Roll The Bones (Gold)

 

 

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Although this album has significant sonic issues, it is at least somewhat better produced than 'Presto'. It is frustrating to me that some really good material is spoiled by a thin, clattery sound. Fortunately, all the best tracks have subsequently been released on live albums and DVDs with superior performances and production values.

The album opens with "Dreamline", which I have always felt should be the second track. I think "Roll the Bones" should have been the opener. "Dreamline" delivers a great lyrics with a great feel and vibe.

"Bravado" has an amazing feel. It is one of my all-time favourite Rush tunes. It is truly a unique song, both in terms of the Rush catalog and music in general. The song is a bit busy in places, but that contrasts well with the vocal sections. The drum playing is incredible. The guitar solo is beautiful. The PRS guitars sound great! Geddy delivers a cool groove on the bass as well as some great singing.

"Roll the Bones" has a great groove and an awesome guitar sound. I love the time signatures. I think that there is a really good balance of guitar and synth on this song. There is some particularly interesting playing through the spoken word section. They definitely got it right here. I particularly love the philosophy of the lyrics. I find them very inspiring.

I have never been inspired by "Face Up". It is just clattery noise to me. I know that they can do so much better than this. I wonder why it was even included. It is too similar to "Dreamline"--a far better song with greater variety and groove. The guitar solo is lame. It sounds like it has been cut and pasted together from several disparate takes.

The instrumental "Where's My Thing" has a really cool guitar groove at the beginning. Too bad that the drums are so clattery and have no bottom end. The song starts out well, but in the end it does not deliver like the other Rush instrumentals, despite some pretty flashy playing in certain parts.

"The Big Wheel" is another bland song. Something about the production on this song makes me grimace and turn it down.

Probably my most disliked Rush song, both in terms of music and lyrics is "Heresy". Normally I just skip it.

The album is totally redeemed for me by the next track, which really should have been the album closer: "Ghost of a Chance". It has cool lyrics and a great arrangement. Through the music, the band creates an amazing tension--musically, the perfect foil for what, on the surface, sounds like a love song. "Ghost" features one of my all-time favourite Alex Lifeson guitar solos. This really should have been the last track. After this one, there is no where to go.

Sadly, they follow it with "Neurotica". I really like the lyrics in the verses of this one, but the song falls apart in the choruses. Ultimately any redeeming qualities that this song might have, are spoiled by the crappy production. The second half of the song begins to drag, and then I am lost and skipping to the next track to stay awake.

I really like "You Bet Your Life". Even though it sounds a bit too much like "Face Up", it is a fun pop rock song--something that "Face Up" definitely fails to achieve. The song is a bit of a lightweight. It does not deserve the position of album closer. It should have been somewhere in the middle instead.

In the end, for my money, the live versions of the better tracks are so superior to the versions here that this album really isn't worth owning.

Rush's album Roll the Bones was released in September of 1991. I remember when this album came out as it was the first Rush album I bought the week it came out. I bought this CD the day after it came out(I also bought Pink Floyd's David Gilmour's About Face CD as well the same day). When I took the album home, I played this constantly day in and day out for weeks. The opener Dreamline is a kick ass rocker which was a huge song on rock radio. Bravado is another great song. The title cut has Rush experimenting with rap with hilarious results. Another favorite of mine was the song Heresy which was about the fall of communism in the Soviet Union. The instrumental Where's My Thing was the group's first instrumental since YYZ and another great number. Ghost of a Chance is another favorite of mine on the album and is a song that takes me back to tenth grade of high school(1991/92) whrn my Rush fandom was at its peak. Geddy Lee's bass playing and vocals and Alex Lifeson's guitar work and Neil Peart's drumming and lyrics were very good. The album brought the band back to Platinum glory and was the first Top 5 album since 1981's Moving Pictures peaking at #3. Highly recommended!

Rupert Hine is such an excellent producer. Why did RUSH let him go after this album? This is another great disc produced by Rupert. All of the songs are mid-to-uptempo....the subject matter appeals to the intellect....and the music just sounds good. There is no one song that really stands out....all of it is worth listening to. It's one of those CDs that you just put in the ol' player and let it go from beginning to end. It was sad to see Peter Collins as the producer for the next album, COUNTERPARTS, when it obviously should have been Rupert Hine. In my opinion, no RUSH album since ROLL THE BONES has quite lived up to the Hine era....except for COUNTERPARTS...which was really good...but that album didn't mesh quite as well as this one. Put this one together with PRESTO and you have some great RUSH tunes! Go out and get your copies today!

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5.0 out of 5 stars wow.de l'or ,del'or
enfin je tiens un disque qui vaut son pesant d'or.Roll the bones est un bon disque a ce prcurer si on est un amateur de rush.ce collector vaut la peine d'etre acheté.

Published 9 months ago by marioquest

1.0 out of 5 stars Roll it out of my CD collection
Worst Rush album by far. It has no staying power and compared to the great albums this band has made (2112, Farewell to Kings, Hemispheres, Moving Pictures- all worth buying) this... Read more

Published on Jun 10 2009 by D. A. GOSS

5.0 out of 5 stars Rush rolls the bones and comes up a winner
Rush's album Roll the Bones was released in September of 1991. I remember when this album came out as it was the first Rush album I bought the week it came out. Read more

Published on May 20 2004 by Terrence J. Reardon

4.0 out of 5 stars "It's a parallax, ya dig?"
There are two songs here with lame sing-along choruses: "Face Up" and "Neurotica." Both have good music but eventually constitute filler, as does the mediocre... Read more

Published on Jan 14 2004 by D. Knouse

4.0 out of 5 stars Memorable album
Back in my college days, my roommate and I would listen to this album while playing dominoes *reference to roll the bones* We would usually be drunk and stoned and would trip on... Read more

Published on Nov 14 2003 by Rocker Dude

3.0 out of 5 stars Half filler, half brilliant
How many of these songs would you put on a "best of Rush" album? Three of them? Maybe four? Read more

Published on Nov 7 2003 by SPM

3.0 out of 5 stars Rush Roll the Bones
In 1991, Rush released this disc, which basically takes the band's new direction, started on '89's Presto, and evolves it a bit more. Read more

Published on Oct 27 2003 by Wil

3.0 out of 5 stars Why Did We Have To Hear? Because We Hear....
Roll The Bones. Let a 23 yr Rush fan break it down for you:

Dreamline-A song that has grown over the years live. Read more

Published on Oct 27 2003

4.0 out of 5 stars "...Fate is just the way of circumstances..."
"Roll the bones" is a good Rush album.This is not very good,it is not a masterpiece or a classic album, but still it contains good music... Read more

Published on Aug 6 2003 by Mike Chadwick

3.0 out of 5 stars Decent Rush album
Roll The Bones continues Rush's return to harder progressive rock after the heavy keyboards found in albums like Power Windows and Hold Your Fire. Read more

Published on Jun 27 2003 by John Alapick

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