Rush fans on the board ??

Permanent Waves was their first commercial album and it has been downhill ever since. Bytor, Xanadu, La Villa Stragnata....and then we get washing machines.

What a poor ending for them. Sales are at an all time high but creativity at a dismal, commercialized, LOW.

Oh c'mon, really. They are making and playing some of their most accomplished music ever these days. PW, while a fine classic Rush album, is not the end all, be all record they ever made.

Cerrot's post is harsh and actually mainly incorrect.

Yes I'd agree CA is overrated I though Snakes was probably just as good but both albums are decent.
The main point though is they are not commercial records-elements of Rush's early 80's output had much more of a commercial influence-the new stuff hasn't indeed it's pretty much what the hardcore would want to hear.

I didn't like the last tour as much but they are doing very good shows and I have seen a lot of shows since '79.

But above all what were the band supposed to do? The stuff that is classic is still there in your collection probably nobody in the rock era has surpassed their earlier output when in their 50's or 60's....some great albums have been made by Dylan, Springsteen et al BUT they have not overshadowed their earlier output.

Oh and the washing machines were f&*king brilliant...:-)

To me, the band is not even close to what they were prior to Permanent Waves. To me, they have done nothing as good as their first few albums in the dozen or so since.

2112 is what I measure them by. Farewll to Kings is another bar I use and, again, to me, all later offerings are very distant to these GREAT works.

Ben, your comment "both albums are decent" is not something that was reflective of the band in its earlier days. Their albums were incredible, extraordinary, off the planet. They were never "decent". I have no interest to ever listen to anything "decent' by Rush. If three of the most incredible musicians in the world cannot come up with anything better than "decent", I will keep playing the old stuff.

To judge a 40-year band by an album made 33 years ago seems myopic at best. You may be stuck in the early years of the band, but the band has moved on.

Clockwork Angels represents a work as powerful and in-depth as 2112, only more mature and not as strident.