Rush Fans: anyone else tired of the "new" bandwagon fans

Ok...let me explain. I've been a Rush fan for thirty years (since I was 12 years old & heard Moving Pictures in junior high). It was not easy being a Rush fan in the 80's. They were deemed uncool. Some metalhead friends liked them, but only the more adventurous ones who were musicians---and even they were not fans of the post Moving Pictures synth sound of the band.

The punks& new wavers thought of them as laughably pretentious---everything that was wrong with classic rock excess. Pop/top 40 fans just didn't get it either.

Now, let me say I'm delighted they made it into the rock n' roll hall of fame. They definitely deserve it, along with all the other accolades. However, in the last four years or so, there have been many "fans" who have sung their praises. People like Dave Grohl, who probably never listened to them when he was younger, and was in a band (Nirvana) that was the antithesis of everything Rush stood for. Billy Corgan and the guys from Rage Against the machine are others (as noted in the recent documentary). I just don't see them listening to something as "unhip" as Rush while growing up. But maybe I'm wrong---they could have been closet Rush heads! Anyone else feel the same way?

 

I don't think I've bumped into that many actual musicians who thought negatively about Rush, even if they weren't exactly fans. Now the music criticocracy, that's another story.

 

yep, I think Rush should only be enjoyed by fans who meet stringent criteria. There's no WAY Dave Grohl could possibly like anything that's not grunge punk.

 

C'mon, Dave Grohl grew up with a lot of hard rock and metal and loved it, so why not Rush as well? The fact that he makes (relatively) simple music doesn't mean anything.

 

If this thread is your way of trying to convince us because you may or may not (since you have presented no facts) have listened to Rush longer than Dave Grohl you're somehow superior to him I have bad news....you didn't convince us.

 

I do see understand some of your points (above two posters), however, why Grohl in the induction? Why not Steve Wilson or the guys from Dream Theater or even Metallica. The aforementioned were definitely influenced by Rush and you can hear it in their music. Hey, it's cool that Grohl, Corgan and RATM were fans, but I bet they were closet fans for a while in favor more hip underground bands. Rush deserved to be inducted (IMO) by die-hard Rush fans.

 

So you're bitter because Rush seems a lot cooler now than when you were younger? Did I get that right?

Man, you gotta let that high school stuff go!

 

I'm not in anyway implying this. Maybe Grohl is more of a Rush fan than I am. However, I find it ironic that he was in a band that was (IMO) the antithesis of Rush.

 

I think all fans should be treated equally. If I'm tired of something, it's segregation.

 

I don't really know about Dave Grohl, but watching the documentary, it is very clear that the affection felt by Billy Corgan, Tim Commerford, and Taylor Hawkins is genuine. Just because they became alternative darlings doesn't mean that they started out the way. I've seen footage of Billy Corgan playing in a metal band called Hexen, so it wasn't like he grew up on a steady diet of The Smiths and Husker Du.

 

I felt ill when I saw RUSH (one of my favorite bands) on the cover of Rolling Stone Magazine. I knew then, RUSH were being prepared for "the wallpaper."

 

The band I played in was the anithesis of Sly & The Family Stone, but I'm a huge fan all the same.

 

Actually, the band that really should have inducted them was Primus. Were they not available?

 

Not part of the club, is my guess.

 

......so a musician whose living is making music of a particular genre presumptively does not like other genres?

 

So for years Rush fans gripe that their boys don't get the credit they deserve, but now that they're finally being recognized, you don't want anyone else crashing your exclusive party? To their credit, Rush themselves don't appear to be hung up on these kinds of artificial standards.

 

We have a winner.

I love the band's attitude.

1978: "Oh, you don't think we're cool. Okay, whatever."
2013: "Oh, you think we're cool. Okay, whatever."

 

It's pretty hard NOT to get that impression from your thread title. Why would anyone be "tired" of the new bandwagon fans ? Why would you care unless somehow you feel that your "fandom" is more worthy than these other new ..poser fans?

 

Maybe Rush think those guys make ****ty music.

 

Billy Corgan also mentions going for an Electric Light Orchestra sound on at least one song on the Mellon Collie album. As you stated, Corgan grew up on Rush and as a teenager found the lyrics of one of their songs so moving that he played it for his mom. So guys like Corgan and Grohl were no strangers to "unhip" music. And wasn't Kurt Cobain influenced by King Crimson's "Red" album? Dave Grohl is a classic metal and hard rock fan; didn't he front the Probot project a few years back? I don't know, I guess I still don't understand the OP's thread.

 

In Dave Grohl's world, Lemmy is God.

I don't think any of the aforementioned alternative/grunge types despised classic or progressive rock. I think they despised hair metal.

 

The Rush: Beyond The Lighted Stage documentary gives free reign to some heartfelt fan feelings on the part of Corgan, Commerford et al. As Rael already mentioned, Corgan has a heartbreaking scene where he tries to get his mother to listen to the song Entre Nous and handing her the lyrics in an effort to make her understand how he truly feels. Also, in the documentary longtime Mercury records label manager Cliff Burnstein gives a clear reason why the band is now a visible part of the cultural pop/rock landscape in a way they never were before the year 2000.

The OP may be a lifelong fan of Rush, but he has clearly missed the boat on what makes bands like Foo Fighters, Smashing Pumpkins and Rage Against the Machine tick: these bands are in no way the antithesis of what Rush stands for. Partly the reason Rush has had so much musical longevity was by stepping outside their own musical world and listening to different bands that could broaden their musical horizons. This, IMO, is the true legacy of this band: always moving forward, being prepared to change their approach to composing, playing and recording. This is inspiring stuff for any musician, and is another explanation for the respect they get from all kinds of bands and musicians.

 

Not to jump on your back or anything, but you said that you became a fan around Moving Pictures? Wouldn't YOU be considered a bandwagon jumper by thhe Rush fans who were there perhaps from the beginning or the mid 70's?

It's kind of funny, but in my high school, a lot of the hardcore, punk and new wave fans actually respected Rush, because they actually had intelligent lyrics and excellent musicianship and also respected them because they did things, their way. Rush seemed to be one of those bands that actually sat on the fence where on one side, metal fans liked them, and the other side, the new wave people liked them also. Don't get me wrong, I knew people who absolutely hated them also, but that was ok. They're not for everyone. I used to get really mad when trying to convince someone to give them a try and they would spew their hatred of them. But as I got older, I just started to just let it go. If a person is not open minded, then no reason even trying to waste your time trying to convert them.

As far as Dave Grohl goes, he is a very open minded musician and knows a lot about different genres of music and bands. I respect his knowledge. Same thing with Billy Corgan. You gotta remember, Rush was not like a lot of the bands in the 70's. In a way, I would almost consider them the "alternative" to a lot of bands that came from that era. They really were a cult band, plain and simple.

 

I'm trying to figure out the point of this thread, but I'm failing. As a Rush fan*, I am simply delighted to meet and talk to people who are just getting into them. New fans are awesome!

* I've been a fan since the late '80s, so I wouldn't fit Andersoncouncil's stringent criteria either I suppose.

 

Lots of people can be territorial when their favorite acts cross over to a broader audience. The difference is that it's usually cases like guys who were into REM in 1982 and felt "betrayed" when the masses embraced them.

Rush has played arenas and sold millions of records for decades - kinda seems weird to just now become territorial toward them...