Post by SAT-I need more room!! on Jul 30, 2003 9:33:02 GMT -5
Pete70s said:
Great line-up today! One of the best I've seen in awhile!Royal Guardsmen-The Snoopy hits were "cute", but their 1969 hit, "Baby Let's Wait"... LOVE IT!! I did not know it was 2 years old when it became a hit (These days, something like that wouldn't matter, but back then two years was a LONG time for a record to break!)
Todd Rundgren-I am a HUGE fan of Todd, going way back to the Nazz. The first two Nazz albums are incredible, especially the second! Solo, I have a single disc collection, but will eventually get the double disc. I've heard bits and pieces of Utopia here and there, and I like what I've heard. I don't think Todd has ever dissapointed me! He also produced everybody from Grand Funk to Meat Loaf to Cheap Trick to XTC to the Psychedelic Furs.. Now THERE'S diversity!!
Run-DMC-I'll probably ruin my reputation, but I like them. I'm no fan of rap/hip hop, but there's something about the early rap groups that are head and shoulders above the rest. Plus they brought rock into the mix, which helped to break down racial barriers. I don't own anything by them, though.
Rush-My fave today! I was a big fan in high school, but I stopped listening to them until this past spring. All of a sudden, I got into them all over again, and went out and bought all the CD's (I now have all except "Test For Echo", "Vapor Trails", and the live albums). OK, I see an album by album synopsis coming up:
Rush (1974)-Debut album, and the only one not to feature Neil Peart. John Rutsey played drums on this. I read an interview with him recently, and talk about a bitter "would've been" rock star!! He was a decent enough drummer, but I can tell that if Peart didn't come along, they probably never would have gotten past three albums. Geddy and Alex wrote the lyrics for most of this album, it's no wonder Peart took over those duties on subsequent albums! YEEESH! Best tracks: Finding My Way, In The Mood, Before and After, Working Man, Need Some Love (may be their only tune with the word "love" in the title).
Fly By Night (1975)-Peart came aboard and the band now had direction! Not yet going in a progressive direction, and still a very straightforward rock band. Of course, the title track has been an FM rock radio staple for many years. Best tracks: Anthem, In The End, Fly By Night, Making Memories, Beneath, Between & Behind. Worst song: Rivendell (probably the worst song in their entire catalog, it just never ENDS!!)
Caress Of Steel (1975)-My favorite of the first 4 albums. Their first forray into prog, contains the side long piece "The Fountain Of Lamneth". You get a vibe from listening to this album that they were touring relentlessly, sleeping on old matresses in the van with their equipment, living on bologna sandwiches, and not knowing that their next album would be the one to break them! I guess that's why I like this album so much. Faves: Baccus Plateau, Bastille Day, Panacea, In The Valley, No One At The Bridge, Lakeside Park.
2112 (1976)-The album that got them out of the old van and into a tour bus! I'm a little burned out on the side-long epic, but the 5 songs on side 2 are flawless! Best Songs: A Passage To Bangkok, The Twilight Zone, Lessons, Tears, Something For Nothing, 2112 medley (the whole album, basically!)
A Farewell To Kings (1977)-This was the only early album by them that I never owned until last April. So I still don't know it as well as the others, but their progressive phase was in full swing! And of course, it's the album with "Closer To The Heart", which I don't think they've EVER dropped from their live shows. Best songs: Closer To The Heart, Xanadu, Cinderella Man, Cygnus XI
Hemispheres (1978)-This album was the peak, and the end, of their progressive era. You have to either be a musician or insane to appreciate it. Since I am both, I love it! Alex is playing chords that are not even on the map, like 11th and 13th chords! He really proves himself as a virtuoso on this album, they all do, really, but Alex tends to stand out! Best Songs: Circumstaces, Cygnus XI Book 2, La Villa Strangiato
Permanent Waves (1980)-No more side-long epics, the focus now was on shorter songs, even though this album only has six tracks. This is the last album to have Geddy singing in his high falsetto "granny voice", on "Freewill". Also, keyboards started creeping in around this time, they would dominate their sound throughout the 80's. Best songs: Freewill, Spirit Of Radio, Different Strings, Jacobs Ladder, Entre Nous, Natural Science (again, the whole album!)
Moving Pictures (1981)-Their most successful album, ever! If they weren't houshold names yet, they were now! Sold millions, and re-invented their sound. Best songs: Limelight, Tom Sawyer, YYZ, Witch Hunt, Vital Signs, Red Barchetta.
Signals (1982)-A very New Wave influenced album, I was told recently that when they were doing this album, their favorite band was Ultravox! But they weren't trying to sound New Wave, they just sounded like Rush.. Hard to believe that their only top-40 hit is on this album, and it's not even CLOSE to their most popular song! Best songs: Subdivisions, Losing It, Chemistry, The Analog Kid, The Weapon, New World Man.
Grace Under Pressure (1984)-My personal favorite Rush album, and the first album I owned by them. Keyboards now dominated their sound, but they still had a sound like nobody else! Best songs: AFTERIMAGE (my FAVORITE Rush song!!), Kid Gloves, Red Sector A, Between The Wheels, Distant Early Warning.
Power Windows (1985)-My least favorite 80's Rush album. Not that it's bad, but I just like the others better.. Best songs: Mystic Rhythms, Big Money, Emotion Detector, Grand Designs, Marathon.
Hold Your Fire (1987)-This was the last album I got into before I stopped following them. I didn't care much for it at the time, but 15 years later, it's really grown on me! Best songs: Time Stand Still, Force Ten, Open Secrets, Prime Mover, Lock and Key, Turn The Page.
Presto (1989)-Great album, I just heard this recently for the first time, and I LOVE it! First album for a new label, after years with Mercury, they swiched to Atlantic with this album, yet "Show Don't Tell" also appears on the Mercury collection "Chronicles". They also started to bring back a more guitar dominated sound with this album. Best songs: The Pass, Chain Lightning, Scars, War Paint, Superconductor, Show Don't Tell.
I have "Roll The Bones" and "Counterparts, but I haven't listened to them enough to really form an opinion, so I'm going to skip them. I do like them, though!
Leon Russell-I don't know much about him, except that he worked on Gary Lewis records in the 60's with Snuff Garrett, and did a lot of session work in the 70's. His wife was HOT!!
I always like your album by album reviews, Pete. I hope there are future artists you will be doing that with.
Surprised you like Presto so much. I know diehards who say that is their weakest effort.
Favorites: King Of Rock, Christmas In Hollis, My Adidas, You Be 'Illin, It's Tricky, Bounce (with Beavis and Butthead). I did not like Walk This Way, or Mary Mary - they wrecked a great Monkees song!
