938 ( Rush - Fly By Night )
938 ( Rush - Fly By Night )
Was intending on choosing another song for today, but after hearing this one on the radio this morning it just seemed right for today's pick. This was one of first Rush songs that I learned to play note-for-note from beginning to end; the other ones that I can think of off the top of my head that I knew prior to this one were: Spirit of the Radio and Distant Early Warning.
This is one of those Rush songs that even the Rush haters have heard on the radio some time in the last 30+ years; mostly they complain about and hate on the virtuosity of the band and/or use the generic excuse of not liking Geddy's vocals all the way. Let them hate, they are the ones letting their prejudice and narrow-mindedness get in the way of enjoying some excellent music.
Hear Fly By Night on YouTube.
Watch a television performance on YouTube.
My song pick a year ago today: Jon Hendricks - I'll Bet You Thought I'd Never Find You
My song pick two years ago today: Tom Petty - Free Fallin'
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Agreed, I'm at my wits end with the standard knee-jerk anti-prog BS. Especially now that I've been getting into Dream Theater.
ReplyDeleteEver notice how most of the Rush haters complain about things the band hasn't done for about 30 years? Whether it's the screeching vocals or the 10-minute songs or the heavy concept albums or the "mindless noodling", when was the last time Rush did ANY of that?
Of course, I never thought Rush was all that "proggy" to begin with. Fly By Night and 2112 are not all that complex musically.
I completely agree! I have found quite a few Prog rock haters in my life, but I personally know more people that love the art form; it must be the crowd I hang with.
ReplyDeleteMost of the time I find that even the haters eventually come around when Prog becomes fashionable and they are "supposed" to like it. I find it is not that they actually hate bands such as Rush or Dream Theater, they say they hate them just to fit with their group de-jour.
Yeah, most of the time they have to use the generic attacks on the band or genre for the reason that they don't know enough about it to make a cognizant argument why it "sucks." Even if Rush did something simple and poppy those same people would still say they were just doing it to "show off" when in fact that is the way the song was originally conceived and written; if you took away all that "mindless noodling" their songs would be a shadow of what they are and I doubt the band would have made it as big.
Rush, like many other Prog bands have "eras" over the life of the band that contrast and accentuate each other. They usually also have longer careers than most Pop/Rock acts mostly due to having a devout following of fans who are musicians and/or connoisseurs of music. What I also find interesting is that most musicians who bag on any band Prog or otherwise usually are unable to play at that band's level and instead of trying to build themselves up to that level of virtuosity, they jealously attack them in a feeble attempt to bring that band down.
Anyway, I am rambling and my comment will be longer than most blog posts. When you are talking about Prog/Rock you can't help but go on and on.
I need to get back into Dream Theater again, I believe that I only have about six of their albums.
Thanks for posting and sharing your thoughts!