Customer Reviews

String Quartet Tribute to Rush

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

2112 is my #1 favorite Rush Album ever. It marked a point in my life when I learned about life, love and everything that makes me what I am today. When I heard that there was going to be another string quartet tribute to Rush by the same guy that did Exit Stage Right, I pre-ordered so I could get it as soon as possible.

I really liked Exit Stage Right, but this CD blows it away, BIGTIME!!! The whole 2112 suite is majestic. It brings the music to life again like it is totally brand new, but it is so much like the original that you NEVER forget that you are listening to Rush's music. There isn't any drums or percussion, so beware all you Neil Peart fans, but it does not take away from the greatness of this CD at all.

There are so many cool new things in this album that I pick up on each time I listen to it, like there are seaguls singing in the beginning of Discovery and at the end of the 2112 suite when it announces the famous "ATTENTION ALL PLANETS OF TE SOLAR FEDERATION..." ... it's done with female voices instead of male and it is repeated in about 5 or 6 different languages!!! It is very cool!!! FYI, The version of "Passage to Bangkok" is from the "Exit Stage Right" album, for those of you who own it.

I think that if I was not a total fan of Rush and the original 2112, I would still love this album. It has so much to offer musically, that you can't help but absolutely love it. This is currently my most favorite CD and I think you will absolutely love it.

I heard it on the Radio and pre-ordered it.

I just got it and it is absolutely amazing!!!

This CD is a road previously traveled by the band Rush and now ventured with string instruments (violin, viola, cello, bass and an acoustic guitar on "Discovery")... from the opening intro to the last song on this album, the arrangements are true to the original and are performed with the utmost virtuosity!

A FANTASTIC CD to add to anyone's collection of Rush albums!

The beginning of this CD starts with the Spaceship landing intro: It sounds like the effects were made by sliding on the strings of the instruments.

"The Temples of Syrinx" starts with the ensemble just hammering the notes and with a lot of energy. The arrangement is accurate and parts are performed extremely well with lots of enthusiam. Geddy's vocal parts are played by a violin and are accurate to the notation and the interpretation.

"Discovery" has an acoustic guitar and is performed in a different (non-standard) tuning... actually makes sense if you know the story of 2112 and that the guitar is found after it has been extinct for decades... There is a larger body of water in this and it includes the sounds of seaguls (as opposed to the small waterfall in the original).

"Presenation" brings in the ensemble and has great emotion in the interpretation of the priests. The answers of the priests are played like the theme of a scary movie... really, really good.

"Oracle" is very dramatic and builds from a small ensemble to a large ensemble and really captures the musical feeling of the original ....throughout this entire album, I find no loss of the original arrangements...

"Soliloquy" has a cello ensemble and it so beautiful to hear the way the cello parts are arranged. They are performing an interpretation of the guitar parts. All of Geddy's bass parts are done with an upright bass...

"Grand Finale" is a masterpiece! It really moves you and captures a dynamic that I have never heard from an acoustic ensemble, EVER! At the end there are female voices repeating in several different languages, the passage: "Attention All Planets Of The Solar Federation, We Have Assumed Control" and it just explodes at the end with a very emotional and powerful finalé.

"Passage To Bangkok" is the rendition from the first tribute; "Exit Stage Right, The String Quartet Tribute To Rush". Any Rush Aficionado who doesn't own and appreciate that CD is not really a Rush fan in IMHO.

"Twilight Zone" This is very thick and intensely performed during the verses and lightens with an excellent interpretation by the violins of Geddy's voice in the softened choruses. The upright bass is just magnificent in this piece.

"Lessons" is a really fun sounding performance. It sounds to me like the players were just having a blast when they performed this. There are violins playing trills on the downbeats which is just beautiful.

"Tears" must have been written originally in this format!!! I find its musical passages to actually be better than the original! I think this may be my favorite arrangement from the album.

"Something For Nothing" wraps the album up perfectly. This is another piece that works very well in this format. Excelent interpretation and arrangement.

Summing it up - I can not imagine any Rush fan not loving this album. ESPECIALLY if you are any kind of musician. This is a fantastic CD that is well worth the investment and honestly my collection of Rush stuff would, without a doubt, be incomplete if it did not include this CD. I'm not sure that I like it better than "Exit Stage Right", but I wouldn't say I like "Exit Stage Right" better, either. This is a 5 star CD all the way!

When I heard about this CD on the radio and I had to get it because I love Rush. Now I have a Rush CD that I can play in my boutique that caters to people who would otherwise not appreciate Rush.

So, when you come to WC Gurly's in the Marina, you can bet your gonna hear this CD. I would recommend this CD to anyone who can appreciate very good chamber performers or anyone who likes Rush. I would especially suggest that you get it for those special romantic times with your Rush Fan partner ... I listen to this CD at home, too ...LOL ;)

Wow ... This is an Excellent CD! I can not believe that there is something like this being done! I have been a performing artist for nearly 20 years and I am completely amazed that someone made a tribute CD to Rush (of all people) in this format! I am a 1st violinist in the Symphony and I am secretly a Rush fan, also .... and to my amazement I find this CD, buy it and it is simply astonishing. Then I find out that there's string tributes to just about everyone. I'm here to let you know that this CD is fantastic and is a masterpiece that you will enjoy forever. I am also here to pick up about 10 more string tribute CDs and a couple more 2112s for gifts.

Parts of this CD are played during the Snakes and Arrows concert tour while the audience is waiting for the show to start. The songs are the same from city to city and the list was put together by Neil Peart himself.

Obviously Rush is not upset at this tribute. The parts I heard at the concert (Overture and Temple of Syrinx) were very well done. Knowing what it sounds like, I would buy it. But I can see how some can and would be unhappy upon listening to the arrangements the first time.

Listen and judge with an open mind and you should not be diappointed.

This one is the cool one! Hearing the classic RUSH tunes performed by a quartet will give you a whole new appreciation for the compositions and arrangements the wonderful trio from Canada have given to us.

Exploitaton or not, it's still an interpretation of some of my favorite, formative music. I'm one of those geeks who listened to Rush so much as a teenager that just hearing a brief melody from one of their songs causes a truly visceral reaction.

I had always said that in 200 years, people will still listen to Rush and hearing the work interpreted through a string ensemble only strengthened that belief.

Of course, I'm also a big fan of "tribute" albums. Some of my favorites being the "Ecomonium" tribute to Led Zepplin, the "Moody Bluegrass" Nashville tribute to the Moody Blues, and the "Fire on the Mountain" reggae interpretations of the Grateful Dead. Oh yeah, I'm also one of the few that really got a kick out of Rush's own tribute album, Feedback.

In summary, if you love Rush and you enjoy tributes, buy this album. If not (on either account), skip it.

Just letting you know that on the Snakes and Arrows tour, Rush is playing this music during their intermission.

Don't waste your money on this cd!!!

The orchestration could have been done at a high school: very crude indeeed!

There is a comical side to the cd but there are better cds to buy.

Overall a very disappointing cd I have to agree with the other review that this is an exploitation cd. Reading the other reviews it looks like you either love it of hate it.

My advice is stay away - you have been warned!