MovieChat Forums > Rush: Exit... Stage Left Discussion > The beginning of the end...

The beginning of the end...

posted 16 years ago by starmarker
7 replies | jump to latest

Growing up in Canada in the 1970s, Rush were one of my favorite groups.
I was lucky enough to see them on the Farewell to Kings and Hemispheres tours.
They were awesome.
What I find funny/interesting is that Moving Pictures is many people's favorite album by Rush.
It certainly broke them big time in the U.S.
And yet, for me, Moving Pictures is the end of an era. It's the first album that I found rather "lightweight" as sythesizers really started to be in heavy use. It's also the last Rush album I bought. After that I could really take or leave Rush.
Exit...Stage Left is the concert tour supporting Moving Pictures.
As such, it's an interesting time capsule for me. Plus it's fun to see the Montreal Forum packed to the rafters.
Anybody else feel the same way about Rush in the 70s versus the 80s and beyond?

[–] cornishartist 16 years ago

Hello, Yes I agree about the lightweight stuff, however I continued to buy albums up to Power Windows, but was disappointed. I think 'Big Money' and 'Mystic Rhtyhms' were the turning points when I said,'Bye Bye'! Though I loved the myth/magical era I guess I'd have to say that I actually prefer 'Subdivisions', 'Distant Early Warning' kinda sound.

I used 'DEW' as the soundtrack for a film I made a year or so ago, check it out if you want.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fWVc7xCxN2w

I used to have the video of Exit...Stage Left. Yesterday I saw the DVD and bought it, and yes it was like a time capsule. Suddenly I was 15 again! I managed to see them in the late 80's at Wembly Arena, London. I am green with envy with you for seeing them on the Farewell to Kings and Hemispheres tours!!

I have no idea what they sound like these days. Someone lent me the 'Rock in Rio' DVD a few years back and I didn't have any desire to watch it too the end.

Anyway, thanks for your question.
All the best
Shaun

[–] Karma_Kramer 16 years ago

My favorite Rush album is Hemispheres. my 2nd favorite is Signals. I guess you could call that an odd pairing.

[–] rexb-2 16 years ago

Hard core Rush fan here. I understand the comments made so far. But I have enjoyed the changes in the band over the years. I have all albums and would buy the next one tomorrow. Comparing Rush album to Rush album for quality and enjoyability is one thing; but ANY Rush album is far above all other options in quality, meaning, musicality, technique, etc. I'm not tired of them at all. I like some albums more than others as a whole but there is something special in just about every song and every album that keeps drawing me in. I just can't wait to see what the next incarnation of Rush will be in the future.

I have TIX for the latest Rush: Snakes and Arrows Tour concert in Atlanta next month. Can't wait to see them live again and have my son with me to see his first concert. I've already told him, "Son, after that, any concert besides your next Rush concert is downhill from there!" :^)

[–] 16 years ago

[deleted]

[–] CrucifaxAutumn 14 years ago

Their post 90 work has come back around. Counterparts is one of my favorites of all time and in most ways measures up to Hemispheres and A Farewell to Kings.

[–] jack_helltoy 13 years ago

Wow.. I could have written the op by starmaker..
It's exactly how I felt about Rush after Hemispheres.
Don't get me wrong. I still enjoyed their music, and I still went to their shows.
But with Moving Pictures something had gone missing from their music for me.
I have never been able to put my finger on what exactly had changed.. but something was gone and it never returned for me.
Moving Pictures was the last Rush studio album I bought as well.
I was a fan from the first album onward.. and A Farewell To Kings is by far my favourite Rush album. By the time Power Windows came out their music was vastly different from Farewell To Kings.
Of course I know a band has to change musically - or they stagnate and become doomed to writing the same album over and over again.
But the direction Rush took after Hemispheres left me less of a fan then I had been in the 70's.
This is only my opinion of course, and I still respect Rush tremendously.
But nothing they have done since Hemispheres has moved me the way they once did.

[–] WarpedRecord 11 years ago

Starmaker's post could have been written by me as well, as could Jack_Helltoy's post.

For me, peak Rush will always be "2112" and "A Farewell to Kings," when they were more of a metal/hard rock band rather than a prog/synthesizer band. I probably lean more to "2112" as a cohesive masterpiece, but "A Farewell to Kings" is absolutely brilliant as well.

I remember feeling the band was a bit "off" when "Hemispheres" was released, then "Permanent Waves" and "Moving Pictures" affirmed for me that they had changed. I gave up on them for awhile, but I rediscovered them in the '90s. I can now appreciate all their work, and I respect them for branching out an defying expectations (which is bound to leave some fans disappointed just as it pleases others). But truth be told, I will always prefer the mid- to late-'70s material.