooked. By the time we made it through all 4 sides, I decided that Rush was my new favorite band. And, that became the first Rush album that I got. I wore it out! Then, I went back and got 2112 (of course) and Fly By Night as soon as possible, but didn't pick up the first album and Caress until over a year later. So, that said, thoughts on the first album:

#1- I loved Finding My Way.. because I was well familiar with it from the live album. I learned all 4 sides of All The World's..." within a few weeks of getting the album, so I had already been playing the live version of this song for probably 2 years before I heard the studio version. Really dig this song, always have.

#2- Need Some Love- I really liked this song. Not a lot to say about it, but really dug it.

$3- Take A Friend - liked it, never made it into my Rush hall of fame or anything, but I liked the song.

#4- Here Again- wasn't a big fan at first. Much more bluesy and liked it better at the end, when the guitar kicked in.

#5- What You're Doing - Familiar from All The World's..." really dig this song!

#6- In the Mood- again, familiar from ATWAS. Love this song, love playing the live version. The studio version didn't disappoint!

#7- Before and After- pretty good song. not much to say about it because...

#8- Working Man- Classic Rush song! love this song and have since the first time I heard it!

General comments: Nothing to deep here. Just general for now until others join in. I will say that, since I started with the live versions of most of these songs, that is the only way I ever played them. I never went back and learned the solos off the studio versions. I always played them from the live versions.

 

[Draconomics]

Guess I'll mention how I got into Rush too. So, when I was in my late teens, I had heard of Rush just kinda through the grapevine, but knew nothing and never bought any records, I wasnt interested. Back then, I listened to radio religiously, and the station I was into was KWOD 106.5, and they played nothing but modern rock/metal. I was really into Tool, Korn, Deftones, and the like. One day though I caught Led Zeppelin's "Black Dog" for the first time on the local classic rock radio station (96.9 The Eagle), and that was the end of my Nu-Metal phase. Sadly, they rarely played Rush, and if they did I had no idea who it was. I would have just assumed it was Zeppelin. Around 2006, I was in college doing a music appreciation class, and one of the students did their end of semester presentation on...yup, Rush. He played the video for Xanadu; I remember seeing these guys come out in white kimonos looking like space aliens with doubleneck guitars, and I was hooked. I went home and replayed Xanadu, but what put me over the edge was Cygnus X-1. That blew my mind open. That was that, I was a Rush fan for life.

I still remember being in my work truck when I worked hardware, driving to pick up loads across town, and I had Fountain of Lamneth playing on my crappy little phone.

 

[aamefford]

Just quickly on the first album. It was never a favorite of mine. Sure finding my way, working man, etc. For me, All the World’s a Stage had better versions. Rush just seemed a decent rock album, with a band that was trying to decide whether to bluesy with a guy singer that sounds an awful lot like Janice Joplin, or shift gears and become something else, with a singer with a unique voice. I’m glad they went the direction they did some damn near 50 years ago. I’m on record as a fan of Geddy’s voice.

2112 was my first, then ATWAS, then the first 3 in a 3 album set.

 

[Max Headroom]

I guess I never mentioned HOW I got into Rush...

It was one of the weekly music rags, NME or Melody Maker, they did an article on the "new wave of Canadian Rock Bands"
Had never heard of any of them but dutifully went and ordered 2112, Lee Aaron, Mahogany Rush and probably something else and waited for them to land at my local record shop.

Plonked 2112 down on the college room "house" stereo and....
Placed into a trance as I had NEVER heard anything remotely like it!
I wore that first copy out on said college stereo and I know majority of the other "students" were well fed up of Rush but I was now an addict.
Oh I also discovered Styx at the same time so between 2112 and The Grand Illusion I was in seventh Heaven.

This would be 1976 in Derby, England.

 

[Permanent Waves]

OK, time for a question: What do you think is the toughest Rush song to play, be it drums, guitar, or bass, or spoons.

For me, on guitar...Jacob's Ladder

I know what youre thinking. "Jacob's Ladder?! Seriously?"

Seriously.

So why is it so difficult? Let's start at the beginning. First we have a guitar theme played in alternating bars of 5/4 and 6/4 meter. OK, not easy but not terrible. Then, once the vocals kick in, we have a polyrythym. The instrumentation is keeping the same alternating meter, but the vocals are in 4/4. Great. The chord shapes arent the most challenging, all are variations of a Lifeson chord, using your top two open strings. Solo is short but one of Alex's best. So up to the end of the synth section, its more or less straighforward with small changes in how the theme is played.

Then...it comes.

e|--------------|-----------------|
B|--------------|-----------------|
G|o----4-----7-|----4-----7--o|
D|o--7---5-4---|--7---5-4---7o|
A|-5------------|5---------------|-
E|--------------|-----------------|

This riff isnt the most complicated thing ever. Its tricky, but not overly tricky. What makes it hard is this:

- You must play the riff over 40 times in a row, for nearly two minutes.
- You must play it in three different positions
- The riff is in alternating 5/8 and 6/8 bars
- You must play it with increasing volume. You will need either a volume pedal or be some kind of wizard with your guitar's volume knob.
- You must have tight control over your picking. You must play it softly sometimes, palm mute the notes other times, and sometimes play all notes as pinch harmonics.
- You are basically the only one keeping time. Drums and bass get to play more or less around you. You can't rely on them to tell you where you are.
- Its near impossible to correct yourself if you flub the riff. It's too fast.

This part is the most difficult section of any Rush song I've played. Even over Freewill, even over Strangiato. I often use this part as a practice riff to test both finger dexterity and endurance. There's only a handful of times I've played it perfectly. There's guitar lines that are more challenging, but usually I get to move around the fretboard, which I find far easier. Repeating a line over and over in one position tests your endurance like nothing else. My hand cramps up almost everytime. Then theres the meter change. It would kill my runs all the time, I'd always miss that last note in the 6/8 bar. This part sucks...straight up.

Jacob's Ladder is the hardest one to play as a band. That middle section is murder on drums (and keeping the rest of the band in sync). When I was auditioning drummers, that was the one that separated the men from the boys. If a drummer could play his way through the pattern and provide a solid timing reference for the rest of the band, that's all I needed to know.

On guitar, the tab you gave is the right one, and that is the way I saw Alex play it on the R40 tour. I do it a little bit differently since this is the way I learned it, and though my way seems less comfortable, it was more in line with the fingering I use to practice scales so it feels more natural to me. However, my fingers are killing me at the end:


--------------------------
--------------------------
-----------7----------7---
---7-9-5------7-9-5-----7-
-5-------9---5------9-----
--------------------------


The hardest for me is the bass pedal sequences during the "clouds prepare for battle..." intro as well as the aforementioned middle section. That section is also a good exercise for picking dynamics. I cannot use a volume pedal since my feet are already busy on bass pedals. The problem is most drummers need to hear the picking pattern pretty clearly so I generally don't mute it enough in the early part. The "Exit... Stage Left" version is gorgeous in the way Lifeson controls and brings in his picking dynamics.

I uploaded a video from the same show of us doing Jacob's Ladder, but we never shared it publicly since there are too many flubs. I don't have any good live performance videos of that song in 30 years of playing it, it's that hard as a band. I don't think any of the bands I have been with ever pulled it off well. This is as close as we could get it.

 

[Permanent Waves]

Marathon, love that song. I forgot to comment about the white Signature guitar. I saw in an interview somewhere, Alex said that Guitar was harder to play than some of his others. What did you think of it compared to PRS?

I think I had more of a "comfort" issue with the setup of the guitar, and the fact that I knew the owner paid in the 5-figures for it and it had no strap locks . I do have a similar factory Signature model setup to my specs and have used it live, but I preferred the Gibson Les Paul I was using at the time, and now the PRS CE24.

The Signature is a nice Super-Strat type model with an alder body, maple neck and ebony fretboard. If you can find an older Godin Artisan ST Signature, it's pretty close, they are the company that made the bolt-ons and continued the model after Signature Guitar Co folded in 1990. The pickups on it sound a bit thin but get improved with a lot of processing, which I guess was the sound Lifeson was going for at the time. It was a bit of a fad guitar for him at the time, and he outgrew it quickly.

How does it compare to PRS? I can't find the exact quote, but Lifeson once said that "PRS was the guitar that Signature wanted to be". I think the arch-top "bolt-in" earlier alder-bodies with a humbucker were more up Lifeson's alley, although he did move that single-coil Evans pickup into the bridge position of one of his tobacco sunburst CE24 to replace a broken Signature (he used that one on Time Stand Still on the Time Machine tour). Still, that was a one-trick pony and he used the PRS with the humbuckers at the bridge a lot more. They just play and sound better.

 

[TFC]

Regarding the first album, that's one I never listened to when I first got into Rush. I didn't like the slow songs, and it just wasn't the Rush that I was used to hearing MP --> GUP. But when I relistened recently I liked it a lot more. I like Alex's tone and the songs are all pretty good. Just a really good solid rock band (which happens to sound nothing like the band that made Moving Pictures). Agreed that the live versions are better.

OK, time for a question: What do you think is the toughest Rush song to play, be it drums, guitar, or bass, or spoons.

For me, on guitar...Jacob's Ladder

I know what youre thinking. "Jacob's Ladder?! Seriously?"

Jacob's Ladder is the hardest one to play as a band. That middle section is murder on drums (and keeping the rest of the band in sync). When I was auditioning drummers, that was the one that separated the men from the boys. If a drummer could play his way through the pattern and provide a solid timing reference for the rest of the band, that's all I needed to know.

I can't disagree with this. Technically, that one part isn't to fast or complicated. However, try playing it with a band in front of an audience. All it takes is one brief moment of distraction and you're f@&*^%!. I had a bad experience playing that one once where I totally lost my concentration and stopped playing. After I die and go to hell and am forced to watch all of the mistakes I have made while performing on stage, that one will be in heavy rotation.

Here's a video of us playing it where I didn't crash and burn. I think we did a good job. And I still don't know what the hell is going on with the drums during the first half of that section.

 

[TFC]

Also, the white Signature guitar on the stand in the Trees videos is the actual "Great White" guitar used by Alex in the "A Show Of Hands" videos. It was brought at the show by a local collector. He wanted me to play it but I was too intimidated . I did use it for "Marathon" but I messed it up big time due to the "weight of expectations" of playing Alex's actual guitar .

Is the white Signature guitar the one that broke mid-tour? I seem to recall a story of the guitar getting dropped, which led to Alex using a CE24 or two that he got from PRS.

And you get bonus points for your Jacob's Ladder performance for playing the pedals.