Surprise in R30 DVD

[Augie]

Hi folks,

I was watching one of the interviews in Rush's R30 DVD. Neil was talking. He said something that surprised me - something I never knew for all the years that I have been a Rush fan.

Neil said that when the "Grace Under Pressure" album first came out, many Rush fans didn't like it. Several years later, they realized what a great album it was. These fans now regard GUP as one of Rush's greatest albums. I never knew this.

I have ALWAYS loved GUP - from day one. To this day, it is still my second favorite Rush studio album (after "Power Windows").

GUP is the album that got me hooked on Rush. Before GUP, I wasn't a Rush fan. GUP is the album that caused me to be a Rush fan and caused Rush to be my favorite band for the past 21 years. I have loved GUP since 1984. So, I can't understand why some Rush fans had a problem with it in 1984. This is bizarre to me. I don't understand it.

Augie

[Slaine mac Roth]

For the same reason that some people love Rush while others hate it. For the same reason some despise Fly By Night while others call it a work of genius.

Everyone has different tastes, everyone hears things in different ways. Whenever you listen to something, it flicks some sort of switch in your brain to either good, bad or mediocre.

Personally, I'm a big fan of p/g and have been right from the start. Saying that, there is very little Rush that I don't like (I've never been fond of ESL as I think its overproduced, I think Hemispheres is good but overrated, I find Power Windows to be too clinical for my tates and, at times, Vapor Trails causes me actual physical pain) but that's my opinion and I don't expect anyone to agree with me 100%.

What I do expect is for people to respect my right to like or dislike what I want. In the past, I've had problems with some Rush fans over my criticism of Hemispheres and liking for Roll the Bones and Counterparts. Basically, they tried to make me sound as if I was mentally deficient for disagreeing with them. One of them, when I pointed out that a lot of people loved Red Sector A, a song he thoroughly despised, responded with the words "But I have good taste!", insinuating that his taste in music was superior and that those who didn't agree had no taste in music. What can you do in the face of such arrogance?

[Augie]

Hi Slaine,

You mean that there are actually Rush fans who 'despise' "Red Sector A"!!!!!

That is one of my favorite Rush songs of all time. Obviously, Geddy, Alex, and Neil love RSA too. They have been playing it at just about all of their concerts since 1984.

Augie

[Slaine mac Roth]

You're bound to have differences of opinion in anything of this nature - music is, along with humour and art, almost impossible to remain subjective about. However, the problem is that most people can't understand that they think something is good because they like it and that, because they don't like something, it isn't necessarily bad.