Do you need more love of Rush? How about Styx? Listen to the wisdom of the Poor Man (his friends call him "teh Poor Man", but I won't push it, coz we've never met).
At the suggestion of my parole officer, I will likely be away from the computer for the weekend. This vacation is dedicated to the lyrics of Styx. While I'm gone, feel free to share your favorite Styx lyrics, imagine lyrics Styx might have written had they not all been tragically eaten by cannibals in 1983, compose a rap sequel to the futurist concept album "Kilroy Was Here", or think about how history might have been different had Styx, Rush, Genesis with Peter Gabriel, The Moody Blues, Genesis with Phil Collins, Queen, and King Crimson all formed a prog super group so massive it would have blotted out the Sun! They could have called themselves "Emerson, Lake, and Shitty Songs".
In the same ironic spirit in which I like Rush, I also like Styx. "Come Sail Away"? That song fucking rawks. This is the kind of guilty hipster liking songs where you pretend you just ironically like it, but secretly you really actually like it. I have a friend who took this too far and would always slap on Cristopher Cross' "Sailing" when he DJ'ed, and really be into it. That's just wrong. Now, if it had been Boston...
jholbo-at-mac-dot-com
King Crimson, being teh awesome, does not belong in that group.
Also Styx, Queen, and Genesis sans Gabriel aren't prog.
Posted by: ben wolfson | November 07, 2004 at 10:46 PM
I know. but it's still funny, right? we got to laugh at the little things now, ben. I promise, I love Can as much as anyone, but this is still kinda funny.
Posted by: belle waring | November 07, 2004 at 11:06 PM
Must object--Genesis post-Gabriel, but still with Steve Hackett are most definitely progressive. *Trick of the Tail*? Especially "Los Endos"? That's amazing progressive rock. I have to say, as a lifelong Rush fan, my musical opinions have changed somewhat. My brother's web site (in addition to some libertarian rants) has some Rush album reviews that are kind of humorous. (http://www.billrushing.org/id2.html, and scroll down to August 27, for the first of the Rush album reviews).
Posted by: Rob Rushing | November 08, 2004 at 12:49 AM
Uh oh, the reemergence of Styx may be gaining momentum. I run a classical music blog and even I ended up writing about Styx lately. And the last time I was at a record store, I surveyed Styx CDs although the feeling eventually passed and I didn't buy anything.
Posted by: Robert Gable | November 08, 2004 at 01:30 AM
Rokken the paradise!
That's all I have to say. That's all that can be said. Whereof we cannot speak, etc.
Posted by: Fontana Labs | November 08, 2004 at 06:42 AM
Of what we cannot speak, we must thereof harmonize with open vowels.
Posted by: Bruce Baugh | November 08, 2004 at 01:54 PM
Just saw the first episode of "Freaks and Geeks," which, wow, but: the use of "Come Sail Away" at the end is masterful.
Also, I assume we're all familar with Cartman's cover?
Posted by: Kip Manley | November 09, 2004 at 12:22 AM
Hey, I'm a lifelong Rush fan, too, but they are the EASY kind of band to (ironically or not) like. They make hellishly complicated songs, often on geek topics. The only reason a comic-loving, band geek, D&D fellow traveler would ever NOT have a "I love 2112" period of their life is because they were a Depeche Mode fan instead. (And liking both isn't at all incompatible.)
It's when soldiers in the Irony Brigade adopt bands like Dokken, or Accept(!), that things will get really weird.
(Dokken. Accept. Any of the third tier precursors to late-80s hair bands. My god, when does LOUDNESS get their rediscovered moment in the sun? When will more people listen to "Exploder" instead of Van Halen's "Eruption".)
(Well, never. But still.)
Posted by: MoNo | November 11, 2004 at 01:27 AM