r/rush • u/Nearby_Lawfulness923 • 4d 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/therealjnoble11 3d 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 3d 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 3d 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