Rush v. Dirk, Pratt, & Lerxst

[pg1067]

My first reaction after seeing a "happy 70th birthday to Geddy Lee" post was "no...that can't be right."  Then I did the math.  Sigh....

[King Postwhore]

My first reaction after seeing a "happy 70th birthday to Geddy Lee" post was "no...that can't be right."  Then I did the math.  Sigh....

What post?

[The Letter M]

My first reaction after seeing a "happy 70th birthday to Geddy Lee" post was "no...that can't be right."  Then I did the math.  Sigh....

What post?

Happy 70th Birthday to Geddy Lee!

-Marc.

This post, literally three before pg's.

-Marc.

[jammindude]

NEW PAGES ARE HARD!!!

[The Letter M]

NEW PAGES ARE HARD!!!

Especially when you Turn The Page.

-Marc.

[jingle.boy]

NEW PAGES ARE HARD!!!

Especially when you Turn The Page.

-Marc.

It's as if Time Stand Still

[pg1067]

My first reaction after seeing a "happy 70th birthday to Geddy Lee" post was "no...that can't be right."  Then I did the math.  Sigh....

What post?

The post to which I was referring was a Facebook or Reddit post I had seen early yesterday.

[King Postwhore]

I saw one as well and yeah, 70 was an eye popper.

[Architeuthis]

NEW PAGES ARE HARD!!!

Especially when you Turn The Page.

-Marc.

You have to disengage first..

[Skeever]

So I've been listening to the entirety of the Rush studio discography. I haven't said much because - honestly - what's there to say that hasn't been said a billion times?

But I do have one thing that, I think, qualifies as a "hot take", so here goes.

The original Vapor Trails mix/master is far superior to the 2013 edition to my ears. I stuggled with the album a lot going straight for the remix, and eventually, decided to check out the original for good measure. And found that it clicked for me immediately.

I just... don't think all the added clarity especially around the drums helps the album out much for me. I do hear some of the complaints with the balancing and dynamics with the original, which were great ideas to fix in the remaster, but I wish they could have remixed the album in a way they kept the raw, mushy feeling of the original.

[pg1067]

On this anniversary of the final Rush concert, here's my video of Losing It from that show (hopefully the link works):

https://www.facebook.com/1250126515/videos/10205001832586085/

[ytserush]

So I've been listening to the entirety of the Rush studio discography. I haven't said much because - honestly - what's there to say that hasn't been said a billion times?

But I do have one thing that, I think, qualifies as a "hot take", so here goes.

The original Vapor Trails mix/master is far superior to the 2013 edition to my ears. I stuggled with the album a lot going straight for the remix, and eventually, decided to check out the original for good measure. And found that it clicked for me immediately.

I just... don't think all the added clarity especially around the drums helps the album out much for me. I do hear some of the complaints with the balancing and dynamics with the original, which were great ideas to fix in the remaster, but I wish they could have remixed the album in a way they kept the raw, mushy feeling of the original.

Yup.

[Mebert78]

Hey, just wondering if anyone knows the meaning of the phrase "the night has a thousand saxophones"?  I've been listening a lot lately to Roll the Bones.

[HOF]

Hey, just wondering if anyone knows the meaning of the phrase "the night has a thousand saxophones"?  I've been listening a lot lately to Roll the Bones.

Might be a reference to/play on this poem:

"The Night Has A Thousand Eyes", by Francis William Bourdillon, 1891
The lyric "The night has a thousand saxophones" in the song "Roll The Bones" is likely a humorous homage to this poem, although the phrase is also the title of a film released in 1948, and a song sung by Bobby Vee released in 1962.

http://www.2112.net/powerwindows/rushinspirations.html

[pg1067]

Hey, just wondering if anyone knows the meaning of the phrase "the night has a thousand saxophones"?  I've been listening a lot lately to Roll the Bones.

Might be a reference to/play on this poem:

"The Night Has A Thousand Eyes", by Francis William Bourdillon, 1891
The lyric "The night has a thousand saxophones" in the song "Roll The Bones" is likely a humorous homage to this poem, although the phrase is also the title of a film released in 1948, and a song sung by Bobby Vee released in 1962.

http://www.2112.net/powerwindows/rushinspirations.html

I'm almost positive that Dio had a song (I think on Dream Evil) that used the line, "the night has a thousand eyes," and we all know what a big fan Neil was of RJD.

[TAC]

You are correct on Dio.

[Orbert]

I'm pretty sure I've heard "Not Fade Away" before, but I don't think I've ever heard the B side.

RUSH - Not Fade Away & You Can't Fight It (First Single) 1973

"You Can't Fight It" really rocks in that early Rush way.  Alex says they used to play both songs heavier but had to tone things down for the single, since they needed it to be more accessible.  Heck, if these are the toned down versions, I'd love to hear what they were like live.  (I know there's early footage, but I still don't know if I've heard "You Can't Fight It" before.)

[pg1067]

Looks like NFA is a Buddy Holly song that was also covered by the Rolling Stones, among others.  YCFI looks to be Rutsey's only writing credit?  It's even more primitive than the first album.  I think I heard both a few years ago when their existence became widely known.  Nothing I'd feel the need to revisit regularly.

[Orbert]

Same here, but man, I do love how Alex came right out of the gate rocking hard.  The guitar work on both of those tracks is amazing, especially considering that they were like 18 or 19 years old then.  It was cool to hear.

[pg1067]

Those songs are definitely interesting historical context.  What I find fascinating is that, AFAIK, these songs were all but unknown until about 15 years ago.  Then again, maybe it was just me.

[King Puppies and the Acid Guppies]

Hey, just wondering if anyone knows the meaning of the phrase "the night has a thousand saxophones"?  I've been listening a lot lately to Roll the Bones.

Might be a reference to/play on this poem:

"The Night Has A Thousand Eyes", by Francis William Bourdillon, 1891
The lyric "The night has a thousand saxophones" in the song "Roll The Bones" is likely a humorous homage to this poem, although the phrase is also the title of a film released in 1948, and a song sung by Bobby Vee released in 1962.

http://www.2112.net/powerwindows/rushinspirations.html

and we all know what a big fan Neil was of RJD.

I feel like I'm missing some context here.

[The Letter M]

Those songs are definitely interesting historical context.  What I find fascinating is that, AFAIK, these songs were all but unknown until about 15 years ago.  Then again, maybe it was just me.

When I became a fan of Rush, circa 2002/2003, I found out about their debut single not long after, and even eventually found some 128kbps rips of the songs online since it seemed like there was no official way to get them. I went to check YouTube for the earliest uploads, but they're only as old as 13/14 years old. I probably found them on some suspicious download site or a torrenting trading forum.

-Marc.

[King Postwhore]

There was an awesome site that had all these odd songs and bootlegs songs from the board on there. I downloaded them all but it got shut down.

I can't remember the name of the website. 

[The Letter M]

There was an awesome site that had all these odd songs and bootlegs songs from the board on there. I downloaded them all but it got shut down.

I can't remember the name of the website.

Was it musicintheabstract.org run by Chris Milmerstadt? His site had all sorts of oddities, especially during the VT & R30 tours, uploading the various La Villa Strangiato Lerxst Rants from across both tours.

-Marc.

[King Postwhore]

Damn.  It might have been. Did it have every Alex rant from the VT tour?  That was amazing!

[The Letter M]

Damn.  It might have been. Did it have every Alex rant from the VT tour?  That was amazing!

At some point I'm sure they did, and then most (if not all) of the rants from the R30 tour as well. The site was full of odds and ends from across the band's career.

-Marc.

[pg1067]

Hey, just wondering if anyone knows the meaning of the phrase "the night has a thousand saxophones"?  I've been listening a lot lately to Roll the Bones.

Might be a reference to/play on this poem:

"The Night Has A Thousand Eyes", by Francis William Bourdillon, 1891
The lyric "The night has a thousand saxophones" in the song "Roll The Bones" is likely a humorous homage to this poem, although the phrase is also the title of a film released in 1948, and a song sung by Bobby Vee released in 1962.

http://www.2112.net/powerwindows/rushinspirations.html

I'm almost positive that Dio had a song (I think on Dream Evil) that used the line, "the night has a thousand eyes," and we all know what a big fan Neil was of RJD.

I feel like I'm missing some context here.

Just a dumb joke that Neil had taken inspiration from a Dio lyric - as opposed to what presumably actually happened, which is that both Dio and Neil took inspiration from the same source (i.e., the poem that HOF mentioned).

[Orbert]

In high school, I once wrote an analysis of "Hemispheres" by Rush.  In it, I mentioned that the ship, Rocinante, was a reference to John Steinbeck's camper RV from his book Travels with Charley (Charley was his dog).  My teacher loved the paper, but had to point out that Rocinante from Travels with Charley was itself a reference to a much older work (which he left up to me to find out).

So my guess is that Neil named the ship in "Hemispheres" after the much older reference, although he'd probably read Steinbeck as well, since he was a big fan of being on the road.

[The Letter M]

In high school, I once wrote an analysis of "Hemispheres" by Rush.  In it, I mentioned that the ship, Rocinante, was a reference to John Steinbeck's camper RV from his book Travels with Charley (Charley was his dog).  My teacher loved the paper, but had to point out that Rocinante from Travels with Charley was itself a reference to a much older work (which he left up to me to find out).

So my guess is that Neil named the ship in "Hemispheres" after the much older reference, although he'd probably read Steinbeck as well, since he was a big fan of being on the road.

I've only ever heard "Rocinante" as a reference to Don Quixote's horse.

-Marc.

[jammindude]

In high school, I once wrote an analysis of "Hemispheres" by Rush.  In it, I mentioned that the ship, Rocinante, was a reference to John Steinbeck's camper RV from his book Travels with Charley (Charley was his dog).  My teacher loved the paper, but had to point out that Rocinante from Travels with Charley was itself a reference to a much older work (which he left up to me to find out).

So my guess is that Neil named the ship in "Hemispheres" after the much older reference, although he'd probably read Steinbeck as well, since he was a big fan of being on the road.

I've only ever heard "Rocinante" as a reference to Don Quixote's horse.

-Marc.

This.

Although I only learned of it myself a couple of years ago.

EDIT - it was also used more recently in The Expanse.

[Orbert]

I used to read the comics in the morning newspaper.  Yeah, that's how old I am.  Anyway, one of them was Travels with Farley, the continuing adventures of a middle class, middle-aged guy named Farley.  I eventually learned that the name of the comic was a play on Travels with Charley by John Steinbeck.  I'd never heard of it, but obviously I'd heard of Steinbeck (The Grapes of Wrath, East of Eden, Cannery Row, etc.)  In Travels with Charley, the author and his dog Charley travel across America in a camper RV that he dubbed Rocinante.

I thought my English teacher would be impressed that Neil had used that name and I'd caught the reference to a work by John Steinbeck.  Instead he was a bit disappointed that I didn't know that Steinbeck had himself gotten the name Rocinante from Don Quixote (which I had not read).

Bonus trivia: The full title of the book is El ingenioso hidalgo don Quixote de la Mancha by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra.  My English teacher wasn't impressed that I knew that, either.  Now that I think about it, he was kind of an ass.  But he was a great teacher and I learned a lot from him.

[TAC]

I'm pretty sure I've heard "Not Fade Away" before, but I don't think I've ever heard the B side.

RUSH - Not Fade Away & You Can't Fight It (First Single) 1973

Cool! Never heard this before.  I like You Can't Fight It. That's a great solo.

[King Postwhore]

It actually was a 45 back in the day, Tim. Pretty cool.

[Stadler]

The problem, and it's not Rush's fault at all, is that I've heard about 30 other versions of Not Fade Away that are EXCELLENT, and I've heard the entirety of the rest of the Rush catalogue, which is better.  IT's not that this is BAD, exactly, but for me it's at best a curiosity.

[pg1067]

Took me long enough, but I found it.

In the March 1990 issue of the Backstage Club newsletter, a fan asked the following:  How did you decide to name Cygnus's ship Rocinante?  From what I know, Rocinante was a pony for a fictitious Spanish Conquistador. . . .  Neil responded:  "Rocinante was Don Quixote's horse, and also the name of John Steinbeck's truck in Travels with Charley."  Contrary to my recollection, he didn't say which one (or maybe both) was the actual inspiration for The Voyage.