I had the happiness of watching Rush twice here in São Paulo, Brazil. Vapor Trails Tour 2002 and Time Machine Tour 2010. In 2002 here in São Paulo it was the biggest audience they had in their entire career. 60,000 people singing every note of their songs! It was a big celebratiion!
They had a bigger audience the next year: "Molson Canadian Rocks for Toronto, also known as SARSStock, was a benefit rock concert that was held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada on July 30, 2003. An estimated 450,000 and 500,000 people attended the concert, making it is the largest outdoor ticketed event in Canadian history and one of the largest events in North American history. Rush was the last band to be added to the lineup. According to drummer Neil Peart, "When we were first asked to play Molson Canadian Rocks For Toronto, it seemed impossible to say yes. We had been off the road for 8 months, our gear was in the warehouse, most of our crew was out on other tours, and even we were all over the place - Geddy with his family in France, Alex working in the studio mixing our Rio de Janeiro show, and me on my motorcycle in the California mountains. However, when we thought about everything Toronto meant to our lives, to our work and play, our homes and families and friends, it seemed impossible to say no!"
@@unitsec At this Toronto show they performed with others such as AC/DC, The Guess Who, Rush, Justin Timberlake, the Isley Bros, Sam Roberts, and The Rolling Stones. As a solo band, the São Paulo concert was the largest audience of their career.
@@Alberto_1965_BR So your initial statement was false. In your amended version with the caveat of the largest crowd of their career being dependent on being the sole act on the bill it’s possible that you are correct, assuming there was no opening act I suppose. Either way, great band!
@@unitsec According to Wiki, São Paulo was their largest crowd on the Vapor Trails tour. I'm not sure where it ranks for their career, but it has to be up there. I watched the documentary of them performing in Brazil. You could probably find it on TH-cam, if you haven't seen it already. It's a great watch.
I feel so blessed to have seen them 19 times since 1980. I was talking to another guy that said he saw 54 shows! I’ll use her words, what a lucky duck!!
Nice!!!!! One thing I love about Neil is how calm and reserved he is at his kit, that when he does a stick toss or twirl, you appreciate it so much more than hyperactive drummers.
The rap part is actually done by Geddy with a filter. Listen to the studio version. ""But the bottom line...is to take the chance, roll the bones, if it's a random universe and that's terrifying and it makes you neurotic and everything, never mind. You really have to take the chance or else nothing's going to happen." - Neil Peart, "It's a Rap" interview, February 1992"
Neil said in an interview that he didn’t want to insult any rappers, so Neil called it a “spoken session” I saw where they were considering John Cleese for that part
Really? Hmm. That’s cool too. I listened to an interview with him on the radio, and he said spoken session. But either way, I friggin love this tune!! But thank you for mentioning that. Take Care and Take RUSH 😊
This is RUSH taking a chance (on doing rap), just like the song preaches. They had celebrities (on-screen) rapping on a later tour. Dreamline and Bravado are great songs from this album. Bravado, live in Rio is a must watch.
This song was very polarizing for Rush fans, especially the middle pseudo Rap section. There were some who simply hated that Rush Would cross over into Rap but I feel that it was misunderstood as new direction and not as an obvious humorous parody of the current Rap music taking over. I must admit I didn’t love this song at first but it has grown on me over the years and it does come off sounding great live.
Alex's tone on this live version is fantastic. It's got a tonne of effects (chorus, delay, probably a bit of pitch detune) on it and it sounds MASSIVE.
Roll the Bones, roll the dice, Roll your OWN Bones, your body! Get moving, get busy~! If there is some immortal power to "control the dice", then 'why are little ones born only to suffer, for the want of immunity or a bowl of rice". Neil had taken a bicycle tour of 3 countries in Africa prior to this album, and he commented on what he saw, the pain , the suffering, and also the beauty. He actually sat in with tribal drummers, and used some of those experiences to add to his 'tool box". One elder actually corrected him several times, he said, grabbing his hand and telling him 'no, you just keep this simple beat"> lol! Babes, you are a lovely, soul, with a beautiful smile and great energy:) Ive seen the Three Magi dozens of times live, every time the magic and energy was incredible. The last time I saw them was the r40 tour in Chicago, and , I knew that was the last time I would see them. I jsut knew. I've been a fan since 1975, first time I heard them..hooked! Blessed be m'lady:)
with electric guitars there are limitless combinations of tones you can get depending on which guitar and which hardware on it to the choice of amplifiers and it's controls and especially the countless of foot pedal effects one can arrange and program. The keyboard sounds you may hear is a trigger that can be done by either Alex or Geddy with a foot key or perhaps Neil with a foot pedal or either on his electric xylophone or electric drum pad. It is no wonder why all three of these guys are masters of musical multitasking.
Roll the Bones is a really fun double meaning title. Dice were often called bones. So roll the dice. Take a chance. Game of chance. But roll the bones also refers to the practice of divination, which often involved throwing animal bones and using how they landed to interpret qiestions or divine the future. So theres also an element of make your own fate. Go out in the world, take a chance at making your own fate. But even then you may win nothing. Just the way that lady luck dances. Roll the bones. And the album art includes that with the dice and the skull.
Alex's guitar here is a Gibson SG. Normally he Plays LesPauls or PRS, on rare occasions also Fenders. As far as I know i only saw him with an SG in this song. You MAY know this guitar from its most famous endorser Angus Young of AC/DC.
Dice used to be made of knucklebones in antiquity, so "roll the bones" means "roll the dice." However, you're right, it's also about tossing bones for purposes of divination. You got the meaning right, Red, don't worry about everything that might happen or what might not happen... go live your life. Rock on, Red!
Roll the bones. They showed it briefly. Dice. Roll the dice Why are we here, roll the dice, whatever numbers come up, they come up! That’s our life. We make a decision and whatever happens thereafter …. happens
I remember on the radio program Rockline previewing this album with the band and this song was going to be a shock for fans because of the rapping. It was definitely a departure from anything they’ve ever done, which Rush was never afraid to experiment. Once again, Rush delivers a complex piece of art and Neil’s lyrics make one’s head spin. His Frederich Nietzche influence is showing.
That was actually Geddy doing the recorded rap. Neil was impressed by the flow of some of the more artistic rappers at the time like LL Cool J and Public Enemy, so decided to include some bars in the song.
Thank you sooo much for checking this out..this song grows on you..like much of thier catalogue. The first and last time Rush used a rappish flavor. It's really creative. The song took awhile to grow on me..but learning the lyrics really made the difference. Here is the rap part; Jack, relax Get busy with the facts No zodiacs or almanacs No maniacs in polyester slacks Just the facts Gonna kick some gluteus max It's a parallax, you dig? You move around The small gets big, it's a rig It's action, reaction Random interaction So who's afraid Of a little abstraction? Can't get no satisfaction From the facts? You better run, homeboy A fact's a fact From Nome to Rome, boy What's the deal? Spin the wheel If the dice are hot, take a shot Play your cards, show us what you got What you're holding If the cards are cold Don't go folding Lady Luck is golden She favors the bold, that's cold Stop throwing stones The night has a thousand saxophones So get out there and rock And roll the bones Get busy
Red 33 years ago this song was released Sept 4th, 1991, on Roll the Bones album. Geddy did the Rap part. I saw someone suggested "Resist" acoustic live. You would Love it.
Hi, about Alex's guitar tone, if you look closely you might notice that his guitar has two cables plugged into it. Alex invented a way to add a second output channel to the instrument, and to have one output go to a rack of effects gear while the other goes out "clean" (direct) to the house P.A. They can be used singly or in tandem. He can also choose which of the pickups on his guitar goes to the "clean" feed, and for what sounds like acoustic picking he runs mostly a piezo pickup which he says is thinner and clearer. I've seen reactors admire his "acoustic guitar sound" while *looking* at the electric Gibson or Fender slung from his shoulder.
Alex used a number of guitars through a show - each with a distinctive sound. This one (a Gibson SG) has a thick sound, with each string articulated well which keeps it from sounding "muddy". Alex also frequently uses a Paul Reed Smith ("PRS"), a Fender Telecaster, and a Gibson ES-355. I suspect the "keyboard" sound you were hearing was Geddy playing a synth with his feet, which has an almost organ-like tone and in this song provides a punchy and stabbing - almost percussive - sound. The little thing Alex was doing waving his hands was communication with the off-stage team - either his guitar tech or (more likely) the person running sound for his in-ear monitors. You might notice that he walked a few steps back and adjusted his amp right afterwards - he might have had the amp just a bit too low, and compensating at the soundboard was generating noise?
The keyboard "burst " during the lyrics is actually Neil triggering the sound effect. You see him do it on the stick twirl part you stopped at. He's basically triggering them throughout the whole song. And playing his drum part on top of it lol
Rush Wednesday, excellent, this'll be fun! Alex has many many tones on his guitars, my fave guitarist ever. The live videos are always so fun! Nice reaction
Hey there neighbor!! I saw an interview with Neil talking about this song. He was asked about the “rap” in this song. He said it’s more of a “spoken session” he didn’t want to classify it as rap. As far as this song, I figured it’s about gambling. With the dice on the front cover. Roll the bones refers to rolling the dice.
First of all, I want to thank you for this reaction. I don't know if you realize how important it is for me to see someone appreciate the band I have been following since 1981 as a drummer myself. When I was in high school, I tried to convince others that Rush was the greatest band ever and that they just needed to listen to their vast library of content and I was mocked and ridiculed. People didn't respect Rush. They hardly ever got radio airplay and they were just not seen as cool. I first saw Rush live in 1984 at the Texas World Music Festival performed in the Astrodome in Houston Texas. The lineup went as follows: Gary Moore Brian Addams Ozzy Osbourne 38 Special Rush Notice who the headline was. Rush. And at the time, I was not very impressed with the songs on Grace Under Pressure, but the energy of that live performance was the best I ever saw them do. And I have been to several Rush concerts since. I appreciate your reactions because I can see that you understand why people like me love Rush so very much. This band means so much to me on so many levels. Out of all the songs from Rush that I go to when I'm not sure which one to listen to, I always go to A Farewell To Kings. I don't know why, but I think the dynamics are clearly demonstrated. The meaning is deep. And that entire album literally shaped the sound of Rush going forward. Keyboards, Percussion and foot pedal synthesizers as well as changing time signatures started on A Farewell To Kings and that is their staple. Thanks again. My eyes are watering right now. Sorry.
Sounds like you and I are about the same age. My first Rush show was the Grace Under Pressure tour as well, in the old Met Center in Bloomington, MN. I think that was the tour Marillion opened for them. They were a little too progressive for me, and seemed like they were trying to hard to be 'epic,' if that makes sense. Then Rush came on stage and my life would never be the same. That album wasn't one of my super favorites, but it was decent, and most importantly had Red Sector A on it. To this day, I can't listen to that song without literally flowing tears. The vivid pictures that come to mind listening to the lyrics are just heart wrenching, and I get the same feeling from The Manhattan Project for the same reasons. Then there's Time Stand Still, The Mission, and a couple others that still affect me deeply as well. Since then I've had the opportunity to see them live 6 more times, and it was always emotional for me. The albums they did in the 80's seemed to speak directly to me at just the right time in my life, just letting me know I was not alone with those struggles. Subdivisions and The Analog Kid were huge for me in the first few years out of high school, then the aforementioned Time Stand Still and The Mission touched me profoundly around the time I got married and we had our first child. After Hold Your Fire, I kind of found some distance between me and Rush. The Roll The Bones album didn't speak to me as much as everything before that did. It's a good album, don't get me wrong, it just didn't have the impact with everything else in my life heading in different directions. Second child, started a small construction business with my dad, and started racing stock cars two nights a week. If you have raced or know anyone who does, it becomes a full-time job that occupies your mind non-stop at and away from the track. I did that for 16 years, and by that time, there was so much Rush I hadn't heard that trying to catch up was all but impossible. I still bought all their albums on the media of the day (CDs by this time), but again, they seemed to be speaking a different language than the one that affected me so much on my teens and 20s. I'll even say that my version of faith is the result of listening to 'Freewill' over and over when I was 14 or 15 years old. That song taught me that I didn't have to choose religion, and I've been agnostic ever since. I'm not a spiteful, argumentative agnostic, and I rarely ever talk about it. I just feel like faith is deeply personal in whatever form it takes, and that one step differently in my adolescence could have easily taken me down a path toward believing very differently, so I have a lot of respect for those who have made those choices and actually live by those beliefs. The ones who don't live by them but just show up every Sunday are the ones I have a problem with. I even have a tattoo on the inside of my right forearm with a starman emblem and the words "I will choose a path that's clear, I will choose Freewill." My older brother thinks it's funny...except on Sunday, though...asshole... The last few years have been kind of a revival for me. I have a Rush station on Pandora where I hear all the old and not-so-old. Sometimes it brings me back, and other times it's something new I don't remember hearing before. I definitely have to be alone and in the right mood though. My wife understands how it affects me and is very supportive, but she doesn't get it for herself. I work from home these days as a technical analyst, and have youtube or Pandora up on my music machine all the time when I'm not on the phone, so I can pretty much listen to any song any time I want, and it's been really cool to be able to do that and remember again what they've meant to me for so long. I still well up in tears occasionally since Neil passed away. With his passing we lost the most talented lyricist of our time, and arguably the best drummer ever to sit behind a kit. His wisdom and perspective literally shaped my life in many ways, and made me a profoundly better person than who I might have turned out to be without that wisdom and perspective. I have 2 grown kids, my son with an MBA and a job in a worldwide medical device company as a project manager in production, and a daughter with a PhD, currently working as a professor of psychiatry at a university in Boston. I'm proud of who I brought into the world and who they turned out to be, and it was largely due to the guidance I got from Neil's lyrics throughout the years. And then there's the truly virtuoso level of musical talent in all 3 members, but that's a novel I'll write another day... I'm about to listen to La Villa Strangiato, and that pretty much says all anyone needs to know about their musicianship.
I know some one below already told you what the saying "roll the bones' means, but he didn't mention why and who, which is important, at least historically. The reason why is because dice (at least top-of-the-line quality), once upon a time were made from ivory. Pirates of the 17th or 18th century coined the term.
The rap section is Geddy with an electronic filter (you can see him sing on the last part of the last phrase in this video.) Dice used to be made from bone before modern plastics ... I interpret "roll the bones" as "take a chance." Don't worry about the order that you get to songs. Almost all of us are patient enough for you to get to our favorites on your own. (Don't worry about the others.)
If there's an argument to be made for Alex Lifeson being one of the best rock guitarists, a BIG part of that argument is his construction of tones for individual songs. Out of their catalogue of 162 songs, it's hard to find two songs that sound exactly the same, and many of them have absolutely unique guitar tones. Having to be his guitar tech must have been mind-bogglingly hard. Especially when he changes what guitars he uses constantly, too... meaning they have to be changing all of the settings for a song to get the guitar in question to sound like it's supposed to. It's absolutely mad.
Alex has so many different guitars and they all are set with different settings, allowing all kinds of sounds, plus he uses various pedals for effects too. Alex was doing the vocal speaking during the video display. You could be right about the meaning, but don't forget that dice are also called 'bones' in a slang type of speech.
When *I* hear "roll the bones,* I think of a big PHAT JOINT! But no, it's all about takin' the chance, being bold, and letting fate take care of the rest........... Rush is always full of surprises - gotta keep things FRESH :)
This brings me back to my high school years. 1991, the year I first heard Rush. Roll The Bones was the first CD I ever bought, and I quickly got into the rest of their work soon after.
Although some may think that Neil Peart is the one who recites the Rap section, it is actually the voice of Geddy Lee who has undergone a sound distortion and a lowering of the frequency. Some great songs off this album. Remember listening to it (1st on cassette, then on CD) on a flight from Hawaii to Japan. had only been out for a few months at that time. Loved that whole album. Roll the bones stems from ancient times, from rolling Rune Bones of the Viking age to actual bone carved dice from the Roman Empire. Think of the Roman soldiers "casting lots" (rolling bones aka dice) at the base of the cross. Great reaction. Keep running down the rabbit hole.
Miss redheadedneighbor, you may have noticed that there are some peddles on the floor in from of Alex. Each of those allows for different tone modifications to his guitars. Roll the bones means to take a chance. Dice in old times are referred to as bone. Therefore, roll the bones would be roll the dice.
Always fun to work out who is making which sounds live. Both Alex and Geddy have pedals to trigger bass or synth sounds but Neil also has a whole load of synth triggers too in his kit.
Alex has a board infront of him with many switches that he use to switch up the sound of his guitar, uses his feet to control the board. 🤘RUSH🤘. 😃s from 🇨🇦
When Peart wrote the rap lyric in it they considered getting a rapper to do it at first, in the end though rap on the album was Lee through lowering pitch filter.
They don't think about their instruments at all .. They just do their thing,With OUT thinking. Thats some one who has master the how and why they make sound s,They just make them.
Loved it. I was thinking today that "Dog Years" is another good listen from Test For Echo. It is both funny and deep with metaphors between 4-legged and 2-legged variants.
those ARE keyboards. Programmed "Sequences". Sometimes triggered by an actual synth, or the foot pedals, or they are playing to a Click Track, only Neil would hear it, and make sure the pace of the song is precise so the triggers happen at the right moment, and just like the Rap was a "track"
Hi, rush, a band that absorbed their surroundings and made the music their own, no matter the era, as per neil no idea was shrugged, it was always,as here with rap, let's give it a try. a pure creators mind set 👏
Part II 😁 Ok a suggestion for all your RUSH / Redhead fans 🎉 You have to watch the movie RUSH in Rio!! There is so much Mind blowing cool shhhhstuff!!! The hotel interview when they arrive answering the question " What took you guys sooo long to come to our country"?? And the fan interviews before the show and the bad weather on one of the shows!! This movie 🎥🍿 played in the Theater 🎭 at least where I live in Oregon. Okay,,, let's make a vote!!?? ☮️
It was Rush's first top 40 hit.. On all the stations you;d hear songs by Mariah Carey, Janet Jackson, Hip-hop, and this..The song really caught on ( I think it was the cool rap in the middle that appealed to record-buyers most and bagged them another generation of fans.)
The rap section is, indeed, unexpected, but it works. As to the who - "They instead opted to use Lee's voice with low-frequency effects applied to it."
Rolling the dice with you would always come up 7s Although you are a perfect 10 Red❤❤You are so adorable❤ #reaction #rush #rushreaction #geddylee #alexlifeson #neilpeart
I heard that sometimes they pulled T-shirts out of those dryers on the stage and threw them into the crowd. Does anyone remember that happening? My only Rush concerts were the Roll the Bones tour and Test For Echo tour. An amazing live band that I wish I had seen more often!
You may have been hearing the synth "swoosh" that looped inadvertently throughout the song in certain parts...sounded like the Tom Sawyer synth swoosh...they couldn't edit it out of the mix
Nice one RHN..Re: the washing/drying machines.It's well-documented that Geddy didnt need his bass amps later on but needed something to fill the empty space behind him and balance the stage out,hence these machines and rotisseries later on.He mentions a lot about this in his book.I have my own personal opinion on this that has never been confirmed by anyone ,anywhere (so is probably wrong of course!), but Rush 's sense of humour is legendary, they all got on very well and never washed 'n' dried their dirty linen in public..they flipped this and decided they would lol!..mad theory but makes me smile (surely someone else must've thought of this too?!)....keep up the good work😁
I have called Alex the 'Pedal meister' for decades! Check out his solo album, Victor! When seeing a panned-out view of the stage in concerts you can see his 'rack' of sound tweaking pedals right at his feet. Seems that Alex has always liked making unique sounds and effects through the guitar. He's a bit like a musical mad scientist, but, like, A GOOD musical mad scientist though! Right? I think Getty prerecorded the rap verses he had done with his voice altered to play when they did the song live. As I've said before, you are very perceptive to meanings in their songs. Yes, way back when, chicken bones tossed into a group on the ground were 'read' by the medicine man/woman to see the future, among other things. Like the sex of a pregnancy, expected rainfall, good hunting, etc. 'Primitive' tribes had used the bones. Much later, 'civilized' 'tribes' made a false substitute with cubes of ivory and/or stone with numbers carved into them. Dice, like on the album's cover art! Do yourself a good time by always having the lyrics available for your first listen! That's the way I absorbed their music, song by song, as it was released album by album so long ago. Their lyrics consistently did & still do widen my world view just a little more with each listen of any song, even those that I've even already heard HUNDREDS of times! There' always something 'new' to notice! Oh, I plugged Alex's solo album so it's only fair to list Geddy's, My Favorite Headache. Their solo albums were made when Neil was travelling through life as the ghost rider, trying to find his 'little baby soul' after the tragedies of his daughter, then wife, passing so unexpectedly & quickly respectively. Read 'Ghost Rider' too, Red! I'm sure you will geek out while reading that! I can tell that you are that type of Rush fan already! BeGood, BeWell, BeReal Y'all!
Roll the bones means Toss the dices. Dices used to be made out of materials like ivory, bones and other white stuff before plastic was invented. Good observation about the guitar tone. Alex used several guitars through the years, even live he switches guitars for different songs. The one I like the most is his Gibson Les Paul. You can buy an exact replica down to the scratches and wear for about 40k US. On my wish list. 😊
Rolling the dice with you would always come up 7s 🎲🎲🎲Although you are a perfect 10 ♥♥YOU ARE AMAZING ♥♥RedYou are so adorable #reaction #rush #rushreaction #geddylee #alexlifeson #neilpeart #redheadedneighbor #bestreactor #redsarmy #beautifulfuncountrygirl #31K #heartofgoldwithmetalinhersoul #bestbadjokes #Rushcrush #redheadparrothead #warningawarningaddict #parrotheads #parrothead
As for tone, one has pedals. I have 40, each has it's own sound. I also have a lot of guitars. Each has it's own sound. Alex is playing an SG here. A Strat or Tele has there own sound. So does an LP. A Jbass has a different sound from a Pbass. Geddy plays a Jbass often. I saw his collection when they where displayed in my city.
The chorus effect on Alex's guitar sound on this one may be up a bit more on this performance, so it could sound a bit synth-ish. The rap part, live, is a backing track. They never really said who actually performed it i. the studio, they really played up the mystery, but it's likely Geddy with a harmonize to give his voice a girthier, bass tone. To "roll the bones" is also a slang term for throwing dice. The underlying theme of this album is about taking chances, and random probability. Everything in life is a gamble, whether you're risking money, exposing emotional vulnerability, or just crossing the street, sometimes it works out for you, sometimes it doesn't. This album is amongst their heaviest in terms of subject matter. I remember when they dropped the lead off single "Dreamline" the Friday before the album came out, and I must say. it was the longest 4 days of my life to get out of school and rush (no pun intended) to JB&H (a local music store in at the time) and get my hands on the cassette and play it in its entirety before I had to work that night. Ah, those were the days...
RHN, the expression "Roll the Bones" is a euphemism for rolling dice, like in a game of chance. The theme of Roll the Bones, the album, is exploring chance, risk, uncertainty, and the courage (dare we say, "faith"?) it takes to get through your day and, by extension, your life. Also, Geddy was the voice of the rapping skeleton.
I quote this song more than any other. "Why does it happen? Because it happens", replaces a lot of cussing in my life. Bones = Dice. Roll the bones = Roll the dice. Dice were once made out of bone. And the studio version is better than the live version so go ahead and give it a listen when you can.
I feel that rush songs offer personal interpolation. For me, this song is means get the hell out of you hole and take a chance, don't bother trying to decrypt everything that happens, just live in the present. Cheerz !!!!
Thanks for this. I had actually requested the R40 version, but the only real difference is that instead of the rapping skeleton, various celebrities lip sync that portion on the video board. I wasn't keen on the rap portion when it first came out, but it grew on me, as all of Neil's lyrics do. Who'da thunk that Rush could do rap? 😁
Guess they didn't have time to do their washing what with being on tour. 😂 I wasn't expecting the rap! Another good one. I'm sure somewhere there must be at least one bad Rush song. I think that's right, I think it's like roll the dice. Take a chance on what happens. You're too hard on yourself. You do a great jobon the requests. I'm sure people don't mind waiting a couple of days or so for their donated request. 😊
This is one of my favorite Rush albums.. the whole album was like a breath of fresh air after years of too many effects and just being kind of stale honestly... I saw them twice on this tour and it was just amazing.... P.S. about Alexs guitar... he's playing a SG which is my favorite guitar of all time (i have had mine since 1988, it's a 1974 model and i love it) It's the perfect guitar.. and honestly this is the only tim i have seen Alex play one... ALSO.. if you ever get into black sabbath (the first 5 albums are masterpieces) Tony Iommi plays SG's only.. and he is the reason like 50% of guitarists even started playing :)
I love the groove of this song! Admittedly, the rap totally threw me off the first time I heard it, but kudos to them for doing it. I believe it was Geddy who did the rap, with his voice altered.
I had the happiness of watching Rush twice here in São Paulo, Brazil. Vapor Trails Tour 2002 and Time Machine Tour 2010. In 2002 here in São Paulo it was the biggest audience they had in their entire career. 60,000 people singing every note of their songs! It was a big celebratiion!
They had a bigger audience the next year: "Molson Canadian Rocks for Toronto, also known as SARSStock, was a benefit rock concert that was held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada on July 30, 2003. An estimated 450,000 and 500,000 people attended the concert, making it is the largest outdoor ticketed event in Canadian history and one of the largest events in North American history. Rush was the last band to be added to the lineup. According to drummer Neil Peart, "When we were first asked to play Molson Canadian Rocks For Toronto, it seemed impossible to say yes. We had been off the road for 8 months, our gear was in the warehouse, most of our crew was out on other tours, and even we were all over the place - Geddy with his family in France, Alex working in the studio mixing our Rio de Janeiro show, and me on my motorcycle in the California mountains. However, when we thought about everything Toronto meant to our lives, to our work and play, our homes and families and friends, it seemed impossible to say no!"
@@unitsec At this Toronto show they performed with others such as AC/DC, The Guess Who, Rush, Justin Timberlake, the Isley Bros, Sam Roberts, and The Rolling Stones. As a solo band, the São Paulo concert was the largest audience of their career.
@@Alberto_1965_BR So your initial statement was false. In your amended version with the caveat of the largest crowd of their career being dependent on being the sole act on the bill it’s possible that you are correct, assuming there was no opening act I suppose. Either way, great band!
@@unitsec According to Wiki, São Paulo was their largest crowd on the Vapor Trails tour. I'm not sure where it ranks for their career, but it has to be up there. I watched the documentary of them performing in Brazil. You could probably find it on TH-cam, if you haven't seen it already. It's a great watch.
Roll the bones is also just rolling the dice... win or lose... THANKS for being a RUSH fan! No one is more magical!
Dang, Rush learned me a time ago that dice used to be made out of bone.
Their "Roll The Bones" album theme was about chance and randomness and each song explored different aspects of chance and randomness in life.
You bet your life.
'Fate is just the weight of circumstances..."
I love that line!
That’s the way that Lady Luck dances..
I feel so blessed to have seen them 19 times since 1980.
I was talking to another guy that said he saw 54 shows!
I’ll use her words, what a lucky duck!!
Rush is a very intelligent lyricelly.
Nice!!!!! One thing I love about Neil is how calm and reserved he is at his kit, that when he does a stick toss or twirl, you appreciate it so much more than hyperactive drummers.
He still did hit as hard as he could, though! 😄
Neil loved so many genres of music...reggae hip hop jazz and he liked working them into the songs ❤🇨🇦🎸
I saw them on this tour with Mr. Big in Charlotte NC. So clear and precise.
The rap part is actually done by Geddy with a filter. Listen to the studio version. ""But the bottom line...is to take the chance, roll the bones, if it's a random universe and that's terrifying and it makes you neurotic and everything, never mind. You really have to take the chance or else nothing's going to happen."
- Neil Peart, "It's a Rap" interview, February 1992"
It sounded to me like they were using a pitch shifting algorithm like on an Eventide Harmonizer.
Neil said in an interview that he didn’t want to insult any rappers, so Neil called it a “spoken session”
I saw where they were considering John Cleese for that part
Really? Hmm. That’s cool too.
I listened to an interview with him on the radio, and he said spoken session. But either way, I friggin love this tune!!
But thank you for mentioning that.
Take Care and Take RUSH 😊
This is RUSH taking a chance (on doing rap), just like the song preaches. They had celebrities (on-screen) rapping on a later tour. Dreamline and Bravado are great songs from this album. Bravado, live in Rio is a must watch.
This song was very polarizing for Rush fans, especially the middle pseudo Rap section. There were some who simply hated that Rush Would cross over into Rap but I feel that it was misunderstood as new direction and not as an obvious humorous parody of the current Rap music taking over. I must admit I didn’t love this song at first but it has grown on me over the years and it does come off sounding great live.
I almost quit them when I saw a skull rapping on a Rush video. Good thing they came out with Counterparts
Alex's tone on this live version is fantastic. It's got a tonne of effects (chorus, delay, probably a bit of pitch detune) on it and it sounds MASSIVE.
Roll the Bones, roll the dice, Roll your OWN Bones, your body! Get moving, get busy~! If there is some immortal power to "control the dice", then 'why are little ones born only to suffer, for the want of immunity or a bowl of rice". Neil had taken a bicycle tour of 3 countries in Africa prior to this album, and he commented on what he saw, the pain , the suffering, and also the beauty. He actually sat in with tribal drummers, and used some of those experiences to add to his 'tool box". One elder actually corrected him several times, he said, grabbing his hand and telling him 'no, you just keep this simple beat"> lol! Babes, you are a lovely, soul, with a beautiful smile and great energy:) Ive seen the Three Magi dozens of times live, every time the magic and energy was incredible. The last time I saw them was the r40 tour in Chicago, and , I knew that was the last time I would see them. I jsut knew. I've been a fan since 1975, first time I heard them..hooked! Blessed be m'lady:)
with electric guitars there are limitless combinations of tones you can get depending on which guitar and which hardware on it to the choice of amplifiers and it's controls and especially the countless of foot pedal effects one can arrange and program. The keyboard sounds you may hear is a trigger that can be done by either Alex or Geddy with a foot key or perhaps Neil with a foot pedal or either on his electric xylophone or electric drum pad.
It is no wonder why all three of these guys are masters of musical multitasking.
Roll the Bones is a really fun double meaning title. Dice were often called bones. So roll the dice. Take a chance. Game of chance. But roll the bones also refers to the practice of divination, which often involved throwing animal bones and using how they landed to interpret qiestions or divine the future. So theres also an element of make your own fate. Go out in the world, take a chance at making your own fate. But even then you may win nothing. Just the way that lady luck dances. Roll the bones. And the album art includes that with the dice and the skull.
Alex's guitar here is a Gibson SG. Normally he Plays LesPauls or PRS, on rare occasions also Fenders. As far as I know i only saw him with an SG in this song. You MAY know this guitar from its most famous endorser Angus Young of AC/DC.
Long time fan and Ive never seen Alex play an SG before.
In the studio version, Geddy did the rap, but live they use a backing track. Another great reaction. 👍👍😁🔥
Dice used to be made of knucklebones in antiquity, so "roll the bones" means "roll the dice." However, you're right, it's also about tossing bones for purposes of divination. You got the meaning right, Red, don't worry about everything that might happen or what might not happen... go live your life. Rock on, Red!
"Ghost Of A Chance" from the "Roll The Bones" album is a must hear. Just a masterpiece.
Roll the bones. They showed it briefly.
Dice. Roll the dice
Why are we here, roll the dice, whatever numbers come up, they come up! That’s our life. We make a decision and whatever happens thereafter …. happens
Yes, knuckle bones were used as dice.
I remember on the radio program Rockline previewing this album with the band and this song was going to be a shock for fans because of the rapping. It was definitely a departure from anything they’ve ever done, which Rush was never afraid to experiment.
Once again, Rush delivers a complex piece of art and Neil’s lyrics make one’s head spin. His Frederich Nietzche influence is showing.
That was actually Geddy doing the recorded rap. Neil was impressed by the flow of some of the more artistic rappers at the time like LL Cool J and Public Enemy, so decided to include some bars in the song.
To "Roll the bones" is to roll the dice, take a chance come what may. Luv you btw. Keep it going.
Thank you sooo much for checking this out..this song grows on you..like much of thier catalogue. The first and last time Rush used a rappish flavor. It's really creative. The song took awhile to grow on me..but learning the lyrics really made the difference. Here is the rap part;
Jack, relax
Get busy with the facts
No zodiacs or almanacs
No maniacs in polyester slacks
Just the facts
Gonna kick some gluteus max
It's a parallax, you dig?
You move around
The small gets big, it's a rig
It's action, reaction
Random interaction
So who's afraid
Of a little abstraction?
Can't get no satisfaction
From the facts?
You better run, homeboy
A fact's a fact
From Nome to Rome, boy
What's the deal? Spin the wheel
If the dice are hot, take a shot
Play your cards, show us what you got
What you're holding
If the cards are cold
Don't go folding
Lady Luck is golden
She favors the bold, that's cold
Stop throwing stones
The night has a thousand saxophones
So get out there and rock
And roll the bones
Get busy
Red 33 years ago this song was released Sept 4th, 1991, on Roll the Bones album. Geddy did the Rap part.
I saw someone suggested "Resist" acoustic live. You would Love it.
Hi, about Alex's guitar tone, if you look closely you might notice that his guitar has two cables plugged into it. Alex invented a way to add a second output channel to the instrument, and to have one output go to a rack of effects gear while the other goes out "clean" (direct) to the house P.A. They can be used singly or in tandem. He can also choose which of the pickups on his guitar goes to the "clean" feed, and for what sounds like acoustic picking he runs mostly a piezo pickup which he says is thinner and clearer. I've seen reactors admire his "acoustic guitar sound" while *looking* at the electric Gibson or Fender slung from his shoulder.
Alex used a number of guitars through a show - each with a distinctive sound. This one (a Gibson SG) has a thick sound, with each string articulated well which keeps it from sounding "muddy". Alex also frequently uses a Paul Reed Smith ("PRS"), a Fender Telecaster, and a Gibson ES-355.
I suspect the "keyboard" sound you were hearing was Geddy playing a synth with his feet, which has an almost organ-like tone and in this song provides a punchy and stabbing - almost percussive - sound.
The little thing Alex was doing waving his hands was communication with the off-stage team - either his guitar tech or (more likely) the person running sound for his in-ear monitors. You might notice that he walked a few steps back and adjusted his amp right afterwards - he might have had the amp just a bit too low, and compensating at the soundboard was generating noise?
Awesome reaction! Try “Resist” accoustic! Bring tissues though… Keep them coming! Rush on!
The keyboard "burst " during the lyrics is actually Neil triggering the sound effect. You see him do it on the stick twirl part you stopped at. He's basically triggering them throughout the whole song. And playing his drum part on top of it lol
Dice, Roll the Bones, life is chance
Controlled Folly
Rush Wednesday, excellent, this'll be fun! Alex has many many tones on his guitars, my fave guitarist ever. The live videos are always so fun! Nice reaction
Hey there neighbor!!
I saw an interview with Neil talking about this song. He was asked about the “rap” in this song. He said it’s more of a “spoken session” he didn’t want to classify it as rap.
As far as this song, I figured it’s about gambling. With the dice on the front cover. Roll the bones refers to rolling the dice.
First of all, I want to thank you for this reaction. I don't know if you realize how important it is for me to see someone appreciate the band I have been following since 1981 as a drummer myself. When I was in high school, I tried to convince others that Rush was the greatest band ever and that they just needed to listen to their vast library of content and I was mocked and ridiculed. People didn't respect Rush. They hardly ever got radio airplay and they were just not seen as cool. I first saw Rush live in 1984 at the Texas World Music Festival performed in the Astrodome in Houston Texas.
The lineup went as follows:
Gary Moore
Brian Addams
Ozzy Osbourne
38 Special
Rush
Notice who the headline was. Rush. And at the time, I was not very impressed with the songs on Grace Under Pressure, but the energy of that live performance was the best I ever saw them do. And I have been to several Rush concerts since.
I appreciate your reactions because I can see that you understand why people like me love Rush so very much. This band means so much to me on so many levels. Out of all the songs from Rush that I go to when I'm not sure which one to listen to, I always go to A Farewell To Kings. I don't know why, but I think the dynamics are clearly demonstrated. The meaning is deep. And that entire album literally shaped the sound of Rush going forward. Keyboards, Percussion and foot pedal synthesizers as well as changing time signatures started on A Farewell To Kings and that is their staple. Thanks again. My eyes are watering right now. Sorry.
Sounds like you and I are about the same age. My first Rush show was the Grace Under Pressure tour as well, in the old Met Center in Bloomington, MN. I think that was the tour Marillion opened for them. They were a little too progressive for me, and seemed like they were trying to hard to be 'epic,' if that makes sense.
Then Rush came on stage and my life would never be the same. That album wasn't one of my super favorites, but it was decent, and most importantly had Red Sector A on it. To this day, I can't listen to that song without literally flowing tears. The vivid pictures that come to mind listening to the lyrics are just heart wrenching, and I get the same feeling from The Manhattan Project for the same reasons. Then there's Time Stand Still, The Mission, and a couple others that still affect me deeply as well.
Since then I've had the opportunity to see them live 6 more times, and it was always emotional for me. The albums they did in the 80's seemed to speak directly to me at just the right time in my life, just letting me know I was not alone with those struggles. Subdivisions and The Analog Kid were huge for me in the first few years out of high school, then the aforementioned Time Stand Still and The Mission touched me profoundly around the time I got married and we had our first child.
After Hold Your Fire, I kind of found some distance between me and Rush. The Roll The Bones album didn't speak to me as much as everything before that did. It's a good album, don't get me wrong, it just didn't have the impact with everything else in my life heading in different directions. Second child, started a small construction business with my dad, and started racing stock cars two nights a week. If you have raced or know anyone who does, it becomes a full-time job that occupies your mind non-stop at and away from the track. I did that for 16 years, and by that time, there was so much Rush I hadn't heard that trying to catch up was all but impossible. I still bought all their albums on the media of the day (CDs by this time), but again, they seemed to be speaking a different language than the one that affected me so much on my teens and 20s. I'll even say that my version of faith is the result of listening to 'Freewill' over and over when I was 14 or 15 years old. That song taught me that I didn't have to choose religion, and I've been agnostic ever since. I'm not a spiteful, argumentative agnostic, and I rarely ever talk about it. I just feel like faith is deeply personal in whatever form it takes, and that one step differently in my adolescence could have easily taken me down a path toward believing very differently, so I have a lot of respect for those who have made those choices and actually live by those beliefs. The ones who don't live by them but just show up every Sunday are the ones I have a problem with. I even have a tattoo on the inside of my right forearm with a starman emblem and the words "I will choose a path that's clear, I will choose Freewill." My older brother thinks it's funny...except on Sunday, though...asshole...
The last few years have been kind of a revival for me. I have a Rush station on Pandora where I hear all the old and not-so-old. Sometimes it brings me back, and other times it's something new I don't remember hearing before. I definitely have to be alone and in the right mood though. My wife understands how it affects me and is very supportive, but she doesn't get it for herself.
I work from home these days as a technical analyst, and have youtube or Pandora up on my music machine all the time when I'm not on the phone, so I can pretty much listen to any song any time I want, and it's been really cool to be able to do that and remember again what they've meant to me for so long.
I still well up in tears occasionally since Neil passed away. With his passing we lost the most talented lyricist of our time, and arguably the best drummer ever to sit behind a kit. His wisdom and perspective literally shaped my life in many ways, and made me a profoundly better person than who I might have turned out to be without that wisdom and perspective. I have 2 grown kids, my son with an MBA and a job in a worldwide medical device company as a project manager in production, and a daughter with a PhD, currently working as a professor of psychiatry at a university in Boston. I'm proud of who I brought into the world and who they turned out to be, and it was largely due to the guidance I got from Neil's lyrics throughout the years.
And then there's the truly virtuoso level of musical talent in all 3 members, but that's a novel I'll write another day... I'm about to listen to La Villa Strangiato, and that pretty much says all anyone needs to know about their musicianship.
I know some one below already told you what the saying "roll the bones' means, but he didn't mention why and who, which is important, at least historically. The reason why is because dice (at least top-of-the-line quality), once upon a time were made from ivory. Pirates of the 17th or 18th century coined the term.
The rap section is Geddy with an electronic filter (you can see him sing on the last part of the last phrase in this video.)
Dice used to be made from bone before modern plastics ... I interpret "roll the bones" as "take a chance."
Don't worry about the order that you get to songs. Almost all of us are patient enough for you to get to our favorites on your own. (Don't worry about the others.)
If there's an argument to be made for Alex Lifeson being one of the best rock guitarists, a BIG part of that argument is his construction of tones for individual songs. Out of their catalogue of 162 songs, it's hard to find two songs that sound exactly the same, and many of them have absolutely unique guitar tones. Having to be his guitar tech must have been mind-bogglingly hard. Especially when he changes what guitars he uses constantly, too... meaning they have to be changing all of the settings for a song to get the guitar in question to sound like it's supposed to. It's absolutely mad.
Alex has so many different guitars and they all are set with different settings, allowing all kinds of sounds, plus he uses various pedals for effects too. Alex was doing the vocal speaking during the video display. You could be right about the meaning, but don't forget that dice are also called 'bones' in a slang type of speech.
I knew the Rap part would surprise you. I was going to request the studio version.
This was my (then) 6-year-old’s favourite song of the summer two years ago.
When *I* hear "roll the bones,* I think of a big PHAT JOINT!
But no, it's all about takin' the chance, being bold, and letting fate take care of the rest...........
Rush is always full of surprises - gotta keep things FRESH :)
This brings me back to my high school years. 1991, the year I first heard Rush. Roll The Bones was the first CD I ever bought, and I quickly got into the rest of their work soon after.
Although some may think that Neil Peart is the one who recites the Rap section, it is actually the voice of Geddy Lee who has undergone a sound distortion and a lowering of the frequency. Some great songs off this album. Remember listening to it (1st on cassette, then on CD) on a flight from Hawaii to Japan. had only been out for a few months at that time. Loved that whole album. Roll the bones stems from ancient times, from rolling Rune Bones of the Viking age to actual bone carved dice from the Roman Empire. Think of the Roman soldiers "casting lots" (rolling bones aka dice) at the base of the cross. Great reaction. Keep running down the rabbit hole.
Miss redheadedneighbor, you may have noticed that there are some peddles on the floor in from of Alex. Each of those allows for different tone modifications to his guitars. Roll the bones means to take a chance. Dice in old times are referred to as bone. Therefore, roll the bones would be roll the dice.
Always fun to work out who is making which sounds live. Both Alex and Geddy have pedals to trigger bass or synth sounds but Neil also has a whole load of synth triggers too in his kit.
I want to thank you for playing this song. Because I been you for awhile to play it.
Thank You
Roll the dice!
Alex has a board infront of him with many switches that he use to switch up the sound of his guitar, uses his feet to control the board. 🤘RUSH🤘. 😃s from 🇨🇦
When Peart wrote the rap lyric in it they considered getting a rapper to do it at first, in the end though rap on the album was Lee through lowering pitch filter.
They don't think about their instruments at all .. They just do their thing,With OUT thinking. Thats some one who has master the how and why they make sound s,They just make them.
Loved it. I was thinking today that "Dog Years" is another good listen from Test For Echo. It is both funny and deep with metaphors between 4-legged and 2-legged variants.
Rush ❤ 😊
Alex has a sizeable assortment of affects pedals that he switches to depending on the sound required.
those ARE keyboards. Programmed "Sequences". Sometimes triggered by an actual synth, or the foot pedals, or they are playing to a Click Track, only Neil would hear it, and make sure the pace of the song is precise so the triggers happen at the right moment, and just like the Rap was a "track"
Hi, rush, a band that absorbed their surroundings and made the music their own, no matter the era, as per neil no idea was shrugged, it was always,as here with rap, let's give it a try. a pure creators mind set 👏
Part II 😁 Ok a suggestion for all your RUSH / Redhead fans 🎉 You have to watch the movie RUSH in Rio!! There is so much Mind blowing cool shhhhstuff!!! The hotel interview when they arrive answering the question " What took you guys sooo long to come to our country"?? And the fan interviews before the show and the bad weather on one of the shows!! This movie 🎥🍿 played in the Theater 🎭 at least where I live in Oregon. Okay,,, let's make a vote!!?? ☮️
Geddy did the Skull-Rap. Pre recorded and distorted.
It was Rush's first top 40 hit.. On all the stations you;d hear songs by Mariah Carey, Janet Jackson, Hip-hop, and this..The song really caught on ( I think it was the cool rap in the middle that appealed to record-buyers most and bagged them another generation of fans.)
The rap section is, indeed, unexpected, but it works. As to the who - "They instead opted to use Lee's voice with low-frequency effects applied to it."
Good call regarding Alex's guitar. I think that is a PRS Guitar he is playing here. Love your rush reactions ❤.
Rolling the dice with you would always come up 7s Although you are a perfect 10 Red❤❤You are so adorable❤
#reaction #rush #rushreaction #geddylee #alexlifeson #neilpeart
I heard that sometimes they pulled T-shirts out of those dryers on the stage and threw them into the crowd. Does anyone remember that happening? My only Rush concerts were the Roll the Bones tour and Test For Echo tour. An amazing live band that I wish I had seen more often!
yep absolutely and everyone wanted one
Roll The Bones has always been my daughters favorite RUSH song. She always loved seeing the dancing skeleton.
Neil wrote the rap in the song for his daughter Selina, who liked rap and hip hop music.
I love what it means. The Professor is a genius.
RTB is a great album. Only tour I took my wife to. Tuesday night in a very empty Richmond coliseum with Primus!! Great date night!!!
You may have been hearing the synth "swoosh" that looped inadvertently throughout the song in certain parts...sounded like the Tom Sawyer synth swoosh...they couldn't edit it out of the mix
Nice one RHN..Re: the washing/drying machines.It's well-documented that Geddy didnt need his bass amps later on but needed something to fill the empty space behind him and balance the stage out,hence these machines and rotisseries later on.He mentions a lot about this in his book.I have my own personal opinion on this that has never been confirmed by anyone ,anywhere (so is probably wrong of course!), but Rush 's sense of humour is legendary, they all got on very well and never washed 'n' dried their dirty linen in public..they flipped this and decided they would lol!..mad theory but makes me smile (surely someone else must've thought of this too?!)....keep up the good work😁
A little flash from The Professor or as like to call him, The Power Octopus.
Extra bonus: RUSH RAP! 😆
I have called Alex the 'Pedal meister' for decades! Check out his solo album, Victor! When seeing a panned-out view of the stage in concerts you can see his 'rack' of sound tweaking pedals right at his feet. Seems that Alex has always liked making unique sounds and effects through the guitar. He's a bit like a musical mad scientist, but, like, A GOOD musical mad scientist though! Right? I think Getty prerecorded the rap verses he had done with his voice altered to play when they did the song live. As I've said before, you are very perceptive to meanings in their songs. Yes, way back when, chicken bones tossed into a group on the ground were 'read' by the medicine man/woman to see the future, among other things. Like the sex of a pregnancy, expected rainfall, good hunting, etc. 'Primitive' tribes had used the bones. Much later, 'civilized' 'tribes' made a false substitute with cubes of ivory and/or stone with numbers carved into them. Dice, like on the album's cover art! Do yourself a good time by always having the lyrics available for your first listen! That's the way I absorbed their music, song by song, as it was released album by album so long ago. Their lyrics consistently did & still do widen my world view just a little more with each listen of any song, even those that I've even already heard HUNDREDS of times! There' always something 'new' to notice! Oh, I plugged Alex's solo album so it's only fair to list Geddy's, My Favorite Headache. Their solo albums were made when Neil was travelling through life as the ghost rider, trying to find his 'little baby soul' after the tragedies of his daughter, then wife, passing so unexpectedly & quickly respectively. Read 'Ghost Rider' too, Red! I'm sure you will geek out while reading that! I can tell that you are that type of Rush fan already! BeGood, BeWell, BeReal Y'all!
Roll the bones means Toss the dices. Dices used to be made out of materials like ivory, bones and other white stuff before plastic was invented. Good observation about the guitar tone. Alex used several guitars through the years, even live he switches guitars for different songs. The one I like the most is his Gibson Les Paul. You can buy an exact replica down to the scratches and wear for about 40k US. On my wish list. 😊
Hey RHN I really like the way your mixing up the albums. ❤ keep them coming.
Went wild journey after army, so missed alot. But when I rejoined music was pleased as heck. Best band ever. Maybe the Band robbie robertson
Take your chance in life.... roll the bones!
Rolling the dice with you would always come up 7s 🎲🎲🎲Although you are a perfect 10 ♥♥YOU ARE AMAZING ♥♥RedYou are so adorable #reaction #rush #rushreaction #geddylee #alexlifeson #neilpeart #redheadedneighbor #bestreactor #redsarmy #beautifulfuncountrygirl #31K #heartofgoldwithmetalinhersoul #bestbadjokes #Rushcrush #redheadparrothead #warningawarningaddict #parrotheads #parrothead
As for tone, one has pedals. I have 40, each has it's own sound. I also have a lot of guitars. Each has it's own sound. Alex is playing an SG here. A Strat or Tele has there own sound. So does an LP. A Jbass has a different sound from a Pbass. Geddy plays a Jbass often. I saw his collection when they where displayed in my city.
The chorus effect on Alex's guitar sound on this one may be up a bit more on this performance, so it could sound a bit synth-ish.
The rap part, live, is a backing track. They never really said who actually performed it i. the studio, they really played up the mystery, but it's likely Geddy with a harmonize to give his voice a girthier, bass tone.
To "roll the bones" is also a slang term for throwing dice. The underlying theme of this album is about taking chances, and random probability. Everything in life is a gamble, whether you're risking money, exposing emotional vulnerability, or just crossing the street, sometimes it works out for you, sometimes it doesn't. This album is amongst their heaviest in terms of subject matter.
I remember when they dropped the lead off single "Dreamline" the Friday before the album came out, and I must say. it was the longest 4 days of my life to get out of school and rush (no pun intended) to JB&H (a local music store in at the time) and get my hands on the cassette and play it in its entirety before I had to work that night.
Ah, those were the days...
This is the song that broke a lot of Rush fan's heads. :)
RHN, the expression "Roll the Bones" is a euphemism for rolling dice, like in a game of chance. The theme of Roll the Bones, the album, is exploring chance, risk, uncertainty, and the courage (dare we say, "faith"?) it takes to get through your day and, by extension, your life. Also, Geddy was the voice of the rapping skeleton.
I so would have been at that show - had I not moved from Germany to NZ meanwhile! 😅
Alex mocking his own simple strumming....love it
Roll The Bones is rolling dice - dice used to be made from bone - the song is about taking a chance in life...roll the dice...
Great pick. Try '''The Big Wheel". Stunning lyrics. GBY.
I didn't like this song at first but it's one of those songs that you have to hear it a few times and it just kind of grows on you
Dice used to be made from bones. So, there was a term called "roll the bones", referring to rolling the dice.
I quote this song more than any other. "Why does it happen? Because it happens", replaces a lot of cussing in my life. Bones = Dice. Roll the bones = Roll the dice. Dice were once made out of bone. And the studio version is better than the live version so go ahead and give it a listen when you can.
This is my FAVORITE of the new generation of RUSH... Good Choice!
Been waiting all my life for ya Red, a little while more shouldn't hurt too bad? 😘
Wherever RUSH leads me, I will follow...even rap (which when one listens to the lyrics, it's obviously just monkey business 🤣). Bones = Dice
I've always associated "roll the bones" with tossing the dice... Pig knuckles were often used as dice.
Roll the bones....archaic phrase meaning throw the dice. As you surmised derived from casting the bones.
I feel that rush songs offer personal interpolation. For me, this song is means get the hell out of you hole and take a chance, don't bother trying to decrypt everything that happens, just live in the present.
Cheerz !!!!
To your question about Alex's tone, his tone here is indeed brighter, but I think you were having the keyboard track.
Thanks for this. I had actually requested the R40 version, but the only real difference is that instead of the rapping skeleton, various celebrities lip sync that portion on the video board. I wasn't keen on the rap portion when it first came out, but it grew on me, as all of Neil's lyrics do. Who'da thunk that Rush could do rap? 😁
The rap part is just Geddy talking, with a pitch shifter dropping his voice an octave
Guess they didn't have time to do their washing what with being on tour. 😂 I wasn't expecting the rap! Another good one. I'm sure somewhere there must be at least one bad Rush song. I think that's right, I think it's like roll the dice. Take a chance on what happens.
You're too hard on yourself. You do a great jobon the requests. I'm sure people don't mind waiting a couple of days or so for their donated request. 😊
Dice were once made of bone. So roll the dice.
Wow. You're making my week
Bones are dice. Basically they are saying take a chance in life.
This is one of my favorite Rush albums.. the whole album was like a breath of fresh air after years of too many effects and just being kind of stale honestly... I saw them twice on this tour and it was just amazing....
P.S. about Alexs guitar... he's playing a SG which is my favorite guitar of all time (i have had mine since 1988, it's a 1974 model and i love it) It's the perfect guitar.. and honestly this is the only tim i have seen Alex play one... ALSO.. if you ever get into black sabbath (the first 5 albums are masterpieces) Tony Iommi plays SG's only.. and he is the reason like 50% of guitarists even started playing :)
If you want to hear a Rush love song, check out "Ghost of a Chance". Very underrated IMO.
I love the groove of this song! Admittedly, the rap totally threw me off the first time I heard it, but kudos to them for doing it. I believe it was Geddy who did the rap, with his voice altered.