http://www.salon.com/2013/08/06/rush...d_of_all_time/
Rush: How I learned to forgive — and even like — the most hated band of all time
By Rob Sheffield
http://www.salon.com/2013/08/06/rush...d_of_all_time/
Rush: How I learned to forgive — and even like — the most hated band of all time
By Rob Sheffield
Hmm. This guy is a RS writer and he thinks Rush is more hated than Yes? I guess it's hip to admit you hated Rush once but now actually sorta like them. Get him to admit he actually sorta likes Yes and hell will truly have frozen over.
I thought it was an entertaining article. Almost have a new found respect for Mr. Shellfield.
Thanks for posting.
Regards,
Jon
His theory is that Rush is hated because they were played on the radio? That ... makes no sense. Thousands of bands were played on the radio in the 70s and 80s, are they all hated?
And this line: "Even when they pack a stadium full of fans, the clitoris count will be in single digits." Oy vey.
Enjoyable article, but it does seem like this guy is totally infatuated with "what's cool, then or now", and not with "what's good music"... which completely misses the point of RUSH. It's all fashion, man.... those kimonos were so lame!
Disagree. There are many bands on the radio which I dislike (Nickelback anyone)? Sometimes a song gets overplayed to such an extent an extreme sense of "I hate this" overtakes the listener. There is also no denying many people do 'hate' Rush. I know of many (and I am from Canada).Originally Posted by PotatoSolution
I took this article for what it is; a lighter piece that doesn't take itself too seriously.
Regards,
Jon
I have no problem if people "hate" things they hear on the radio, but it annoys me when people (like this article writer) assume that because they "hate" something, then everyone else in the world hates it too.
"I hate [insert band here]! Therefore they are the most HATED BAND IN THE WORLD!!"
Um, no.
2 threads on the same topic? Wait 'til JIF gets wind of this!
"Corn Flakes pissed in. You ranted. Mission accomplished. Thread closed."
-Cozy 3:16-
Fair enough. I just thought of it as more tongue and cheek than anything else.
Regards,
Jon
Rush is hated, really? So why have they continued to play in front of 10's of thousands a people a night for multiple decades? Hated groups can't exactly do that. Hell, most "beloved" groups can't. And they have been a staple on rock and calssic rock radio for ages now. Makes no sense that a band with a huge following for ages could be considered "hated".
I think - and I think that others who have read him would probably agree - that you have to be familiar with Mr. Sheffield's writings and taste to fully appreciate the article. I've always enjoyed his writing, if not all of his musical tastes, because I think he's good at what he does: he writes entertaining articles about a medium that he, anyway, considers to be first and foremost part of the entertainment/pop culture industry. I'm not as sensitive about the whole "the press hates prog" thing, because I was too young in the '70s to have read the worst of it.
I think it was nice of him to write that piece - he certainly didn't have to, and he's certainly not been very prog-friendly over the years. As others have pointed out, I'm not completely sold on the idea that there is an overwhelming Rush hate out there that was created by an ubiquity of Rush on the radio, but I wouldn't say that he's necessarily wrong, either. Nothing can be hated on a fairly large scale unless it's actually been heard, so the fact that Rush was/is a North American classic rock mainstay had to have contributed to any large-scale hate, assuming that it exists. I'm not really sure that it does, though. Purely based on personal experience, I can say that most friends I had in high school liked or respected the band. I do remember one guy who really hated them, and told me that I should be listening to Hendrix instead. I remember seeing him again a few years after high school, though, and he ran up to me confessing how stupid he'd been in high school and how he was a bona-fide Rush freak now. Lots of younger fans of '90s/2000s music probably find them to be uncool, but I don't know that Rush would be singled out in this regard, as they probably think the same about most arena-rock-style bands from the same era.
I love this line. I was thinking of using it as my sig here. And I was going to change the they to [insert prog band name here].
I am looking forward to picking up the book from which the article is excerpted.
And I am pretty sure Sheffield has nothing to do with who gets into the RnRHoF. I put the blame solely on Jann Wenner.
"It's such a fine line between stupid and... clever" -- David St. Hubbins & Derek Smalls, Spinal Tap
Not to beat a dead horse but much loved bands that are played on the radio can certainly be hated. I know because I hate many of them myself. The question is by how many and that is impossible to know.
Regards,
Jon
Alright, read the article and it is fairly positive. Still, I disagree with the premise of most of it, like there being a disconnect between the amount of radio airplay and record sales in the 80's. Totally inaccurate as Rush albums were one of the most consistant sellers of the decade. Everything Gold certified or better. Very few bands accomplised that feat.
As a writer, I find him very lazy. Take this, for example:
"To my surprise, I was the only kid who raised a hand, and even then I’d never heard their actual music: I’d seen the newspaper ad for their latest album, “A Farewell to Kings.” I was intrigued by how dangerous the band members looked on the album cover, which probably gives an idea of how dangerous I was."
Funny, but the band members don't appear on the cover. Apparently he was too lazy to google it.
Well, jeez there are photos of the band in the gatefold. You needed that to be specified? Don't most people consider all that to be part of the cover art?
Or maybe the newspaper ad had a photo of the band. I don't think that is too unbelievable.
Regards,
Jon
I think a lot of people don't like Rush because because of the over the top obnoxious religious fanatic devotion of some of their fans. Anyone who has ever had a conversation about drummers with a Rush fan (or at least that Rush fan who sat in front of you in 9th grade home room) knows what I'm talking about. From what I gather, the Rush fan contingency at this year's Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame behaved rather disrespectfully towards all the other inductees (I haven't actually seen the footage myself, I'm just going by a couple reports I've read, one of which had that Rush shouldn't be blamed for the stupid behaviour of their more zealous fans).
Same thing with the Grateful Dead. A lot of people hate the Dead because of the obnoxious behaviour of some of their fans (most of whom I would counter aren't even really fans of Dead music, so much as the mythology and "scene" that surrounded the Dead).
That is a REALLY stupid reason to hate a band. I always found deadheads to be a rather creepy bunch of overly obsessed burnouts -at least that was the image I had of them, true or not. But that had nothing to do with how I felt about their music. Of course I'm more indifferent to Dead music.
As to the HOF induction, it didn't happen that way at all. If you haven't seen it, then you shouldn't bring it up. Music should be the only determining factor whether or not to like or dislike a band. Personally I find that most people either love Rush or are indifferent towards them. At worst they can't stand Geddy's vocals. I really have not come across Rush hatred much at all. In fact I'm surprised how often I run into people who do like them a lot. A this point I'm not actually surprised anymore, it's quite frequent.
I don't. The cover is the cover, the front of an album. And how on earth could Rush members look dangerous at all? About the least threatening looking hard rock band ever.
Rush has never had much of a "middle ground" even when they were at their commercial peak in 1981. Everyone I knew either loved them or ran away at the first sound of Geddy's voice. And it was the vocals that seemed to be most love-it-or-hate-it aspect. Later on, I think it was '90s backlash against arena bands from the '70s and '80s that cause a lot of the hatred by critics--apart from the group of Rolling Stone shitheads from the '70s who disliked everything that wasn't Bruce Springsteen, of course.
The critics are a bunch of stuck up pricks, they don't count. I became a Rush fan in 81, freshman year in high school. There are Rush t-shirts all over the place. It's the one year it really was hip to be a Rush fan. That was my experience anyway. I never saw Rush as a love em or hate em kind of band. Before reading this article I ever really came across that view of them. Now if it were Yes or ELP, absolutely true. Thankfully I'm not in the hate camp with those bands.Rush has never had much of a "middle ground" even when they were at their commercial peak in 1981. Everyone I knew either loved them or ran away at the first sound of Geddy's voice. And it was the vocals that seemed to be most love-it-or-hate-it aspect. Later on, I think it was '90s backlash against arena bands from the '70s and '80s that cause a lot of the hatred by critics--apart from the group of Rolling Stone shitheads from the '70s who disliked everything that wasn't Bruce Springsteen, of course.
Take a look at the Rolling Stone "review" of Fly from Here. Sheffield wrote it. It's a bit of a rant, but it seems very possible that he's a closet fan of the classic lineup.
http://www.rollingstone.com/music/al...-here-20110712
Thanks Yanks for being the voice of reason. Sheffield said the band members were on the album cover -- not the gatefold, the jacket, the back or the newspaper ad for the album. No other way to take it. And if thought Rush looked threatening, I wonder what he thought of Rose Tattoo (and they were nice guys too)!
Rose Tattoo.jpg
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