Rush - Snakes & Arrows
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Free Music Notes for Snakes & Arrows
Free Music Review: Amazing Album! Rush is back in FULL form!
Hit: 5 Stars
[...].
From the one hit wonders like Fall Out Boy, Akon and falling stars like Britney Spears, all these people have going for them is either a place in the tabloids with upskirt shots or drug and alcohol binges, or new wave haircuts recycled from Duran Duran and Flock of Seagulls days and makeup like transvestites.
Let's see where all these one hit wonders are even 3 years from now.
RUSH have been making relevant music, making a difference to those who understand their words and music, and inspiring new musicians and old alike, for over 30 years.
Who else can say that?? Not the Stones, nor the Who nor anyone else.
They may not have sold as many albums as some teeny bopper bands but none have rocked harder. They are consummate musicians, dare I say virtuosos. Absolutely a wonder to watch these 3 guys make music that fill a hall, others would need over 6 men to do.
I have to admit I am a fan of the old RUSH with my favorite albums being All the Worlds a Stage, Caress of Steel, Hemispheres and even the synth sounds of Signals. Neil's lyrics helped me through some lonely and tough times in my teen years and I truly believe it is poetry he is writing.
After their last outing Vapor Trails, I was longing for another new album and I was not let down. Snakes and Arrows is an absolute wonder. I have listened to the words and the music over 10 times and it gets better and better, the way good music should.
RUSH is a band that parents should admire. While others claim to fame is to burn out with drugs, brawls and overdoses, RUSH is refreshing even 30 years on. You can call them the perfect role models for future musicians who need to respect their music and their fans. Not the degradation of women in rap music or the fluff love [...].of pop music, but the thoughtful, well constructed music of RUSH.
Snakes and Arrows is the best music they have made since Moving Pictures and I should know. I have been a fan since 1980 and have bought everything they produced. And I am open to all types of music from R & B to Hip Hop to Speed Metal and I can say no group deserves more adoration and admiration than RUSH. And no band deserves to be in the Hall of Fame more than them.
I look for to seeing then live this summer and you should to. There are not many bands better live than recorded. U2 is one RUSH is another.
Snakes and Arrows is a real treat.
Buy it guys, you won't be disappointed.
Free Music Review: Another mature album
Hit: 5 Stars
Snakes & Arrows is an album that is, in a lot of ways, 'mature' sounding, both musically and lyrically, much like Vapor Trails. The lyrics are a little more serious and not as upbeat as on previous albums. This album rocks, though not quite as much as Vapor Trails. The sound quality is back to being good, a big improvement over Vapor Trails, though I don't mind the bland sound of Vapor Trails.
The album's opening track, Far Cry, just plain rocks, and the beat and guitar riff in the beginning reminds me of stuff from their mid to late '70s albums. The second song, Armor and Sword, is one of my favorites on the album. It is six minutes long, but never gets boring. Very melodic, yet hard. Workin' Them Angels is another good track. Very catchy. Same with the next track, The Larger Bowl. There are a lot of songs that have acoustic guitar mixed with electric, unlike on Vapor Trails, which is strictly electric guitars and no keyboards, I might add. There are two instrumental songs on this album. Two. Both are good. The second one is a guitar solo by Lerxst Lifeson, Hope. The song Faithless is very strong and another favorite of mine.
The lyrics on this album overall are somewhat downbeat and pessimistic. I don't mind this at all. Dark lyrics don't bother me. If they did bother me, I'm the kind of person who can tune out the lyrics and focus mostly on the music, because the music, afterall, is what hooks me.
It seems that whenever I buy a new Rush album I need to listen to it several times for it to grow on me. Especially the newer albums. I remember when I bought Vapor Trails in 2002. I thought it was bland musically and in its sound quality. Yes, the sound quality on that album isn't the greatest, but the songs hooked me over time nonetheless. Within a month or two I declared it one of my favorite Rush albums. The same thing happened with Snakes & Arrows, though in contrast to Vapor Trails, the sound quality is outstanding. I think these last two Rush albums are so different from their earlier material that it might take some people several listens before it starts to grow on them.
If you like the new direction that Rush started to go in beginning with Vapor Trails, then you should like this album. I like the new level of sophistication in their music and the change in their lyrics with the last two albums. There are enough good songs on Snakes & Arrows to make me give it a 5-star rating.
Free Music Review: One of the Best Rush Albums!
Hit: 5 Stars
I'm one of those dinosaurs that have been following Rush since their beginnings. For some, Geddy Lee's vocals are an acquired taste - others never do complete the acquisition. Neal Peart replaced the band's original drummer John Rutsey for the band's second album and since that change, the lineup has remained stable for 32 years with Lee on bass, keys and vocals, Peart on atomic-powered drums and Alex Lifeson on guitar and vocals. To my ears, the albums and live shows improved steadliy as the 70's progressed, and by the time 1980's Permanent Waves hit, the band's audience was huge, and rightly so. After all these years, Waves is still da bomb.
A string of excellent albums followed: Moving Pictures, Signals and Grace Under Pressure. Many hard-core fans felt that 1985's Power Windows began a long slide for the band, others heard enough strong tracks to stay happy. I found myself somewhere in the middle of those two camps, although like every loyal fan, I kept buying each new release. A few months ago, I heard that the band was about to release a new disc and go out on tour, so I asked the family if they wanted to go see the show. It was a unanimous decision, so I picked up the CD and found four tickets to the show at Red Rocks near Morrison, CO. The show was last night and it was excellent. Some Rush tunes are considered to be political by some reviewers but I've always thought that those writers were a bit off the mark. I think the band's perspectives are more anthropological and philosophical - my way of describing them are Geddylosophy, Nealosophy and Lifealosophy.
One could argue that the new disc, Snakes and Arrows is one of Rush's best albums ever. I've been listening to it quite a bit over the last three months and it has steadily grown on me. It doesn't have the really obvious hit but instead is a cohesive and consistently strong collection. I like it all, and I like it alot. Rather than giving a song by song description, I'll just say that it needs to be listened to as a whole entity and that not all of the lyrics are obvious. Seeing the visuals at the show last night confirmed some of my suspicions. This is the most cleanly and clearly executed post-911 commentary I've heard and it is a masterpiece. Long live Rush!!! Viva Canadian art!!! These guys may be too old for rock and roll, but don't tell them - they are having way too much fun.
Free Music Review: Rush's best since Signals
Hit: 5 Stars
Rush have been trying to write this album since Counterparts and they've finally suceeded. There's not a wasted note and it's thematically and sonically cohesive, huge sounding and hugely emotional. What struck me right off the bat was how well the lyrics, vocals and music mesh, how tight and integrated the band sounds and how powerful. Snakes & Arrows sound is some serious ear candy. Alex's acoustic stringed instruments blend perfectly with his rich distorted guitar, Geddy's monstrous bass and heartfelt vocals and Neils drums to make one hell of a diverse sonic treat. I don't think Neils drums have ever sounded better, they're just whipcrack smart and like I said Geddy's bass and Alex's guitar are powerful and well recorded/mixed. Rush brought the rock with this one baby. Snakes & Arrows is about guitars; it's a riff monster of a cd. What little keyboard there is is used for atmospheric effect. There are also three instrumentals, one of which is a beautiful acoustic piece appropriately title Hope. The other two aren't flashy a la La Villa Strangiato or YYZ, instead they're dark and grooving. But for me the most striking thing is Neil's lyrics and Geddy Lee's vocal delivery. The lyrics are very dark actually and certainly the death of Neil's wife and daughter have much to do with the very personal and somewhat introspective content. But it's not quite as personal as Vapor Trails, the focus is more towards society and religion and it's juncture with the individual. There's a maturity of outlook towards life in general that I find extremely moving, oftimes resigned but not entirely hopeless. Neil makes some hard observations about the times we're living in, the modern world and what it means to be human. Geddy's vocals perfectly emote the lyrics and though he can't hit the high notes like he once did, he makes up for it with feeling. It's taken me about two weeks to properly digest this album and I feel that with Snakes and Arrows Rush have created one of their most emotional offerings in years and one of their hardest rocking of their entire career. For me it's their best work since Signals. In fact because of this cd and to a lesser extent the R30 dvd I've bought tickets to see Rush which will be the first time I've seen them since the eighties. I am jazzed about this album in a way I haven't been about Rush since Permanent Waves.Free Music Review: Another Modern Day Masterpiece
Hit: 5 Stars
I don't know what's more incredible about Rush; The fact that they are in their mid-50's and still touring and putting on flawless 3 hour shows or the fact that they have delivered yet another modern day masterpiece akin to 2002's Vapor Trails, which remains one of the band's finest moments.
While VT has the slightly better songs, Snakes & Arrows delivers crisper sound quality and a better overall production and listening experience. The lyrics are outstanding as always and deal with some of drummer/lyricist Neil Peart's favorite topics - war, religion, faith and a gamut of other emotions that make up the basis of the overall theme - humanity and trying to survive in these trying times.
Texturally, this is a very rich record, with plenty of acoustic guitars and layered vocals, however keyboards are once again used at a very minimum. It is a very "moody" sounding record and Geddy's vocals range from urgent to melodious and at times very soulful. I have heard complaints about the marriage of the lyrics to the vocals, but IMO Geddy only continues to get better at this as his sense of melody continues to grow.
Songwise, there are several standouts that qualify as modern day Rush masterpieces. The lead track "Far Cry" is a powerful opener with a contagious chorus that sticks in your head for days. "Armor & Sword" is a moody mid-tempo piece that contains the unforgettable "Nobody gets to their heaven without a fight" lyric. "Workin' Them Angels" is another lyrical highpoint as Neil thanks his spiritual guardians for allowing him to live on the edge for all these years, while Alex Lifeson provides the
wall of guitars and then a mandola solo - the perfect Rush song.
Other highlights include "The Way The Wind Blows" which starts out with a
killer blues riff from Lifeson before the band lock into a serious groove
that shows them musically in peak form. "The Main Monkey Business" is the best of the 3 instrumentals here however "Malignant Narcissism" could have been equally effective if not for it only being 2 minutes long. Both are not to be missed.
It truly is incredible that a band this deep into their career is making music as good as this. A true sign that this is one of the most gifted rock bands of all-time.