Eric3

Ooh, that track has some bite to it! Wasn't expecting that but I like it!

Best:

Worst: idk, there are a lot

Dennis Ward back thank god

Well, fuck.

Rush is my favorite band and I can't put into words the profound effect Peart's lyrics have had on me as a young man trying to find his own identity. There has never been a band I've connected with like Rush and that man was the #1 reason. He was one of my heroes (and I don't use that word lightly), not just for his incredible work and influence as a musician, but for how he carried himself, his attitude towards the whole "rock star" lifestyle," his ability to tackle an insane range of lyrical matter in the most concise, poetic, and relatable ways, and his constant state of humility. The way he was able to keep going after both his daughter and wife died...that's the stuff of legends.

Rush, man, the music may be polarizing, but just look at the outpouring of sentiment from all the huge players in rock and metal today. Neil wasn't just a tremendous musician, he was a human everyone respected, and for the right reasons.

As a fan of the band, I've never been sadder, but I've also never been prouder of what they accomplished and more grateful to have experienced it. As Peart wrote in their swansong, "The measure of a life is the measure of love and respect," both of which he earned in spades.

Fuck.

1. The Defiants

2. Work of Art

3. Pretty Maids

4. ?

On 12/16/2019 at 4:09 PM, Glen said:

the problem with Delirious is yes it is a great song ( best song on the album by far) but the riff it almost identical to at least 5 other songs they already recorded.

they are just ripping themselves off at this point.

This is also known as the "Timo Tolkki method."

(who is apparently suing Eclipse because he thinks they ripped off a Revolution Renaissance song, lol)

On 11/27/2019 at 6:46 AM, KarpetRydOFunk said:

Now he can focus on giving us more Khymera. 

And bringing First Signal back from mediocrity.

Yikes, sorry for the huge reply. Here are some old school ones that I'll just list:

Aviator - Magic

Survivor - Desperate Dreams

Harem Scarem - Hard to Love

Boulevard - In The Twilight

Danger Danger - Feels Like Love

Dare - The Last Time

Witness - You're Not My Lover

Fahrenheit - Talkin' Bout Love

FM - Other Side Of Midnight

Heart - Secret

Journey - Be Good to Yourself

Push - Red Light

TNT - Intuition

Sounds like a new album next year, no details yet but they re-recorded Kiss of Life as a teaser.

What's everyone think? IMO it doesn't sound like a very serious attempt, the production and vocal arrangements are both all over the place.

Bleed & Scream had 1 vote before mine? Wat?

Definitely one of the best retrowave projects out there. LeBrock and Magic Dance got me into the whole retrowave scene and I've been hooked for a year now. Lots of great artists but this is the one I'll always be coming back to because of the vocals and AOR influences.

22 hours ago, AlphaMale said:

Some of those choruses just embed themselves in your brain.

Hollywood in Headlights has one of the best I've ever heard.

34 minutes ago, Stefan said:

 

With production overseen by more and more in demand in-house Frontiers man, Alessandro Del Vecchio, the recording process took place in Milan and in Doug and Jack’s own studios in California and Seattle. Songwriting was handled by Del Vecchio, Aldrich, and Blades with contributions from fellow Frontiers recording artist Dan Rossall (of UK newcomers PASSION). Of special note, the poignant ballad “Eyes Of A Child” was penned by Jack Blades and Tommy Shaw.

 

Oh boy! I'll try to contain my excitement!

Classic era

Survivor (Jamison)

Treat

Harem Scarem

House of Lords

Modern era

Work of Art

Vega

The Defiants

Find Me

11 hours ago, Geoff said:

Let's make no mistake of it - Nordic Union have never been, nor will they ever be worth the sweat on Pretty Maids' ballsack.

That was my argument from day one with Nordic Union. Atkins and Pretty Maids have been writing killer tunes for probably longer than Martensson has been alive, so I never saw the point in the pairing.

If they'd combined their talents evenly I guess it could have been magic, but to have a great songwriter having songs written for him always seemed a bit silly to me. 

Agreed with all of this. Nordic Union sounds just like Eclipse plus Ronnie Atkins minus solos. Very formulaic.

1. The Defiants

2. Work of Art

3. Pretty Maids

...That's it. Waiting on that LeBrock though.

This album isn't their best IMO, but it's still plenty good, and I feel like "more of the same" is actually a good thing for this band. 

And/or puts into perspective how lousy Frontiers has been for most of this year. 

On 10/18/2019 at 1:38 PM, Glen said:

the Jimi Jamison album was fantastic and something a bit different from Erik. 

That's my favorite from Martensson. Hitchcock debut and Bleed & Scream 2nd and 3rd, respectively.

Anything by Rush

Survivor - Vital Signs

The first Work of Art album

8 hours ago, tts42572 said:

I guess I really don't get the hate for this.  I still like it slightly better than their last album but it's really just Eclipse doing Eclipse.  

Yeah, it's a bit samey.  But for me you can say that about almost every artist after they've been around awhile.  I think it's partly why it's difficult to continually put out great albums.  I mean, most bands have 2 or 3 peak albums and then seem to lose some luster and excitement.  I do think it's definitely a problem for Erik being in so many projects as he's used up a bunch of ideas on W.e.t and Nordic Union that would've made great Eclipse tunes.  And we've gotten a bit over saturated on his style.

I still like it for what it is.  Maybe for me I'm not as worn out on Eclipse yet as some others as I was a little late getting into them.  

For me, still way better than most of what has come out this year.

This is a good point (especially the bolded), and probably the same reason why I'm tired as hell of Flores, del Vecchio, Karlsson, etc.

Listened to in a vacuum, this album is fine. But after so many years of so many projects in this vein, there's just nothing about it that grabs my attention anymore.

Why? The album is a year and a half old and they already did a lyric video.

This band got old for me fast but it's nice to hear a somewhat different production this time around. That snare sounds terrific.

4 minutes ago, KarpetRydOFunk said:

Best thing this year is the new Neal Morse Band album, but if you're not a Prog fan it's prolly not on your radar. 

Oh, I actually am but not nearly as much as I used to be. Not sure if it will do anything for me but I'll check it out.

Idea that will never happen but I think should:

Stop including acoustic renditions as bonus tracks and do covers of AOR classics instead. There are some REALLY good musicians putting out solid material right now and I'd love to hear them pay tribute to the previous generation like this. That Survivor cover is phenomenal and I know I'm not the only one who was pleasantly surprised to see a Storm cover as well.

Like, how cool would it be to hear one of these newer studio projects cover Virginia Wolf? Or Boulevard? Or Signal? Or Strangeways? Or some other band that only we (as their target demographic) are going to recognize anyway?