Rush "Clockwork Angels"

 

Made this purchase based on the excellent "Snakes & Arrows" album from '07.  That record caught me completely off guard, and I am an original fan, but not one of the rabid ones we all know about.  First Rush tune I ever heard was "Working Man"  while in high school in 1974.  Owned everything released through the Mad Rocker days at Rollins and into the beginnings of my music retail career in the early 80's.  Saw them live a couple of times, too.  After "Signals" in '82, they lost me.  The catalog through that decade were all Top 10 (or so) sellers,  but I could not justify keeping a free promo copy of any.  Their music in the 90's was perfectly forgettable yet they sold better than ever.  Go figure.  That's why "S&A" was such a shock, happening some 25 years after the band's last respectable release. 

So I should have known better based on the history.  Other hints were there, such as four live releases since "S&A."  My initial notation on "Clockwork Angels" was "this just isn't good."  Sure, there are some fine segments and each member still plays with precision, but all the positives never quite jelled on the same tracks.  I love concept albums but this one was lost on me.



I understand how the clock on the cover at 9:12 could indicate 21:12 in military time, but they will never get back to those days again.  Be happy with the influence you've had on prog-rock as a whole, but leave it to some of the younger guys now.  If just half of the people who made this record a #2 release would listen to Steven Wilson's "Grace For Drowning," they would forget about "Clockwork Angels."