(January 2015) I have completed phase 46 of my “opus project,” in which I listen to a band’s entire discography from start to finish. This episode: RUSH. Remember that sense of wonder and magic you got as a youth reading A Wrinkle in Time or Voyage of the Dawn Treader? And how, when you re-read those books as an adult, you not only fail to recapture that feeling, but it also erases it from your memory? It’s been like that with Rush. When I was younger, I marveled at the wizardry (both lyrical and musicianship) of this band. Pure headphone music. And while I still enjoy many of their “classic period” songs, the enjoyment is devoid of that original mystery. And it says something that my favorite song is an uncharacteristic power-chord metal piece. Lastly, there’s the unsurprising revelation that most everything that came after Moving Pictures is crap. I can say I’ve listened to those 11 later albums now, and I never need to again.
Favorite album: 2112
Favorite song: Working Man
Favorite instrumental: La Villa Strangiato
Lowest point (among many): Power Windows
Special sauce:
Compared to expectations: ⇓
Opus Project 