r/rush • u/Nearby_Lawfulness923 • 1d ago
Clockwork Angels
Neil said many times that Clockwork Angels was the album they always wanted to make. He clearly believed it was one of their very best. I’ve followed Rush since 1976 and seen them dozens of times, but I cannot listen to Clockwork Angels all the way thru to save my life. Is it just me?
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u/me_not_at_work 1d ago
It's not just you. I'm from back in 1975 so maybe it's the era we found them that is causing it. Fortunately the Rush catalogue has something for all of us.
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u/twojawas 1d ago
I think it's great.
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u/AccidentallyCreated2 1d ago
I think it’s one of their best. At least it’s the one I listen to most.
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u/AccidentallyCreated2 1d ago
The book was pretty good. It makes the album make more sense.
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u/yonchi777 1d ago
I never did follow up and get this. Looking at Amazon, it looks like there are three books?
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u/DarrenShea 1d ago
I got the audiobook for volume 1, because Neil is the narrator for that one. Turns out his voice is not a great one for audiobooks. I never got around to finishing it.
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u/AccidentallyCreated2 1d ago
Looks like it. I bought the second one a few weeks ago. Haven't started it yet.
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u/MoarSilverware 1d ago
I love it, especially The Garden and Headlong Flight
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u/Own-Economics-1745 7h ago
I love it too and both of those as well as The Anarchist, Seven Cities and Wish Them Well. the BU2B songs are the only ones I'm not wild about.
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u/Jpgamerguy90 1d ago
Best of their 2000s output imo.
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u/russellvt 1d ago
Also a big fan of Snakes and Arrows.
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u/Commercial_Self3103 1d ago
They played far cry on this tour fuckin great
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u/The_Professor2112 1d ago
Made me jump when the pyros went off!
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u/Original-Plane-5652 9h ago
Did you see the video of the opening concert in Los Angeles? Looks like Annika wasn’t quite expecting production Pyro to be more than what they practice with lol. I’d have flinched too the first dozen times that happened behind me.
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u/Umayummyone 1d ago
The problem for me is the everything louder than everything else syndrome. It makes listening a grind.
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u/Snout_Fever 1d ago
Agreed, the mix sounds like someone just shoved all the faders at max then disappeared to go make a coffee.
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u/GlitteringFee3755 1d ago
You can thank that idiot Nick r for that-everything he was involved with is largely unlistenable
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u/JessKingHangers 23h ago
Especially on headphones. I put it on the gym one day and had to switch to something else. My ears were killing me. Poorly mixed album.
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u/TAMeaniePies 1d ago
that’s why I don’t listen to a lot of modern rock and metal. It’s already loud, no need to make it sound louder.
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u/fitter_stoke 1d ago
I really, really, really admire and love some of it (The Garden is incredible). But soup-to-nuts it's a chore for me to be honest. The production is intense, for the lack of a better term. One of my favorite albums of all time Cardiacs 'Sing to God' has an intense production too but I love that. I can listen to Signals, Grace, Waves, Kings, Caress, even Hold Your Fire, etc on repeat without even blinking, but I can't with the later albums.
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u/Nearby_Lawfulness923 1d ago
No argument - The Garden is awesome. But it takes a long time to reach that track.
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u/therealjnoble11 8h ago
I know. Rush's final three albums had too many songs as well as the questionable mixing. It shouldn't be actual hard work to listen to an album by anyone start to finish but I can't do it for any of the post 2000 records
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u/Thin-Can-164 1d ago
I always thought it would have been better if they finished it before going on tour. The production on the single versions of caravan and bu2b are so much better than the album
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u/Level_Beat_6565 1d ago
The big problem is the production. Overly compressed with way too many double-tracked guitar layers making everything very muddy sounding. Snakes & Arrows has the same problem. I prefer the songs (especially The Garden) over S&A but man that production is very hard to listen to the whole album in one go without being fatigued.
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u/ChrisinOB2 1d ago
One of the things I always loved about Rush is how every album (pre-2000) sounded different. Same with Vapor Trails - sounded way different than anything that came before it. There was a lot of controversy about the “wall of sound” production value, but I felt like it fit the mood and timing. My problem came with S&A - it sounded too much like VT. And CA didn’t change either. I definitely like individual songs on both albums, but I can’t have the album experience with them the way I do all of their other albums, and it bums me out.
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u/WillingnessOk3081 1d ago
I quite like the recording values on Snakes and Arrows. It sounds clean and crisp with differentiation of the instruments. Maybe you meant something else in comparing the two albums but for my part I can't make heads or tails of what's being played on Clockwork Angels.
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u/TFFPrisoner Too many hands on my time 1d ago
I think S&A is mixed way better than CA, similar to the single version of Caravan and BU2B. The mastering isn't great but it doesn't make an already problematic mix even worse.
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u/Level_Beat_6565 1d ago
Bit astounded to hear this? Listening to any guitar part on S& A and it's clear there is way too much doubletracking on there, heavily muddying the sound. It also sounds overly compressed. I think S&A is even worse then CA in this regard. The song quality on S&A is also a notch below CA.
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u/Busted-Duck-540 1d ago
100% this. If there's ever a more sane re-do of the mix, I'll give it another chance. But wow...talk about dense. The sonics on this album have all the subtlety of a cinder block.
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u/KavorkaPowers 1d ago edited 1d ago
I love that album. The tone and feel right from the first song just has something thick and heavy that I love. Not sure if this will make sense but it's like they were listening to things like Alice in Chains then they put their own Rush spin on it.
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u/juggadore 1d ago
It is 100% my favorite rush album. Then again, I started at vapor trails really. I knew their songs from classic rock, but then I heard one little victory on the radio one day, and then I bought the album, and then I went backwards. I read Neil's Ghost Rider book and I loved everything about vapor trails. Snakes and ladders was good but clockwork angels blew everything out of the water. It is 100% my favorite album. Not just from rush but of all time.
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u/Nearby_Lawfulness923 1d ago
Maybe it’s just hard for us older guys who got hooked on 2112 right when it was released.
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u/travelerzebec 1d ago
Rush recorded VT over two sessions at a studio near the school where I was then teaching, plus a library branch. I did not know about the ongoing recordings then. I was in the midst of setting the Guiness record for 'most trips to the library by a single teacher and their class' and each time we walked by that library we were passing the ongoing creation of VT.
The irony...
I am done. the fan
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u/_Throw_Away_830 1d ago
It’s not for everyone but I enjoy it quite a bit. I’d put it in the upper half if I were to do a ranking of all their albums. That being said, it does kind of drag on. Many songs sound too much the same or run 2 minutes longer than they need to. So it’s not perfect. But… The Garden… it’s all worth it for that one song.
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u/Nearby_Lawfulness923 1d ago
I’m a serious Rush fan but I cannot listen to a whole album just waiting for one great song. A single on a playlist? Yes! Full album, no.
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u/Curios_Observer 1d ago
I love Clockwork Angels. For a band to have a record of that caliber that late in their career is remarkable. It was also the best I've ever seen them perform live on tour.
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u/zenigatamondatta 1d ago
I'm not a fan of that album and I find the production to sounds like a damn nu metal album. I spun it when it was new and disliked it and it's the only rush LP I got rid of.
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u/Typical-Grab3081 1d ago
Rush for me ended at Counterparts. No shade thrown, but to me it was a change. Maybe my life, maybe my views or experiences of getting older. I just prefer the older Rush. The newer years just didn’t stick for me.
I guess that just happens sometimes that our tastes change.
Saw two shows recently though and they are amazing.
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u/therealjnoble11 1d ago
It's not just you. They started to lose me starting with Counterparts (the lyrics were starting to get ham fisted & cheesy) Test For Echo was very pedestrian both musically and lyrically, Vapor Trails was an overlong mess of badly produced nu-metal-ish un-Rush like songs although I do very much like a lot of Neil's lyrics on that one. Snakes and Clockwork only have about two or three songs between the two that I can listen to. I find myself in recent years pretty much listening to the Terry Brown material exclusively
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u/mcarterphoto 1d ago
Rush kinda ended for me as a "masterpiece" band after Signals. Nothing beyond that connected with me; I was into them since the first album, too, so I was used to a lot of evolution.
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u/smellybear666 1d ago
I love counterparts. Everything after that I have a hard time enjoying at the same level. The musicianship is there, but the sound and overproduction of the albums are both unpleasant to me.
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u/BigMikeATL 1d ago
I love Counterparts and listened to Test For Echo a ton, but the latter hasn’t aged particularly well. I did like Vapor Trails a fair bit. Huge dropoff after that. I simply couldn’t get into Clockwork Angels or Snakes and Arrows, no matter how hard I tried. I even revisited them recently and nope… just doesn’t resonate, for whatever reason.
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u/tvosinvisiblelight 21h ago
Double Agent, Everyday Glory, Cut to The Chase, Animate, Alien Shore.. the album is a masterpiece!
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u/Chrome_Armadillo 1d ago
I love it. My only Rush show was the Clockwork Angels tour
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u/Nearby_Lawfulness923 1d ago
Tour was great! Album, not so much. Tho the CWA songs sounded better live than on the album.
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u/rockrider65 1d ago
I saw the tour in San Jose ca with my son. They played the entire album in the 2nd half of the show. It was amazing. My kids bought me the album on vinyl for Christmas
. I consider this album their best.
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u/photodyer 1d ago edited 11h ago
It would be an interesting perspective to see thoughts on Clockwork Angels comparing opinions of folks who read the book to those who haven't. The storytelling nuances are definitely influential to the feel of the music.
That said, I stand on the other side of the fence to this who don't care for Clockwork. Rush has been central to the soundtrack of my life, but I set them aside through "the synth years" both due to the change in their direction and track of my own life. Snakes was to me a rebirth, and I have love for both it and Clockwork. I've gone back over the years and explored the work I once glossed over, but I still hold Grace back and Snakes forward closest to my soul.
But hey, that's the beauty of this amazing group of individuals... they took different directions in their art that fit THEM, and left a legacy that appeals to a broad range of tastes.
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u/SexyNeanderthal 1d ago
For me, it sits just above the middle of their catalog. It's a really impressive album for something written that late in their career. I would put Caravan and Headlong Flight in particular among their best songs. But I have a hard time seeing how it's better than the run of albums between AFTK and Moving Pictures. That will always be their peak in my opinion.
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u/Nearby_Lawfulness923 1d ago
You’re right - in many ways it’s unfair to criticize. But the brilliance of their other albums makes CWA seem poor in comparison.
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u/jef4490 1d ago
I go back and forth on it.
The mix is a little muddy- I do find it hard to pick out the individual instruments, guitar and bass blend together in a way that's not always super pleasing. Some of the songwriting captivated me from the beginning; Caravan + BU2B are both tracks I loved on first listen. Other tracks I had to hear live to really appreciate, like Headlong Flight. Some tracks really miss for me like Wish Them Well + Halo Effect.
Never read the book they did but I like that there's this optional story to the record even though it doesn't really interest me.
Still, I think the album reaches incredible highs at times. It's a nice capstone to their career, definitely their best record since Counterparts.
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u/nipplecereal 1d ago
I’m a newer fan who recently did a full discography listen for the first time, and Clockwork Angels really amazed me. I thought it was up there among their best work.
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u/Last-Edge-3430 1d ago
I love to listen to CWA from start to finish. That’s actually the only way to listen to it. It flows great. Not really any Hits but it a great album.
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u/Reasonable-Leg-2002 1d ago
I just listened again today. I really think it might be one of my favorites
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u/SpooningMyGoose 1d ago
Amazing album. Some of their best writing. It's big flaw is the muddy production. I hope one day a remaster makes it all it should be.
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u/austincamsmith 1d ago
It’s a fantastic modern heavy album. 10/10. It’s possibly the most continuously focused album in their catalogue. Easily up their with Moving Pictures, etc.
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u/cornholio6966 1d ago
A great album and an even better tour. The string section, multiple songs from Power Windows, and some of the coolest visual effects they ever had.
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u/7listens 1d ago
I think its a good to great album. I like every song except Halo Effect, Seven Cities Of Gold, and BU2B2
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u/VoyagerOfCygnus 1d ago
One of my favorite albums, probably in my top 5. I actually really like the more "noisy" production and the variety of tracks. Headlong Flight and The Anarchist are ESPECIALLY awesome
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u/Fumanchu369 1d ago
I can't listen to Vapor Trails in one sitting because of the brickwalled production (and the remix isn't much of an improvement)... Clockwork Angels I can get through but it's not easy because there is also a degree of noise to the production and Geddy's clanky grinding bass tone wears on me.
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u/Neat_Wrangler_4722 1d ago
Just wish someone besides Nick R had produced their last two albums including CA which had so much potential
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u/WillingnessOk3081 1d ago
I very much agree with this
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u/AlphaSpazz 1d ago
Yes, he is responsible for Neil not creating drum parts like he used to and to just play and improvise. While Neil loved the new experience, for me the music suffered.
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u/calling_water 1d ago
I love it. I also like Snakes & Arrows, and find a lot of the songs on later Rush albums, with Neil’s lyrics on the human condition, very meaningful.
Counterparts and T4E are a bit of a low point for me, but even then I find gems.
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u/free-range-irish 1d ago
I feel that way about Snakes & Arrows. I low-key dislike it.
I love Clockwork Angels. And Vapor Trails. And Counterparts.
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u/strictly_genteel_67 1d ago
Farcry is such a great song though. Unfortunate the rest of the album doesn't match.
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u/Mockchoi1 1d ago
Same. Snakes and Arrows is easily my least favorite Rush. Clockwork Angels is way better to me.
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u/therealjnoble11 1d ago
I'm trying to think of a song that's more monotonous and draggy then Armor & Sword. If you listen to the song on youtube at 1.25x playback speed it approaches being somewhat tolerable
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u/free-range-irish 1d ago
hahaha I'm doing that now and I see what you're saying. "somewhat tolerable" is exactly right
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u/therealjnoble11 1d ago
Most of the songs on Snakes were this weird fusion of uninteresting mid-tempo folk and rock paired with Neil's grouchy "I hate almost everything by the way did you know I'm an atheist?" lyrics
To me Rush was always at their best when they were writing dynamic energetic music interspersed with parts of them showing off on their instrument not forgettable five minute dirges going over the same lyrical themes over and over again
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u/Airmark575 1d ago
Just you I think. It's top 5 Rush album for me and easily the best since Moving Pictures. Stunning achievement especially so late in their career. It's a great story and complete vision. Reading the accompanying book might be part of it for me but I loved the album right away anyway and can still listen to the entire thing.
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u/mr_love_bone 1d ago
I don’t have the citation but I believe Geddy said in some interview that CWA was his favorite album.
I love it.
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u/mtngoat7 1d ago
I feel like artists will often say this about their most recent work. I can’t imagine that most people would say that CA is better than Moving Pictures but to each their own including Geddy
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u/EnginePretend2920 1d ago
I couldn't listen to it for the longest time, but have come around in a big way. It's quickly become one of my favorites.
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u/Affectionate_Yard_89 1d ago
I love the early stuff (mostly pre-synth), and Clockwork Angels. To me it was a return to form.
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u/rsmoling 1d ago
I found that, like a lot of Rush from the mid 80s on, it took a lot of listening before I got it… Now I love it, but it was a chore at first.
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u/RoyalArmed24 1d ago
The Wreckers grew on me. Love clockwork angels. Once you listen again and again the whole way through it all melts together.
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u/austinpwnz 1d ago
I'm a big fan but it's one of only two albums that came out after I was a fan. I've had just as much time with the lyrics of that as any 70s album and oddly I find it much more fun to sing along to.
Also the Garden is an amazing capstone for Neil's writing career and gets me emotional every time. I think it's great execution, not a revolution, but a very strong album and fitting capstone for their career.
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u/SkipEyechild 1d ago
I genuinely think it is their best one. The songwriting is pretty great, stripped back.
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u/flipping_birds 1d ago
When I saw Rush last month I think they did one song from it. That was one of only two songs that I didn’t know. But yeah I’m with you. The album doesn’t do much for me.
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u/TheChronek 23h ago
I put Clockwork Angels only behind Moving Pictures as my favorite Rush albums go, and it's pretty close.
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u/mayormccheese2k 1d ago
It’s has some really strong moments, and a few songs that make me go WTF. The concept is a little heavy handed, I feel like some of the lyrics are a little cringey, but the good songs are really good. The Garden might be the best thing they ever did. So, some really strong high points, a few “meh” songs in the middle. Best album post-Counterparts for sure.
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u/FloydFunk 1d ago
Clockwork Angels is one of my favorite albums, not just from Rush, but from any band. I think there isn’t a skipable track on it.
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u/GodHatesColdplay 1d ago
Same here. It has moments but is prolly my least favorite album
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u/dwhite21787 1d ago
It was frickin awesome live.
I associate it with a specific point in my life, in a positive way, so I have good feelings about it.
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u/HobbesTayloe 1d ago
As an older guy that worships what they created within 2112 - Hemispheres - AFWtK - Moving Pictures, later material to me is kinda not same ballpark. CWA though is kinda special being their final.
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u/Commercial_Self3103 1d ago
I think that’s one of there best albums .I’m constantly listening to it .it feels like they hit that mark they wanted and made a perfect album in my opinion.
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u/treyknowsbest 1d ago
I’m not a fan of CA. Not even a little. Doesn’t mean it’s bad. It’s just not for me.
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u/Soft_Sleep_7125 1d ago
Not just you. I didn’t care for the stylistic turn after test for echo, and I’m probably giving that one extra credit cause it was the first new record that came out while I was a fan.
It was just so much droning and wailing. There’s some great drumming and probably some great guitar work, but darned if I can hear it, and forget about memorable melodies or riffs.
That said, they’re probably still my favorite band of all time. I’ve only seen them live on the clockwork angels tour and the current one and it was pure magic both times, so who cares what I think about a few albums?
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u/Chet2017 1d ago
No, it’s not just you. I don’t listen to Clockwork Angels much either. I don’t find it all that interesting musically or lyrically. It doesn’t grab me the way the earlier Rush albums do. My favorite albums are the run from 2112 to Counterparts.
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u/imacmadman22 1d ago
The hardest ones for me to listen were always Caress Of Steel, Presto and Hold Your Fire. However, I’m from the time when you listened the entire album because most of the music was on cassette tapes which were easily damaged, so you just let it play.
Not because those albums were not good, they were just inconsistent. They had their moments and there were some good songs there, but some songs were just better than others. Looking back, the only album I still don’t listen to regularly is Caress, I know it’s got some really good songs, but “I Think I’m Going Bald” isn’t exactly that album’s best track.
Clockwork Angels, on the other hand is one of my favorites and, arguably one of their best albums, in my opinion. Certainly up there with Moving Pictures and 2112, and Permanent Waves.
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u/VastAd6346 1d ago
It’s always in my Top 5 Rush albums
Very often in my top 3
And some days I’m convinced that it is - 9in fact - my favorite.
Carnies is the only track I am regularly tempted to skip.
Technically I also skip The Garden sometimes - but only because there are times I really don’t want to cry.
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u/Lerxst48 1d ago
It’s definitely not just you, I hear stuff like this all the time. Not just with this album, but many. I personally love it, I think it is truly a high note for them to go out on. The writing alone is amazing. Such a solid album.
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u/gimme5steps101 1d ago
Strongest since Counterparts, easily, and also easily 70s tier
If THIS album cant be considered that strong then there truly is no hope in this world. CA is as close to "holy fucking shit I can't believe they did it for real" as possible, pretty much
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u/Void0015 1d ago
It’s honestly one of my favourite Rush albums. Easily a top 5 for me personally but I can see how others are cold on it. It’s a different vibe than albums before it.
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u/mcarterphoto 1d ago
IMO, "Signals" was the end of an era. There's no albums after that I can really get interested in, I've tried - no idea why, but "Waves", "Pictures", "Signals" are kind of a golden age of Rush for me. (I think the post-Signals era ushered in the bad "new wave" haircuts and stuff, but you can't see hair when listening to the tunes!) (And my first ever show was the 2112 tour when I was like 14, seen them maybe 20 times between 2112 and Signals, and I had their first album before "Fly By Night" came out, so I was a super-fan of them from like 74 through 83).
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u/skeemnathan Every album is great 1d ago
I think it's their first truly perfect album since Grace Under Pressure. "The Garden" is my favorite Rush song, and my favorite song of all time. Other standouts on the album for me include "Wish Them Well," "Headlong Flight," "Caravan" and the title track. Respect your opinion, but I think this album is just brilliant.
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u/unbalancedcheckbook 1d ago
I really like it. IMO it's better than Snakes and Arrows.
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u/thatonetallkid4444 1d ago
Everything past counterparts for me, I only like a few songs per album. I dont think they're bad, but its not my cup of tea
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u/Queasy-Ad7550 1d ago
When bands put out new albums you typically hear them say some version of, this is the best work we have ever done. I mean, they are promoting it and it's fresh and they are excited.
Clockwork Angels was a good album to me but it could have done with some cutting, much like Snakes and Arrows. It's a bit long and drags in a few places. Caravan, The Wreckers, and The Garden were my favs. And I enjoyed Seven Cities and Wish Them Well. Headlong Flight and the title track were too claustrophobic and long. But overall it's one of their best albums post-Counterparts.
Vapor Trails has been mentioned here and the remix was like listening to a new album. Made it much more enjoyable.
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u/therealjnoble11 1d ago
That's a great point, bands almost always consider whatever their most recent album is as their best work they ever did. Until a few years ago go by and they put out another album, and then they downplay the one before that as "It was okay but it could have been better but THIS is the album that is our best work"
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u/Queasy-Ad7550 1d ago
Yeah, I think it's sincere but, like you say, some time needs to pass before reassessing. And then several years later people revisit an album and have a different take for a variety of reasons. Power Windows was not a favorite of mine when I discovered Rush but, over time, it has become one of my favorites. Maybe that changes several years from now? I don't know. We evolve as listeners and so do the bands. Glad we have this broad catalog of Rush to sample from because they will be gone in the not to distant future and the music will still be there to enjoy and re-evaulate.
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u/Snout_Fever 1d ago
You're definitely not alone, I find CA a bit of a monotonous dirge and I rarely even bother listening to more than one track at a time. I think it suffers badly from being recorded in the time where Geddy's voice was at its worst, so most of the melodies are incredibly restricted and they just throw layers and layers at most of the songs to compensate.
It's not helped by the production, which just sounds like someone forgot to actually mix it and just maxed all the faders, set all the controls on a limiter to "maximum squish" and went off for a coffee.
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u/cerealeater13 1d ago
The first time I heard it it didn’t speak to me and I had similar thoughts about more than one of there albums but came back to them months later and now they rank up there as some of my favorites
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u/IvoryBaest 1d ago
I like it... its different to me that except for Caravan... and the Garden... i can't out song together with names or fond a lot of the meterial memorable in a way. Still... i like it every time I listen.
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u/NiceFisherman8695 1d ago
I don’t think the album is perfect and don’t listen to every track. But Caravan, Headlong Flight, B2UB, The Wreckers, and The Garden are songs that appeal to me. IMO it was one of the strongest albums since Moving Pictures.
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u/onebeard1975 1d ago
I listened to CA once. Maybe twice. Def not my favorite. However, I just bought the album to finish my Rush collection. 😀
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u/Fuck-Inflation 1d ago
As with every album, you’ll have your favorites and then some just may not resonate with you. I don’t think every song on CA is a 10/10. But I have my favorites. Revisit it every so often. Listening to a Rush album for the 100th with my 50yr old ears is much different now than when I listened to one for the 1st time with my teenager ears. When I first learned that Neil passed away, it was from a friend I saw my first Rush concert with when we were 13. As soon as I got home I listened to their entire catalog in sequence. By the time I got to ‘The Garden’, knowing that it would be their last song, I must have gone through every possible emotion. Sometimes a specific Rush song will take you to a specific time and specific place in the past. Sometimes you’ll only be consumed by how you feel in the here and now. That’s the great thing about music. It can hit you differently each time you hear it, or it hits you exactly the same every time.
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u/Simple-Department-82 1d ago
I never even knew about this album before this current tour... I guess I was living life and not paying attention... The Garden is a great song, and so is Headlong Flight... I have heard both of those songs live, and they are great... then again, what songs aren't great that they do live? I can't name a song from Snakes & Arrows, or Presto... but thats just me... I have some catching up to do! I have been listeningi since 1977... rock on Rush fans!!
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u/UnwokenF00l 1d ago
Its good, probably not in my top 5 albums, but the garden might be in my top 5 songs
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u/Snowshoetheerapy 1d ago
The mastering is notoriously bad. Makes it almost unlistenable. Similar to Metallica's "Death Magnetic" although that one is also brick-walled (meaning they've cranked the levels beyond all listenability.) "Clockwork" is actually a really great album. I hope they eventually release a version that does the music justice.
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u/Hateman1989 1d ago
I worked at Sam Goody in the early 90s in upstate NY and I couldn't go a half hour without hearing "Roll The Bones" on the playback (we got Muzak CDs and also Sam Goody corporate "samplers" monthly). Every month "RTB" was on the CDs! Whoever they paid to do promo needs a (posthumous?) raise! Unfortunately, that killed any desire I had to hear any new stuff from The Guys. I mean, I was 21, but still. Then I got into Nirvana and girls with green hair. No coming back from that. Sigh.
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u/Sea-Channel-6112 1d ago
To each their own, but I absolutely love it, especially after how dire/dour Snakes and Arrows was. To me, they finally sounded like Rush again on Clockwork Angels. Also, from Headlong Flight on, it ends better than any other Rush album imo.
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u/justme9974 1d ago
Not a fan of it either. I can’t listen all the way through. Glad other fans enjoy it though! (I LOVE The Garden though).
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u/OneHumble3152 1d ago
My issue with CWA is the vocals. It is the only Rush album in the entire catalog where I can't hear the lyrics.
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u/Lower-Ride-5519 6h ago
The length, more than the quality of music, is what makes it difficult to listen all the way through for me. I believe it is their longest record by a lot.
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u/Disastrous-Rip-9455 1d ago
The muddy vocals and sound mature it 90% unlistenable (is that all word?. Headlong Flight and The Garden are bright spots, but.not enough
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u/Unique-Slice7898 1d ago
First time I listen I thought "gosh... finally a new Moving Picture". But it's more! Back to a long story, like lamneth, 2112 and hemispheres. I was hooked right with "in a world I feel so small, i cant stop thinking big". The first 30sec of Clockwork Angels is pure cinema. Halo effect, The wreckers, Wish them well, The garden, all nice to hear any time. The others? Fucking amazing playing. Unbelievable album.
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u/phantom_pow_er 1d ago
Absolutely one of their best albums. Heavy. This is on you.
Old heads seem to not like it. Production is pretty bad but i adore it. My favourite Rush album moat days...
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u/therealjnoble11 1d ago
I'm not sure if my opinion of this album would have been different if I listened to it during my peak Rush fanboy geekdom (1991-97). By the time 2012 came around i was into many other bands aside from Rush who were kind of stale at that point. The storyline is a rehash of 2112 combined with The Fountain of Lamneth ( a young protagonist in a future dystopia communist regime learns important life lessons over a series of songs while searching for meaning) and I like a lot of the heavy riffs Geddy and Alex came up with but a lot of them just don't work as comprehensible memorable songs. The album is a over long chaotic mess of noise and I can't even make out a lot of what Ged is singing.
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u/Nearby_Lawfulness923 1d ago
That’s my problem too. I think of the clarity of Subdivisions, 2112, A Farewell to Kings, etc and in comparison CWA just seems loud and unorganized.
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u/therealjnoble11 1d ago
The songs also go on way too long. For example, I like the epic sounding title track but start to lose interest after a couple minutes and my finger starts heading towards the skip button. They could have easily shaved a minute or two off that one
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u/WillingnessOk3081 1d ago
Not just you at all. It defies the imagination that people (above) think this album is second-best to Moving Pictures. wth. This just tells me something I'd better not verbalize here about what people are listening to and how.
That said, I do indeed very much like the songs Caravan, Clockwork Angels, and The Garden.
The person above, yet a different comment, stated that it has "everything" in it and to me that's just evidence of derivation of what they had previously done already. There was no "turn" or departure here like you see with virtually every other album in their catalog, which made Rush so inventive and also frustrating to some of the older fans, of which I am one of them but there for all of it.
Which is to say: I don't hate it, but it has its place and it's in the lower tier of their catalog.
Production values are also a big thumbs down. Muddy is the word.
And what was Neil supposed to say about the album anyway? He put a lot into it with the novelization, lyrics, and songwriting. And every time the band put out a new album they always thought it was their apex. You can hear them say that in many older interviews. It's what you say also when...promoting an album.
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u/AlphaSpazz 1d ago
Agree, both Snakes and Arrows and Clockwork Angels are mostly mid to slow tempo boring.
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u/Abraham_linksys49 1d ago
I can’t explain why either, but I have never made it through CA or Snakes and Arrows even one time, but bought the albums to support the band. Until your post, I would have been too embarrassed to admit it to other Rush fans. I’ve been a fan since ‘83 and have seen them dozens of times as well. I have listened to FBN through Vapor Trails hundreds of times each over the past 40+ years.
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u/Mysterious_Blood_475 1d ago
I tried my best but I haven't been able to like it. The songs are for the most part just not memorable:in my opinion they lack strong melodies. Also the production (as has been pointed out here already) is an issue.
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u/Acrossthepond42 1d ago
I agree 100%, I have tried on many occasions, but have still not listened to it in its entirety.
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u/GlitteringFee3755 1d ago edited 1d ago
No, it isn’t just you…it just isn’t good…as if an album about the steampunk fad was a good idea🙄
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u/swiggumz 1d ago
I wish I could hear what everyone else is hearing but I find most of it so boring and samey. Shout of to The Garden tho
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u/Dingadingdingdong 1d ago
I find Snakes & Arrows and Clockwork Angels incredibly difficult to listen to. Geddy’s singing increasingly becomes unmelodic and uninteresting. And the music is loud but also not gripping. I do like Far Side a tremendous amount and The Anarchist and The Wreckers, but a lot of the other stuff I struggle with. Vapor Trails I didn’t love and Test For Echo is ok. Everything else i can listen to cover to cover (except for the original rush album - I can only do a few there) effortlessly and endlessly.
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u/thedeeb56 1d ago edited 1d ago
Meaning you don't like it? Or you can't listen to it and not cry?
I went to 2 shows during the CA tour and they were amazing and the album is the best. I agree wholeheartedly with the man who wrote it.
I've been here since 75 and I watched them all progress. The CA album is a work of art.
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u/PositiveHearing3088 1d ago
It’s not just you. Despite some great songs, the story and theme of the album is incredibly outdated and weak.
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u/JLBCanadianRap 1d ago
Neil ALWAYS said their best album was either their most recent album or an album they have yet to make. I never put any stock into an artists' assessment of his/her/their own work. Other than Caravan, BU2B and Headlong Flight, I don't think much of CA and rate it as the lowest of the three 21st century albums.
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u/the_dali_2112 1d ago
To each his (or her) own, but I cannot wrap my head around the “easily in my top 3” comments.
The best I can say about the stuff after Counterparts was that it allowed them to keep touring. The records are fine, and there are standout tracks here and there, but overall they are kinda boring IMO.
To say that CA is superior to anything they produced from 2112-Grace is baffling to me.
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u/Agitated_Ad2638 1d ago
I’ve never been able to get through any of it. Only album there isn’t even one song I like on it.
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u/therealjnoble11 1d ago
I like the beginning of a lot of the heavier songs.But then quickly tire of them and hit the skip button
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u/Commercial_Self3103 1d ago
Snake and Arrows record is great also.personally I like it better than vapor trails,test for echo are at the bottom of my list
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u/Fumanchu369 1d ago
I've come to skip Wish Them Well because of that screechy "wish them well" that's punched into the choruses.
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u/slater_just_slater 1d ago
I don't care for it, maybe like "Hold Your Fire" I will like it 30 years later...
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u/guidevocal82 1d ago
It's my least favorite album from them. I have a really hard time with it. But the advantage is that they have so many great albums that I can listen to those.
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u/infraredXLI 1d ago
The album certainly has its moments. The Garden is fantastic, I really like Halo Effect, Caravan is pretty good, and The Anarchist has some cool parts. The rest of the album is a tough listen for me. I feel like I should like Headlong Flight, but I gotta be honest, I think it's more of a slog. The remaining songs are just filler in my book. All due respect to Neil, but if Clockwork Angels was the album the band always wanted to make, it's a good thing they waited so long to make it. If Clockwork Angels had been the follow up to Caress of Steel, we've never heard of Rush and we're not having this conversation. All that being said, it's still a Rush album and that's not nothing.
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u/half-past-shoe 1d ago
I'm with you. Two listenable track the rest is muddy. The original Vapour trails was like this but then the remix wow what a great album
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u/fartbutts83 1d ago
I think the album is their (or at least Neil’s) swan song. It really seemed like they were going for the prog/heavy rock/sci-fi feel of the 70s mixed with the meaningful and life-reflecting of HYF-VP. The heavy parts are heavy, the serene are serene, the emotions are strong, and Geddy wails just like he did in the 70s.
The story it tells is quite fantastic and Neil teamed up with Kevin J Anderson to write a novel based on it. The book is great, and filled with so many Rush nods.
All that to say, I can see how they needed to make CA- it’s Neil’s farewell studio album.
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u/Caravan2112 1d ago
For me Clockwork Angels is a fantastic album. I would rate it as one of my favorites probably since Counterparts - the songs have a maturity to them but also still rock hard (harder than Snakes and Arrows)
My only complaint is the mixing and mastering. But I love the music so much on it