If you're already a fan of a piece of music, then it's great to hear it live. But in most cases, it's better to start with the studio version. Especially a piece like this where it's all about how tight and precise they play it. In the studio version, each band member gets plenty of tries to get it perfect. You hear it the way they intended it to be heard. There's VERY few musicians where I'd want a reactor to skip the studio tracks and go straight to live. Stevie Ray Vaughan comes to mind... his live stuff far exceeds the album tracks.
If nobody has already said on the previous video, it is dreamy because the song was written by Alex about a series of recurring nightmares he had. One of Alex's nicknames was Lerxst, so the reference is to himself... Danford and Pape is an intersection in Toronto. So, there are some light restful portions where the dream is pleasant, and other sections where the dreams turns dark and ominous... one thing I love about this song is that, like many nightmares, it ends abruptly, in the midst of a bar, as if Alex was awoken to break the dream. The music hangs unresolved. Alex was trained in a number of instruments including guitar, mandola, mandonlin, and even bouzouki, showing his roots as the child of immigrants from Eastern Europe. I think I've seen him play finger-style with (at least) three fingers as well as his thumb.
The best thing about Rush is, whether its studio or live, it's going to be amazing. Everybody has their favorite versions, depending on their preferences (sound mix, instruments used, energy level, etc) so it's all good. 😁
My favorite is the live version on Exit Stage Left. There's an intensity to it that's amazing. It was on rewind in my wannabe Walkman when I was a young girl staring out my window at night learning the constellations.
@Jone Ruiz Guitar When it comes to almost any rock band, Especially Rush, you should *ALWAYS ALWAS ALWAYS* react to the studio version first because it gives you a greater appreciation for how good they are live. You can even do comparison videos for the live cuts versus the studio versions.
Love to see you react to Triumph. Their lead singer was also their guitar player, Rik Emmett. He plays classical pieces as well as rock. Triumph is also a three piece Canadian band, a bit different than Rush. If you want to hear his stuff you could check out his guitar solo at the US festival or you could pick some of his classic pieces like "Midsummer's Daydream" or "Petite Etude". Also, his normal rock songs are great, songs like "Lay it on the Line", "Fight the Good Fight", "Magic Power".
One of Rik's sickest solos was an overlooked album track, "Play With The Fire" from "The Sport Of Kings" (a mostly forgettable mid-80's LP). It truly shocked me and completely blew my mind, and I'm a huge Triumph fan indeed! "A Minor Prelude" and "Fingertalkin'" are also excellent examples of his acoustic prowess. ☮️+💜+🎶
“The City” from the Rock N Roll Machine album (not the original US release) is a perfect showcase for Rik’s playing. The 2nd section, “El Duende Agonizante”, is an amazing classical/flamenco piece.
Thanks for a fun reaction. I also really enjoy the solo in this song. The studio version is most enjoyable for me due to the clarity, although seeing it performed live is impressive.
Thanks Jone made my day with your initial reaction "fingers very fast" Alex is the most underrated rock guitarist in rock history outside of the Rush family
New Subscriber here! A couple of videos ago you were wondering if Geddy Lee, the bassist, keyboardist and Vocalist plays all things Live. Yes he does. Certain songs he plays and does everything at once using his keyboard footpedals below his keyboard and below his microphone stand while he plays the bass and sings at the same time! He doesn't do it all the time but quite often! I believe that he also has bass pedals below his keyboard too so when he is playing keyboards he can chime in with the bass too! Neil Peart, the drummer plays the drums, Xylophone, cowbells, gongs, bells, and other percussion instruments. Alex Lifeson, the guitarist plays the accoustic guitar, electric guitar, and keyboards. I believe in one song he plays all of those instruments in the same song just at different times. All of these musicians are highly considered the tops of their instruments in all of Rock and Roll! Neil Peart is the GOAT as a drummer meaning he's considered by many to be the absolute BEST DRUMMER ever! He's also be known as a Drummer's drummer, meaning that many drummers have become a drummer because of Neil Peart! Geddy Lee is considered to be the BEST BASSIST in Rock and Roll/Prog Rock ever! Alex Lifeson is often the forgotten one of the three because the other two have been ranked so high! However if you consider what Van Halen Guitarist, Eddy Van Halen (possibly the best ever) said during an interview when asked about being the BEST GUITARIST, he's said I don't know but go ask Alex Lifeson of Rush!! That raised alot of eyes and opened up more about Alex, which is rightfully so! I will offer a couple of Bands for you to review and react to and if you want I can suggest a couple of songs. Please message me if you would like a couple of songs for each of these bands! Those bands are: Obviously Rush Triumph Boston AC⚡DC Loverboy Bryan Adams Home Free - an Acapella Group (the best one IMO) First I would like you to React to Home Free and Triumph first! Anyways let me know if you want a list of any or all of these bands! Thanks! Cheers Roger Edited to correct spelling errors!
One of my favorite songs .. I have played this song myself since I was in my teens (I'm 60 now). I still attempt to play it to this day (not as good as I once was).
First Rush album I bought was Exit Stage Left, and for a long time those versions were the right ones. I still think that album is magical. La Villa Strangiato is excellent there, Alex guitar solo is incredible. Xanadu is better on ESL than the original. Free Will too. But often I agree, production is do much better on studio albums.
Nobody including Alex could ever play that solo with the same feel and intensity as it is on the studio recording. Whether or not done in the usual way of 2 or 3 passes and editing the best parts to make one great take...which is hard to believe because of the fluency of the whole. Either way it's by far one of the best rock? Guitar solos ever put to tape.
The best version of this song is the live version from the LP Exit Stage Left. Which also has the best version of The Trees with the Broon's Bane classical guitar intro.
Glad you like the studio. We engineers work hard to put 100 pounds of sound into a 50 pound bag. We have to completely replace their visual presence and make you not miss it. 😺
Some of their songs really feel like they should be live, but for first-time listening, I recommend studio versions. They're clean and have all of that nice production and mixing. This one especially because of the way the guitar fades in and out during his lead section. This is their first true instrumental. They had instrumental passages as parts of larger pieces, but this is the first time they put out a full-length instrumental. It was so good and they liked it so much that they put out a lot more over the years.
I like seeing what they are doing and appreciate their ability to recreate studio recordings live. However, there is nothing like putting on the headphones and being able to hear all of the subtleties of Neil's drumming in the studio. Some of his high hat and cymbal work is fantastic and doesn't come through in the live recordings.
Especially with that awesome set of headphones. My husband.d noticed right away! It's like David of Disturbed A metal band. Most were shocked when he did Sound of Silence. Cheers
Not only is this one of the best song ever made, in my opinion (run of the mill Peart fan). It’s only one of the best mixes I’ve ever heard. Everything hits perfectly.
I watched the live version that you posted, very nice review. you also said you read all the comments which I appreciate. When you get a chance please check out Liquid Tension Experiment or some Dream Theater. These guys are often compared to Rush.
No apologizies. I am a Rush fan 61 years old fowards ever onwards...I too prefer the studio guitar version...but Live? Seen these guys a LOT. They are amazing. YYZ live Rio is your next objective.
he and geddy bought guitars about age 12 and went into their rooms with a record and learned to play but later alex said he took c,lassical guitar lessons for about a year.
I would bet Alex used a pick on that intro. And breaking longer songs into sections with different titles is a tradition in progressive rock going back to The Nice and King Crimson in the late 1960's. Yes and Genesis continued the tradition, and both were big influences on Rush.
Well as artists, studio versions are always what the band wants a song to be. That is for posterity. Live versions are to entertain an audience right there and then. Rush happens to figure out how to faithfully reproduce their songs live by having Geddy and Alex playing foot synths while also playing their primary instruments. But yeah, studio versions are the way to go then appreciate faithful live versions. Exit Stage Left’s Xanadu, however, is a little contrary to my theory.
It does very much sound like he is using classical two finger technique on the fast run at the end of the classical acoustic guitar intro. Alex did take classical lessons for a year and a half to two years from a well-trained friend. If Alex has stayed years later that he used a pick, he’s probably mis-remembering as it was recorded over 40 years ago and he has receded many albums since this recording. Alex Lifeson has also played in the classical style on many Rush albums but particularly in the 70’s and some in the 80’s.
No you're thinking of Xanadu. They spent 11 days trying to get this in one take but finally gave up and recorded it in 3 parts. Of course by the time they took it on tour they could lay it down no problem and replicate the studio version to a tee.
@@kippsguitar6539 watch beyond the lighted stage Geddy clearly states that they killed themselves trying to get this down in one take and couldn't do it I'm not making this shit up do you want me to link you to the video and time stamp it for you?
Of course studio is better ! The amount and level of work that goes into writing and recording such complex pieces of music is beyond belief. It's nice that they can play it live with the level of precision that they do but the studio versions are superhuman in so many ways and that is how the band wants the audience to experiment the art that they've created.
I agree with you about the studio version over the live version for this song. I have seen Rush live many times and they are incredible but i never liked the electric guitar intro that Alex did on this song. They always played it great but the intro just wasn't my favorite.
Yes the intro is "fast" super fast and incredibly difficult on a classical guitar and a descending harmonic minor thing, I should know I've been bluffing it for 40+ years and I still can't get it right and neither can anyone else I saw try, I always wanted to ask Alex lifeson if it's studio tweaked, I play a version of it sometimes live and people are astounded but I know I'm bluffing through it and nowhere near it, give it a try Jone
Watching a music video or a live performance is very distracting and it's harder to get lost in the music. When you just listen to the studio version, your mind can escape into another dimension where it creates its own images, like a daydream. It's a different experience for sure.
I have to mention this live version of a song, otherwise I would be doing you and Rush a disservice... from their 1988 tour "Mission" ua-cam.com/video/mNn3zI2bCHw/v-deo.html It helps to have lyrics handy for this song and most others in the mid-later Rush period as well. This isn't like any other version of Rush you've heard, or people will typically recommend on UA-cam, but to me, it's the quintessential Rush sound
For my wife, Rush is mostly "meh". She's pretty lukewarm on the band, in general. But not this song. She loves this song. She's obviously floored by technical prowess each member gets to display, but she also gets the creative and musical aspects as well. Honestly, of all the Rush songs she's heard, and I'd say its most of the better known ones, from "Rush" to "Test For Echo", for this to be the one she settles on??? I'll take it!
I like some of the studio versions better and some of their live stuff better. IMO the early studio versions aren’t better than their later live. For me Rush isn’t Rush pre Neil P. So those later live versions are better because he’s on the drums.
Want to see the latest guitar accessories that are popular right now? Just click here! amzn.to/3QMB2om
For me, the studio version is the best. The guitar solo on this version is of my all time favorites, just incredible
If you're already a fan of a piece of music, then it's great to hear it live. But in most cases, it's better to start with the studio version. Especially a piece like this where it's all about how tight and precise they play it. In the studio version, each band member gets plenty of tries to get it perfect. You hear it the way they intended it to be heard.
There's VERY few musicians where I'd want a reactor to skip the studio tracks and go straight to live. Stevie Ray Vaughan comes to mind... his live stuff far exceeds the album tracks.
If nobody has already said on the previous video, it is dreamy because the song was written by Alex about a series of recurring nightmares he had. One of Alex's nicknames was Lerxst, so the reference is to himself... Danford and Pape is an intersection in Toronto. So, there are some light restful portions where the dream is pleasant, and other sections where the dreams turns dark and ominous... one thing I love about this song is that, like many nightmares, it ends abruptly, in the midst of a bar, as if Alex was awoken to break the dream. The music hangs unresolved.
Alex was trained in a number of instruments including guitar, mandola, mandonlin, and even bouzouki, showing his roots as the child of immigrants from Eastern Europe. I think I've seen him play finger-style with (at least) three fingers as well as his thumb.
Thanks for that info. I never knew the backstory to this song.
A Masterpiece…..nothing more needs to be said.🔥👏
A masterclass in musicianship and the greatest Rock instrumental ever, three prodigies soloing at the same time for 10 minutes.
Original studio versions are a must. You hear how the band originally envisioned the tune. Rush, nice Canadian boys. 🙏🍁
🥰 Glad you did the Studio version too! 😚 Watching Rush reactions never get old! 😁🐰
I do like the live versions and Rush is a band that played really well live, but yeah, the studio versions will always be most dear to my heart.
Could not stop listening to this album when I was 16
The best thing about Rush is, whether its studio or live, it's going to be amazing.
Everybody has their favorite versions, depending on their preferences (sound mix, instruments used, energy level, etc) so it's all good. 😁
My favorite is the live version on Exit Stage Left. There's an intensity to it that's amazing. It was on rewind in my wannabe Walkman when I was a young girl staring out my window at night learning the constellations.
@Jone Ruiz Guitar
When it comes to almost any rock band, Especially Rush, you should *ALWAYS ALWAS ALWAYS* react to the studio version first because it gives you a greater appreciation for how good they are live. You can even do comparison videos for the live cuts versus the studio versions.
Great reaction to this masterpiece.I prefer the studio version too
I think the most amazing thing about this is the composition; it is a masterwork of thematic rock.
Love to see you react to Triumph. Their lead singer was also their guitar player, Rik Emmett. He plays classical pieces as well as rock. Triumph is also a three piece Canadian band, a bit different than Rush. If you want to hear his stuff you could check out his guitar solo at the US festival or you could pick some of his classic pieces like "Midsummer's Daydream" or "Petite Etude". Also, his normal rock songs are great, songs like "Lay it on the Line", "Fight the Good Fight", "Magic Power".
One of Rik's sickest solos was an overlooked album track, "Play With The Fire" from "The Sport Of Kings" (a mostly forgettable mid-80's LP). It truly shocked me and completely blew my mind, and I'm a huge Triumph fan indeed! "A Minor Prelude" and "Fingertalkin'" are also excellent examples of his acoustic prowess. ☮️+💜+🎶
“The City” from the Rock N Roll Machine album (not the original US release) is a perfect showcase for Rik’s playing. The 2nd section, “El Duende Agonizante”, is an amazing classical/flamenco piece.
@@markchristopher420 you forgot “Embrujo”!
@@philsmith2444 💪😎🎸 Indeed, sir!
@@philsmith2444 Amazing piece! Good catch!
Thanks for a fun reaction. I also really enjoy the solo in this song. The studio version is most enjoyable for me due to the clarity, although seeing it performed live is impressive.
Thanks Jone made my day with your initial reaction "fingers very fast" Alex is the most underrated rock guitarist in rock history outside of the Rush family
New Subscriber here! A couple of videos ago you were wondering if Geddy Lee, the bassist, keyboardist and Vocalist plays all things Live. Yes he does. Certain songs he plays and does everything at once using his keyboard footpedals below his keyboard and below his microphone stand while he plays the bass and sings at the same time! He doesn't do it all the time but quite often! I believe that he also has bass pedals below his keyboard too so when he is playing keyboards he can chime in with the bass too!
Neil Peart, the drummer plays the drums, Xylophone, cowbells, gongs, bells, and other percussion instruments.
Alex Lifeson, the guitarist plays the accoustic guitar, electric guitar, and keyboards. I believe in one song he plays all of those instruments in the same song just at different times.
All of these musicians are highly considered the tops of their instruments in all of Rock and Roll! Neil Peart is the GOAT as a drummer meaning he's considered by many to be the absolute BEST DRUMMER ever! He's also be known as a Drummer's drummer, meaning that many drummers have become a drummer because of Neil Peart!
Geddy Lee is considered to be the BEST BASSIST in Rock and Roll/Prog Rock ever!
Alex Lifeson is often the forgotten one of the three because the other two have been ranked so high! However if you consider what Van Halen Guitarist, Eddy Van Halen (possibly the best ever) said during an interview when asked about being the BEST GUITARIST, he's said I don't know but go ask Alex Lifeson of Rush!! That raised alot of eyes and opened up more about Alex, which is rightfully so!
I will offer a couple of Bands for you to review and react to and if you want I can suggest a couple of songs. Please message me if you would like a couple of songs for each of these bands! Those bands are:
Obviously Rush
Triumph
Boston
AC⚡DC
Loverboy
Bryan Adams
Home Free - an Acapella Group (the best one IMO)
First I would like you to React to Home Free and Triumph first!
Anyways let me know if you want a list of any or all of these bands! Thanks! Cheers Roger
Edited to correct spelling errors!
One of my favorite songs .. I have played this song myself since I was in my teens (I'm 60 now). I still attempt to play it to this day (not as good as I once was).
All 3 are virtuosos on their instruments greatest band of all time lyrically and musically!!!
First Rush album I bought was Exit Stage Left, and for a long time those versions were the right ones. I still think that album is magical. La Villa Strangiato is excellent there, Alex guitar solo is incredible. Xanadu is better on ESL than the original. Free Will too. But often I agree, production is do much better on studio albums.
Love this live album. Yyz on this album is far superior to any other, in my opinion.
Glad you enjoyed this band they are top notch players
Nobody including Alex could ever play that solo with the same feel and intensity as it is on the studio recording. Whether or not done in the usual way of 2 or 3 passes and editing the best parts to make one great take...which is hard to believe because of the fluency of the whole. Either way it's by far one of the best rock? Guitar solos ever put to tape.
So glad you reacted to the studio version.
Your best Rush review to date thank you so much Jone, tears running down my face
Loved your opening "YO!"
The best version of this song is the live version from the LP Exit Stage Left. Which also has the best version of The Trees with the Broon's Bane classical guitar intro.
Glad you like the studio. We engineers work hard to put 100 pounds of sound into a 50 pound bag. We have to completely replace their visual presence and make you not miss it. 😺
I did see an interview with Rush and they said they had to record this in 3 parts because it was so technical
...and 5 minutes plus...welcome to Prog Rock!
The studio versons give more room for the dynamics and I really appreciate it. :)
The band have nicknames for each other. Geddy Lee (Dirk), Alex Lifeson (Lerxst) and Neil Peart (Pratt). Just a fun fact. Great reaction!
Studio is the best for me too. Cleaner and can get the soft sounds than play with quiet background .
Loving the Rush content. Thank you!!
Lerxst is Alex Lifeson's nickname. Geddy Lee is Dirk and Neil Peart was Pratt.
Some of their songs really feel like they should be live, but for first-time listening, I recommend studio versions. They're clean and have all of that nice production and mixing. This one especially because of the way the guitar fades in and out during his lead section. This is their first true instrumental. They had instrumental passages as parts of larger pieces, but this is the first time they put out a full-length instrumental. It was so good and they liked it so much that they put out a lot more over the years.
I like seeing what they are doing and appreciate their ability to recreate studio recordings live. However, there is nothing like putting on the headphones and being able to hear all of the subtleties of Neil's drumming in the studio. Some of his high hat and cymbal work is fantastic and doesn't come through in the live recordings.
Especially with that awesome set of headphones. My husband.d noticed right away! It's like David of Disturbed A metal band. Most were shocked when he did Sound of Silence.
Cheers
Not only is this one of the best song ever made, in my opinion (run of the mill Peart fan). It’s only one of the best mixes I’ve ever heard. Everything hits perfectly.
The studio version is great. So are the versions from Exit Stage Left and Rush In Rio.
I watched the live version that you posted, very nice review. you also said you read all the comments which I appreciate. When you get a chance please check out Liquid Tension Experiment or some Dream Theater. These guys are often compared to Rush.
No apologizies. I am a Rush fan 61 years old fowards ever onwards...I too prefer the studio guitar version...but Live? Seen these guys a LOT. They are amazing. YYZ live Rio is your next objective.
he and geddy bought guitars about age 12 and went into their rooms with a record and learned to play but later alex said he took c,lassical guitar lessons for about a year.
I blew my speakers on this song
It’s not that much of a difference but Rush fans are Rush fans. Very nice reactions. Mi gustan
i prefer watching them play seeing their interaction. but studio is great as well
I agree on the studio version. Works best for me.
I would bet Alex used a pick on that intro. And breaking longer songs into sections with different titles is a tradition in progressive rock going back to The Nice and King Crimson in the late 1960's. Yes and Genesis continued the tradition, and both were big influences on Rush.
Well as artists, studio versions are always what the band wants a song to be. That is for posterity. Live versions are to entertain an audience right there and then. Rush happens to figure out how to faithfully reproduce their songs live by having Geddy and Alex playing foot synths while also playing their primary instruments.
But yeah, studio versions are the way to go then appreciate faithful live versions. Exit Stage Left’s Xanadu, however, is a little contrary to my theory.
It does very much sound like he is using classical two finger technique on the fast run at the end of the classical acoustic guitar intro. Alex did take classical lessons for a year and a half to two years from a well-trained friend. If Alex has stayed years later that he used a pick, he’s probably mis-remembering as it was recorded over 40 years ago and he has receded many albums since this recording. Alex Lifeson has also played in the classical style on many Rush albums but particularly in the 70’s and some in the 80’s.
Check out Buddy Rich tribute staring Neil Peart on the drums
Also check out Clockwork Angels by Rush Jeff Beck blow-by-blow
This version was done in one take in the studio.
No you're thinking of Xanadu. They spent 11 days trying to get this in one take but finally gave up and recorded it in 3 parts. Of course by the time they took it on tour they could lay it down no problem and replicate the studio version to a tee.
I doubt it, since the 'live' video took several takes to get everything right.
@@gold98gtp it's true
@@Fred-vy1hm one take
@@kippsguitar6539 watch beyond the lighted stage Geddy clearly states that they killed themselves trying to get this down in one take and couldn't do it I'm not making this shit up do you want me to link you to the video and time stamp it for you?
A Mini-Orchestra
Check out Broons Bane from rushes exit stage left album it's the only time you get to here this song
Geddy once referred to Alex, as basically, a frustrated classical guitarist.
Of course studio is better ! The amount and level of work that goes into writing and recording such complex pieces of music is beyond belief. It's nice that they can play it live with the level of precision that they do but the studio versions are superhuman in so many ways and that is how the band wants the audience to experiment the art that they've created.
Lerxst was one of Alex's band nick names. For the sake of completeness, Geddy was Dirk and Neil was Pratt and/or Bubba.
I agree with you about the studio version over the live version for this song. I have seen Rush live many times and they are incredible but i never liked the electric guitar intro that Alex did on this song. They always played it great but the intro just wasn't my favorite.
Yes the intro is "fast" super fast and incredibly difficult on a classical guitar and a descending harmonic minor thing, I should know I've been bluffing it for 40+ years and I still can't get it right and neither can anyone else I saw try, I always wanted to ask Alex lifeson if it's studio tweaked, I play a version of it sometimes live and people are astounded but I know I'm bluffing through it and nowhere near it, give it a try Jone
If the song is worthy, a follow up reaction with the live version is appropriate, but the studio version is best for a first reaction.
If you want to see fast picking, watch Working Man Live in Cleveland
Watching a music video or a live performance is very distracting and it's harder to get lost in the music. When you just listen to the studio version, your mind can escape into another dimension where it creates its own images, like a daydream. It's a different experience for sure.
have you watched Lucas imbiraba. i might have messed up his last name. he plays classical guitar here on yt. check him out.
Three piece orchestra
I have to mention this live version of a song, otherwise I would be doing you and Rush a disservice... from their 1988 tour "Mission" ua-cam.com/video/mNn3zI2bCHw/v-deo.html It helps to have lyrics handy for this song and most others in the mid-later Rush period as well.
This isn't like any other version of Rush you've heard, or people will typically recommend on UA-cam, but to me, it's the quintessential Rush sound
Pop a Pepper ….Lil Sweeeeet
For my wife, Rush is mostly "meh". She's pretty lukewarm on the band, in general. But not this song. She loves this song. She's obviously floored by technical prowess each member gets to display, but she also gets the creative and musical aspects as well.
Honestly, of all the Rush songs she's heard, and I'd say its most of the better known ones, from "Rush" to "Test For Echo", for this to be the one she settles on??? I'll take it!
I'm a studio first, live second listener too. Except for Kiss. Their studio albums are typically trash but their live tracks are great, for Kiss.
I like some of the studio versions better and some of their live stuff better. IMO the early studio versions aren’t better than their later live. For me Rush isn’t Rush pre Neil P. So those later live versions are better because he’s on the drums.