Favourite Band

[Kenneth R.]

Beatles epitomise the term overrated.

Overrated yes.

Genius anyway? Yes.

Genre worship is stupid.

 

[Postulate]

I guess I don't see what's wrong with really liking a certain style of music. I like different kinds of music, but nothing quite does it for me the way progressive rock does.

 

[Kenneth R.]

that's fine. I'm not ripping on that. Just people who exclusively listen to one genre and think they're somehow superior for it.

 

[PurpleDink]

So many Maiden fans

For many obvious reasons.

 

[metalxmetalx]

Genius anyway? Yes.

No way! You're using the word genius in a very lavish way in this case!

 

[Kenneth R.]

I'm really not. Compositionally, conceptually, and performance-wise, they were experts at what they did. Easily stomping most metal bands.

 

[Krondor]

Being "expert" doesn't count as a "musical genius", atleast not in my ears...

 

[Krondor]

Besides, what makes Rush "genius" but not Zeppelin or Floyd?

 

[Postulate]

Rush has always sounded extremely sterile to me. Their phrasing is awkward and it makes their music sound crusty. I also personally think they just didn't have what it took to write prog.

 

[Kenneth R.]

I think the mistakes here are

1. assuming these bands tried to be prog
2. assuming prog is better than other genres or is preferential and an aspiration for such bands

of course, this being the symphony x forum, no less is expected.

 

[Postulate]

No, I just don't think Rush is a good band, by any standards really. Alex Lifeson is a good guitarist and he influenced Jim Matheos and Markus Steffen who are among my favorites, but I don't want to listen to the music the band writes. Just my opinion.

 

[The Stormbringer]

Awkward phrasing, music sounds crusty... now those are some points of critique you don't hear every day with regards to Rush. Whatever those points are supposed to mean.

 

[metalxmetalx]

Being "expert" doesn't count as a "musical genius", at least not in my ears...

Agreed!

 

[Postulate]

Awkward phrasing, music sounds crusty... now those are some points of critique you don't hear every day with regards to Rush. Whatever those points are supposed to mean.

Well, it's hard to describe, but their phrasing is always extremely short and confined. There are a couple songs where they break out of it, like Xanadu or maybe Jacob's Ladder, but overall I don't like the way they package things into neat, tightly sealed, and mechanical riffs and vocal phrases.



When the electric guitar starts here...everything is separated from everything else into these little units, played painstakingly. To my ears it sounds joyless, afraid to move past itself. Ditto for when the vocals start. The great prog bands like Genesis had a sense of scope, they could pull, push and drag things, or change the way they were arranged to give a sense of sweeping or confinement when they needed to. Rush never really did that.



There is so much more joy in something like this song, to me at least. The melodies flow and flower outwards, the acoustic guitar and keyboard respond to each other in the beginning and then finally give way to a wall of mellotrons. It's that sense of scope, the connection between the players and the parts of the song that I miss with Rush. That's why the music seems sterile to me. It doesn't breathe or really go anywhere.

That is the best I can describe it because I don't know much about music technically.

 

[Kenneth R.]

Have you listened to later Rush? I'm not trying to beat you down with my opinion, I am just honestly in awe here. Granted, most "prog" fans hate later Rush, but I think they only improved.

By the way, I wrote "expert at what they do". It's the whole package. If I were just praising experts, I'd not be bashing Dream Theater or Yngwie left and right. Rush, and other bands mentioned, are just good at what it is they set out to do.

 

[Krondor]

I dont really like Yngwie but I do respect him to a certain degree. Isn't Yngwie an expert at what he does? But still I wouldn't call him a Genius... Not sure if I get your point.

Anyway, I've only listened like 3 albums from Rush and I really liked them. So please, if the later Rush is better than the old, could you suggest some albums for me?

 

[donKyle]

Isn't it all really just personal preference?

 

[metalxmetalx]

I dont really like Yngwie but I do respect him to a certain degree. Isn't Yngwie an expert at what he does? But still I wouldn't call him a Genius...

Malmsteen revolutionised the electric guitar in the 80s, raising the bar for the instrument single-handedly. The world of the electric guitar can be divided into two parts: before and after Malmsteen!

 

[_Gentleman of_the Snow_]

I dont really like Yngwie but I do respect him to a certain degree. Isn't Yngwie an expert at what he does? But still I wouldn't call him a Genius... Not sure if I get your point.

Anyway, I've only listened like 3 albums from Rush and I really liked them. So please, if the later Rush is better than the old, could you suggest some albums for me?

Well, that was his point.

He is saying that he didn't mention The Beetles as genius only because they are experts. (He is not a fan of DT or Malmsteen). There are other factors above being experts that would qualify The Beetles as genius, in his opinion.

 

[intergalactic]

Just read a sad new,Andrew Mc Dermott (Mac),former Threshold singer died.
Really loved his voice in "Suburface" and "Dead reckoning",I'm really sad