Second half of Rush

[dropforge]

There's nothing boring about Grace Under Pressure...quite the opposite!

[Progatron]

There's nothing boring about Grace Under Pressure...quite the opposite!

Fully agreed. My favourite Rush album, and I genuinely love their entire career.

[Hunchentootz]

My favourite period of Rush is from Permanent Waves to Grace Under Pressure. Beginning from Counterparts band became totally boring and predictable. Fortunately their last album Clockwork Angels was much better.

I'm kinda in with ya on this too - A handfull of tunes across those albums were good - but I was also bummed out by the amount of acoustic guitar of some too - meh. Clock... damn good in comparison. I would submit too - the single was mixed way better than the album - got muddy

[JKL2000]

I'm kinda in with ya on this too - A handfull of tunes across those albums were good - but I was also bummed out by the amount of acoustic guitar of some too - meh. Clock... damn good in comparison. I would submit too - the single was mixed way better than the album - got muddy

Which single? As I recall they released 2 or 3. But I can’t remember what passes for a single back then. At least a couple of songs were released before the album I think, but was there a physical single?

[Hunchentootz]

Which single? As I recall they released 2 or 3. But I can’t remember what passes for a single back then. At least a couple of songs were released before the album I think, but was there a physical single?

Caravan single - also has BU2B

[Progatron]

Caravan single - also has BU2B

And the single version of BU2B is more preferable to me without that unnecessary tacked-on intro that made the final album.

[JKL2000]

And the single version of BU2B is more preferable to me without that unnecessary tacked-on intro that made the final album.

Was there a physical single? I don't think I mind the intro, but I'll have to check!

[Progatron]

Was there a physical single? I don't think I mind the intro, but I'll have to check!

Up here there was, just a thin cardboard digisleeve. I'm not sure if it ever made it to the states.

[Jerjo]

I believe that in the US it was only available as a download.

[Nearfest2]

Was there a physical single? I don't think I mind the intro, but I'll have to check!

Yes, CD and 7" vinyl in the US. I have both.

https://www.discogs.com/release/2870...h-Caravan-BU2B
https://www.discogs.com/release/4559...h-Caravan-BU2B

[Progatron]

[Garden Dreamer]

My second half of Rush begins with Grace Under Pressure. I was okay with all the various changes in sound and style up to that point. I liked Distant Early Warning when I heard it previewed and bought the album but didn't care much for the rest of it. No Broon, a Steinberger bass, digital keyboards and a dearth of Rush-y "events" was a change I wasn't okay with. When Power Windows came out, I heard the preview of Big Money and liked that too, but decided I wasn't going to make the same mistake as with GUP and didn't buy it. Turned out to be a mistake.

By then I figured Rush was never returning to the heavy prog style I enjoyed in the past so I stopped paying attention. I did buy the video for Show of Hands and found the post-Signals songs to be more palatable live, but not enough to get me to buy the studio albums.

When I decided to catch up with Rush again years later, I found Power Windows to be a gem. The songs were great and contained way more proggy bits than GUP, and the quality of the songs was enough to overcome the over-the-top keyboards. Hold Your Fire was the longest Rush album up to that point and while I liked some of the songs there were some that were disposable. I was disappointed in the weak production and found myself wishing that these 3 albums had Broon at the helm; I probably would have liked them more.

The next 3 albums I can't stand. Presto and RTB sound like Rush-lite, with few proggy "events" and a whole lotta verse/chorus arrangements that drag on too long. Counterparts was hailed as a return to heavy Rush but it was also short on "events" and along with the too-long verse/chorus arrangements, the overall sound was cluttered with layered guitars and vocals and Ged's new "flamenco" technique.

Test for Echo rates low with fans but I like it enough that I can listen to it. I find it more proggy than the previous albums. Vapor Trails was unlistenable until the remix and it's still such an oddball departure from any of their previous sounds that I still don't know what to make of it, but I don't hate it. Apart from Far Cry and the instrumentals, I can't stand Snakes & Arrows, all mid-tempo sludge with awkward lyrics and melodies. Clockwork Angels was a fine farewell, plenty proggy and adventurous although noisy in the production.

1. Power Windows
2. Clockwork Angels
3. Test for Echo
4. Grace Under Pressure
5. Hold Your Fire
6. Vapor Trails
the rest don't even rate...

[Jerjo]

A remix of CMFA would be really, really nice.

[MudShark22]

My second half of Rush begins with Grace Under Pressure. I was okay with all the various changes in sound and style up to that point. I liked Distant Early Warning when I heard it previewed and bought the album but didn't care much for the rest of it. No Broon, a Steinberger bass, digital keyboards and a dearth of Rush-y "events" was a change I wasn't okay with. When Power Windows came out, I heard the preview of Big Money and liked that too, but decided I wasn't going to make the same mistake as with GUP and didn't buy it. Turned out to be a mistake.

By then I figured Rush was never returning to the heavy prog style I enjoyed in the past so I stopped paying attention. I did buy the video for Show of Hands and found the post-Signals songs to be more palatable live, but not enough to get me to buy the studio albums.

When I decided to catch up with Rush again years later, I found Power Windows to be a gem. The songs were great and contained way more proggy bits than GUP, and the quality of the songs was enough to overcome the over-the-top keyboards. Hold Your Fire was the longest Rush album up to that point and while I liked some of the songs there were some that were disposable. I was disappointed in the weak production and found myself wishing that these 3 albums had Broon at the helm; I probably would have liked them more.

The next 3 albums I can't stand. Presto and RTB sound like Rush-lite, with few proggy "events" and a whole lotta verse/chorus arrangements that drag on too long. Counterparts was hailed as a return to heavy Rush but it was also short on "events" and along with the too-long verse/chorus arrangements, the overall sound was cluttered with layered guitars and vocals and Ged's new "flamenco" technique.

Test for Echo rates low with fans but I like it enough that I can listen to it. I find it more proggy than the previous albums. Vapor Trails was unlistenable until the remix and it's still such an oddball departure from any of their previous sounds that I still don't know what to make of it, but I don't hate it. Apart from Far Cry and the instrumentals, I can't stand Snakes & Arrows, all mid-tempo sludge with awkward lyrics and melodies. Clockwork Angels was a fine farewell, plenty proggy and adventurous although noisy in the production.

1. Power Windows
2. Clockwork Angels
3. Test for Echo
4. Grace Under Pressure
5. Hold Your Fire
6. Vapor Trails
the rest don't even rate...

Totally get what you're saying re: PW but the production does get in the way for me.

Leaving at only 5 discs post Signals:

- GUP
- Clockwork
- Counterparts
- Presto
- PW

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[IMWeasel]

I remember PE just tearing Vapor Trail apart left and right, and a lot of folks still are it seems, but this album was so important to me personally...I mean I only got into Rush in the mid 90s, and it looked like the band was about to disappear by 98 in the wake of Neil's personal tragedies....seeing them on stage again with my two best friends and my older brother (RIP) was one of the best moments of my life...and years later when the remix cd came out, my late husband got it for me as an anniversary gift....And now 20 years later, my own personal tragedies have mirrored Neils a little bit, and a lot of themes on this album resonate even more for me. Celebrating "One Little Victory" is all it takes to keep going sometimes.....but I definitely feel lost in a vapor trail sometimes too.

[Kcrimso]

Grace Under Pressure turns 40! I wrote a review of what I think is the last really good album by Rush: https://pienemmatpurot.com/review-ru...pressure-1984/