Customer Reviews

Roll the Bones

5 star:		(46)
4 star:		(41)
3 star:		(25)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

"Roll the Bones", to my ears, represents the first time in a long time that all the elements of the band are coming together-- after experimenting with softer sounds and cleaner tones on the last couple records, and synth-driven rock before that, Rush seems to have found a good balance with "Roll the Bones". With Lee's confident vocal delivery supported by unparallel musicianship, great songs, great lyrics, and (finally!) great arrangements, Rush has turned out an album as good as the work they'd done ten years beforehand.

A trend with Rush albums is that they seem to be putting the songs I enjoy the most right up at the front of the album, "Dreamline", opening this one, is no exception-- what a great song, churning verses breaking into a driving chorus, blazing guitar solo, its a song born to be listened to rolling down the highway (likely a bit too fast at that...). The band shifts gears into the rolling grooves of "Bravado", a great minor key ballad, clearly showing how much better they'd gotten at this form than on "Presto". Following this up is one of the more interesting cuts on any Rush album, the title track, "Roll the Bones". Funky rhythms, synth hits, interspersed acoustic guitars and a bizarre rap make this one totally unique in the Rush catalog. Its a lot of fun-- this is an element of the band that started to emerge at this point, the fact they COULD have fun, but beyond that, its a great piece, stellar vocals, and a compulsively funky bassline accentuated by great playing from Lifeson and Peart.

So this was a pretty golden start, the album does kind of drift after this-- similar to the Rush albums of old, none of the material is really bad, it just doesn't grab you-- "Face Up", "Where's My Thing?" (the latter being an instrumental-- first on a Rush album since "YYZ" on moving pictures), a pair of funky songs, like I said, both really listenable, and good album tracks, but not noteworthy. Ditto for "The Big Wheel", "Heresy" and "Neurotica".

But there's one more gem on in here as well, the stunning "Ghost of a Chance"-- a straightforward love ballad, really a rarity on Rush albums (the only other ones I can think of prior to this is 1980's "Entre Nous"), this one is really a pretty, sweet song, and for a band that doesn't really explore these themes, they succeed quite well at it.

Bottom line, "Roll the Bones" is a great record, probably the best the band did in eight years or so at this point. Recommended.

This album seems to be slagged off by many people and I don't really understand why. Rush has only done what many other true artists have done, which is grow and evolve. On here Rush returns to progressive hard rock with less synths, and the songs are mostly around the 5 minute mark. Every track on here is great, but my personal favorite is "Heresy", featuring ethereal vocal overdubs and soundscapes which is trademark Rush at their finest. Also worth checking out: "Where's My Thing", Rush returning to instrumentals. Not as flashy as YYZ or La Villa, but still great and refreshing to hear. The title track, which reminds me of something John Lennon could have written for some reason. "The Big Wheel", and "Ghost of A Chance" also, but everything on here is excellent as I've said earlier.

I can't find much, if anything, wrong with this album. It's just a prime example of a band that's grown and evolved and I'm personally pleased with the results.

I am getting tired of people rating recent Rush albums based on their past works. Without question, the past albums such as Hemispheres and Moving Pictures were fantastic, but my goodness, GET OVER THEM when reviewing more recent Rush efforts! No band that I know of spans the generations more effectively than Rush, so why hold them to their past? That said, Roll the Bones represents yet another groundbreaking effort by the group. That's why they appeal to so many; always willing to try something different, expanding their own musical talents while smirking at the mainstream music buerocracy. . . . a true indication of a band still in their prime; confident, aware, and powerful. The title tune, Roll the Bones, is wonderful and, in my opinion, cautiously happy -- saying "Live, dammit!" and not waste time wondering why we're here or how we got here. More than previously, this album seems to communicate 'follow your dreams,' and the band is doing JUST THAT. Can you imagine what we'd get if the guys themselves decided, "Well you know, 'Where's My Thing' is good, but its just not The Necromancer, so lets scrap it."? So appreciate them for now while they're still with us.

This album seems to be slagged off by many people and I don't really understand why. Rush has only done what many other true artists have done, which is grow and evolve. On here Rush returns to progressive hard rock with less synths, and the songs are mostly around the 5 minute mark. Every track on here is great, but my personal favorite is "Heresy", featuring ethereal vocal overdubs and soundscapes which is trademark Rush at their finest. Also worth checking out: "Where's My Thing", Rush returning to instrumentals. Not as flashy as YYZ or La Villa, but still great and refreshing to hear. The title track, which reminds me of something John Lennon could have written for some reason. "The Big Wheel", and "Ghost of A Chance" also, but everything on here is excellent as I've said earlier.

There is nothing wrong with this album, it's just a prime example of a band that's grown and evolved and I'm personally pleased with the results.

This has always been one of my favorite Rush albums. I wasn't a big fan of "Presto" so this was music to my ears. From the popular song "Dreamline" to the beautiful and touching "Ghost Of A Chance," this is a solid cd. I always thought the sound on the original cd was a little "thin" and didn't have much bass or fullness. This remastered version takes care of all those problems. Sounds great!

I am really getting tired of all these so called Rush fans knocking the late eighties/early nineties albums (everything from Power Windows through Roll the Bones), criticizing the music for not being "real Rush" or for having too much synthesizer. First of all, this music is as much Rush as is Hemispheres, 2112, and, oooooo dare I say it, Moving Pictures. Second of all, these people fear the synthesizer as if it were the bain of music. Music is about sound, beat, etc. The instrument is merely that, an instrument to acheiving this sound. If it sounds good, it is good, but a lot of these people would not even give Jesus Christ a chance if he came doen playing anything other than a guitar or drums. These are the same people who 50 years ago would have criticized any musician using electric guitars, faulting them for not sticking with acoustic. These people would rather listen to remixes of Moving Pictures rather than something new and, God forbid, different.

This is a great album. Better than some of the previous ones, worse than others, but nonetheless a great Rush album. It has a distinct sound, dark, like Signals and Grace Under Pressure, but smoother and more melodic. The songs definitely set a mood. The standout "hits" (Roll the Bones, Dreamline, Ghost of a Chance) will grab you first, but given enough time, you'll like every song. This is an album that grows on you and, for me at least, it tends to be the albums that grow on you slowly that end up lasting the longest (in my music rotation) and being the best.

I was in eight grade and was talking to my friend Kent about my favorite bands. I was into the typical pop-hard rock-metal bands of the time, like Poison, Mothley Crue, Def Leppard, etc. Kent was adamant that the best rock band in the world was Rush. I had never (so I thought) heard of Rush or heard any of their music, so Kent played "Presto" for me. I thought it sucked.

"That's college music," I told him. "Its just not cool."

This was a standard argument for us for the next 3 years. Then I heard "Dreamline" on the radio. I couldn't believe it was the same band that Kent had played for me so long ago (when you're a teenager, 3 years is a long time). A few weeks (or months) later, I heard "Roll the Bones" and "Ghost of a Chance" on the radio.

I was hooked. I bought the CD and listened to it over and over again in my room for weeks. I had been raised Catholic, but was studying a heavy science curriculum and going through some crises of spirituality as I could not reconcile the dogma of the Catholic church with the "test and observe" principles of Scientific Method. The album showed me that I was not the only person who thought that things can just happen without a reason behind it, and that we can make our own destinies.

I had to hear more of Rush, if not for the music, at least to read the lyrics and see if there was more of the same depth that I was finding in RTB (because I sure as hell wasn't getting it from Poison or Motley Crue--although their songs are still fun to listen to). So I went to the record store (we still called them that, even though it was all CDs and cassettes by that time) and browsed the "R" section. <<Holy Crap!!!>> How many albums do these guys have? So I splurged and bought "Chronicles," thinking that I would get all of the good songs, since its a 2-disc set and theres usually no more than 4 great songs on an album, usually only 1 or 2.

When I got the thing home (no CD player in the car, I was 16 and they were still way too expensive) I was surprised to find that I had already heard many of the songs. I was even more surprised to find out how many albums Rush had released and how long they had been around. I was born the year that their debut album arrived! These guys were old, but they ROCKED!

Since that time, I have bought all but 2 of their albums (Power Windows and Caress of Steel--I will get them eventually) and loved most of them. I still think Presto and Hold Your Fire were a little to "college-y"--I am a hard rock kinda guy at heart. Even their other 90s albums had a harder edge than RTB, and the live albums since (Different Stages and Rush in Rio) make the studio versions of the RTB tracks feel a little wimpy.

To sum it up, this is the album that introduced me to Rush, hooked me as a fan, and yet now I feel as if it isn't truly their strongest work. Maybe its just the production, but the songs don't sound as good as they could have.

Yes that is correct, Rush turns in another flawless effort with Roll the Bones. Now i am sure a lot of you are thinking "This album,five stars? Yeah right!" Now yes i will admit this is probably one of Rush's most mainstream-sounding albums. But don't worry because bubblegum pop this is not. Trust me this is intelligent pop music (never thought such a thing could exist eh?) The sound is similar to Presto. The keyboards can be heavy at places, but they are mostly there for texture. Dreamline kicks off the album nicely with the sound of rushing waves and then turns into a nice rocker, defintiely one of the heavier songs on the album. Bravado is a nice relaxing song with softer guitar sounds. Great to kick back and relax to. Where's My Thing is a nice,catchy little instrumental, while Face Up is an upbeat rocker. Roll the Bones is a melodic song with a nice flow and some good keyboard work, but i usually ignore the rap part. Heresy is an emotional song about the fall of Communism in eastern Europe with more great synth textures. Neroutica and The Big Wheel are two more catchy numbers and it all concludes with one of the band's most underrated songs,You Bet Your Life. A nice song with a chorus that sticks in your head. Why wasn't this song more popular? In fact i honestly believe that all of these songs could have been hit singles. Many Rush fans slam this album because of its pop sound, but i love it. More people need to give it a chance because they are truly missing out.

That you KNOW you're listening to great music when it gives you goosebumps. He once said he judged music on the goosebump factor. With that having been said I will now pick apart this album in the main crtiteria a 5 star album from RUSH should contain. Number One: Great Music. Not only to rock to, but to think to, to just EXIST with, and to send yourself on a musical journey....Number Two: Great Lyrics that provoke the mind, spirit as well as ears when sung along with....And lastly, a five-star Rush album should influence you in some way, such as to check out different music, expand your horrizons, and otherwise just plain make you addicted to the band all over agaiN!

Well.

Having said all THAT I must confess that I purchased this album (on tape) for my father for Father's Day. Curiosity got the better of me, and if i'd have been a kitten I'd have been dead--I listened to it--you know--*Wink* to preview it for him--and alas, I wasn't sure I wanted him to have it!! Needless to say, the first CD I bought once I got my new stereo was this CD.
All the songs speak to you in a unique way, and with "Presto" before this, I truly feel Rush created another fierce trio after they did "Counterparts" after THIS one!! "Dreamline" was a song I recognized that had once upon a time actually gotten well-deserved radio play in my small town---LONG time ago--I truly dig the solo in this song I might add! "Bravado" still manages to get me sitting there while I listen, simply in awe...and on "Different Stages" it sounds even better!! "Roll the Bones", the title track, isn't AS good as the two songs before, but it is still a classic rush tune, minus the satirical rap section done by Ged! "Face Up" and "Where's My Thing?" are just great tunes to rock to...and "The Big Wheel" is about being young, inexperienced and wanting the better life, something all of us (as well as all ages) can relate to..."Heresey" will make anyone who appreciates great lyrical talent stop and aplaud Neil..."Ghost of A Chance" ahh this one is the best by far, if your looking at it guitar-solo wise because Alex gives me goosebumps anytime I play this one dangerously loud in my headphones!! It WILL give you chills...even has the potential to wet an eye...."Neurotica" always rocks, it's one I never tire of. The last song, "You Bet Your Life" has a GREAT theme, but to me lacks musically, and the rhythm is a bit "off", if you will , but all in all, this album is good from start to finish and all Rush fans should own it..........

This is the first Rush CD I ever owned. Since then I've bought most of their cd's and I think they're all great. I really like the old stuff, especially the instrumentals and long songs (2112, Hemispheres). However, I still come back to Roll the Bones and really admire what they did. My *only* complaint is the Roll the Bones rap thing, what the hell made them decide to do that? It's almost like Neil and Geddy had a bet and Neil lost, so Geddy's like "ok you lost, now I get to mess up the lyrics to one of the songs with a bunch of rap crap." The CD rules though, period the end.