Now we're into the 'verses'. While Peart plays a supporting ride pattern, Alex plays the 'theme' of the song. Geddy Lee's bass, instead of merely holding up the bottom end, mirrors the guitar theme...in a mutant sort of way.
A few extended guitar chords serve as an introduction to the next section...where the skeletal drums and periodic bass notes (Taurus Pedals?) provide plenty of room for an extended guitar solo that builds and builds and builds...
...Until it stops to begin a muted staccato pattern that again builds to...
A 'tumbling' section that both frenzied and controlled. It's like a rock band falling down the stairs. Gracefully.
Some call & response, some start and stop...and then we begin a highly modified restatement of the original 'verses', which morphs into some wild and crazy bass/drum unison bits.
A few more nearly indescribable rhythmic chord workouts and we're again back to the final theme revisit before the song's finale is encountered - where again descending shards of chords build monumental amounts of energy. This 'exercise in self-indulgence' ends in a flurry of unison bass and snare drum notes followed by one last clipped guitar chord.
What I love about this music (besides the 'visual' aspect, that I can't begin to describe) is the sense of shared adventure. Sure, all bands play together. But not all bands have togetherness. Rush puts together musics that overflows with enthusiasm for rock's possibilities. Yes, the players are supposed to be 'virtuosos'. Who cares?! What matters is results: how those air molecules are wiggled.
Other candidates for adventures with Rush (though I don't want to turn this into a "what's your favorite" kinda thing) are "Free Will" from Permanent Waves, "YYZ" from the breakthrough record Moving Pictures and the introduction to the epic 2112. Lots and lots of textured surfaces to be explored.
Well, there. How I perceive music (sort of), some Rush epiphanies, and an extension to everybody's vocabulary: whatness.
(Special thanks to fellow Blogcritic and Rush fan Tom Johnson and uber-Blogcritic (and future Rush fan) Eric Olsen for starting the e-conversion that pushed me toward this essay).
(First posted on Mark Is Cranky)
Article comments
1 - Casper
Well, I guess I'll start the "my-favorite-Rush-song" thread by say that La Villa Strangiato is probably my favorite one. A bit over nine minutes long, it wanders through a bunch of different musical idioms (Flamenco, Waltz, Prog-Rock, and those are just the ones that I can think of off the top of my head).
The live verson on Exit Stage Left is even better (the jury's still out on the Live in Rio version).
2 - Craig Lyndall
My favorite Rush song is the one they will record after I get my hands around the throat of Geddy Lee for singing like a 6 year old boy who got knocked in the balls.
3 - Eric Olsen
Man, I love "Working Man" because it sounds like Black Sabbath after detox - IT ROCKS.
Mark, many thanks for a brilliant and readable explanation of the unexplainable. It's the effort that makes it so endearing and meaningful. And yes, my interest is piqued. Great job!
4 - Mark Saleski
thanks E.
Sabbath after detox...hmmmm.
5 - Tom Johnson
Nice work, Mark. I'm still mulling my response over. I think I may have to write a book to explain it all . . .
6 - Mark Saleski
thanks tom, don't mull too hard. you might pull something.
7 - JohnnyLunchBox
My favorite Rush songs are the ones they haven't written yet. I think I just hurt my brain.
8 - Tom Johnson
Man, I'm glad you linked to this from here. I didn't remember this at all, but I'm glad to have a refresher. (Unfortunately, I also don't remember the conversation you note that spawned it - I'm kinda curious now!)
I certainly get what you're saying. Texture is something I've come to realize is very important to me. If it doesn't "feel" right, it just doesn't work, and it likely never will. Not only that, I often have this visual in my head of a live line-graph to the music, or maybe the raw wave-form of the music as seen in a sound editing program. Up and down it goes as various events happen. No one else seems to understand what I'm talking about.
Jeez, that sounds nuts, reading back on it.
9 - Mark Saleski
makes sense to me!
10 - Josh
Dynamics come in to play as well; that Dylan quote about modern recordings being atrocious and all. Soft and loud, harsh and rounded... that makes a difference when I listen. Dylan's Modern Times and Wilco's Sky Blue Sky take advantage of textures and dynamics better than a lot of records I've listened to recently.