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Rock Hall: Mellencamp, not Rush. I give up.

Discussion in 'Sports and News' started by Twoback, Dec 13, 2007.

  1. dooley_womack1

    dooley_womack1 Well-Known Member

    Why are they not in the Hall? Because they're not in the Hall, roll the bones.
     
  2. Piotr Rasputin

    Piotr Rasputin New Member

    Most of my friends are not fans of Rush. But some people apparently are.

    They get more than 12,000 a night on their tours, sometimes crowds as high as 20,000 as they hit every major city in the States. They have had 14 multi-platinum albums. They're not exactly a band a record company would care enough to fudge the numbers on.

    No, they're not a super-popular band on the level of a Zeppelin or a U2 (who is?), but plenty of people know about them and enjoy their music.
    They pretty quietly tour every couple of years and put on excellent shows, with a free fan club and low ticket prices. They're not for everyone; my wife remains angry at being dragged to their shows twice this summer.

    I understand why the Jann Wenners of the world dislike them. They're a group of people that refused to acknowledge the greatness of acts like Zeppelin and Metallica until they could not longer ignore those bands. But I don't get the vitriol toward Rush here. They're just a band, one whose music I really enjoy. But not worth getting worked up against. People have different tastes; I happen to think Aerosmith and the Stones are very overrated, but I don't get all pissy about it.

    Now, if anyone wants to unite against Gwen Stefani or Fall Out Boy, sign me up.
     
  3. Piotr Rasputin

    Piotr Rasputin New Member

    Actually, I didn't. I used those two bands as an example of how Jann Wenner and friends have their heads in their asses anyway.

    But those are my three favorite bands, yes.

    Of course, the argument can be made that Rush has likely influenced a couple generations of drummers and perhaps bass players. Zeppelin and Metallica wrote much more lasting and influential music.
     
  4. zeke12

    zeke12 Guest

    A valid viewpoint, piotr, and I don't take these threads seriously at all, but the reason people make fun of Rush fans is likely because of the VEHEMENCE with which the argument for them is presented every time they come up in conversation.

    Maybe it's a get it/don't get it thing, and I just don't get it. I tend to think I get it and other people just overestimate them, but whatever.

    They aren't Warrant, that's for sure.
     
  5. Sam Mills 51

    Sam Mills 51 Well-Known Member

    Outing alert: Dooley is the voice in the bridge of "Roll The Bones."

    Daveevandedge said it better than I ever could on Rush. GB-Hack nailed it on Genesis. Quality and groundbreaking when Pete was up front, not one shred less good with Phil up front and consistant brilliance for better than 20 years.

    Of course, I'm just a little biased.

    Let the dance begin continue ...
     
  6. dooley_womack1

    dooley_womack1 Well-Known Member

    I knew you'd catch it, Sam. Worst. Song. Line. Ever.
     
  7. Sam Mills 51

    Sam Mills 51 Well-Known Member

    It wasn't a highlight, but "Dreamline" and "Where's My Thing?" make the album a worthwhile listen.

    "I was lined up for glory, but the tickets sold out in advance ... "
     
  8. Piotr Rasputin

    Piotr Rasputin New Member

    I figured this would be among the responses. I wasn't trying to be vehement; I merely presented some notes to convey the idea that even if you and your peers or buddies don't care for them, someone does.

    Put another way, I don't get why Friends and Everybody Loves Raymond lasted so long. I don't get who the hell is buying Gwen Stefani's pablum. None of my friends or family like these things. But someone apparently did.

    Van Halen (with Roth) is one of my favorite bands. But really, what is their influence? Eddie spawned a generation or two of guitar players, yes, but their music, which I really enjoy, has mostly been pretty throwaway as far as being groundbreaking. A more popular band than a Rush or a Genesis, yes. But can anyone really say that Van Halen broke more new musical ground than Rush and Genesis, which both had plenty of misses, but who were never content to just put out the same albums?

    I love Rush and don't care if they're in the Rock Hall or not. In the past, I wanted certain bands to get in - Zeppelin, The Police, Black Sabbath, Van Halen - because I hoped good feelings at the party would lead to a reuninion tour. However . . . if some of the bands who are in there are in (ZZ Top? AC/DC?), then it seems questionable that a band which has actually put out 33 years worth of albums that actually sound different from one another hasn't been inducted.
     
  9. BYH

    BYH Active Member

    This was excellent.
     
  10. Bubbler

    Bubbler Well-Known Member

    But what are Rush or Genesis' influence on rock? I don't think anyone could make a legit argument that either band moved their own brand of music forward. Whether you like them or not, they were both basically a creative dead end in the final balance. And I say that as an admitted Rush hater, but as someone who enjoys Genesis.

    And getting back to the "they don't suck because they're talented" argument, that's bullshit, talent is what you make of it.

    I don't give a damn if Neil Peart invented a 9/8th beat while porking Cheryl Tiegs with a Tim Horton's donut in his mouth, if he's using his talent to make sucky music, it's wasted talent.

    All talent means is mastering a craft, which is admirable, but the art comes from the turning talent to creativity, and that's a completely different nuance.

    I mean, if being gifted was enough, freaking Steve Vai and Joe Satriani would have been kings of rock in the late 80s, early 90s. But they're weren't, because they bore most people to tears with the way they apply their talents.

    Rock 'n roll is littered with virtuosos who made all manner of crappy albums. Jeff Beck jumps to mind too. The man could play an axe with the best of 'em, but for various reasons, chief among them being that Beck was pretty much a jackass to work with, he continually paired himself with dreck like Carmine Appice and made music that no one gives a shit about.

    And never forget that virtuosos are often victims of their own indulgence and Rush was a very self-indulgent band.

    So yes, I think Rush sucks despite their raw talent.
     
  11. pallister

    pallister Guest

    Metallica shouldn't be mentioned in the same sentence as music with the latest crap they put out.

    And as far as influence, I'm guessing Rush has just as much, if not more, than some of the hacks that get voted in.
     
  12. BYH

    BYH Active Member

     
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