Showing posts with label rush. Show all posts
Showing posts with label rush. Show all posts

Sunday, 19 January 2020

Log #173 - Fireflies By Night - Rush With Nick Cave

Eddy Bamyasi

It's not hard to remember why Rush were so exciting to a teenage boy - the music is so fast and tight, it's heavy yet progressive, with grand concepts, titles like By-Tor And The Snow Dog *, fabulous album covers, and a lead singer with the ultimate scream of the day. It was the thinking man's (or boy's) heavy metal.

Fly By Night was the band's second album, and the first with the late Neil Peart on drums.

* This track, although a modest 8 minutes in prog terms, has the following parts to give it its full title!:

By-Tor & the Snow Dog
I. "At the Tobes of Hades"
II. "Across the Styx"
III. "Of the Battle"
i. "Challenge and Defiance"
ii. "7/4 War Furor"
iii. "Aftermath"
iv. "Hymn of Triumph"
IV. "Epilogue"

Note part III (roman numerals of course) was sub divided into a further 4 parts. Such prog ostentations would only gather pace with Rush on subsequent albums throughout the 70s until, like a lot of rock and prog bands, they scaled down their sound and scope in the 80s with albums like Permanent Waves and Moving Pictures which have generally stood the test of time relatively better.

So what does one think 40 years later? Well, the musicianship is astounding, still. The pace is frenetic, not only on the rock numbers as you'd expect, which take up the whole of the first side, apart from a brief gentle passage around the "Aftermath" (I'm guessing) section of said By-Tor... but also on the acoustic based numbers that start Side Two.

But then there is something very different - penultimate track Rivendell is a lovely unexpected piece (save for the Lord Of The Rings lyrics that is, which was of course all the rage at the time). Backed by classical guitar and flute/recorder good old screamer Geddy even sings in a normal register and sounds lovely: 

You feel there’s something calling you
You’re wanting to return
To where the misty mountains rise
And friendly fires burn
A place you can escape the world
Where the dark lord cannot go
Peace of mind and sanctuary
By loudwater’s flow

Rivendell then segues into the monster In The End guitar riff, one of Rush's greatest rock masterpieces (this one for me echoed the brilliant Working Man from their debut album - all the best rock albums from the 70s had to end with a monumental extended rifftastic rocker didn't they?). And that's it. 8 tracks, barely 35 minutes and it's all done and dusted, in the can. Who needs these hour plus albums of 15 tracks these days?


Johnny Flynn A Larum
Van Morrison Hard Nose The Highway
Pink Floyd Meddle
Rush Fly By Night
Nick Cave Skeleton Tree
Nick Cave Ghosteen

And now Nick Cave. The tragic circumstances surrounding his last two records are well documented. But apparently the majority of the first of these, Skeleton Tree (2016), was actually written before the death of his son in 2015, and the trajectory of the music through this album, to the new one Ghosteen, does seem to follow a logical path which began on the preceding Push The Sky Away. It was on that 2013 album Nick Cave (and Warren Ellis) started experimenting with unusual song forms and new instrumentation. Skeleton Tree continues this drift towards electronics, ambience, spoken word and choirs. Ghosteen takes it further: the tracks are even less song based, characterised more by sounds, space, stillness and poetry.


And everything is distant as the stars, and I am here and you are where you are.
Fireflies

I heard Ghosteen first and it was pretty much what I expected. It's relentlessly down and a hard listen. It's an atmosphere piece - one that may begin to make sense after half a dozen plays, preferably at 3am with wine. There are long chords and drones, distorted synthesizers, single line piano lines, and wailing backing vocals. It feels a bit like David Bowie's Black Star, but slowed down, like a 33 1/3 rpm played at 16. The album comes on two CDs, the second containing a couple of tracks over 12 minutes long. Having said that some tracks seem to have unexpectedly early fade outs. I've played it three or four times and must say it does improve with familiarity (there's a lot more here than first meets the ear but I couldn't help thinking I'd stick to Gas or Eno if I wanted to hear this sort of music). 

With trepidation I moved to Skeleton Tree which I imagined might be even rawer, but actually was pleasantly surprised. It is more song based and I think I like it better than Ghosteen, and certainly better than I was expecting. It is easier to get into on the first few listens. 

Neither are as good as Push The Sky Away in my opinion, but in the circumstances, and in the face of the universal acclaim bestowed upon both Ghosteen and Skeleton Tree it is difficult to be objective and just assess the albums on their musical merits. I have no idea whether I will revisit these albums as masterpieces in the years to come or they will just burn bright for the briefest of moments... like fireflies. I'm actually looking forward to finding out.

At the opposite end of the depression scale comes the brilliant Johnny Flynn. Like many fans (and I'm certain he's sick of hearing this) I came to him through the brilliant theme tune to the brilliant Detectorists TV series. I wanted to find him at his most raw and solo, and haven't quite achieved this aim just yet with A Larum but nevertheless it's a brilliant rootsy folk record. Flynn has an amazingly strong and authentic voice for one so young. A brilliant new find to start 2020.






Sunday, 2 September 2018

Log #101 - A Rush of Lambs and Modest Mice Dressed In Suede

Eddy Bamyasi

More Rush this week, with possibly their three best albums? I've played a lot recently and my current favourite album is 2112 which is joined this week by two of their best 80s "synth" albums Moving Pictures and Signals - plus a Modest Mouse and a Lambchop finished off in Suede.

Modest Mouse - Good News for People Who Love Bad News
Rush - 2112
Rush - Signals
Rush - Moving Pictures
Lambchop - Nixon
Suede - Suede

Modest Mouse take a bit of getting used to, which is a good thing. It means they're a bit different. I'm thinking Pixies with a touch of Vampire Weekend, Tom Waits, Beck, The Red Hot Chilli Peppers and even The Clash. The singer  Isaac Brock is a real squawker a la Black Francis but I like it - he certainly doesn't lack passion.

The intriguingly entitled Good News For People Who Love Bad News is the Seattle band's 4th album and comes before We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank (which I have somewhere but can't lay my hands on at this juncture) and after a debut in 1996 called This Is a Long Drive for Someone with Nothing to Think About - great titles.

Unlikely Rock Trivia Fact No. 1: Modest Mouse's We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank album features Johnny Marr.



And it's true we named our children
After towns that we've never been to
And it's true that the clouds just hung around
Like black Cadillacs outside a funeral

3 top Rush albums in the player this week following on from the clean sweep in log #100. I'd forgotten what an amazing album 2112 is.  The first side is a 20 minute concept piece about a future dystopia ruled by "The Priests of the Temple of Syrinx" who dismiss a man (/young boy?) who discovers an ancient guitar in the dirt:

What can this strange device be?
When I touch it, it gives forth a sound
It's got wires that vibrate and give music
What can this thing be that I found?

See how it sings like a sad heart
And joyously screams out its pain
Sounds that build high like a mountain
Or notes that fall gently like rain

I can't wait to share this new wonder
The people will all see its light
Let them all make their own music
The priests praise my name on this night

The ruling priests respond with:

Yes, we know it's nothing new
It's just a waste of time
We have no need for ancient ways
The world is doing fine

Another toy will help destroy
The elder race of man
Forget about your silly whim
It doesn't fit the plan

The whole piece is stupendous musically with mind blowing musicianship and gravity defying changes. My favourite part is where the boy learns to play the guitar - starting from tuning it to strumming a lovely ascending scale (all in about 2 minutes).

The only disappointment is the story ends suddenly without resolution with:

Attention all planets of the solar federation
We have assumed control

What's that all about, eh? Any Rush fans know?

Side two consists of 5 excellent regular sized tracks (a high proportion for a 70s Rush album and the quality is maintained through all of them). Check out Twilight Zone below - it's got a lovely Rush "bounce".



As ever with early Rush you do have to contend with Lee's ear splitting vocals. There are moments where he sings normally (as in the above track) and he has a great regular voice which I wish he had used more.

Unlikely Rock Trivia Fact No. 2: The cover of Rush's 2012 album Clockwork Angels shows the time of 21:12



In the early 80s Rush trimmed down their progressive pretensions and produced a series of accomplished synth/pop/rock albums including Moving Pictures and Signals. The former is more revered but I actually prefer the latter now which was arguably Rush's last great album -  they are both very good albums which stand up well today. 

Unlikely Rock Trivia Face No. 3: Geddy Lee's full name is Geddy Lee Weinrib and Alex Lifeson's orginal name was Alexandar Zivojinovich.

By the way while researching Rush albums (I am preparing an album ranking) I came across this. At first I thought what a talented band to be able to reproduce Permanent Waves so closely, then on looking more closely I realised it was the same person playing all parts, including the singing! Incredible.

Lambchop are so lo-fi, down tempo, and laid back, my wife actually fell asleep at one of their concerts (but she also fell asleep during Kraftwerk so maybe that’s not so significant). I think they were the sort of classy Americana band that enjoyed a very brief moment of fame just around the turn of the millennium when that kind of music became very popular. Previously a bit of a cult underground band they reached a level of commercial success first with this album Nixon (2000) and then the follow up Is A Woman (2002). I haven’t followed them since then but understand they are still going under the stewardship of regular leader Kurt Wagner (the only original)






Sunday, 26 August 2018

Log #100 - The log Rushes to a Century

Eddy Bamyasi


Log no. 100! 100 weeks of logging 6 albums per week. I thought I should revisit my original premise:

Several years ago when my CD player expired I replaced it with a 6-CD magazine changer I found on ebay for around £30. Providing not an endless stream of music but a good 5 hours worth, plenty enough for a weekend. It has been one of my best ever purchases.

One weekend I was shuffling through my 6 CDs and realised my current choices were what I would consider atypical of my usual tastes. How did I get here I thought to myself? Would this be symptomatic of a permanent change in taste or were there good temporary reasons for my choices?

So here the idea of a journal of listening was born. A musical journey through listening choices over a year - 52 weeks and (potentially) 312 albums. The log derives from a snapshot of the contents of my magazine changer taken each Sunday. Each log contains thoughts on the reasons behind the choices and a brief review of the albums, interspersed with occasional separate lengthier reviews of CDs and gigs.

I also started a youtube playlist but that became so unwieldy I abandoned it after about 80 entries and now embed most reference videos in each post. I have of course gone past 52 weeks now. I suspect I've exceeded 312 albums too (bearing in mind that some albums stay in for more than a week, and some are inevitably repeat listens).  Many weeks I only review one or two of the 6 albums - I have realised that 6 albums is actually a lot of listening in a week. 

I have covered many artists (246 to date) as indicated by the appearances chart, but there are of course still many who have not yet made an appearance (of course I'm talking from the perspective of someone whose record collection is heavily weighted towards rock music). One such example is this week's entry, Rush. They were my favourite band for a brief time - around the age of 18 or so but fear their particular brand of prog has not aged well. We shall see this week as I've gone for a clean sweep - an honour rarely bestowed in the log.

Appearances in the log - we have a clear leader

Rush in the 70s were a teenage dream with their skilful musicianship, pretentious concepts and spectacular gatefold album sleeves. But I do remember (although I didn't appreciate it at the time) reading a review of one of their concerts where the writer observed that there was no one over 18 in the audience. I was indeed one of those 18 year olds in the audience at The Brighton Centre sometime in the 80s. Using the amazing setlist.fm I'm going to see if I can actually find the very gig...

I'm pretty sure it was this one...

2/11/1981 Rush at the Brighton Centre

Setlist: 
2112 Part I: Overture
2112 Part II: The Temples of Syrinx
Freewill
Limelight
Cygnus X-1 Book II: Hemispheres Part I: Prelude
Beneath, Between & Behind
Subdivisions
The Camera Eye
YYZ
Drum Solo
Broon's Bane
The Trees
Xanadu
The Spirit of Radio
Red Barchetta
Closer to the Heart
Tom Sawyer
Vital Signs
Working Man
Cygnus X-1 Book II: Hemispheres Part IV: Armageddon
By-Tor & The Snow Dog
In the End
In the Mood
2112 Part VII: Grand Finale
Encore:
La Villa Strangiato

That is some set list pretty much covering everything I would have wanted to hear at the time! The gig must have been near 3 hours. There are 25 tracks here and some aren't short. I expect in keeping with the overblown nature of the albums from such bands (although Rush to be fair, were just starting to become a more trimmed down version of themselves by 1981), they also went over the top live too.

So on to the clean sweep of 6 out of 6 for Canadian progsters Rush this week! Congratulations Neil, Geddy and Alex:

Rush - Fly By Night
Rush - Hemispheres
Rush - Vapor Trails
Rush - Power Windows
Rush - Permanent Waves
Rush - Signals

Rush are such a recognisable band. Obviously there's the singing, but also the other instruments are very recognisable - the bouncy bass, the flangey guitar, and the complicated drums and percussion.  I purposely add "percussion" here as drummer Neil Peart is a particularly complex drummer who uses a massive kit fully equipped with (literally) all the bells and whistles (a musician who has never betrayed his prog leanings and has always eschewed the move to a scaled down kit). Check out his credentials as listed on the sleeve notes: drums, orchestra bells, bell tree, tympani, gong, cowbells, temple blocks, wind chimes, crotales. What is a crotale?

With these characteristics I'd venture that even without Geddy Lee's unique vocals you'd still recognise most Rush instrumental tracks.

And it all comes together in perfection. The overall production is amazing - every sound is crystal clear and separated, topped off by the vocals that (probably due to Geddy's particular high register) are literally elevated above the music such that every lyric is clear and decipherable.

1. Fly By Night

First track Anthem on Fly By Night (the band's second album from 1975) and the first thing that strikes you is the high pitched singing, but I mean super high! Much higher than mid or latter period Geddy. It's quite disconcerting. But it's a great single that pretty much encapsulates Rush in 4 minutes.

Rivendell is a beautiful slow solo acoustic track and, take note, has a lovely normally pitched vocal. Best I Can is boogie rock and Making Memories is a lovely jaunty acoustic strummer.

The meat of the album is In The End with it's stringent riff all the more devastating after Rivendell, and the epic By-Tor and the Snow Dog which has a lovely John Martyn Small Hours like phased guitar solo. I've always been intrigued by the sudden start of the track where the vocals and guitar burst in simultaneously. The drums on this track are amazing and you can really sense the battle raging between "By-Tor" and the growling "Snow Dog" as the bass grinds. A masterpiece.

One of Rush's best albums and one I used to enjoy on LP as part of the Archives box set containing the first three albums.

2. Hemispheres

Hemispheres - the titles, for goodness sake. They had had a good go at some pretension with the full on concept album 2112 (1976) but this 1978 album takes the biscuit with the side long Cygnus X-1 Book II (following on from Book I from the previous album A Farewell To Kings).

The 18 minute track has 6 (or to give them their proper nomenclature VI) parts each with a title, and sub-title, so we have III Dionysus (Bringer of Love) and IV Armegeddon (The Battle of Heart and Mind) for instance. The CD only recognises it as one long track.

On Side 2 we have La Villa Strangiato which is a relatively modestly lengthy 9 1/2 minute instrumental with... wait for it... 12 parts!

For completeness I should list the parts of the track (which is superb, by the way, and one of my all time favourite Rush tracks, and that's not just because it lacks Geddy Lee's vocals).

I: Buenas Noches, Mein Froinds! 
II: To sleep, perchance to dream... 
III: Strangiato theme 
IV: A Lerxst in Wonderland 
V: Monsters! 
VI: The Ghost of the Aragon 
VII: Danforth and Pape 
VIII: The Waltz of the Shreves 
IX: Never turn your back on a Monster!
X: Monsters! (Reprise) 
XI: Strangiato theme (Reprise)
XII: A Farewell to Things 

To be fair to the band they may have realised this was a final fling for pretension as La Villa Strangiato is subtitled An Exercise In Self-Indulgence (Hemispheres was the last of their concept albums and was followed by the much more manageable Permanent Waves and Moving Pictures).

Probably the best track on Hemispheres and one of Rush's mini masterpieces - they play so fast they fit an awful lot into 5 minutes - is The Trees:

There is unrest in the forest
There is trouble with the trees
For the maples want more sunlight
And the oaks ignore their pleas

3. Vapor Trails

I was mightily impressed when I first heard Rush's 2002 album Vapor Trials - their first for 6 years *. Gone are the synthesizer led pop songs, replaced by a powerful heavy rock/metal sound where the guitars are back and the drumming epic. Also toned down is Geddy Lee's high pitched vocal, replaced by a markedly more mid-register range. Representing a further shift back to basics Vapor Trails really sounds like a band revitalised and even reminds me of Black Sabbath or Metallica in places.

There is an anger in these tracks and also fight and resilience in some of Neil Peart's inevitably personal lyrics such as on Ghost Rider:

Shadows on the road behind
Shadows on the road ahead
Nothing can stop you now

People who think they know Rush, from either their prog heyday of the 70s or the 80s synth pop rock, should hear this and be surprised.

4. Power Windows

Power Windows (1985) for me really represents the wilderness years for Rush. The musicianship of course is super tight but there isn't much soul in this uninspired set. I'd venture there isn't a lot of  difference between any of the mid 80s period albums as Rush suffered the general plague of over production and an ill conceived emphasis on the synthesizers, electronically enhanced snare crashes and treated guitar, which seemed to affect nearly all artists (particularly rock bands) at the time. Some of the songs sound like pale imitations of more successfully rendered pop/synth/rock from the previous 80s albums Signals and Moving Pictures even seemingly repeating some of the same music - a clear case of treading water. Naff cover too.

5. Permanent Waves

Unbelievably Permanent Waves with it's six efficiently honed tracks was received as a bit of a disappointment on it's release in 1980, following the epic concept album Hemispheres.

However the band's new direction represented by a slick amalgamation of rock, pop and prog has aged well and the album is now rightly judged one of the band's best. Key track is the single The Spirit of Radio which was the band's biggest hit in the UK. Then there are tracks like Freewill which tick all the "best of both types of Rush" boxes. Plenty for both new and old fans to like.

6. Signals

Signals further developed the Rush sound of the early 80s and together with Permanent Waves and Moving Pictures represents a triumphant triumvirate which many fans (even including the die-hard prog fans) now consider Rush's peak.

Despite leaving behind the extensiveness of the concept tracks of the 70s the overall quality of the songwriting meant the band were able to pack just as much into tracks of 5 minutes instead, and the synthesizers, which are very prominent right from the opening bars of the first track Subdivisions, are at home and actually add to the music without detracting from Alex Lifeson's guitar.

Two of the best tracks are the oppositely titled Analog Kid and Digital Man. Both super efficient tracks of dazzling musicianship and mind bending changes like The Trees or Spirit of Radio.

The moving Losing It is another standout:

Thirty years ago, how the words would flow
With passion and precision
But now his mind is dark and dulled
By sickness and indecision
And he stares out the kitchen door
Where the sun will rise no more

Signals was the band's last great album prior to sleep walking into unfashionable irrelevancy in the late 80s until their reinvention as a grunge/heavy rock band in the 90s and 00s.




* In the late 90s Rush drummer Neil Peart experienced personal family tragedy. This was recounted in his book Ghost Rider: Travels on the Healing Road written while taking a sabbatical from Rush. This was closely followed by Traveling Music: The Soundtrack to My Life and Times.









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