Boston vs. Rush

Rush, easily. Not sure if I prefer SP or SY, they're both great. I like Boston's hits but they are the only of these that I never just listen to by my own volition.

Eagerly looking forward to handing out FPs like candy to all the Rush haterz ITT.

^^ do it

Don't get too eager, I have a special FP for haterz of Patriots fans.

Found a few clips of Pumpkins covering Rush but don't want to link because they gave me a headache.

Boston knew how to write a tune.
Then they gave it 60 different titles

It's a fun album but not classic or terribly important

Defining importance with music as being emotional resonance, I would say that "More Than a Feeling" has been pretty important in my life. Defining it as beauty, I would say "Hitch a Ride" and others have been pretty important to me also.

Fair enough. I mean I played the hell out of it as a kid and could quote Peace of Mind verbatim but rarely go back to it these days.

More than a feeling was the first guitar solo I learned so there's that.

SY is my favorite but the odds are stacked in their favor here anyway, so i voted for Rush

^ that was at least half my reasoning. other half is held in secret trust by the priests.

boston's debut >> SP's debut >>>>>>>>>> sonic youth's debut >>> rush's debut

BUT

rush >>>> sonic youth >>>> boston > SP

Otm.

No "More Than A Feeling," no "Smells Like Teen Spirit." For this crime alone, Boston should be destroyed.

Something weird to think about: Both Boston and The Cars are rock bands from Boston who released their debut albums within two years of each other, and nearly every single song from both debuts can be heard fairly regularly on classic rock and oldies radio.

Yeah, and both bands (Candy-O excepted) never really managed another good record.

Oh, I completely disagree there. The first five Cars albums are all good to great.

Maybe, but certainly not compared to the first one. I mean, I like the second two Television albums, but ...

Rush>SP/Boston>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>SY

Also Cheap Trick had bad albums in the 90s? They made three and two of them are really great.

Yeah, I probably overstated that. The self-titled one had some decent moments, but was misleadingly/unfairly hyped as THEIR BEST RECORD SINCE IN COLOR!

The "Baby Talk"/"Brontosaurus" single is one of my all-time favorite Cheap Trick things, though.

Rush>Boston>>>>>>Smashing Pumpkins>>>>Five Seconds of Summer>>>>>One Direction>>>>>>Sonic Youth

Any time somebody uses a fucking Robert Christgau review to make their point, they are DQ'd from the discussion.

In Color>every record mentioned in this thread.

Dairy Queened?

"In Color" rules.

if the manager makes the soft-serve too soft the night before, the employees cannot make dipped cones, sir

^ Dairy Queened

i imagine that anyone ITT who really claims that any of these bands are "terrible" (or some similar adjective) are guilty of demagoguery.

it's like, sure you may not like the /idea/ of rush (ayn rand-inspired wanky prog canadian fucks) or sonic youth (art-damaged elitist boho snobs without enough choons) but i dunno, lower your defenses a little bit-- in practice they've both made a striking amount of extremely memorable and involving music.

sorry for boring posts, i guess i'm in the wrong thread if my argument is "they're all great! relax!"

The only one of the four I've owned a record by was Boston's debut. An old roommate had a bunch of Sonic Youth, I liked some of those okay. Always felt like I was kinda too old to "get" Smashing Pumpkins. And I've never liked Rush, young or old. Not saying they're terrible, just massively not my thing. I guess that's the order I would rank them.

these bands all have some really great records and also a lot of massively dull/irritating ones

Rhinoceros, Drown, Mayonnaise, and Soma > Boston's debut record > 100% and Theresa's Soundworld > Freewill, Red Barchetta, and La Villa Strangiato

That's how I'm approaching this.

The way I approached this: I listen to Rush a bunch, Sonic Youth on rare occasion, SP not since "Gish" and Boston never on purpose. Mind, I like the idea of Boston, and appreciate the band's wall of AOR guitar influence, but damned if I ever so much as taped a song off the radio when I was 8.

The way I approached this: Billy wrote 'Cherub Rock'. You, me, and these other bands did not.

So you're saying: one great song > one great album > one great stretch > one great career.

I will say, as people I'd hang with, the dudes in Rush seem pretty awesome, but the other acts are in a three way tie for last. You've got art-snobs, insecure jerks and the sheer weirdness of Brad Delp's final days.

Rush are probably the best human beings out of this lot, I'll agree with you there.

for the following kinda reductive reasons these bands are all good (or great in SY's case) for different reasons. boston released the best one-hit wonder classic '70s rock radio album of all time. rush is the best proggy ridiculous north american band of all time. smashing pumpkins have at least three really good albums and the best alt-rock supervillain of all time. SY were the best NYC alt band of all time and had great tunes and could stretch out in ways that weren't boring or tedious.

voted SY. brad delp was the best person out of anyone in any of these bands though.

Sonic Youth don't deserve to be ranked above Rush, whether you like Rush or not. I sympathize with BC, suddenly. Being "too cool" is a huge turn-off. That said, Boston's music was engineered for stadiums - alienated kids' bedrooms were not the intended fora for those records. Feel that making records that are not truly for the home is evil.

brad delp was the best person out of anyone in any of these bands though.

!!!

boston's music was engineered for car rides imo

best PERFORMER i should have said

http://www.boston.com/ae/music/articles/2012/05/27/boston_singer_brad_delps_final_days_marked_by_crisis_over_hidden_camera/

that is so much worse than your reasons for labeling Billy an asshole.

Billy is at least a blanched asshole in the light of these findings

dig the Boston songs I know from the radio except for "Amanda," feel like Tom Scholz is probably a genius on the level of Brian Wilson, whose music I also don't listen to. Rush.

Sonic Youth and Rush don't suck
Pumpkins, I don't give a fuck
AMANDA

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rockman_(amplifier)

The thing about Boston is...how can people escape them - even now! I don't understand how people can listen to them repeatedly, they're so smooshy sounding.

I don't understand how people can listen to them repeatedly

My understanding is that they keep on tokin'.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5GzMx9CnhVk

say what you will about Boston though, Delp was an incredible vocalist (RIP)

Yeah, it is interesting that of the four bands in the poll, Boston is the only one with a traditional good singer.

and then Geddy Lee had it roasted onstage...

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3258/2704497420_84a5f26858.jpg

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

lol rush fans

love that ilx has basically turned into a rush fanclub

CONFORM OR BE CAST OUT

I agree with Rush winning but how the FUCK does Boston beat SP

I wanna take this fucking poll
and shove it up your hole

Honestly, this is the largest concentration of SP fans I've ever seen. I always assumed their stature was roughly equivalent to that of, say, REO Speedwagon.

holmes is the mean age of your community like 57

It's pi.

But it has more to due with the fundamental overwhelming blandness in approach both bands share.

You Can Tune a Piano But The End is the Beginning is the End

Wow @ results. I voted for Sonic Youth in the end.

(Not complaining though.)

Boston wants more sunlight
But Rush ignores their pleas

RIP that old song they used to play

i also like that the results form a descending scale of progness

prog
art
unprog
smurf turds

boston haters got some soul searching to do

*peels out of thread in red barchetta*

still 11 too many

http://www.birchcommunityservices.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Bruschetta.jpg

mmm, barchetta