# Rush is no more **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 22, 2018, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rush-is-no-more/807246 "2018-01-22T21:36:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![nachtmusick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ac91a4/32.png) [@nachtmusick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nachtmusick)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2018, 10:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rush-is-no-more/807246/41 "2018-01-24T10:59:49Z")
They’ve escaped the gilded cage, and they did it intact. Good for them. ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2018, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rush-is-no-more/807246/42 "2018-01-24T13:26:07Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > [Moderating] > > **manson1972** , if you don’t like a band, there’s a much simpler solution, which doesn’t require time travel. Just don’t listen to them. And while you’re at it, stay out of threads about the band, too. So only people who have good things to say about a band can be in a thread about that band? News to me, but ok. ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2018, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rush-is-no-more/807246/43 "2018-01-24T15:36:01Z")
> [@dalej42](#): > > Clockwork Angels is one of their best albums. I thought the album was kind of disappointing. I bought a copy when it came out and tried to listen to it several times, but can’t get through more than about four or five songs before I give up. I _want_ to like it, because it’s Rush, but that album really does nothing for me. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2018, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rush-is-no-more/807246/44 "2018-01-24T21:45:57Z")
> [@Smid](#): > > I’ve heard this from a few sources (perhaps here, and maybe even from you). I’ve tried and tried and tried, but it’s at best becoming “recognisable” for me. I can’t see what people see in it. > > Still, always has been that way with the band. Caress of Steel is still one of my favourites (over Moving Pictures and Permanent Waves), and enjoyed them all up to Roll The Bones… Yet Caress of Steel is regarded as one of the worst (or at least a failure commercially and consequently the band even don’t think much of it). I have not liked the last few very much either. And I tend to have a bias towards newer music. The last good Rush album for me was Test for Echo. Counterparts is their best, IMO. Not a fan of the early stuff, they started to get good for me around 1981. So 1981-1998, I’d say that makes me a fan of about half their work. ---
**Author:** ![buddha\_david](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee7513/32.png) [@buddha\_david](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddha_david)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2018, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rush-is-no-more/807246/45 "2018-01-24T22:25:10Z")
> [@Slash1972](#): > > So only people who have good things to say about a band can be in a thread about that band? News to me, but ok. It’s considered bad form to threadshit in an R.I.P. thread, which in a way this is. (Even though it’s hardly breaking news; Rush announced they were pretty much done two years ago.) ---
**Author:** ![Mars\_Horizon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mars_horizon/32/2804_2.png) [@Mars\_Horizon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mars_Horizon)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2018, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rush-is-no-more/807246/46 "2018-01-25T00:57:03Z")
Rush was the first band I fell in love with. Their overly complicated music and intellectual lyrics spoke to my nerdy, outcast’s heart. When I grew up and could afford it I would see them multiple times each tour, all over the country. I had the pleasure of meeting them in unexpected circumstances (twice!) and they were genuinely nice guys each time. I strongly suspected they were done when I read tweets from Kevin Anderson, immediately following their last show in L.A. and those suspicions have been reinforced over the years. So, I’m not surprised. Sad, yes, but not surprised. They deserve their retirement. They’ve done it right over the years. No drama, no fighting, no boorish behavior, just three musicians making a living giving the world their best. Here’s wishing Geddy some good Grand Cru Burgundy, Alex a round or two of golf, and Neil some peace and quiet. _The future disappears into memory With only a moment between. Forever dwells in that moment, Hope is what remains to be seen._ ---
**Author:** ![drm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a88e57/32.png) [@drm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drm)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2018, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rush-is-no-more/807246/47 "2018-01-25T03:11:42Z")
Before I shifted allegiances, I was employed by the company that built a lot of their set pieces for concerts and they always gave us fun and interesting things to build. They also couldn’t have been nicer guys. Enjoy your retirement fellas! ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2018, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rush-is-no-more/807246/48 "2018-01-25T04:18:04Z")
Predictable, really. New Guy joins a band and then wrecks it. :rolleyes: 😃 ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2018, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rush-is-no-more/807246/49 "2018-01-25T04:23:16Z")
**Gato** , I’m sure you can still get the bum’s rush in any bar in Arizona. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2018, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rush-is-no-more/807246/50 "2018-01-25T14:43:08Z")
Over on The Gear Page, there is a thread devoted to (totally deserved and worthy) fanboy wanking about a isolated guitar track for Alex Lifeson on Limelight: [Alex Lifeson's isolated guitar track of 1981's Limelight | The Gear Page](https://www.thegearpage.net/board/index.php?threads/alex-lifesons-isolated-guitar-track-of-1981s-limelight.1905969/) Enjoy. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2018, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rush-is-no-more/807246/51 "2018-01-25T15:05:34Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > … > Even tho I now play standup bluegrass, maybe I’ll toss in a little Working Man next time I jam! See if anyone recognizes it! 🆒 Got together with the small group of 5 I play with regularly, and said something about us working on a Rush tune - while noodling the bassline to What You’re Doing. Now these are all people who are and have long been VERY into music - tho not necessarily rock of any particular time period. Ages range from approx 44 to 64. **TWO** of the 5 maintained that they had NEVER heard of Rush. Both of them - in their 60s, were out of N America (Europe/Japan) in the late 70s early 80s. I’m always surprised at such apparent gaps in someone’s knowledge. Such as when my wife’s cello teacher maintained that he had never heard of Pink Floyd! :smack: Of course, I wonder who the most famous hiphop artist is that I have never heard of. Trevor Noah routinely has hiphop guests on TDS and makes references to names that mean nothing to me. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2018, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rush-is-no-more/807246/52 "2018-01-25T15:14:39Z")
It can be surprisingly easy to not notice pop culture icons. Every so often I discover a huge band whose material I was unfamiliar with. The most recent example is .38 Special. I knew one song. Never had any idea that they had such a huge body of quality work. and the only reason I went looking is that I bought the most recent Don Barnes album and liked it so wanted to find out if he’d done anything else. Despite being a big time rock n’ roll fan and knowing the vast majority of Rush’s material, I actually know very little about Pink Floyd or early Genesis, and basically nothing about ELP or Jethro Tull or the other 70s era prog/art rock bands. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2018, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rush-is-no-more/807246/53 "2018-01-25T19:35:36Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > It can be surprisingly easy to not notice pop culture icons. Every so often I discover a huge band whose material I was unfamiliar with. The most recent example is .38 Special. I knew one song. Never had any idea that they had such a huge body of quality work. and the only reason I went looking is that I bought the most recent Don Barnes album and liked it so wanted to find out if he’d done anything else. > > Despite being a big time rock n’ roll fan and knowing the vast majority of Rush’s material, I actually know very little about Pink Floyd or early Genesis, and basically nothing about ELP or Jethro Tull or the other 70s era prog/art rock bands. Yeah - but I guess what gets me is, even tho you weren’t into their music, you had HEARD of them. (BTW - ELP was another HUGE fave of mine back then. Rush, ELP, and Queen were probably my holy triumvarate at one point.) ---
**Author:** ![scarduus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecae2f/32.png) [@scarduus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scarduus)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2018, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rush-is-no-more/807246/54 "2018-01-26T22:00:51Z")
I have been a major fan of Rush since I was 13 years old; I’m sorry to say I haven’t purchased a copy of Clockwork Angels,though. I was fortunate to see them in concert in both 1984 and in 2005 (the second being much improved at Molson Amphitheatre versus Maple Leaf Gardens). An amazingly creative band, Note from 2005 the reggae version of Working Man ; o ). Lee,Lifeson and Peart,retiring with Grace and not Under Pressure. Thankyou you three,for the kickass bass,the emotion of guitar and the thoughtful lyrics. ---
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2018, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rush-is-no-more/807246/55 "2018-01-26T23:05:29Z")
Kinda scratched my head at Peart’s Ayn Rand-inspired lyrics, early on. (Not that, at the time, this junior high kid would have been aware of them, but at a later date:p) [Here](https://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/q-a-neil-peart-on-rushs-new-lp-and-being-a-bleeding-heart-libertarian-20120612)he addresses it: > [@](#): > > **This is somewhat random, but you were interested in the writings of Ayn Rand decades ago. Do her words still speak to you?** > > Oh, no. That was 40 years ago. But it was important to me at the time in a transition of finding myself and having faith that what I believed was worthwhile. I had come up with that moral attitude about music, and then in my late teens I moved to England to seek fame and fortune and all that, and I was kind of stunned by the cynicism and the factory-like atmosphere of the music world over there, and it shook me. I’m thinking, “Am I wrong? Am I stupid and naïve? This is the way that everybody does everything and, had I better get with the program?” > > For me, it was an affirmation that it’s all right to totally believe in something and live for it and not compromise. It was a simple as that. On that 2112 album, again, I was in my early twenties. I was a kid. Now I call myself a bleeding heart libertarian. Because I do believe in the principles of Libertarianism as an ideal – because I’m an idealist. Paul Theroux’s definition of a cynic is a disappointed idealist. So as you go through past your twenties, your idealism is going to be disappointed many many times. And so, I’ve brought my view and also – I’ve just realized this – Libertarianism as I understood it was very good and pure and we’re all going to be successful and generous to the less fortunate and it was, to me, not dark or cynical. But then I soon saw, of course, the way that it gets twisted by the flaws of humanity. And that’s when I evolve now into . . . a bleeding heart Libertarian. That’ll do. My favourite parts in the impressive Sam Dunn doc (_Rush: Beyond the Knighted Stage_) are when they talked about the hilarious pushback concerning their long, silver _2112_ robes, Gene Simmons wondering what the heck those quiet Canucks were all about (during their first tour, with Kiss), and their drunken dinner over the end-credits. > [@Dinsdale](#): > > Even tho I now play standup bluegrass, maybe I’ll toss in a little Working Man next time I jam! See if anyone recognizes it! 🆒 Or maybe throw a little [“La Villa Stringiato”](https://youtu.be/eK1hmDpa8bo?t=544) at’em next time. > [@adaher](#): > > Not a fan of the early stuff, they started to get good for me around 1981. Heh that couldn’t be more the _complete opposite_ with me, basically because: > [@Shoeless](#): > > …Grace Under Pressure. I started to lose interest at that point because they were starting to sound too “eighties” (too much synth). (Sure, Geddy started using keys as early as _Farewell to Kings_, [was there any on the previous release - _2112_?] but their sound was still _way_ more guitar-driven, then, than _GUP_ or even the previous release _Signals._) > [@Snooooopy](#): > > I feel bad for our neighbors to the north. Then again, they do apparently still have Glass Tiger kicking around. That’s something, right? Actually I think we still have Streetheart, Saga, Prism, Frozen Ghost, Loverboy. Celine Dion? (er wait - she cruelly abandoned us for Vegas:() (oh and Nickelback, who got their name from the Beatles song _Nickelback Writer_) At least I _think_ they’re still going. Or then again, they might not be.🙂 > [@Dinsdale](#): > > Rush, ELP, and Queen were probably my holy triumvarate at one point.) Replace Queen with Black Sabbath and you got this little grade-7-cretin-back-in-77’s fave triad. > [@nachtmusick](#): > > They’ve escaped the gilded cage, and they did it intact. Good for them. That could not be a more excellent, succinct way to sum it up. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2018, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rush-is-no-more/807246/56 "2018-01-27T19:41:47Z")
Sad, sad news, but not unexpected. No band (with the possible exception of The Beatles) had a more profound musical influence on me that Rush. Hearing Geddy’s playing on _Freewill_ when I was 14 years old was the entire reason I became a singing bass player. But yeah, it’s time for them to bow out gracefully. I saw them live for the first time in 2004, then again in 2008, and even then it was apparent that Geddy’s voice was going downhill fast. A couple days ago I stumbled upon this live video that kind of explains it: [Disaster performance that broke up the band](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hAuhhl_9o6U) :p:p ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2018, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rush-is-no-more/807246/57 "2018-01-28T01:26:58Z")
[For those who aren’t in on the joke, that’s apparently a fan-altered video [using “fan” very loosely] made to deliberately sound like total shite.] ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2018, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rush-is-no-more/807246/58 "2018-01-28T04:03:03Z")
> [@John\_DiFool](#): > > [For those who aren’t in on the joke, that’s apparently a fan-altered video [using “fan” very loosely] made to deliberately sound like total shite.] Yes, yes it is 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Rushgeekgirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rushgeekgirl/32/3715_2.png) [@Rushgeekgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rushgeekgirl)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2018, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rush-is-no-more/807246/59 "2018-01-28T05:07:31Z")
You got me for about half a minute there\*\* Mister Rik\*\*. 🙂 I’ve mentioned this before, but my user name is from my nickname back in high school. The group I hung with most was referred to as the Rush geeks. I was a Rush geek girl back in the early eighties and I guess I still am today. No other band does it for me like Rush. I’d rather hear them at their worst than anyone else at their best. So I’m a little sad, but I knew it was coming. ---
**Author:** ![Lorne\_Armstrong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/87869e/32.png) [@Lorne\_Armstrong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lorne_Armstrong)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2018, 6:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rush-is-no-more/807246/60 "2018-01-28T06:12:11Z")
> [@Guest-starring\_Id](#): > > Kinda scratched my head at Peart’s Ayn Rand-inspired lyrics, early on. (Not that, at the time, this junior high kid would have been aware of them, but at a later date:p) > > [Here](https://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/q-a-neil-peart-on-rushs-new-lp-and-being-a-bleeding-heart-libertarian-20120612)he addresses it: > > My favourite parts in the impressive Sam Dunn doc (_Rush: Beyond the Knighted Stage_) are when they talked about the hilarious pushback concerning their long, silver _2112_ robes, Gene Simmons wondering what the heck those quiet Canucks were all about (during their first tour, with Kiss), and their drunken dinner over the end-credits. > > Or maybe throw a little [“La Villa Stringiato”](https://youtu.be/eK1hmDpa8bo?t=544) at’em next time. > > Heh that couldn’t be more the _complete opposite_ with me, basically because: > > **(Sure, Geddy started using keys as early as _Farewell to Kings_, [was there any on the previous release - _2112_?] but their sound was still _way_ more guitar-driven, then, than _GUP_ or even the previous release _Signals._)** > > Actually I think we still have Streetheart, Saga, Prism, Frozen Ghost, Loverboy. > Celine Dion? (er wait - she cruelly abandoned us for Vegas:() > (oh and Nickelback, who got their name from the Beatles song _Nickelback Writer_) > > At least I _think_ they’re still going. > > Or then again, they might not be.🙂 > > Replace Queen with Black Sabbath and you got this little grade-7-cretin-back-in-77’s fave triad. > > That could not be a more excellent, succinct way to sum it up. 2112 does have some keyboard. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rush-is-no-more/807246.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rush-is-no-more/807246.md?page=4)