Rush to Judgement

My name is X-Ray, and I am a Rush fan. It's often not an easy thing to admit, but it has been down right difficult over the last 5 years or so because I've had to come to grips with the fact that the Rush I knew and loved (often to the detriment of picking up really hot chicks), no longer exists.

You see, somewhere along the way, Rush decided to give up on any semblance of melody and dive head first into sludge rock. Even in the past, when their songs were loud and crunchy ("Anthem", "Temples of Syrinx", "Something for Nothing"), or monster slices of tightly-wound progressive, power trio goodliness ("Cygnus X-1" or "Hemispheres"), the songs were still tuneful. You could sing along. You could hum the guitar solos. Hell, more often the not, the base lines were catchy little ditties!!

Now unfortunately, all Rush songs sound the same, and that same ain't good. Their songs are more often than not muddy, tuneless, and plodding messes. The playing on their last couple of albums has been uninspired. Their lyrics are just plain horrible, but to be fair, they have been since Presto. And I can't for the life of me understand why Geddy is so obsessed with double tracking his vocals. I had to come to the painful realization years ago that I wasn't doing myself any favors continuing to listen to their new music.

However, that being said, old geek habits die hard. I have continued to see them live (seen every tour since Power Windows more than 25 years ago) and have bought tickets to the upcoming tour. Last night I showed my true geek colors by staying up until midnight because the new Rush single was being release online, and I wanted to hear it.

I know you are waiting with baited breath to see if this story has a happy ending and whether the lack of sleep was worth it. You may even be hoping that Rush redeemed themselves, that the songs (for there was a b-side as well) were a breath of fresh air. A return to the understanding of what made their music so great to begin with. Well, dear readers, I am afraid that I cannot report as such. They suck, plain and simple. Loud and pointless seems to be the standard by which all future Rush music will be made, and that my friends, is a damn shame.