Real Progress
Rush is just about my favorite band ever. This is because I am a fan of progressive music, and to me Rush embodies prog more than any other band. Also because they completely rock and always have.
So it upsets me when I see things like these Youtube page comments, which include people complaining because the newest Rush album is "alot [sic] different from their old stuff," is not "the real [R]ush." Now, of course, these are comment threads on Youtube, so they are basically guaranteed to be inane and moronic. Still, the idea that someone could ostensibly be a fan of Rush, a truly progressive band, but be upset when they actually progress is just bizarre to me. I would question what they think Rush is about, but then again these are probably not the sort of people who particularly think of what music is about. This is to say nothing of the fact that I happen to really enjoy the latest Rush album.
Another strange thing about Rush as a progressive band: Geddy Lee has said himself that he has never thought of Rush as being a prog rock band, but rather he and Alex Lifeson started it intending to play hard rock, just a bit "different," a bit "weird." In the same interview he said that the M.O. of Rush was always to change gears dramatically every couple of albums. Now, seeing as when Rush started, "prog rock" was not as solidly defined a term as it is now, it is understandable that they didn't set out with the goal of being a prog rock band. But in my view, that they consciously had these two particular ideas - being just a bit different from the norm, and changing gears regularly - is what makes them truly progressive musicians. That is progress.
It is possible that Geddy's feeling of separation from the term "prog rock" is based on a misconception that progressive music is the same as, say, avant-garde or experimental music, which strive to be completely different from the norm, in fact to show blatant and thorough disregard, even disgust towards the norm. Whereas progressive music strives to push the envelope, experimental music makes a new envelope out of scrap paper and candy wrappers.
While we're at it,
So it upsets me when I see things like these Youtube page comments, which include people complaining because the newest Rush album is "alot [sic] different from their old stuff," is not "the real [R]ush." Now, of course, these are comment threads on Youtube, so they are basically guaranteed to be inane and moronic. Still, the idea that someone could ostensibly be a fan of Rush, a truly progressive band, but be upset when they actually progress is just bizarre to me. I would question what they think Rush is about, but then again these are probably not the sort of people who particularly think of what music is about. This is to say nothing of the fact that I happen to really enjoy the latest Rush album.
Another strange thing about Rush as a progressive band: Geddy Lee has said himself that he has never thought of Rush as being a prog rock band, but rather he and Alex Lifeson started it intending to play hard rock, just a bit "different," a bit "weird." In the same interview he said that the M.O. of Rush was always to change gears dramatically every couple of albums. Now, seeing as when Rush started, "prog rock" was not as solidly defined a term as it is now, it is understandable that they didn't set out with the goal of being a prog rock band. But in my view, that they consciously had these two particular ideas - being just a bit different from the norm, and changing gears regularly - is what makes them truly progressive musicians. That is progress.
It is possible that Geddy's feeling of separation from the term "prog rock" is based on a misconception that progressive music is the same as, say, avant-garde or experimental music, which strive to be completely different from the norm, in fact to show blatant and thorough disregard, even disgust towards the norm. Whereas progressive music strives to push the envelope, experimental music makes a new envelope out of scrap paper and candy wrappers.
While we're at it,
Labels: music
posted by Mephisto at 10:17 AM
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