By-Tor.com

not based on lyrics or anything technical...just emotion
...typing about the song as I listen to it..

Far Cry - well my first taste of the new album and I still love it...good song to dance about to

Armour and Sword - nice start from Mr Peart...liking this sound so far..bits of this reminds me of oldish Rush..really noticing the drumming in this...(not that I dont usually lol)...think I'll be mentioning Alex's guitar alot..he is just fucking awesome!...oh wow...4:50 odd mins into it love that guitar!!

Workin' Them Angels - hmmm this one is growing on me as the song goes on...again though the guitar is just awesome..think i'll like this one better when I take the lyrics into consideration...still a brilliant song though

Larger Bowl - Alex is a genius...Geddy's voice has just got better with age..Mr Peart just blows me away..

Spindrift - start is different and quite frankly..I love it!...I really like the darkish feel to the music...

Main Monkey Business - when I first saw a 6 min instrumental I was like hmmm...but the boys have done it again...awesome

Way the Wind Blows - love the start...quite heavy and rocky ..oh I really love this...this is one I could see myself going about the house singing loud

Hope - I love this!!!...the guitar just takes me to a happy thoughtful place

Faithless - can this band do any wrong!...I like the lyrics to this one..

Bravest Face...I like this so far...really reminds me of oldish stuff...this song gets better as it goes on...another one I love lol...again love the guitar

Good News First - oh wow...again the guitar blows me away...I love this!..the vocals, guitar, drums everything just gels in my ears

Malignant Narcissism - I always forget about Geddy on the bass till he politely reminds me...he has just reminded me lol...I love this heavy sound

We Hold On - this one I like as well...I love the guitar..2:40 odd...I like that wee solo ...this one doesnt spring out to me as much as others has but I still love it


well I dont think there is a bland or anything other than brilliant song anywhere on this album...out of their recent stuff I think this is gonna be my favourite..

is that better Ogg....although I od'd on the word love

Listened to my copy this weekend. All I can say is...WOW. Spindrift is my favorite thus far and deserves a spot among the classics. I've been waiting a long time for a song like that, it kind of slaps you in the face then slaps you in the back of the head at the end, reminds a lot of Witch Hunt, very dark. Lerxst has an instrumental all be his lonesome (6 and 12 string acoustic). Two other instrumentals and a lot of 'exploration'. Overall, a great listen. I cannot fathom anyone listening to this and not liking it. A true album for the fans.

...much better Schu' .

doctorbraino wrote:Listened to my copy this weekend. All I can say is...WOW. Spindrift is my favorite thus far and deserves a spot among the classics. I've been waiting a long time for a song like that, it kind of slaps you in the face then slaps you in the back of the head at the end, reminds a lot of Witch Hunt, very dark. Lerxst has an instrumental all be his lonesome (6 and 12 string acoustic). Two other instrumentals and a lot of 'exploration'. Overall, a great listen. I cannot fathom anyone listening to this and not liking it. A true album for the fans.

Succinctly put DrB.

I guess I should feel excluded from the 'New Rush Album release Day' thing having had this for a week. Still, my bought-and-paid for copy arrived this morning and I'm right here with you you all...listening again .
To quote Schu' "I Love It"

So far, I find some of the incessant banter quite winning; glad to be here. :O)

At any rate, those who don?t like it, don?t kill me for saying this: I truly believe Snakes and Arrows will soon become my all-time favorite album. I am a newer fan, compared to some - I'm 31 and have been a Rush fan beginning with Roll the Bones. The assortment of generations this band can clearly touch with an album or even a single song is incredible to me, at this point.

To continue - love the album, love Geddy's vocals (can he get any better?!?!?!), I love how understated Neil is, with a little thrown in here and there - and more than anything, I believe this is Lifeson's album. 'Boy shines like a mo-fo! My favorite songs, so far, are:

Far Cry
Armor and Sword
Workin' Them Angels
The Larger Bowl
Spindrift
Main Monkey Business
Way the Wind Blows
Hope
Faithless
Good News First
Malignant Narcissism
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaand... We Hold On

Anyhow, noone has to agree with me (and please dont insult me, some of you people are rough I see) but that is what I have to say.

I'm just a girl. A girl who loves this band and is consistantly pleased with what they come up with. *sniff*

See you (er, some of you) in ATLANTA!!!! :):)

Ekoostik wrote: The assortment of generations this band can clearly touch with an album or even a single song is incredible to me, at this point.

Yeah, me too. Not only generations but different types of music lovers... from the metalheads to the old prog lovers.

I'll try to buy the album on the way home and give it some ear time.

Ekoostik wrote:I'm just a girl. A girl who loves this band and is consistantly pleased with what they come up with.

I have now heard it all the way through once. Plenty of mixed first impressions on this album (I sure miss the days of "that was totally awesome" when I heard a new Rush album).

Well... I guess I'll go chronologically.

Heard Far Cry on the net a while back. My reaction was like By-Tors. Meh.

Bought the CD today and had a chance to read the lyrics before I had a chance to listen. First impression? What a lot of hand-wringing and whining. Rats.

Finally got to play the album. Thank heavens for better mastering than Vapor Trails. However, I wasn't impressed with their producer. Kinda muddy sounding. Finally I turned down my subwoofer to ease off the bass and turned up the volume. That helped. But I still didn't like the sound of the vocals... kinda like there was a blanket between Geddy's mouth and the microphone.

Speaking of vocals, Geddy's been doing something lately that he really overdid (IMO) on this album... the incessant layering of harmony vocals. That can be a good thing for an effect, but when it goes on and on through song after song it gets old. I'm sure Ged would disagree with me.

Impression during the first few tracks; there's no melody here with which I'd like to sing along. Rush used to do so many of those... Closer to the Heart, The Sphere, Freewill, and many many more. Often the song would start and I'd be thinking, "This is pretty cool" and then those moaning harmonies would start again. "Such a lot of pain on the Earth wo wo woooo is me". Okay, I'm exagerating.

And there were exceptions! The Way the Wind Blows had a hook, and it caught me, and I really enjoyed listening! Very lovely song. Cleaner vocals in that one. Nice chords and stuff. Good job, guys!

Bravest Face. The vocals started and I thought, "Here come the moaning harmonies again" but then they stopped! Suddenly Geddy's voice rang alone and clear with Alex's acoustic guitar! The producer had turned off the Studio Magic 2000 box and taken the blanket off the microphone! Geddy only used the harmonies as an occasional effect in that song and I loved it! Another lovely song!

So, I guess that makes 5 of the thirteen tracks that I'm really looking forward to hearing again.

Don't get me wrong... I know from experience that some Rush songs are sleepers and kinda sneak up on you after you've heard them a few times. I play on listening to this album a lot more to see if that happens again.

And the instrumentals, oh BABY! I love the instrumentals! Those guys still got it!

One last thought. The lyrics to Faithless kinda reminded me of a song that Strongbad sang on his CD...

Somebody told me
That you were so stupid
But I didn't believe them
But now I believe them

Somebody told me
That you were so stupid
But I didn't believe them
But now I believe them

Everybody's stupid!
Everybody's stupid!
Everybody's stupid but ME!

Oh, somebody told me
That you were so stupid
But I didn't believe them
But now I believe them

Somebody told me
That you were so stupid
But I didn't believe them
And now I believe them

Ain't I cool?

Marn bought Snakes and Arrows today after she came to my work with lunch. We also deleted the copy I already had on the computer.

Thanks for the preview D.

I still really like this album.

schuette wrote: Way the Wind Blows - love the start...quite heavy and rocky ..oh I really love this...this is one I could see myself going about the house singing loud

Yeah! That was the first one I wanted to be able to sing along with!

Ekoostik wrote:So far, I find some of the incessant banter quite winning; glad to be here. :O)

welcome ...good to have another female here

schuette wrote:

Ekoostik wrote:So far, I find some of the incessant banter quite winning; glad to be here. :O)

welcome ...good to have another female here

schuette wrote:
welcome ...good to have another female here

Yes, yes it is.

Middle Kingdom

I will be at the Saratoga show as well. Nice pics of the tickets, hopefully I'll get mine soon from the pre-order. Maybe I'll see you there now that I know where you're sitting.

Excellent.
I'm sure we can connect for a hello!

The Album is great.
My first listen through I was impressed and each one since has just made me fall in love with it more and more.
Indeed another great edition to the Rush catalog.

CRAIGY-POO POSTED!



((((((((((((((((Grabs Craigy and hugs))))))))))))))))))))