New Rush Album "Clockwork Angels" This June!

[Imperatrix]

This is so good that I hope it's their last album. Class act all the way, these guys.

I keep coming back to The Garden, Carnies, and (very pointedly) Wish Them Well.

[Dantalion Rides Again]

I've been speculating that this could be the swan song too. Given the frequency of studio releases from Rush these days, it could be 2018 when it's time for the next album.

I've had the record for a solid week now, took it out of the shrink and enjoyed the look of the packaging ... but still haven't brought myself to listen to it.

Partly I'm worried I'll be disappointed, since everyone and their brother says it's the greatest thing since Dark Side of the Moon, and since they say that about EVERY Rush album that comes out. My feelings about albums don't usually coincide with the majority anyway. I thought Snakes and Arrows wasn't their greatest batch of tunes.

Another part of it though, is that I kinda wanna wait til I actually feel like hearing it. Right now I'm knee deep in another band: stuck in a perpetual state of rubbernecking at the Queenswreck.

[Punj Lizard]

I've been speculating that this could be the swan song too. Given the frequency of studio releases from Rush these days, it could be 2018 when it's time for the next album.

I've had the record for a solid week now, took it out of the shrink and enjoyed the look of the packaging ... but still haven't brought myself to listen to it.

Partly I'm worried I'll be disappointed, since everyone and their brother says it's the greatest thing since Dark Side of the Moon, and since they say that about EVERY Rush album that comes out. My feelings about albums don't usually coincide with the majority anyway. I thought Snakes and Arrows wasn't their greatest batch of tunes.

Another part of it though, is that I kinda wanna wait til I actually feel like hearing it. Right now I'm knee deep in another band: stuck in a perpetual state of rubbernecking at the Queenswreck.

I advise you not to listen to it until you know you have time to listen to the whole album straight through, several times, over the course of several days. But then that's me. There may be songs that will stand out as better than others on first hearing, but for me, after a dozen listens I've found that has changed several times, so good and consistent is the album. Moreover, it has the feel of being an album, and not a "batch of tunes", which is what pretty much all their albums have sounded like to me since Power Windows.

And I agree - this will most likely be their swan song. I started to get that feeling from Peart's interviews some time before the album was released. Even more reason, in my mind, to make sure I catch the tour - it just might be their last.

I hope you're not disappointed.

[JL]

I've been speculating that this could be the swan song too. Given the frequency of studio releases from Rush these days, it could be 2018 when it's time for the next album.

I've had the record for a solid week now, took it out of the shrink and enjoyed the look of the packaging ... but still haven't brought myself to listen to it.

Partly I'm worried I'll be disappointed, since everyone and their brother says it's the greatest thing since Dark Side of the Moon, and since they say that about EVERY Rush album that comes out. My feelings about albums don't usually coincide with the majority anyway. I thought Snakes and Arrows wasn't their greatest batch of tunes.

Another part of it though, is that I kinda wanna wait til I actually feel like hearing it. Right now I'm knee deep in another band: stuck in a perpetual state of rubbernecking at the Queenswreck.

Did you really think I was not going to notice this sacrilege?

[JL]

This is so good that I hope it's their last album. Class act all the way, these guys.

I keep coming back to The Garden, Carnies, and (very pointedly) Wish Them Well.

I kind of get the feeling listening to The Garden that this has kind of a last song on the last album vibe to it.

[CybrKhatru]

I kind of get the feeling listening to The Garden that this has kind of a last song on the last album vibe to it.

Same here. In spades.


Of course, I had that feeling about Nine Voices, and look what happened there...

[Mr. Holland]

I have been listening to the album 3 times now and I like it a lot. The first thing that stroke me compared to it's predecessor 'snakes and arrows' is how much more prominent and upfront in the mix Geddy's bass is featured, and the man is playing some killer bass on this album.

Favorite tracks so far:

Clockwork Angels
The Anarchist
Seven Cities of Gold
Headlong Flight

[DREAMER]

I kind of get the feeling listening to The Garden that this has kind of a last song on the last album vibe to it.

I got that too but they have denied it in the fan pack interviews, they may be good for another album & tour - Long Live Rush!

[Punj Lizard]

I got that too but they have denied it in the fan pack interviews, they may be good for another album & tour - Long Live Rush!

If this does turn out to be their last, I will not be disappointed as they it is (to my ears) one of their best. If, however, they choose to carry on, I wish them well and look forward to the next album and hope it's as good as this one.

[Dantalion Rides Again]

I bet if they do release one more album, that it'll be as close in quality to this one as it can possibly get, based on their history. It seems like they try on a new approach every "sector", and by the end of it, they've got it mastered.

Think of:
CoS/2112
PeW/MP
PoW/HYF
Counterparts/T4E

Makes sense that they'd do exactly one more, given there's been three so far in this "sector" (thank God they coined that phrase, or the record label did anyway, makes my geek-out easier to manage!)

[Punj Lizard]

I bet if they do release one more album, that it'll be as close in quality to this one as it can possibly get, based on their history. It seems like they try on a new approach every "sector", and by the end of it, they've got it mastered.

Think of:
CoS/2112
PeW/MP
PoW/HYF
Counterparts/T4E

Makes sense that they'd do exactly one more, given there's been three so far in this "sector" (thank God they coined that phrase, or the record label did anyway, makes my geek-out easier to manage!)

The flaw in your theory (at least as far as I'm concerned) is HYF, which is not only the worst album in the sector (Signals, GUP and PoW all being superior), but one of their worst ever, while the other three in the sector are great albums. Having said that, HYF could just be the exception that proves the rule.

One thing I heard Geddy say was that when they approached this album, he and Alex had discussed the idea of doing something a litte more adventurous, which in their mind was a 10-15 minute track, but when they suggested it to Neil he said, great yeah, something more adventurous, a whole concept album! Personally I think the idea to embrace something more adventurous, in whatever shape, improved the album. I hope they feel the same way and keep this in mind for the next one, if it comes about. We'll probably have to wait until 2017 for that though! In the meantime, I'm still loving Clockwork Angels and now rate it in my top four or five favourite Rush albums ever.

[Micah68]

! In the meantime, I'm still loving Clockwork Angels and now rate it in my top four or five favourite Rush albums ever.

--

Pleased for you. Are you going to see them in concert ?

[Punj Lizard]

--

Pleased for you. Are you going to see them in concert ?

I am. But this time hoping to avoid spoilers. I knew the set inside out before the last gig and wished I hadn't. But since Rush change their sets quite considerably from tour to tour, I think I'll do well to avoid spoilers and thsu go in knowing only that they'll be playing a fair amount of the new album. The rest should be a mystery.

[JustAFan]

I'm still loving Clockwork Angels and now rate it in my top four or five favourite Rush albums ever.

This album IS, without a doubt, one of the band's finest moments.

They are, in my opinion, the best in the business.

Looking forward to the upcoming shows.

[relayeire]

The band quote from their entire history on this album - from the early "banshee" days up through Snakes & Arrows. I don't know what that means, but I'm quite sure it's intentional.

Still processing this album and deciding where it fits in the heirarchy of Rush music.

[CybrKhatru]

Jon, we'll have to agree to disagree about Hold Your Fire.

[Punj Lizard]

Jon, we'll have to agree to disagree about Hold Your Fire.

Matt, I listened to it again this afternoon because I keep thinking I must be wrong if so many people like yourself like it. But no cigar - and yes, we'll have to agree to disagree. BTW, in a recent interview, Geddy Lee was asked if there are any Rush tracks he's ashamed of, and he said, yes, one - Tai Shan. Hearing that made me feel better.

[JL]

Matt, I listened to it again this afternoon because I keep thinking I must be wrong if so many people like yourself like it. But no cigar - and yes, we'll have to agree to disagree. BTW, in a recent interview, Geddy Lee was asked if there are any Rush tracks he's ashamed of, and he said, yes, one - Tai Shan. Hearing that made me feel better.

I'm with you. HYF is, IMO and without a close second, the worst Rush album.

[JustAFan]

Hold Your Fire is pretty bad, but so is Roll The Bones and a few others. But they are all part of the Rush arsenal, so I can't part with them.

I just don't play them.

[CybrKhatru]

That's more HYF for me then.