NMC #79 (RUSH, OVERKILL)

[Jon]

by "I got the BLESSING" Jon

 

 

Rush--Clockwork Angels (June 2012)

 

 

The 20th studio album from Rush, and a return to their earlier concept albums, "Clockwork Angels" "centers on a loose narrative about a young man following his dreams. He struggles with inner and outer forces of order and chaos; he encounters an expansive world where colors, images, territories, and characters are embodied by pirates, strange carnivals, rabble-rousing anarchists, and lost cities. His enemy is the Watchmaker, a ruthless authoritarian presence who attempts to rule the universe and all aspects of everyday life with fascistic precision."*

 

Compared to the previous "Snakes & Arrows" this is more proggy yet is still quite heavy. I can't recall when Lee's bass work was so noticeable, on every song you can hear it quite clearly. Peart is Peart (as always) and Lifeson is just amazing, with some incredible solos that might sound out of place but really aren't. Great stuff here.

 

1. Caravan

2. Clockwork Angels

3. Carnies

4. Seven Cities Of Gold

5. Wish Them Well

 

 

 

Overkill--The Electric Age (May 2012)

 

 

Album #16 for Overkill and they have not lost a step. If you want mellow music, love ballads, pop, etc., etc., then you've come to the wrong place. Visit here: TageRyche's Review for a complete review of the album (hell, he does it more justice than I ever could!)   

 

1. Electric Rattlesnake

2. Black Daze

3. Drop The Hammer Down

4. Old Wounds, New Scars

5. Good Night

 

 

 

*From allmusic.com

 

Note: I'm trying something different. Instead of posting tracks I like, I only used even numbered tracks for the first album and odd numbered tracks for the second. That way I believe it'll be more varied, stuff I like you might not and vice versa.

 

[Scott]

what the hell!!  You promised me I could post Rush this week!  Dang dude, this is not cool!!

[Jon]

I did? Crap, I'm sorry. I just...I....dammit, I can't be trusted! 

[Scott]

I kid!

Jon actually asked is it was ok and thus the "I Got The Blessing"...  Now lets rate this sucker!

RUSH ... Two Thumbs straight freaking up farther than ever before! 

Tage is missing out.  Clockwork Angels is the perfect return to form for Rocks best trio!  A Stunning mixture of old and new!  No one can touch their musicianship and they are all at top form!  This is the best album of 2012 so far, and will end up #1 on my list by a wide margin.

OVERKILL ...  Two Thumbs zoned out and wanting to listen to Rush again

Predictably, this is not, oh how should say this...  not my cup of tea!  I get that they are the best of their Metal genre, but I don't like nor listen to it...

[Jon]

I feel so, well, BLESSED!

[TageRyche]

Not much of a Rush fan beyond the radio cuts. But loved the Overkill CD, thanks for linking my review in your post.

[Niels (Mod)]

RUSH - 5.5 out of 6

What an amazing band!!! Incredible. that they can still after all these years produce such a great album!! It's not entirely flawless, and in my opinion, the second half of the album is better than the first half, simply because the songs are better at the end of the album. The brightest star on the album is Alex Lifeson. Great guitar all over the album. Some of the songs could easily have appeared on "Hold Your Fire" from 1987, one of MY favorite Rush-albums, and some of the tracks sounds like "modern day Rush", not QUITE as brilliant as "classic Rush", but overall the best album from this band in 20-25 years. The last track on the album almost brought a tear to my eye, the first time I heard it, simply because I was moved by the fact, that this great, great band had done it yet again!!! 

I'll listen to Overkill later on.

[Scott]

Nice review Niels! 

[Gordon Williams]

Ok, I've listened once, and the Rush I'm going to listen to again. But this Overkill is...well, overkill. I like music like this from time to time, but not a whole lot of it at once.

The singer reminds me of the new Accept singer. But I'd rather listen to Accept, as I think they have a more varied song style. The "firecracker" drums so prevalent in this gets old after a while. It's massive head banging, but just not for me. Plenty of "shredage", but I could not sit and listen to this very often, just for the guitar. The vocals and drums are too much for me to enjoy the guitar.

Now the 5th, and final, Overkill track is playing...and I'm thinking...hey, this tune is different...but, oh, wait a minute...here comes the same vocal and drum style...no diversity here. I'm glad I got a chance to check this out, but I'm mostly glad I now know not to spend any money on Overkill.

Back to listening to the Rush a second time. The production on this sounds good to me. The drums sound excellent...very powerful in the mix. I could stand the guitar being a little more "out front" in the production, but this is a quality mix to me.

My last Rush purchase was "Vapor Trails", and this one seems better, not that "Vapor Trails" was not decent. I'm not a huge Rush fan, but I know the musicianship is world class. Looking forward to hearing more of this, when I can really, really crank it up. On the fence about purchasing this, but it might happen.

[Niels (Mod)]

After listening to Clockwork Angels 10 times or more, I've changed my mind:

It's 6 out of 6 stars, or whatever, danishes perhaps. CLASSIC album!!!

This might just be the second best RUSH-album of all time (nothing's gonna beat 2112 !!), IMO anyway.

It just keeps getting better, as if it wasn't good enough!!!

[RJhog (Admin)]

Rush (Thumbs...I'm not really sure)

Yes, I know.  I must be crazy.  Look, I've found a lot more to love about Rush over the time I've gotten to know you guys than ever before.  But right now, on a scale from Terrible....Not Good....No Comment....Pretty Good....Great, this hits right about the last dot before Pretty Good.  Musically, it's fantastic.  No doubt about that.  And I've even become accustomed to Lee's vocals.  As a matter of fact, I like his vocal on BU2B, which isn't included here.  My favorite on the album is Headlong Flight.  Here's my problem with Rush.  It's hard to sing along with their songs for the most part (Tom Sawyer and a couple others not included).  And that's what usually makes me like an album a lot.  I love to sing in my vehicle or wherever, but Rush just doesn't work that way for me.  Call me crazy or whatever, but that's just the way I see it.

I'll check out Overkill later.

[Mike Mills]

But, look at this way & just think of those innocent people that have to ride with you in your vehicle or sit with you wherever. When you listen to Rush, you are being treated to some of the finest music known to man & your friends & loved ones are getting a much needed break!

[Scott]

Totally agree, especially if you have young ones...  I raised my children on Rush and to this day my 20 year old sons favorite song of all time is Cygnus X1.  Now thats some fine parenting if I dont say so myself!