Would like some advice on 2000s Rush Albums

BahHumbug

I've been rekindling my teenage love of Rush just recently.  Back in the day my tastes went all indie and grunge after the Hold Your Fire album.  Coming back to them now, the two albums that I really enjoy are Permanent Waves and Moving Pictures.  The melodies are strong, the riffs really groove and the arrangements really work.  As for the synthy period that followed.....I've listened back to my old vinyl copies of Power Windows and Hold Your Fire and I find them quite bland to listen to.  I don't have anything against synthy music, but I just don't think the music on these records is particularly memorable.
Anyway, I've done some reading up and Presto is reckoned to be more guitar based.  So I bought that, and yes it is more of a guitar record, but still a bit bland.  The first track has some really striking riffage, but after that its a bit meh.
So my question is really, given the two albums that I particularly like, what would you Rush experts suggest I listen to out of their later catalogue?  Did they ever return to that sort of songwriting form?

TIA

Musicwolf

I was a big Rush fan in my youth but drifted away in the late 80s.  When I signed up for Apple Music I tried to catch up with their later material but, whilst the musicianship was still outstanding, I thought that the song writing was a bit meh.  I don’t know whether they lost it or whether it was never really there to begin with and it was just that I listened to them with different ears back in the day.

axisus

I was a MASSIVE Rush fan back in the late 70s/80s. Bought all their albums on vinyl, they were one of the most significant bands of my youth. I kind of felt that I shouldn't like the new synth direction, but I loved it! Signals is my fave Rush album, and my most played 3 albums are that and the next two (Grace under Pressure and Power Windows).

But then it went wrong for me. I bought Hold your Fire on release and hated it. I stopped buying Rush records, it was so horrible that I didn't go back for decades. 

I've always loved the guys, and a few years ago I decided to buy up all the missing CDs from my collection. My honest opinion is that everything from Hold your Fire onwards is ....... rather dull. Yup, the whole lot. They started releasing albums of just a bunch of unmemorable 4-5 minutes songs. I'm still trying to get into this stuff, every so often I pick an album and play it a bunch of times on my commute. Feels like hard work. 

For me they really should have continued with varied track lengths, throwing longer songs in. Another gripe of mine is Alex's terrible guitar tone. It's so effect laden all the time that it had lost it's inherent guitar-ness. I listen to songs and think how much better it would sound with his rawer 70s tone. 

Still love the guys, but the music really went down the pan for me. Put on albums like Moving Pictures, Permanent waves, Hemispheres, 2112 - bloody brilliant! 

EricTheWeary

I remember quite liking Feedback although it's probably the least typical Rush album. May have been an opportunity for the band to get a bit rockier, away from the formula that they seem to have grown into. 
Rush where my 'guilty pleasure' given my dislike for most things prog rock as they did seem to, well, actually rock a bit - dynamics, energy, bit of edge - but they seemed to keep all that just for the live shows in the end. 

yorkio

I was an obsessive teenage Rush fan in the early 80s, but began to drift away a little after Moving Pictures, and had completely lost interest in their new synth-driven sound by Grace Under Pressure. Clockwork Angels, which I think was their last studio album, was an absolute belter though and could easily have come from their classic period.

Whitecat

The thing with Rush is that they never retraced their own footsteps or looked back, really. Every era was an evolution of sorts, so you're not going to find any later-period Rush that "sounds like" the mid-period stuff that everyone loves.

For me, 'Counterparts' (1994) had some great songwriting and exceptional sonics. They heavily scaled back the keyboards on that record and Alex started to drift away from using PRS guitars (save for the CE24 famously used on the instrumental 'Leave That Thing Alone') and is mainly using Les Pauls again so the sound starts to get heavier too.

'Vapor Trails' (2002) has some incredible songwriting but the original version sounded like ass - just a victim of the infamous "loudness wars" at the time where in hindsight it turns out mastering engineers either did not know what they were doing or were too quickly cowed by label execs to make ear-melting records. It was remixed/remastered though more recently so that's the version you want to check out. Again, much heavier than the Permanent Waves/Moving Pictures era stuff - and worth noting it has *no* keyboards at all.

In terms of their post-'Presto' output those are my two favourites. 'Roll The Bones' has a few good tracks too (it came right after 'Presto' but it's still very much Rupert Hine-led and thus on the lighter side of sonics and a little poppier in general. 'Test For Echo' is almost completely forgettable. The final couple albums are alright - probably the heaviest stuff they've ever done - but not on my regular rotation. And 'Feedback' is lots of fun but as mentioned not really their oeuvre.

Haych

Presto I don't like so much, it's ok I guess but it doesn't get listened to on it's own very much.  The Pass is excellent, apart from that nothing to write home about.

Roll the Bones is far better but with quite a sterile sound.  I think all the guitars were recorded via Palmer speaker emulators on this album - it doesn't sound bad but the guitars tones aren't great either.  Some really good songs though.

Counterparts, for me at least, is the best thing Rush has done in the last 30 years.  Outstanding album, probably only second to Moving Pictures.  Great sound and very good songs.

Test for Echo is much maligned but much better than most people claim it is.  It's a grower so don't give up on it, it's better than anything that came after it.

Vapor Trails is a bit middling.  As has already been mentioned the mix on the original is terrible and I'm not sure they got it right with the remixed album either as it seems to sound quite sparse in places to me.  Not all the songs are quality Rush but there are enough good ones to make the mediocre offerings acceptable.

Snakes and Arrows is a bit better with a different sound and some better songs but there's still the odd clanger here and there, personally I think Test for Echo is a far better album than this one.

Clockwork Angels is pretty good but nowhere near as amazing as everyone will have you believe.  Geddy's vocals are strained in several places and while he never fails to hit the note it's not always discernible what he's actually singing about.

BahHumbug

Thanks so much chaps for your opinions.  I think the summary is that it was quite patchy from Moving Pictures onwards, with some high points that might appeal to some.  I’m going to revisit Signals and Grace Under Pressure because I remember liking them back in the days then maybe Counterparts and Vapor Trails.

thanks again all.

Whitecat

BahHumbug said:

Thanks so much chaps for your opinions.  I think the summary is that it was quite patchy from Moving Pictures onwards, with some high points that might appeal to some.  I’m going to revisit Signals and Grace Under Pressure because I remember liking them back in the days then maybe Counterparts and Vapor Trails.

thanks again all.

Moving Pictures -> Hold Your Fire is my favourite run of albums from them. I like that you can hear the evolution and I actually like the synth era! It becomes more peaks and dips after that for me. Have fun!

Philly_Q

For me Hold Your Fire was probably the low point of Rush's career, although I still like it, there are no bad Rush albums... and ironically that was actually the only tour I ever saw them on.

After that they switched record labels - which seemed weird, I associated them so much with Mercury Records - and the guitars began to reassert themselves, but Presto and Roll the Bones were still a little underwhelming.

For me, Counterparts is one of their very best.  The songs were great and it had a much more muscular sound.  It's definitely my favourite of the post Moving Pictures albums.

I also really like Test for Echo, which generally seems to be dismissed.  Maybe it's just that I listened to it a lot.

After that I continued to buy all the albums but I must admit I've never listened to the later ones much.  Everyone says Clockwork Angels is great but I've only played it a few times... it felt a bit dense somehow.  I need to listen to it more.

My favourite Rush album is still the first one I bought, in 1980 - Permanent Waves. 

They were a great band.  Of all the bands I've followed for 40 years, I think they were the only one who never felt like their best days were behind them and they were treading water, trading on past glories.

prowla

My favourite Rush albums are

• Moving Pictures: just great; crank up the hi-fi and watch out for the drummer falling off his stool.
  
• Grace Under Pressure: I like the feel of this; good synth integration into the sound.
  
• Clockwork Angels: it is as good as some would have you believe; I think they knew this would be their last. I took a 24-bit recording into a hi-fi shop and the (rather snooty) salesperson said there'd be no way there'd be deep bass on it; cue mega deep bass on the synth pedals!
  

Ones to avoid:

• Feedback: I've no idea why they did that; maybe it was contractual.

All of the other ones are good - I've got the box-sets.

Octahedron

Nobody going to give Vapor Trails and Snakes & Arrows the time of day, then?

Maybe that says something about how they were received.

Vapor Trails did a least get a remaster/remix treatment.

I personally quite liked Clockwork Angels, however, I would side with the masses and I have to agree '00s RUSH, while not terrible, is patchy and inconsistent and there's better things you could spend your time and money on.

Whitecat

Octahedron said:

Nobody going to give Vapor Trails and Snakes & Arrows the time of day, then?

Maybe that says something about how they were received.

Vapor Trails did a least get a remaster/remix treatment. 

Eh? VT is one of my favourites! See above! Desperately needed that remix but the songs are superb!

BahHumbug

I had another listen to my old vinyl copy of Power Windows last night - having previously dismissed it, the latest verdict is that I like it a lot   and I've now digitised it and put it in my digital library.
Its very much of its time.  In places the sonics bring Duran Duran to mind,  but under all the synths its definitely Lee, Lifeson and Peart.  One of the things that really stands out is how Geddy's bass lines drive the rockier bits along.  Some of his lines sound quite complex indeed.  Alex's guitar features quite strongly as well.  Overall the melodies are strong and there are plenty of good riffs too, just not as heavy as those early 80s records.
Its good, I like it and I'm glad I went back to it.  I'm going to give Hold your Fire another go, although I'm less confident about that one.  At some point I think I'll get Signals and Grace Under Pressure, and then move on to Counterparts and Vapor Trails.

axisus

BahHumbug said:

I had another listen to my old vinyl copy of Power Windows last night - having previously dismissed it, the latest verdict is that I like it a lot   and I've now digitised it and put it in my digital library.
Its very much of its time.  In places the sonics bring Duran Duran to mind,  but under all the synths its definitely Lee, Lifeson and Peart.  One of the things that really stands out is how Geddy's bass lines drive the rockier bits along.  Some of his lines sound quite complex indeed.  Alex's guitar features quite strongly as well.  Overall the melodies are strong and there are plenty of good riffs too, just not as heavy as those early 80s records.
Its good, I like it and I'm glad I went back to it.  I'm going to give Hold your Fire another go, although I'm less confident about that one.  At some point I think I'll get Signals and Grace Under Pressure, and then move on to Counterparts and Vapor Trails.

I think that Power Windows is superb, there is so much going on in the mix, and the songs are very good once you play them in a bit. As I mentioned before, PW plus Signals and Grace Under Pressure are the three albums that I still play all the time.

russpm

Farewell to Kings
Hemispheres
2112

Just awesome!

sammysaber

BahHumbug said:

I had another listen to my old vinyl copy of Power Windows last night - having previously dismissed it, the latest verdict is that I like it a lot   and I've now digitised it and put it in my digital library.
Its very much of its time.  In places the sonics bring Duran Duran to mind,  but under all the synths its definitely Lee, Lifeson and Peart.  One of the things that really stands out is how Geddy's bass lines drive the rockier bits along.  Some of his lines sound quite complex indeed.  Alex's guitar features quite strongly as well.  Overall the melodies are strong and there are plenty of good riffs too, just not as heavy as those early 80s records.
Its good, I like it and I'm glad I went back to it.  I'm going to give Hold your Fire another go, although I'm less confident about that one.  At some point I think I'll get Signals and Grace Under Pressure, and then move on to Counterparts and Vapor Trails.

Lifetime Rush fan here, love them, seen them many times over the last 3 decades in different countries, and appreciate that different people have different tastes re their favourite songs and albums. 

Just a couple of nerdy bits, pan Power Window's Middletown Dreams between left and right for the first few seconds of the track. Look out (pun intended I think) for the clean picked guitar choruses in Force Ten on Hold Your Fire.

Signals as an album on the whole is amazing, and Counterparts is a classic - there's one clean chord change in Nobody's Hero's second verse that still baffles me. And Lifeson's tone on the second verse of Double Agent is definitely worth a listen.

Most importantly, just enjoy !

Funkfingers

My suggestions are tangential. Victor and My Favorite Headache. (The solo albums of Lifeson and Lee, respectively.)

Regarding the two editions of Vapor Trails, the remixed versions generally sound better but some good elements of the original mixes have been lost. If I were creating a playlist version of VT, it would draw on both editions.

prowla

Funkfingers said:

My suggestions are tangential. Victor and My Favorite Headache. (The solo albums of Lifeson and Lee, respectively.)

Regarding the two editions of Vapor Trails, the remixed versions generally sound better but some good elements of the original mixes have been lost. If I were creating a playlist version of VT, it would draw on both editions.

I listened to Victor last week; the workings of a very disturbed mind. 

To me, My Favourite Headache just sounds like Rush minus 2/3rds. 

JCA2550

My Favourite Headache is packed with great songs, playing and Geddy's voice was great,  especially when he sings in lower registers. Part the reason it's so good, IMO, is that it's a collaboration with the amazing Ben Mink.

Vapor Trails has some great songs on it but both versions have an angry in your face kind of mix. 

Love Counterparts, Roll the Bones and some of Test For Echo.

The best complete start to finish Rush albums for me are Moving Pictures, Signals, Permanent Waves and Fly by Night all so different though.

Surprised that Exit Stage Left hasn't had a mentioned yet. It was seeing Tom Sawyer on TotP in the early 80s that led me to buy it and that led me down the Rush rabbit hole.

I'll miss these guys a lot.

Alterlifeson

Rush were the first band I was ever a huge fan of so I am slightly biased but from the sounds of things. You'd like Counterparts and Vapor Trails (has to be the remixed version for me).

I don't think they have put out a bad album, there seems to be one for every mood in my book. Power Windows is a personal favourite although not all would agree. Funnily enough its the late 70s albums to gravitate towards the least. I appreciate 2112 is a landmark album for many but I'd choose any of their 80s material over it.

Not all will like Clockwork Angels but I think they went out on a high. Some other bands last hoorah have been shocking!