Welcome to the Rush family! These three guys are the real deal. All are incredible musicians on their respective instruments, especially Neil. He’s considered one of the top rock drummers of all time. Another big draw are the lyrics he writes - not your typical rock fare. He’s either telling a cool sci-fi/fantasy story or exploring deep human concepts. One thing to understand is they put out 19 albums over 40 years. The song you listen to will be reflective of the decade (this one is 1981). They constantly pushed themselves musically, never being complacent with one formula. They purposely evolved their style over the years, incorporating elements of the latest trends in music, but always with a signature Rush sound. It’s a rabbit hole well worth falling into. Check out The Spirit of Radio, Limelight, or Red Barchetta next. They are from the same time period. Cheers!
Definitely! "The song you listen to will be reflective of the decade (this one is 1981)." They moved with the times. Neil wrote what was on his mind. (and they all made magic!) Read a book, pay attention to what's going on around you. Rush wrote music from everything from Tolkien, cold war to personal experience.
Rock n roll has lots of flavors. These guys are gods who dropped into Canada and gave us 40 years of touring. Genius level stuff. Enjoy, you’re just getting started….so much more to experience 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
Neil Peart said "Tom Sawyer" was the one song he would never get tired of playing because it was hard to play right he felt good "when he got it right". I have a very hard time imagining Neil ever *not* getting it right!
I love watching these videos where people are seeing my favorite band of over 40 years for the first time, I love how everyone is blown away by them and loves them. I feel completely sad for all of you though, because you won't get to see them live. You can't imagine what it was like to see them live, especially in their prime. It was like an experience, other-worldly
The genius of Rush is best represented during the concert in Rio de Janeiro to the song YYZ which actually has no words, but all in attendance sang the song….. a must see to understand what I’m saying….. so rush in concert by far the best concert I’ve ever been to and also the largest assembly of air drummers😂😂😂❤🎉❤🎉❤🎉❤🎉❤🎉❤🎉❤🎉❤🎉❤🎉❤
I could watch the birth of a new Rush fan every day! The uniqueness of Geddy's voice is consistent, Alex is a virtuoso on guitar and Neil Peart, we’ll “the professor” is just your favourite drummer's favourite drummer. Welcome to the experience, it’s been 45 years for me, being from “YYZ” (Toronto) I’ve been blessed to see them many times. Enjoy!
6:00 You are just getting rolling, and I'm truly not surprised you may have heard this in movies or wherever before. It was really nice seeing you read the prehistory to the band, and 2112 from 1976 is still by far my favorite album. But yeah, this is great. And you ended up saying Geddy Lee's voice right, laugh.
You can see on your face when your mind gets fully blown by Neil Peart -- and we all had that same reaction the first time we heard this song. Little story in middle school we're doing Tom Sawyer play and I"m playing one of the rubes Tom gets us to paint the fence for him. And a Jimmy says .. hey there is a song about this and puts in Moving Pictures in his ghetto blaster .. and we're all HOLY CRAP!. Like 10-12 years old and we were all RUSH fans since then. thanks for doing this one .. brought back memories. Also check my other comment for video game connection.. Fry Saved us all using his Rush mix tape!
You think this is nuts watch Xanadu from Exit Stage Left. Alex and Geddy both play double neck guitars and synthesizer peddles with Geddy also playing keyboards and singing, sometimes three things at once, and Neil has half a dozen percussion instruments including wind chimes, tubular bells, temple blocks, a bell tree and a glockenspiel to go along with his monster drum kit. These three guys thought of themselves as the world's smallest symphony orchestra and this song best demonstrates that with the live version sounding better than even the studio cut.
I've been a Rush fan since the mid 70s. Three virtuosos in the same band. They were great friends on stage and off. Respected and admired each other's talents. Unfortunately, Neil passed away in January 2020, after a 3 1/2-year battle with a form of brain cancer.
With Rush you are entering one hell of a deep rabit hole, four decades in fact. They were incredible and yes legendary. Individually they are amonst the best musicians in their respected fields, together they are awesome.
Movie question: The Waterboy during the big game scene. Vocal pitch - "vocalizer, harmonizer, pitch shifter" these are a few terms for devices used on vocals for pitch and harmonies. The synth doodad is a "continuous controller" wheel used to shift pitch up or down from center. A DEEP "rabbit" hole, bro. 45 years of music to choose from, just don't go "between the wheels" and get run over. Rush army incoming.... Rush - "Working Man" (Time Machine Tour: Live In Cleveland) ua-cam.com/video/sI5VuBzo-Qc/v-deo.html RUSH - Xanadu - ESL Live In Montreal 1981 (2021 HD Remaster 60fps) ua-cam.com/video/2byjJkN_nVY/v-deo.html Rush - YYZ Live (Rio) ua-cam.com/video/1eSlvoO3Vw8/v-deo.html Rush - Limelight (Official Music Video) ua-cam.com/video/ZiRuj2_czzw/v-deo.html Rush ~ Between The Wheels ~ R30 Tour ~ 9/24/2004 Festhalle Frankfurt, Germany ua-cam.com/video/fm3lEo2awzQ/v-deo.html
I'm sure others have already suggested it, but you'll have to check out the live performance of "Xanadu" from their Exit Stage Left tour. It's a longer song but showcases Rush's masterful instrumentation and performance skills. Both Alex and Geddy play double-neck guitars and Neil uses giant orchestral pieces as part of his enormous drum kit. It's epic and wonderful.
8:00 That's his voice. And he's singing lower here but in the earlier stuff he sang higher but then again he always sang low sometimes. But when you see him in these studio clips alternating between playing incredible bass guitar and singing and then also playing these keyboards and stuff, he did all that live too, and really all three of them did incredible multitasking stuff and they made their live shows sound a whole lot like the studio albums and that's one thing blows people away about Rush, they could do all this stuff live, that's how brilliant they were. They were just beyond.
Saw them in concert during the roll the bones tour and the quality of musicians ship in a live concert absolutely blew me away. I’ve never seen so many air drummers in one place in all my life.😂 my favorite concert ever
Love ur stuff. It IS Geddy Lee Bass/vocal/ keyboard/writer. Alex is one of the most underrated guitarist ever and Neal is considered by many as top 1-5 drummers EVER and wrote %75 of the lyrics Many many songs se em live and do their stuff with Xanadu (song) live. Great great band
3 guys are doing all this....THREE!!!!! And it sounds just as awesome live! The late great Neil Peart on drums, regarded as THE GOAT and rightly so, check out a 2004 drum solo of his and you'll never look at drummers the same ever again, he is your favorite drummer's favorite drummer, he has no equal. AND.....and he wrote all the lyrics! Alex Lifeson is an underrated guitar player and Geddy Lee not only sings and plays bass but also keyboards, sometimes thanks to a special foot pedal both at the same time!
2:05 help you with the pronunciation, Geddy Lee, his first name is pronounced like "GET-ee:, as in, get, like, get a beer, except it actually is a D sound rather than a T sound in the middle. And one of the greatest drummers ever, Neil Peart, rest in peace to him, his last name is pronounced more like it rhymes with pear like the fruit, with a bit more "ee" front-loaded, like, "PEEARrt".
That opening synth note is an Oberheim OB-X running two pulse waves. That is a classic synth patch that once you hear it, you'll always remember hearing it. Rush was doing stuff like that early on, incorporating synths and early electronic music with rock. Neal Peart's influence on HIP HOP is unmistakable also. The hi-hat grooves particularly
Awesome bro!!!!!! Just subscribed!!!! More Rush. YYZ live in Rio, Closer to the Heart, live 1998, Leave that thing alone, live in Cleveland. Amazing band!!!!!!!🇨🇦
Gary Lee's Yiddish-speaking grandmother couldn't pronounce "Gary". It came out sounding like "Geddy". This became his nickname. Geddy (rhymes with ready) Lee. Neil Peart's (RIP, best drummer ever) last name sounds like the word 'peer' (as in his drumming has none) with a 't' at the end. This band is a total trip, like nothing you've ever heard.
'The adventures of Tom Sawyer' by Mark Twain was one of the most famous American novels to be published worldwide... It was set in the deep South before the Civil War and portrayed life from that era when slavery existed... I think that was why the book (and its sequel, 'The adventures of Huckleberry Finn') was 'cancelled' from US school curriculums, and people nowadays are unaware of Mark Twain's significance. It tells the story of a thrill-seeking boy named Tom Sawyer, who is an orphan and lives w/ his Aunt... he tends to get into trouble w/ his friend Huckleberry Finn, who is a vagabond boy living in his town... the first book has a villain who is a native American called 'Injun Joe'... which is controversial now. The second book focuses on Huckleberry Finn and his journey on the Mississippi River w/ a runaway slave named Jim... he was often referred in the book as 'n----- Jim' (therein lies another controversy) who becomes his best friend... Later, Jim is captured and sold, and Huckleberry Finn is reunited w/ Tom Sawyer and they risk their lives to free Jim from his captors. Huckleberry Finn is supposed to be an uneducated vagabond, so his language in narrating 'The adventures of Huckleberry Finn' is written in rather thick Southern accent and speech... the book was published in the UK in 1884 after the Civil War and made Mark Twain a celebrated author. Even though the story is overall against slavery in the South and makes a key character an African American, the books by Mark Twain have been criticized for its language and racial epithets used predominantly in the times it was written. The message got lost in this era...Personally, too many people have taken offense because they want to 'whitewash' a particularly brutal part of the history of the USA, because Mark Twain grew up in the deep South and lived through the end of those horrendous and abusive practices... And the struggle for Americans' equality under the law in the US would be fought for 100 years after the Civil War before the Civil Rights Act was signed in 1964
Grew up on RUSH. They got so many bangers and the drummer Neil Peart not only plays drums but writes all the lyrics too. By the way. He is known as “ Your favorite drummers, favorite drummer “ 💯 and one of the greatest
I enjoy listening to the reactions to first time listeners/reviewers. Rush music is compositional, orchestral and complicated! 3 men, friends for life... dreamed, created and provided us all an experience that many attempt to copy... but will never be duplicated. It is music. They tell stories. views, opinions, points in history and challenge us to listen, learn and dream.
Some of the other '70's synth players/progressive bands from that era that I actively listened to as a teenager and saw live included: YES with Rick Wakeman on keys (who was also noted for his solo albums); the band Emerson, Lake, and Palmer (ELP) with Keith Emerson on keys; and the synth work on a number of Todd Rundgren's productions with his band Utopia, his earlier bands being Nazz, and the band Runt. Of course there were other artists too, but these were the main ones me and friends happened to be into during that era.
Geddy has such a distinctive voice and the level of musicianship in this band is off the charts. If you're not into a part of a song, wait 2 minutes and you'll be in the middle of an entirely different sounding song. Lyrics are deep and thoughtful and seem to be just as true today as when they were written.
Entire 'Moving Pictures' album is awesome. I fortunately saw the Time Machine Tour in Vancouver when Rush did the entire album as the middle set. Yes, they were their own opener and closer and encore.
Dude you can blow your channel up by rolling with some RUSH!!! The RUSH Army is loyal! You will be a huge Rush fan in a week. I promise you! Been my favorite band for 43 years!!
Hahaha welcome to the world of our Three Canadian Masters. MR Peart the professor on drums... Geddy, vocals bass synth...... Surprized you.. alot of the guitar hero songs had rich songs. Cheers
Can't wait until you dive a little deeper. Their catalog is so impressive and their live performances are equal to their studio recordings. I saw them on their "Moving Pictures" tour way back in the 80s. I kept my ticket stub. Best $12.75 I ever spent!!
You have definitely landed on one odf the best bands of all time! Keep riding the RUSH train, there is no shortage of "fuel" for this locomotive b/c RUSH has some 20 or so studio albums and a music catalogue of nearly 200 songs. Enjoy the ride!!🚊
As others have written, welcome to your journey. I like listening to this song and just listening to the guitar. Alex is incredible. Listen to it again focusing on bass. You realize how good Geddy is, then listen again focusing on Neil. Three virtuoso performers. Enjoy and thank you. Your face when you heard the intro was amazing.
I get happy every time someone discovers the greatness of RUSH!... Three guys that sounded like 6... I suggest you check Xanadu Live from Exit Stage Left so you see the real greatness!!!... They have long epic MASTERPIECES based on mythology, science fiction and real science. Rush does not have a bad song, I think! ... Neil Peart was a brilliant mind and incredible lyricist,. A real genius! Other great known songs: Limelight, Freewill, YYZ, Spirit of Radio, Big Money, 2112 EPIC, The Trees, NATURAL SCIENCE, Closer to the Heart, The Necromancer, Malignant Narcissism, The Garden, Hold Your Fire, Time Stand Still and so many more... Pick anyone and you wont be disappointed... New Generations need to hear and see what real greatness was... RUSH was at another level... Rush is real art and respect for the public. Such complexity, great lyrics and attention to detail!...
Welcome to one of the greatest musical rabbit holes you will ever find. Forty plus years of extraordinary musicianship. FYI, Neil also wrote most of the lyrics for Rush.
I love that you noted the keyboard part sounds like a video game... The lyric is "Today's Tom Sawyer gets high on you, the SPACE HE INVADES, he gets by on you" ... the keyboard part is a take on the four note pattern that plays as the alien invaders move in the first arcade video game, Space Invaders (which came out about two years before they recorded the album). Rush loved video games, even crediting them on their albums, along with other things like their favorite baseball teams, etc.
Actually the arcade game sound came after these keys were introduced into music. But this was a great intro to this fantastic band, they hail from my city , I’m as many are a huge fan.
I don't really have anything to add here (but will, anyway). I've been a Rush fan since 8th Grade when this album came out. I immediately dove deeply into Rush and spent hours with my best friend going through their music over and over. The first time I heard Peart's drum solo on "Exit, Stage Left," I knew I was listening to the greatest drummer ever. 2112 BLEW. MY. MIND. Every year since Neil's passing, I've made it a point to go through their discography and then the interviews and to see if there are any new reaction videos. Like many here, I am SO thrilled to see people discovering them for the first time. There's always room for more Rush fans. ALWAYS. Having said the above, I was thinking the other day that with all of life's ups and downs, Rush being my favorite band has been one of the few consistencies. Dig deeper into Rush. You'll just get blown away more and more every time. Guaranteed.
I remember clearly the first time I heard Rush as a young teen. I had a friend who owned a ridiculously high end Harman Kardon quad channel system. He was always playing stuff I hadn't heard. I liked most of it, but I failed to share his fascination with the band "Klatu" 😁 My first listen to "2112" was cranked up - concert level loud. It was an incredible, immersive, head bending experience. 😜 Neil Peart's drumming and Geddy Lee's vocals blew me away! Been totally hooked on Rush ever since 🤩 2112 is firmly in my top 5 fav tunes - still gives me chills everytime & takes me back to that first listen 😊❤
Great song to introduce yourself to RUSH - The best trio band ever / Best band out of Canada. So blessed to have seen them in 1980 on the Moving Pictures Tour and again for the anniversary tour. RIP Neil (I have him and Bonzo as 1 and 1a drummers ever) Before you move forward in the amazing rabbit hole of RUSH you should buy some over ear headphones like the band was wearing. You hear all the left and right ear production elements that way and you hear instruments and subtleties that you never hear otherwise. Bands like Floyd, RUSH, Led Zeppelin and YES are never better than through headphones. PERIOD so to do this at your best you need to invest. Then you can do songs like Xanadu / 2112 and Starship Trooper / Roundabout etc from Yes. Led Zeppelin also does a lot of "phasing" of the left and right channels. Peace
Yes I love your style of reaction but I agree with the previous comment you really need to get a good set of headphones. Especially in progressive music there are often runs that go from left to right or right to left. Trust me you will be glad you did it and you will notice things that you can't really fully appreciate it.
Synthesizers can emulate most instruments. Some have pre-programmed sounds called voices. Some are made to manually modulate sound waves, for pitch, or whatever they want. Most video games used synthesizers for their music, and still do. Synths, have now progressed to sound like real (traditional) instruments.
Here's my rush story... Imagine being a 15-year-old kid it's about 5:30 at night You've never been to a rock and roll concert before and some of the older kids in the neighborhood said they were going to one that evening and asked if you wanted to come... You beg your mother to go and she eventually relents and lets you go You've never heard of the band before The name of the album or the tour that they're on is called permanent waves and the band is called Rush I sit down and hear three guys produce unbelievable quality and stagemanship and they just loved performing for their audience It was amazing and I was a fan immediately. I was lucky enough to catch them live for the next three albums but then went off to college and so forth and kind of lost touch with what they were producing before Neil died... I'm a big early rush fan straight through to the signals album. Really hope you explored a lot of this as I'm looking forward to it. New subscriber.
One thing you will learn on your Rush journey. I don't think Neil ever "spazzed out" on the drums in any part of his professional career. The man was astonishing at his capacity to do incredibly complex sequences with extreme precision, over and over again, performance after performance. I'm sure he would wing things during compositions and experimentation to get a song right. That's the nature of a lyricist and songwriter. But when it came time for album cuts or live shows, the man was a master craftsman and always on target.
Had to subscribe after watching this. Being a Canadian I grew up on rush, it’s so great to see someone introduced to them. Awesome job on your breakdown, you know this is one of the deepest musical rabbit holes to jump down. Good luck on your journey my friend.
Hell yeah 5+ decades as a working band, and a long overdue 2013 induction into the rock ‘n’ roll Hall of Fame….. then love and rush, since they’re fly by night album(3 in 1) was fortunate enough to see them in concert, and by far my most favorite concert ever🇨🇦❤❤❤🇺🇸
Rush = Some next level shit. Welcome! This is a really deep rabbit hole and Rush fans will be along for the ride. If you liked that sound and found it something completely different than the typical, and enjoyed it too? You’ll probably fall in. It’s not for everybody, but for some of us, there’s never been anything like them before or since!!!!
Welcome to Rush rabbit hole. So much great music by these 3 virtuoso musicians. Check out some other tracks such as: YYZ - live in Rio Working Man - live in Cleveland The Spirit of Radio See you a little further down the rabbit hole.
Rush Prog Rock Best. I've been a Rush fan since 1978. Working Man is on Rush's first album. It was the Rush's first song played on the radio in 1974 by a female D J, Donna Halper. Donna is friends with Geddy and Alex as of today. Donna is communications Professor at college in Massachusetts. Donna turned 76 on Feb. 14th. Please react to the live Working Man 2011 Time Machine Tour. It's Incredible! Rest in Peace Neil Ellwood Peart September 12th, 1952-January 7th, 2020. 🔥🥁
I’m not surprised in the least that you’ve heard this song! I honestly can’t believe anyone hadn’t heard it even if they don’t know what they’re listening to
Saw Rush 18 times ! Time for some live Rush. Try Xanadu from the Exit Stage Left concert ! Also Freewill from the same concert. I also want to recommend Led Zeppelin. Try Whole Lotta Love from the Madison Square Garden concert !
Niel Peart drum solo in Frankfurt, Battlescar by Max Webster with Rush as musical guests. They used to open for Rush and were good buddies. Roundabout by Yes is a prog masterpiece
Geddy is very particular in the way he sings, he often uses hard consonants and pause to emphasize the beat rather than just carrying the melody. He is extremely proficient in his preferred range, though many people don't like his voice at first, it often being the main thing I've seen people cite when they don't like the band. That is a synthesizer he is playing, it has built in tools for altering the pitch and making various adjustments to the sound on the fly.
What Geddy was using in this record may have been a vocoder. It is used to electronically alter the sound of the human voice. They began to be used in music recordings in Europe in the mid-1970s, and were in more wider use by the early-1980s. A popular sound made on vocoders by music artists, was to sound like a singing robot. Geddy Lee’s use of the vocoder may have been more subtle, in order to work in harmony with the sequencer sounds in the background of the song.
This is my first time watching one of your reactions. You can expose yourself to literally 50-60 great Rush songs, minimum. After all this time did not know that the song Tom Sawyer was co-written by Pye Dubois. Pye was the lyricist for the eclectic rock/pop band Max Webster another great but almost forgotten Canadian band. Please, please react to some Max Webster - the all-out rocker with quirky lyrics High Class In Borrowed Shoes plus A Million Vacations, Diamonds, Diamonds, Let Go The Line, The Party, Hangover etc.
Fellow RUSH fans, isn't it satisfying...that people who never even heard of RUSH are blown away. I love it.
Absolutely!
Too bad I'd never ever gotten such excited reactions when introducing Rush to people myself! Quite the contrary! 😅
So satisfying brother.
love seeing their faces during the live stuff we love
The rest of the world is playing catch-up, and we love it. Welcome to the Rush rabbit hole. 🙂
They didn't have autotune back then...it's pure talent.
Three friends, no egos blowing minds for decades.
Great bar “he knows changes aren’t permanent … but change is “
That’s Geddy’s voice….this is low end for his range. No techno tricks, just talent
Welcome to the Rush family! These three guys are the real deal. All are incredible musicians on their respective instruments, especially Neil. He’s considered one of the top rock drummers of all time. Another big draw are the lyrics he writes - not your typical rock fare. He’s either telling a cool sci-fi/fantasy story or exploring deep human concepts. One thing to understand is they put out 19 albums over 40 years. The song you listen to will be reflective of the decade (this one is 1981). They constantly pushed themselves musically, never being complacent with one formula. They purposely evolved their style over the years, incorporating elements of the latest trends in music, but always with a signature Rush sound. It’s a rabbit hole well worth falling into. Check out The Spirit of Radio, Limelight, or Red Barchetta next. They are from the same time period. Cheers!
Definitely! "The song you listen to will be reflective of the decade (this one is 1981)." They moved with the times. Neil wrote what was on his mind. (and they all made magic!) Read a book, pay attention to what's going on around you. Rush wrote music from everything from Tolkien, cold war to personal experience.
Yeah I get chills every time....this track gets in your bones....in your spirit. It's a ritual...a musical experience.
Rock n roll has lots of flavors. These guys are gods who dropped into Canada and gave us 40 years of touring. Genius level stuff. Enjoy, you’re just getting started….so much more to experience 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
Neil Peart said "Tom Sawyer" was the one song he would never get tired of playing because it was hard to play right he felt good "when he got it right". I have a very hard time imagining Neil ever *not* getting it right!
You are going to love this ride
3 masters of music are very rare to be in the same band
I love watching these videos where people are seeing my favorite band of over 40 years for the first time, I love how everyone is blown away by them and loves them. I feel completely sad for all of you though, because you won't get to see them live. You can't imagine what it was like to see them live, especially in their prime. It was like an experience, other-worldly
The genius of Rush is best represented during the concert in Rio de Janeiro to the song YYZ which actually has no words, but all in attendance sang the song….. a must see to understand what I’m saying….. so rush in concert by far the best concert I’ve ever been to and also the largest assembly of air drummers😂😂😂❤🎉❤🎉❤🎉❤🎉❤🎉❤🎉❤🎉❤🎉❤🎉❤
Greatest concert of my life and I know it won't be beaten in my lifetime... RUSH Snake & Arrows - San Juan, PR.... April 11, 2008
YYZ is the international airport code for Toronto.
truedat you get the FEELS there for sure. any live version of any of their songs is magical
Air Drummers are all we can be.... With Mr Peart as our leader.. No Challenge.. R I P
Congratulations! You've just elevated... 😎👍
I'm surprised but happy you liked Geddy's voice off the jump; it's an acquired taste for many. Geddy DOES do everything.
I could watch the birth of a new Rush fan every day! The uniqueness of Geddy's voice is consistent, Alex is a virtuoso on guitar and Neil Peart, we’ll “the professor” is just your favourite drummer's favourite drummer. Welcome to the experience, it’s been 45 years for me, being from “YYZ” (Toronto) I’ve been blessed to see them many times. Enjoy!
Just as good, if not better, in concert. Seen them several times. Always playing with pure joy, smiles on their faces, and on ours.
YYZ live in Rio is amazing. Well worth the trip on the road to Rush.
The intro to Tom Sawyer was also used in wrestling (WWE) way back when.
6:00 You are just getting rolling, and I'm truly not surprised you may have heard this in movies or wherever before. It was really nice seeing you read the prehistory to the band, and 2112 from 1976 is still by far my favorite album. But yeah, this is great. And you ended up saying Geddy Lee's voice right, laugh.
This guys are second to none! Definitely one of the best bands of all time!
Your going to really enjoy the drum solos!
You can see on your face when your mind gets fully blown by Neil Peart -- and we all had that same reaction the first time we heard this song. Little story in middle school we're doing Tom Sawyer play and I"m playing one of the rubes Tom gets us to paint the fence for him. And a Jimmy says .. hey there is a song about this and puts in Moving Pictures in his ghetto blaster .. and we're all HOLY CRAP!. Like 10-12 years old and we were all RUSH fans since then. thanks for doing this one .. brought back memories. Also check my other comment for video game connection.. Fry Saved us all using his Rush mix tape!
You think this is nuts watch Xanadu from Exit Stage Left. Alex and Geddy both play double neck guitars and synthesizer peddles with Geddy also playing keyboards and singing, sometimes three things at once, and Neil has half a dozen percussion instruments including wind chimes, tubular bells, temple blocks, a bell tree and a glockenspiel to go along with his monster drum kit. These three guys thought of themselves as the world's smallest symphony orchestra and this song best demonstrates that with the live version sounding better than even the studio cut.
This. Exactly this. 👍
That's Geddy's voice back in the day. Love your reaction. Rush music is a very deep well. Drink deeply my friend.
I've been a Rush fan since the mid 70s. Three virtuosos in the same band. They were great friends on stage and off. Respected and admired each other's talents. Unfortunately, Neil passed away in January 2020, after a 3 1/2-year battle with a form of brain cancer.
"Limelight" from the same album is also excellent
With Rush you are entering one hell of a deep rabit hole, four decades in fact. They were incredible and yes legendary. Individually they are amonst the best musicians in their respected fields, together they are awesome.
No no..that is his voice no taking!🇨🇦
Movie question: The Waterboy during the big game scene. Vocal pitch - "vocalizer, harmonizer, pitch shifter" these are a few terms for devices used on vocals for pitch and harmonies. The synth doodad is a "continuous controller" wheel used to shift pitch up or down from center. A DEEP "rabbit" hole, bro. 45 years of music to choose from, just don't go "between the wheels" and get run over. Rush army incoming....
Rush - "Working Man" (Time Machine Tour: Live In Cleveland) ua-cam.com/video/sI5VuBzo-Qc/v-deo.html
RUSH - Xanadu - ESL Live In Montreal 1981 (2021 HD Remaster 60fps) ua-cam.com/video/2byjJkN_nVY/v-deo.html
Rush - YYZ Live (Rio) ua-cam.com/video/1eSlvoO3Vw8/v-deo.html
Rush - Limelight (Official Music Video) ua-cam.com/video/ZiRuj2_czzw/v-deo.html
Rush ~ Between The Wheels ~ R30 Tour ~ 9/24/2004 Festhalle Frankfurt, Germany ua-cam.com/video/fm3lEo2awzQ/v-deo.html
YYZ in Rio top totally demonstrates how loved and touched people were by their musicianship
Next is 2112 or Xanadu, then La Villa Strangiato
love seeing that lightbulb go off!!! The connection witnessed is unreal...
Nope, that is his voice. Very unique and recognizable voice.
I'm sure others have already suggested it, but you'll have to check out the live performance of "Xanadu" from their Exit Stage Left tour. It's a longer song but showcases Rush's masterful instrumentation and performance skills. Both Alex and Geddy play double-neck guitars and Neil uses giant orchestral pieces as part of his enormous drum kit. It's epic and wonderful.
8:00 That's his voice. And he's singing lower here but in the earlier stuff he sang higher but then again he always sang low sometimes. But when you see him in these studio clips alternating between playing incredible bass guitar and singing and then also playing these keyboards and stuff, he did all that live too, and really all three of them did incredible multitasking stuff and they made their live shows sound a whole lot like the studio albums and that's one thing blows people away about Rush, they could do all this stuff live, that's how brilliant they were. They were just beyond.
Saw them in concert during the roll the bones tour and the quality of musicians ship in a live concert absolutely blew me away. I’ve never seen so many air drummers in one place in all my life.😂 my favorite concert ever
@@FUBAR1986 Tons of air drummers, that's hilarious. I saw them in ninth grade on that 2112 tour and I swear to God I just totally blew me away.
@@FUBAR1986 Check out YYZ at the Rush in Rio show - over a thousand people singing along with an instrumental.
@@DeaconBlues117there were 40,000 at that show in Rio. I think most of them were singing along to the instrumental YYZ.
Love ur stuff. It IS Geddy Lee Bass/vocal/ keyboard/writer. Alex is one of the most underrated guitarist ever and Neal is considered by many as top 1-5 drummers EVER and wrote %75 of the lyrics
Many many songs se em live and do their stuff with Xanadu (song) live. Great great band
This is a pure masterpiece!!!!
This is his voice!! Loved me some Rush❤❤❤❤
Rush was the first band I've ever seen live when I was about 13 during their Snakes and Arrows Tour. I'll never forget it.
3 guys are doing all this....THREE!!!!! And it sounds just as awesome live! The late great Neil Peart on drums, regarded as THE GOAT and rightly so, check out a 2004 drum solo of his and you'll never look at drummers the same ever again, he is your favorite drummer's favorite drummer, he has no equal. AND.....and he wrote all the lyrics! Alex Lifeson is an underrated guitar player and Geddy Lee not only sings and plays bass but also keyboards, sometimes thanks to a special foot pedal both at the same time!
They play that tune at sporting events a lot these days. Fun reaction man.
2:05 help you with the pronunciation, Geddy Lee, his first name is pronounced like "GET-ee:, as in, get, like, get a beer, except it actually is a D sound rather than a T sound in the middle. And one of the greatest drummers ever, Neil Peart, rest in peace to him, his last name is pronounced more like it rhymes with pear like the fruit, with a bit more "ee" front-loaded, like, "PEEARrt".
Now you gone and done it. Not gonna be a sprinkle anymore. :)
Great rock band of all time with the great drummer of all time
it's a synth or synthesizer.. there is a stick u move to change the pitch... super fun to play
"...we're dealing with Legends."
Yep... you couldn't have said it better. :)
That opening synth note is an Oberheim OB-X running two pulse waves. That is a classic synth patch that once you hear it, you'll always remember hearing it. Rush was doing stuff like that early on, incorporating synths and early electronic music with rock. Neal Peart's influence on HIP HOP is unmistakable also. The hi-hat grooves particularly
Awesome bro!!!!!! Just subscribed!!!! More Rush. YYZ live in Rio, Closer to the Heart, live 1998, Leave that thing alone, live in Cleveland. Amazing band!!!!!!!🇨🇦
Welcome to the MOB Myles! More RUSH on the way!
I've been a Rush fan for well over 40 years and have every one of their albums and have seen them 22 times live. That is definitely his voice.
Gary Lee's Yiddish-speaking grandmother couldn't pronounce "Gary". It came out sounding like "Geddy". This became his nickname. Geddy (rhymes with ready) Lee. Neil Peart's (RIP, best drummer ever) last name sounds like the word 'peer' (as in his drumming has none) with a 't' at the end. This band is a total trip, like nothing you've ever heard.
'The adventures of Tom Sawyer' by Mark Twain was one of the most famous American novels to be published worldwide... It was set in the deep South before the Civil War and portrayed life from that era when slavery existed... I think that was why the book (and its sequel, 'The adventures of Huckleberry Finn') was 'cancelled' from US school curriculums, and people nowadays are unaware of Mark Twain's significance.
It tells the story of a thrill-seeking boy named Tom Sawyer, who is an orphan and lives w/ his Aunt... he tends to get into trouble w/ his friend Huckleberry Finn, who is a vagabond boy living in his town... the first book has a villain who is a native American called 'Injun Joe'... which is controversial now.
The second book focuses on Huckleberry Finn and his journey on the Mississippi River w/ a runaway slave named Jim... he was often referred in the book as 'n----- Jim' (therein lies another controversy) who becomes his best friend... Later, Jim is captured and sold, and Huckleberry Finn is reunited w/ Tom Sawyer and they risk their lives to free Jim from his captors. Huckleberry Finn is supposed to be an uneducated vagabond, so his language in narrating 'The adventures of Huckleberry Finn' is written in rather thick Southern accent and speech... the book was published in the UK in 1884 after the Civil War and made Mark Twain a celebrated author.
Even though the story is overall against slavery in the South and makes a key character an African American, the books by Mark Twain have been criticized for its language and racial epithets used predominantly in the times it was written. The message got lost in this era...Personally, too many people have taken offense because they want to 'whitewash' a particularly brutal part of the history of the USA, because Mark Twain grew up in the deep South and lived through the end of those horrendous and abusive practices... And the struggle for Americans' equality under the law in the US would be fought for 100 years after the Civil War before the Civil Rights Act was signed in 1964
Well said.
One of the top 5 drummers that god ever put on earth. No lie…
...and now He has him back...
The drummer, Neil Pert goes on to become the GOAT for drums. You can watch one of his solo's and just sit there with your mouth hanging open in awe
Grew up on RUSH. They got so many bangers and the drummer Neil Peart not only plays drums but writes all the lyrics too. By the way. He is known as “ Your favorite drummers, favorite drummer “ 💯 and one of the greatest
He said once that he tried using a click track, on the advice of other drummers, but it wasn't precise enough and threw his rhythm off.
I enjoy listening to the reactions to first time listeners/reviewers. Rush music is compositional, orchestral and complicated! 3 men, friends for life... dreamed, created and provided us all an experience that many attempt to copy... but will never be duplicated. It is music. They tell stories. views, opinions, points in history and challenge us to listen, learn and dream.
Some of the other '70's synth players/progressive bands from that era that I actively listened to as a teenager and saw live included: YES with Rick Wakeman on keys (who was also noted for his solo albums); the band Emerson, Lake, and Palmer (ELP) with Keith Emerson on keys; and the synth work on a number of Todd Rundgren's productions with his band Utopia, his earlier bands being Nazz, and the band Runt. Of course there were other artists too, but these were the main ones me and friends happened to be into during that era.
Geddy has such a distinctive voice and the level of musicianship in this band is off the charts. If you're not into a part of a song, wait 2 minutes and you'll be in the middle of an entirely different sounding song. Lyrics are deep and thoughtful and seem to be just as true today as when they were written.
Entire 'Moving Pictures' album is awesome. I fortunately saw the Time Machine Tour in Vancouver when Rush did the entire album as the middle set. Yes, they were their own opener and closer and encore.
They didn't change his voice, that's just pure skill, they are playing to match his voice; even live they sound just as good.
Dude you can blow your channel up by rolling with some RUSH!!! The RUSH Army is loyal! You will be a huge Rush fan in a week. I promise you! Been my favorite band for 43 years!!
Tom Sawyer is a classic novel by Mark Twain.
“Oh, we’re dealing with legends.”
Yes.
Got a new subscriber....Love the Knowledge....Todd from Ohio
Hahaha welcome to the world of our Three Canadian Masters.
MR Peart the professor on drums... Geddy, vocals bass synth......
Surprized you.. alot of the guitar hero songs had rich songs.
Cheers
They are (or were) the World's Smallest Orchestra...and they performed their songs live just the way they were recorded.
The song has appeared in 3 movies:
The Waterboy
I Love You Man
The Infiltrator
And in about 10 TV episodes
Great review. Great to see a new RUSH recruit!! Greatest band ever!!
Can't wait until you dive a little deeper. Their catalog is so impressive and their live performances are equal to their studio recordings. I saw them on their "Moving Pictures" tour way back in the 80s. I kept my ticket stub. Best $12.75 I ever spent!!
No that’s Geddy’s real voice . Geddy rhymes with “ Teddy”. Try their “ Spirit of Radio”. If you love drums try “ Neil Peart drum solo in Frankfurt “
You have definitely landed on one odf the best bands of all time! Keep riding the RUSH train, there is no shortage of "fuel" for this locomotive b/c RUSH has some 20 or so studio albums and a music catalogue of nearly 200 songs. Enjoy the ride!!🚊
As others have written, welcome to your journey. I like listening to this song and just listening to the guitar. Alex is incredible. Listen to it again focusing on bass. You realize how good Geddy is, then listen again focusing on Neil.
Three virtuoso performers.
Enjoy and thank you. Your face when you heard the intro was amazing.
FIRE...💥💥💥💥💥💥💥
I get happy every time someone discovers the greatness of RUSH!... Three guys that sounded like 6... I suggest you check Xanadu Live from Exit Stage Left so you see the real greatness!!!... They have long epic MASTERPIECES based on mythology, science fiction and real science. Rush does not have a bad song, I think! ... Neil Peart was a brilliant mind and incredible lyricist,. A real genius! Other great known songs: Limelight, Freewill, YYZ, Spirit of Radio, Big Money, 2112 EPIC, The Trees, NATURAL SCIENCE, Closer to the Heart, The Necromancer, Malignant Narcissism, The Garden, Hold Your Fire, Time Stand Still and so many more... Pick anyone and you wont be disappointed... New Generations need to hear and see what real greatness was... RUSH was at another level... Rush is real art and respect for the public. Such complexity, great lyrics and attention to detail!...
Welcome to the Rush family! Strap in your seatbelt and enjoy the ride my friend✌
Thank you for the warm welcome Marlena! Lol
Welcome to one of the greatest musical rabbit holes you will ever find. Forty plus years of extraordinary musicianship. FYI, Neil also wrote most of the lyrics for Rush.
I love that you noted the keyboard part sounds like a video game... The lyric is "Today's Tom Sawyer gets high on you, the SPACE HE INVADES, he gets by on you" ... the keyboard part is a take on the four note pattern that plays as the alien invaders move in the first arcade video game, Space Invaders (which came out about two years before they recorded the album). Rush loved video games, even crediting them on their albums, along with other things like their favorite baseball teams, etc.
Excellent reaction my friend. Keep listening to more rush. Can’t wait to see your next reaction to them 🤘🏼
Actually the arcade game sound came after these keys were introduced into music. But this was a great intro to this fantastic band, they hail from my city , I’m as many are a huge fan.
I don't really have anything to add here (but will, anyway). I've been a Rush fan since 8th Grade when this album came out. I immediately dove deeply into Rush and spent hours with my best friend going through their music over and over. The first time I heard Peart's drum solo on "Exit, Stage Left," I knew I was listening to the greatest drummer ever. 2112 BLEW. MY. MIND. Every year since Neil's passing, I've made it a point to go through their discography and then the interviews and to see if there are any new reaction videos. Like many here, I am SO thrilled to see people discovering them for the first time. There's always room for more Rush fans. ALWAYS.
Having said the above, I was thinking the other day that with all of life's ups and downs, Rush being my favorite band has been one of the few consistencies.
Dig deeper into Rush. You'll just get blown away more and more every time. Guaranteed.
u welcome tnks from brazil
I remember clearly the first time I heard Rush as a young teen. I had a friend who owned a ridiculously high end Harman Kardon quad channel system. He was always playing stuff I hadn't heard. I liked most of it, but I failed to share his fascination with the band "Klatu" 😁
My first listen to "2112" was cranked up - concert level loud. It was an incredible, immersive, head bending experience. 😜 Neil Peart's drumming and Geddy Lee's vocals blew me away!
Been totally hooked on Rush ever since 🤩
2112 is firmly in my top 5 fav tunes - still gives me chills everytime & takes me back to that first listen 😊❤
Great song to introduce yourself to RUSH - The best trio band ever / Best band out of Canada. So blessed to have seen them in 1980 on the Moving Pictures Tour and again for the anniversary tour. RIP Neil (I have him and Bonzo as 1 and 1a drummers ever) Before you move forward in the amazing rabbit hole of RUSH you should buy some over ear headphones like the band was wearing. You hear all the left and right ear production elements that way and you hear instruments and subtleties that you never hear otherwise. Bands like Floyd, RUSH, Led Zeppelin and YES are never better than through headphones. PERIOD so to do this at your best you need to invest. Then you can do songs like Xanadu / 2112 and Starship Trooper / Roundabout etc from Yes. Led Zeppelin also does a lot of "phasing" of the left and right channels. Peace
Yes I love your style of reaction but I agree with the previous comment you really need to get a good set of headphones. Especially in progressive music there are often runs that go from left to right or right to left. Trust me you will be glad you did it and you will notice things that you can't really fully appreciate it.
I totally agree with you, but in the back of mind, I think of " the police" too
3 guys going off on solos at the same time, each at the top of their class in their instrument
This is live in the studio and it's on the album.
Synthesizers can emulate most instruments. Some have pre-programmed sounds called voices. Some are made to manually modulate sound waves, for pitch, or whatever they want. Most video games used synthesizers for their music, and still do. Synths, have now progressed to sound like real (traditional) instruments.
Here's my rush story...
Imagine being a 15-year-old kid it's about 5:30 at night You've never been to a rock and roll concert before and some of the older kids in the neighborhood said they were going to one that evening and asked if you wanted to come... You beg your mother to go and she eventually relents and lets you go You've never heard of the band before The name of the album or the tour that they're on is called permanent waves and the band is called Rush I sit down and hear three guys produce unbelievable quality and stagemanship and they just loved performing for their audience It was amazing and I was a fan immediately. I was lucky enough to catch them live for the next three albums but then went off to college and so forth and kind of lost touch with what they were producing before Neil died... I'm a big early rush fan straight through to the signals album. Really hope you explored a lot of this as I'm looking forward to it.
New subscriber.
One thing you will learn on your Rush journey. I don't think Neil ever "spazzed out" on the drums in any part of his professional career. The man was astonishing at his capacity to do incredibly complex sequences with extreme precision, over and over again, performance after performance. I'm sure he would wing things during compositions and experimentation to get a song right. That's the nature of a lyricist and songwriter. But when it came time for album cuts or live shows, the man was a master craftsman and always on target.
Had to subscribe after watching this. Being a Canadian I grew up on rush, it’s so great to see someone introduced to them. Awesome job on your breakdown, you know this is one of the deepest musical rabbit holes to jump down. Good luck on your journey my friend.
Hell yeah 5+ decades as a working band, and a long overdue 2013 induction into the rock ‘n’ roll Hall of Fame….. then love and rush, since they’re fly by night album(3 in 1) was fortunate enough to see them in concert, and by far my most favorite concert ever🇨🇦❤❤❤🇺🇸
Welcome to the MOB Stephan! I’m excited about this journey.
@@MMBxMOB glad to be part of it
Rush = Some next level shit. Welcome! This is a really deep rabbit hole and Rush fans will be along for the ride. If you liked that sound and found it something completely different than the typical, and enjoyed it too? You’ll probably fall in. It’s not for everybody, but for some of us, there’s never been anything like them before or since!!!!
Welcome to Rush rabbit hole. So much great music by these 3 virtuoso musicians. Check out some other tracks such as:
YYZ - live in Rio
Working Man - live in Cleveland
The Spirit of Radio
See you a little further down the rabbit hole.
Geddy's pitch was chosen to be heard through the bands dynamic sound. Most every other pitch he tried wouldn't come through.
Rush Prog Rock Best. I've been a Rush fan since 1978. Working Man is on Rush's first album. It was the Rush's first song played on the radio in 1974 by a female D J, Donna Halper. Donna is friends with Geddy and Alex as of today. Donna is communications Professor at college in Massachusetts. Donna turned 76 on Feb. 14th. Please react to the live Working Man 2011 Time Machine Tour. It's Incredible! Rest in Peace Neil Ellwood Peart September 12th, 1952-January 7th, 2020. 🔥🥁
Your gonna love them my friend. Sadly you won't be able to experience them live. So sorely missed 😢.
The holy trinity, Geddy Lee, Neil Pert, and Alex Liefson
I’m not surprised in the least that you’ve heard this song! I honestly can’t believe anyone hadn’t heard it even if they don’t know what they’re listening to
Saw Rush 18 times ! Time for some live Rush. Try Xanadu from the Exit Stage Left concert ! Also Freewill from the same concert. I also want to recommend Led Zeppelin. Try Whole Lotta Love from the Madison Square Garden concert !
Niel Peart drum solo in Frankfurt, Battlescar by Max Webster with Rush as musical guests. They used to open for Rush and were good buddies. Roundabout by Yes is a prog masterpiece
The keyboard sounds you compared to arcade games is a Moog synthesizer, the same instrument used to so many arcade game sounds, so that's fair play.
Geddy is very particular in the way he sings, he often uses hard consonants and pause to emphasize the beat rather than just carrying the melody. He is extremely proficient in his preferred range, though many people don't like his voice at first, it often being the main thing I've seen people cite when they don't like the band. That is a synthesizer he is playing, it has built in tools for altering the pitch and making various adjustments to the sound on the fly.
What Geddy was using in this record may have been a vocoder. It is used to electronically alter the sound of the human voice. They began to be used in music recordings in Europe in the mid-1970s, and were in more wider use by the early-1980s. A popular sound made on vocoders by music artists, was to sound like a singing robot. Geddy Lee’s use of the vocoder may have been more subtle, in order to work in harmony with the sequencer sounds in the background of the song.
You should do this album, Moving Pictures, one song at a time, right now.
Right now! Vato! LOL
This is my first time watching one of your reactions. You can expose yourself to literally 50-60 great Rush songs, minimum. After all this time did not know that the song Tom Sawyer was co-written by Pye Dubois. Pye was the lyricist for the eclectic rock/pop band Max Webster another great but almost forgotten Canadian band. Please, please react to some Max Webster - the all-out rocker with quirky lyrics High Class In Borrowed Shoes plus A Million Vacations, Diamonds, Diamonds, Let Go The Line, The Party, Hangover etc.