Guitarist Reacts To RUSH!! Afterimage (Studio Version Reaction!) Part 2

As the synth is more present Alex isn't lost for me he is just finding new places to leave his mark. Alex plays with emotions better than anyone 🎸 his heart n soul sings thru his fingers 🎸

Here is the inspiration for the song per WikipediA; The track was dedicated to Robbie Whelan, a friend of the band who worked as an assistant engineer on some of Rush's earlier albums, most notably Moving Pictures and Signals, who was killed in an automobile accident in 1983. The song deals with the loss of a friend and the emotional aftermath that follows.

What I love most about Signals and GUP is the sense of tension with the more emotional songs. RSA, Afterimage, and Losing It especially build the tension/frustration/angst that would naturally accompany the emotions of those songs. Imagine the pain of losing someone. Then imagine how Alex is striking the chords of that solo, as if to shout at the universe for a perceived injustice.

The interplay between synths and guitar through the main part of the song is impressive. This song is soooo underrated. Great lyrical content as well. Super deep.

You are correct about the drums. This is the first album where Neil incorporates electronic drums. Also agree about the solo. Yes, it’s mostly chords, but it just sounds cool. As far as the vocals go, I feel that Geddy is singing with a little more emotion to match the lyrics if that makes sense.

Alex is the total guitarist in that he plays to the song and not for himself. This period really started them being able to marry the music to the lyrics better than ever before and each subsequent album was more and more of a improvement.🤘🖖✌️🥁🎸🎹🎤

I'm with you - I prefer this over Distant Early Warning (and it's a REALLY good song!). Something about the punch of this track has always got me. Alex (IMHO) is the undisputed king of atmosphere - he adds textures that are so subtle - yet add so much! Actually each member does. They all do what is necessary to service the song - not one is overplaying the other. But I find the 'synth' era of Rush to be moreso, as they added more keys, Alex had to find new space to fill, and he always found it! Great track, great analysis! Can't wait for the rest - this album is such a banger.

Yes Neil started using electronic drums on this album. When you'd see them live. Neil is just surrounded by drums & percussions. But his drum platform would turn. On one side was the classic set, on the other the electronic. And Geddy was definitely changing his style of singing. More toned down which I believe helped preserve his voice over the years. I also used to say they just seem to get better & better. Grace Under Pressure to me is the last great great album they put out for awhile. I always loved everything before & including Grace.

Glad you're enjoying the album so far! Re: Geddy's singing. Not sure if this has any relation to your initial reaction to Geddy's vocal performance, but Grace Under Pressure is the 1st album of theirs that was NOT produced by Terry Brown, who had done all their previous lps. And I believe it was this album that producer Peter Henderson made the comment (paraphrased) , "Guys - you really can write songs in a key that Geddy can sing in." And then, of course, the lyrical content was more emotional on this album, they were learning to navigate w/o Terry Brown for the 1st time in their careers coupled with the stress of finding a new producer, and one of their crew died id a skiing accident. So there was a lot going on for them and some/all of that may have contributed to Geddy's vocal approach on this album.

Ya gotta keep in mind, this album came out in 1984. I was 23 when this came out, and with the way the cold war was going, I figured it was gonna be lights out, you know what I mean? Tensions were running high back then. This album holds a special meaning for me because we were on the brink of Nuclear exchange, literally 2 minutes to midnight. Now it seem were 15 seconds to midnight...

I considered it a monster song when I first heard it. In your face is another way of putting it. :)

Great chordal solo

Having the great pleasure of speaking to Alex on a few occasions we had an actual conversation about the loud & in your face direction of GUP being a direct response to the thinner sound of Signals Through the years there have been many arguments pro & con on the merits of the many many remasters the band has given us but I don’t think there can be any debate on what I hear when I listen to Signals now compared to the original mix way back when. To the point that it has gone from “what we’re they thinking?” to where it is probably my most enjoyable album to listen to I love the abruptness of GUP but unfortunately the band (maybe not Alex !) May have thought it was a little to loud to the point where they slowly thinned out their sound on the remaining subsequent albums of the 80s

I love that Rush kept changing their musical direction over the years and exploring new territory. Otherwise they would have faded out faster like so many other bands or just gone on repetitive "farewell" tour after tour.

The early electronic drums ended up being samples of Neil’s voice because he couldn’t find a sound he liked.

See my comment on part one. Nothing has changed.

The bass you are hearing is electronic...You're hearing Alex...