Rush v. Dirk, Pratt, & Lerxst

[pg1067]

I honestly can't think of a video for anything post-RtB. 

You forget about the dreadlock guy tied to a chair on top of a pole in the video for Stick It Out, or the weird dudes racing around in Driven (my favorite video of their's, even if the song is somewhat meh for me)?

Either forgot or never knew they existed.  I guess I know what I'll be doing this evening.  Maybe they'll ring a bell for me; maybe not....

So...I went looking last night (using the "Music Videos" section in the Rush discography at Wikipedia -- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rush_discography#Music_videos -- as a guide).

Other than Lock and Key, I'm familiar with everything through HYF.  I forgot to actually look for Lock and Key.

I looked for but could not find the videos for Show Don't Tell, The Pass and Superconductor.  I'm sure I've seen SDT and Shittyconductor.  Not so sure about The Pass.

I didn't bother with Roll the Bones.  See it and don't ever need to see it again.

I looked for and could not find Stick It Out, but I did find Nobody's Hero, Half the Word, Driven, Far Cry and Malignant Narcissism.  For whatever reason, Half the World was inverted such that all of the words on signs were backwards and the band looked like they were playing lefthanded (which always looks really weird even with guys who actually play lefthanded).  I wasn't sure if Malignant Narcissism was an official video or a fan-made video.  If the former, ouch.

Other than Half the World, the others were just strange.  The masks in Nobody's Hero....  The weird race car drivers in Driven....  And I'm not sure what was going on in Far Cry.  Frankly, my biggest takeaway was that 1990s Neil with his goatee and mustache was a badass looking dude!

[faizoff]

For "A Farewell to Kings" I have the "Rush Remaster" version, the Sector 2 version (because of the 5.1 mix in there) and the 40th anniversary version.   I need to look up the Steven Wilson 5.1 version; I hadn't seen that.

This is the edition I'm referring to. Shame that's the only way to get the bluray audio.
Thanks for the feedback on the rest.

[Stadler]

It might not be today or tomorrow, but I'll try to do a quick compare of the different versions to see if there is any noticeable difference.  I have extraordinary hearing.


By the way, this was one of the comments/reviews of that package; I assume it was a purposeful joke, and I thought it was funny:  "This fifth album by Canadian prog. rock combo Rush is notable for the band's innovative and completely unexpected cover of the Olivia Newton-John classic, "Xanadu." Apart from that surprise treat, the album is rather threadbare, but the group steadfastly refused to make this a true Farewell, despite the title tease."

[ytserush]

Has anyone here bought any of the multiple remasters of 2112 that are out there? If so what would you consider the definitive version as far as sonics are concerned? I just bought the latest version of 2112 which is the 40th edition and that is apparently a remaster that was done in Abbey Studios. I then see there were several other remaster prior to that. Curious if anyone had a chance to listen to them all.

Then there's a few remasters of A Farewell to Kings though not as many as 2112. I was hoping to pick up the Steven Wilson 5.1 bluray mix that just came out but that apparently is only available with the super deluxe edition.

You have the best version on CD then.  Blows even the Mobile Fidelity version out of the water even though that's not heard to do. I think their version of 2112 was the worst of the albums they worked on.

[ytserush]

I've started listening to the audio book of Clockwork Angels, narrated by Neil Peart himself.

Perhaps I'll appreciate the album even more after knowing the story when I'm finished.

I have that too but I'll never crack it or the book open.  That album is so amazing to me and I don't want my interpretations of it ruined by Kevin J. Anderson.  I'm willing to risk steering clear of that world.

[ytserush]

I'm going to do this from failing memory so I might miss a few (please correct me if I do)

I'm going to list chronologically all of the promotional videos Rush did (except the live clip/fan made and lyric videos (or basically everything up to Malignant Narcissism (which is official) All of the videos can be found on Through The Camera Eye (VHS), Chronicles, R30 and R40 boxes. The Atlantic videos are on the Rstrospective III DVD. The album version of The Big Money is on the Grace Under Pressure Tour VHS.

I'm mention the Finding My Way, In The Mood and Fly By Night Don Kirschner videos but  I'm not going to include them here.

Anthem
Fly By Night
A Farewell To Kings
Closer To The Heart
Xanadu
Circumstances
The Trees
La Villa Strangiato
Limelight
Tom Sawyer
Vital Signs
Subdivisions
Countdown*
Distant Early Warning
Afterimage
The Body Electric*
The Big Money (Edit/Full*)
Mystic Rhythms
Time Stand Still
Lock And Key
Show Don't Tell
The Pass
Superconductor
Roll The Bones
Stick It Out
Nobody's Hero
Driven
Half The World
Closer To The Heart (Different Stages version)
Far Cry
Malignant Narcissism

*No commercial digital release (VHS only)



The videos that are the least interesting to me are Closer To The Heart (studio) The Body Electric,  Superconductor, Driven, and Far Cry.

I can find something to like in everything else (of those videos).

[faizoff]

Has anyone here bought any of the multiple remasters of 2112 that are out there? If so what would you consider the definitive version as far as sonics are concerned? I just bought the latest version of 2112 which is the 40th edition and that is apparently a remaster that was done in Abbey Studios. I then see there were several other remaster prior to that. Curious if anyone had a chance to listen to them all.

Then there's a few remasters of A Farewell to Kings though not as many as 2112. I was hoping to pick up the Steven Wilson 5.1 bluray mix that just came out but that apparently is only available with the super deluxe edition.

You have the best version on CD then.  Blows even the Mobile Fidelity version out of the water even though that's not heard to do. I think their version of 2112 was the worst of the albums they worked on.

Cool, thanks for the feedback. I'm actually seriously considering to get entire discography again and get the Sector boxsets along with the 1989-2007 set. I've bought and sold so many of my Rush CDs either due to moving or whatever that I've had just the mp3s from them and don't have the source CDs.

I also think when I originally bought them it was the 1997 Mercury remaster edition. With the boxsets I get all the CDs at once. I don't mind having a few double editions of a couple of albums.

[Stadler]

I've heard a lot of complaints about the Sector sets, but I've found them to sound pretty good.   I'm a 5.1 fan, and while Rush (generally) has deeply disappointed me in the 5.1 area, the Fly By Night and Farewell To Kings sound REALLY good in 5.1.   I generally use the Crimson or Genesis 5.1 mixes as gold standards and both do a nice job of balancing the two approaches (an immersive, full sound field, versus a more "gimmicky" placement sound space).   The  Rush 5.1 remixes are generally too far in the "immersive full sound field" approach (the first Moving Pictures 5.1 remix is barely discernible from stereo mix in my opinion). 

[faizoff]

Truth be told for me the 5.1 mixes would just be a bonus. What I'm really after are the CDs. Since there have been so many masters of them I'd rather pick one and just stick to it. The occasional double dip should be ok.
I've ordered sector 2 & 3 and will wait a bit to get sector 1 and the last box set that have the rest of the albums.

[Lethean]

I've started listening to the audio book of Clockwork Angels, narrated by Neil Peart himself.

Perhaps I'll appreciate the album even more after knowing the story when I'm finished.

I have that too but I'll never crack it or the book open.  That album is so amazing to me and I don't want my interpretations of it ruined by Kevin J. Anderson.  I'm willing to risk steering clear of that world.

I enjoyed reading it for more details about the story, but it's not a good book, imo.  The writing just seemed... kinda poor.

[Nick]

I've started listening to the audio book of Clockwork Angels, narrated by Neil Peart himself.

Perhaps I'll appreciate the album even more after knowing the story when I'm finished.

I have that too but I'll never crack it or the book open.  That album is so amazing to me and I don't want my interpretations of it ruined by Kevin J. Anderson.  I'm willing to risk steering clear of that world.

I enjoyed reading it for more details about the story, but it's not a good book, imo.  The writing just seemed... kinda poor.

I am a huge fan of Rush of course, but have also been a big fan of Kevin J. Anderson. Some of his Dune work is honestly the best in the series (and certainly some isn't), and the novels he did called Terra Incognita to compliment the Roswell Six CDs are fantastic as well. So, to say the Clockwork Angels novel was a disappointment is an understatement to me. Could have been a perfect match making gold, but instead I found it to be far from his best work, far too forceful in its use of Rush references, and having a pretty horrible ending. It's nice to have a story to go along with the music, but that's as far as I'll go.

[pg1067]

I'm going to do this from failing memory so I might miss a few (please correct me if I do)

I'm going to list chronologically all of the promotional videos Rush did (except the live clip/fan made and lyric videos (or basically everything up to Malignant Narcissism (which is official) All of the videos can be found on Through The Camera Eye (VHS), Chronicles, R30 and R40 boxes. The Atlantic videos are on the Rstrospective III DVD. The album version of The Big Money is on the Grace Under Pressure Tour VHS.

So...I went looking and couldn't find the Retrospective III DVD.  Is it still in print, or am I just looking in the wrong places?  If I'm understanding correctly what I'm reading, the album was released in a CD-only version and a CD + DVD version, and I don't want to buy the album without the DVD.

[jingle.boy]

I've started listening to the audio book of Clockwork Angels, narrated by Neil Peart himself.

Perhaps I'll appreciate the album even more after knowing the story when I'm finished.

I have that too but I'll never crack it or the book open.  That album is so amazing to me and I don't want my interpretations of it ruined by Kevin J. Anderson.  I'm willing to risk steering clear of that world.

I enjoyed reading it for more details about the story, but it's not a good book, imo.  The writing just seemed... kinda poor.

I am a huge fan of Rush of course, but have also been a big fan of Kevin J. Anderson. Some of his Dune work is honestly the best in the series (and certainly some isn't), and the novels he did called Terra Incognita to compliment the Roswell Six CDs are fantastic as well. So, to say the Clockwork Angels novel was a disappointment is an understatement to me. Could have been a perfect match making gold, but instead I found it to be far from his best work, far too forceful in its use of Rush references, and having a pretty horrible ending. It's nice to have a story to go along with the music, but that's as far as I'll go.

I'm a huge KJA fan too - even got my version of Clockwork Angels signed by him.  I found the novel pretty enjoyable (co-written by Neil), filling in the pieces of the story between the songs.  It's a pretty quick read (300ish pages iirc), and for me, it does enhance the listening of the album.  As a standalone book, I'd probably not care too much about it, but as a complement to the album, it works just fine.

Side note to Nick, did you ever read Saga of the Seven Suns?  I'm on book 3 of that right now - great stuff.

[Nick]

I never did start in on that, but certainly would be interested in it at some point. Maybe I'll finally try getting into audio books with that.

[The Walrus]

I've been meaning to ask this for almost a year but I don't understand the 'Dirk, Pratt & Lerxst' in the thread title. Sounds like a law firm. Okay, that wasn't really a question... 

[Lethean]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iq3yjfoorsU&app=desktop

[The Walrus]

Does that explain it? I can't watch it, I can see it looks like a deleted scene from I Love You Man, though, or something like that?

[Nick]

I've been meaning to ask this for almost a year but I don't understand the 'Dirk, Pratt & Lerxst' in the thread title. Sounds like a law firm. Okay, that wasn't really a question... 

Sorry, I can't believe I went all this time with leaving the confusion in the thread title and have now made the appropriate fix.

[The Walrus]

That doesn't help at all.

https://rushfanstories.com/glossary.html

Okay, I... think... I get it. They're just nicknames.

[Lethean]

It should have helped, and entertained you all at the same time.

[The Letter M]

That doesn't help at all.

https://rushfanstories.com/glossary.html

Okay, I... think... I get it. They're just nicknames.

Indeed they are. Lerxst, from what I gather, is a bastardization of Alex, and was used as a movement title in "La Villa Strangiato" (IV. "A Lerxst in Wonderland"). For Pratt, it seems like another play on his last name - Peart to Pratt. And for Dirk...well, Geddy just seems like a "Dirk", doesn't it? (I'm sure there's a real story here, though lol)

-Marc.

[The Walrus]

It should have helped, and entertained you all at the same time.

I couldn't watch it. I caught a few frames but I couldn't play audio or anything. I'll have to watch it tonight. Oddly I was just watching ILYM last night. Oh and thanks M

[ytserush]

I've heard a lot of complaints about the Sector sets, but I've found them to sound pretty good.   I'm a 5.1 fan, and while Rush (generally) has deeply disappointed me in the 5.1 area, the Fly By Night and Farewell To Kings sound REALLY good in 5.1.   I generally use the Crimson or Genesis 5.1 mixes as gold standards and both do a nice job of balancing the two approaches (an immersive, full sound field, versus a more "gimmicky" placement sound space).   The  Rush 5.1 remixes are generally too far in the "immersive full sound field" approach (the first Moving Pictures 5.1 remix is barely discernible from stereo mix in my opinion).

My complaints about the Sectors are largely due to the the design. Lyrics and liners compiled into one booklet out of the context of the albums.

 I'm not a 5.1 guy so although I have them I don't listen to them much (but the band said the catalog albums were not intended to be very adventurous in 5.1) But otherwise they don't sound bad. The '97 Mercury remasters are the lowest bar on the Rush sonic ladder.

When all of the 2015 masters come out, they will likely be the digital "gold standard."

[ytserush]

I'm going to do this from failing memory so I might miss a few (please correct me if I do)

I'm going to list chronologically all of the promotional videos Rush did (except the live clip/fan made and lyric videos (or basically everything up to Malignant Narcissism (which is official) All of the videos can be found on Through The Camera Eye (VHS), Chronicles, R30 and R40 boxes. The Atlantic videos are on the Retrospective III DVD. The album version of The Big Money is on the Grace Under Pressure Tour VHS.

So...I went looking and couldn't find the Retrospective III DVD.  Is it still in print, or am I just looking in the wrong places?  If I'm understanding correctly what I'm reading, the album was released in a CD-only version and a CD + DVD version, and I don't want to buy the album without the DVD.

Don't know if it's in print or not given that there's been a defacto abandonment of the CD format, but the DVD version was released in limited quantities when the single disc was released. Can't imagine this is going to be all that rare unless they were really limited. I got it on release day so I have no clue how hard it's been to get.

[ytserush]

That doesn't help at all.

https://rushfanstories.com/glossary.html

Okay, I... think... I get it. They're just nicknames.

They've given themselves many of nicknames but the most famous ones that we know about are those.

[King Postwhore]

Just look at my misspelled name as on nickname.   That's another 90's hotmail necessity story.  Lol

Big Al Day
Big Al Day was a law that King Lerxst enacted on Montserrat when the band was there to mix Power Windows (all the drinks were free on the first Monday of each week). See Power Windows tour book.
"Yeah that's what the world needs: more "Big Al Days". —King Lerxst

[ytserush]

Just look at my misspelled name as on nickname.   That's another 90's hotmail necessity story.  Lol

Big Al Day
Big Al Day was a law that King Lerxst enacted on Montserrat when the band was there to mix Power Windows (all the drinks were free on the first Monday of each week). See Power Windows tour book.
"Yeah that's what the world needs: more "Big Al Days". —King Lerxst

My first tour book. Still have it although I've managed to get better copies.

Made the mistake of putting the tour book under my seat so I wouldn't have to hold it for the show totally oblivious to the fact that beer would be soaking the floor by the end of the show. Big beer stain on the back cover. Lesson learned.

Rush tourbooks have always been great reading.

[King Postwhore]

That was my Presto tour book.  Guy just laughed at me. 

After I punched him out I took $20 out of his wallet, threw his wallet at his friend and told him to get out.  They did and I bought a new tourbook.

[ytserush]

That was my Presto tour book.  Guy just laughed at me. 

After I punched him out I took $20 out of his wallet, threw his wallet at his friend and told him to get out.  They did and I bought a new tourbook.

What happened next?

[King Postwhore]

His friends took him out knowing he was acting like a dick and security never saw it.

Everybody around saw him taunting me.  It was very gratifying seeing him crumble.

[ytserush]

His friends took him out knowing he was acting like a dick and security never saw it.

Everybody around saw him taunting me.  It was very gratifying seeing him crumble.

"The land of Overworld is saved again!"

[King Puppies and the Acid Guppies]

His friends took him out knowing he was acting like a dick and security never saw it.

Everybody around saw him taunting me.  It was very gratifying seeing him crumble.

"The land of Overworld is saved again!"

But By-tor came back as the hero later... He saved those poor men from Willowdale from the necromancer.

[King Postwhore]

 

[ytserush]

So what happened on your Roll The Bones tour?

[King Postwhore]

Lol. Quiet. Good fans around 3 shows.