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Subject: 09/28/92 - The National Midnight Star #525
Status: R
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The National Midnight Star, Number 525
Monday, 28 September 1992
Today's Topics:
Re: Neil Peart's Philosophies
progressive/sellouts/etc.
The Prisoner
Changes aren't permanent, but change is!
Rush: 'old' and 'new'
TRAVIS WILLIAMS...has your address changed?
Hey People
Dream Theater
Go ahead and flame me...
Car noise in Dreamline
Rush and Sha Na Na
Rush and Metallica
Why the RUSH of Today Stinks -- NOT!
Re: Is Neil an athiest
new Rush book?
CoS tour dates
Re: NMS #524 - high school halls; CD warning
----------------------------------------------------------
From: exumfs@exu.ericsson.se (Mark Steph)
Date: Fri, 25 Sep 92 16:45:22 CDT
Subject: Re: Neil Peart's Philosophies
rhalse20@Calvin.EDU (Rob Halsey) asks about Peart's philosophies/atheism:
This was discussed quite a bit on alt.music.rush back when I had
access to it. At that time, someone came up with a quote from
a KTXQ interview with Peart where he basically said he was an
atheist. (I didn't save the quote, so I can't give it to you verbose.)
At some point in the early Rush, Peart (and the rest of Rush) was very
interested in Objectivism (the philosophy of Ayn Rand). In a quote
from a few months back, he said he was not an "objectivist", but he
still seems to hold (IMO) many of their views on core issues. Atheism
is definately part of objectivism.
There are also quite a few songs that could have an anti-religious (or
at least an anti-christian) interpretation. In most cases, there is
enough ambiguity that it is not *absolutely* clear--but my impression
is that it is there for a reason.
-mark (an atheist in the Bible belt)
Mark Steph | you can twist perceptions
exumfs@exu.ericsson.se | reality won't budge
(yes, .se *is* in Texas)| you can raise objections
PO Box 833875, MS L-05 | I will be the judge -- and the jury
Richardson, TX 75083 | -Neil Peart, "Show Don't Tell"
----------------------------------------------------------
Subject: progressive/sellouts/etc.
Date: Fri, 25 Sep 92 19:47:17 CDT
From: "Jason Braddy" <jlbraddy@iastate.edu>
I've been reading this list for a month or two, but this is my first post...
There's been a lot of discussion about Rush's new music being just to make
money. Someone replied with the argument that anyone who feels this way has
failed to grow musically. I would tend to disagree with both viewpoints...
First of all, music that gets put on albums and performed at concerts must be,
at least to some extent, designed to be liked. If it weren't, musicians would
save a lot of time and trouble by just recording it on a 4-track in their garage
and being done with it. (Not an invalid philosopy, by the way, but it doesn't
apply to this discussion)
There is a difference, however, between making music that people will enjoy and
pandering to the listeners. Many, many bands make a hit song, see that people
like it, and proceed to make album after album of songs just like it. On the
other hand, there are bands (like Rush) who write a song that people like, and
then go in a different direction, sort of like "ok, how about this?". I don't
think that evolution is necessarily the best word for this process, as it
implies that the newer product is better than the old. Relative quality is
largely a matter of opinion, so just plain "change" is a better term.
In the realm of "popular" (i.e. music that is sold and performed in public, not
New Kids on the Block) then, there are two groups: those who are artists and
those who are purely in it for money and fame. True "popular _artists_",
though, are always at risk of changing in a direction that their fans don't
like. If some Rush fans hate rap, for example, and dislike Roll the Bones
because of it, that is their right. Declaring that rap is invalid as an art
form and that Rush has "sold out", however, is unfair.
Well, this is pretty lengthy, so I'll close with this: keep in mind that artists
either change, and take risks, or stay the same and degenerate into ear candy.
Peace out,
Jason Braddy
Ceramic Engineering, Iowa State University
jlbraddy@iastate.edu
----------------------------------------------------------
Date: Sat, 26 Sep 92 13:37:16 BST
From: CP_PWM%CMS.BRISTOL.AC.UK@ib.rl.ac.uk
Subject: The Prisoner
Hi,
Doug White provided a good description of the TV series The
Prisoner in the last NMS, and I would like to add a couple of points.
1) The entire series is being shown again on British TV, the first
episode was last week.
2) Iron Maiden did 2 tracks based on the series, _The Prisoner_ and
_Back to the Village_.
3) I have a large Rush poster on my wall at home. The lower half of this
poster is an on-stage shot of Rush, while the top half is a portrait-
style photo of Neil, Alex & Geddy. I've always liked this picture
since Neil has this superb enigmatic expression on his face, which
seems to say 'I know the secret...but I'm not telling *you*'. Anyway,
Neil is wearing a badge, which when you look at it closely you can
see it's the picture of a tricycle with a #6 in the wheel. This
is the logo for the Prisoner series. It is not really surprising that
Neil is/was a fan of the series, since it is all about individual freedom
versus collective authority. One of the famous quotes which came out
of the series was McGoohan refusing to accept his designation as #6,
saying "I am not a number, I am a free man".The series was made in the
60s, and was at least 20 years ahead of its time...rather like Rush I
suppose.
"swimming against the stream"
Paul May, University of Bristol, UK.
----------------------------------------------------------
Date: Saturday, 26 September 1992, 13:04:48 EDT
From: Charles J McDonald <chuck@geosci.lan.mcgill.ca>
Subject: Changes aren't permanent, but change is!
Ok,
So the group has shown a great variety of changes through the
years. Just becuase an album didn't sound like the previous one or a past
favorite doesn't make it bad.
I don't like most RUSH songs/albums on the first hearing... I
always seem skeptical, too. But after a couple of listens, when I really
know what the words say and I digest the meaning they grow on me.
And now and then I'll listen to a track I used to ignore 'cause I
didn't care for it once and I'll rediscover the meaning and music,
especially if it's pertinent to the now in my life. I listened to Chain
Lightning this morning for the first time in years and it fit me and the
now and it was great! (I grew up with RUSH,
from MP in '81 when Tom Sawyer was *the* song of our cabin at summer camp,
right up to the RtB album. I'd never be vain enough to think so, but each
album seemed to be timed with events/concerns current in my life. I was
in 10th grade when Signals came out -- perfect timing. And the same for
the others.)
And you could really have an interesting discussion about trends
across albums. The message of hope that carries on and the way an entire
album in summarized in the last song on each album since PWaves. It's
great -- well thought out -- and philosophically connected!
-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-
: Charles J McDonald
: Department of Earth and Planatary Sciences
: McGill University
: 3450 Rue de University (514) 398-6767
: Montreal, Que H3A 2A7 fax (514) 398-4680
-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-
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Date: Sat, 26 Sep 92 17:03:49 GMT-0600
From: david@meduna.cs.missouri.edu (David Drum)
Subject: Rush: 'old' and 'new'
Hi all,
I've been rather swamped reading all these posts about 'old' and 'new' Rush.
Personally, I don't see what the fans of 'old' Rush are so upset for; they
don't have to worry about how many more releases there will be - they already
have all the music they want to hear. I didn't get into Rush until between
ESL and Signals, and I like releases on both sides of that 'dividing line.'
I also do not understand the complaints with the shorter format, because it
allows for more variety in style. I realize they are geniuses of transition,
but there must be some styles between which one cannot segue. If you want a
story, read a book. If you want a long song, listen to a symphony. Neil
still spends about half the songs on a release probing one topic - RtB is
a blatantly obvious example of this.
Whenever this topic arises, I always remember how I experienced firsthand the
difference in the way the 'old Rush'ers and the 'new' or 'all Rush'ers look
at the band. But allow me to preface this by saying that I am talking about
ONE person and not making any blanket conclusion about other 'old Rush' fans.
A couple of years ago while still in the dorms, a guy across the hall from me
was a big 70's rock fan. Of course this included Rush, and he knew that I was
a big Rush fan. One day we (he and I and others) happened to be talking about
drugs, and I mentioned that I had never taken any. George just about died.
His eyes got really wide (which shocked me because he is really low-key and
usually catatonic) and said 'Dave, I can't believe you've never gotten high
and listened to Rush. You're missing a whole dimension of the music!' and
he was totally serious. Remember I am not concluding that all 'old Rush'ers
are drug users (maybe implying it, no?).
Let's face it, everyone. Rush is three guys who are all creative geniuses,
not assembly line workers. You can get assembly line music on Top 40 or Yo!
MTv Raps. It is anathema to the spirit of the group that we could have the
8th album that sounds just like 2112 or Moving Pictures.
Rush still sounds good at maximum volume.
Regards,
David
----------------------------------------------------------
From: Scott David Daly <skipdaly@wam.umd.edu>
Date: Sat, 26 Sep 92 20:02:31 EDT
Subject: TRAVIS WILLIAMS...has your address changed?
Trav,
Send me your email address...the one I have isn't working!
(Sorry for posting here!)
Thanks,
Skip
----------------------------------------------------------
From: rone@wezea.usc.edu (Ron Echeverri)
Subject: Hey People
Date: Sun, 27 Sep 92 2:38:38 PDT
Need suggestions for the next Rush album i will buy: My choices are
Hemispheres, Signals, and Grace Under Pressure. Do advise me, and thanks.
5150
----------------------------------------------------------
Date: 27 Sep 1992 16:13:02 -0500 (EST)
From: I WILL MAKE IT A FELONY TO DRINK SMALL BEER <STU_NESHUE@VAX1.ACS.JMU.EDU>
Subject: Dream Theater
Anyone who wants a copy of Dream Theater's first CD: When Dream And Day Unite
send me an e-mail message and I'll dupe you a copy. It's really a hard CD to
find, since it's on an independent label. If you like the new one, you're bound
to like the old one (even though the singer is inferior, IMHO). It has a really
cool instrumental that rocks big time! Anwyay, sorry for the non-Rush content,
but I thought since there was all this discussion about DT, some people might
want their first album, who couldn't find it. Later all,
Nate
----------------------------------------------------------
From: jrlaurit@eos.ncsu.edu
Subject: Go ahead and flame me...
Date: Sun, 27 Sep 92 16:21:26 EDT
>From: Duner <jpm56290@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu>
>Subject: Rush's best opening band (that I saw)
>Date: Thu, 24 Sep 92 18:57:50 CDT
> Mr. Big sucks
I don't really understand why it is that everyone's so willing to jump on this
badwagon of flaming other bands other than Rush (the most recent example being
Mr. Big). Now I'm not trying to win Mr. Big or MSG any points, because I
really don't care what anyone else thinks of them. But I remember when I was
in high school, I put up with a lot of shit because I listenend to Rush, but
not to Zepplin or Floyd or any of the other bands that I 'should have' been
listening to. And now I find other Rush fans are guilty of the same
persecution, because their taste is 'superior' to someone else's. If you
don't like the opening band...get over it. I would guess that you paid money
to see Rush.
Oh yeah, and kudos Rob Herrage on Rush fans. I strongly agree.
John
jrlaurit@eos.ncsu.edu
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Subject: Car noise in Dreamline
From: ericm@eebbs.isis.org (Eric Mathurin)
Date: Sun, 27 Sep 1992 19:12:10 -0400
Al Wolf was saying that he doesn't think that the noise
at the beginning of Dreamline is the sound of the car,
and is not quite certain _what_ it it.
Personally, I always thought it was the sound of the
ocean (tide). Just thought I'd add my 0.02 + G.S.T.
Take care,
Eric
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
ericm@eebbs.isis.org (Eric Mathurin) | "To the beautiful and the wise,
Sysop, Electronic Encounters BBS | the mirror always lies."
(613)820-0324, 1:163/133@FidoNet | -- War Paint, Rush
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------
Date: Sun, 27 Sep 1992 19:35 EST
From: THE QUIET MAN <OWENK%EARLHAM.BITNET@UICVM.UIC.EDU>
Subject: Rush and Sha Na Na
Hello out there,
I read about Rush getting booed off stage in the May 1991 issue
of GUITAR magazine (Alex Lifeson, Stevie Ray Vaughn, and Joe Perry cover).
As Thomas Beaudoin pointed out, it was in an interview with Alex Lifeson.
There is no safe seat at the feast...
Owen
P.S. That issue also included a bit concerning an FX pedal setup for the
song, "Freewill". This goes out to the feller asking about Lifeson's
guitar sound.
----------------------------------------------------------
Date: Sun, 27 Sep 1992 19:46 EST
From: THE QUIET MAN <OWENK%EARLHAM.BITNET@UICVM.UIC.EDU>
Subject: Rush and Metallica
Hello out there,
I don't know about Metallica opening for Rush, but if one examines
the liner notes to "Master of Puppets" a thanks to "Geddy, Alex, and Neil
of Rush" may be read.
There is no safe seat at the feast...
Owen
----------------------------------------------------------
Date: Mon, 28 Sep 92 04:39:56 CDT
From: tmadson@pnet51.orb.mn.org (Todd Madson)
Subject: Why the RUSH of Today Stinks -- NOT!
It really is amusing when I hear people saying that more recent Rush albums
are "poppy and awful, very simple musically, and the lyrics are pap." Give
me a break. Being a musician, especially a guitarist/keyboardist as myself,
I can say that while the early days had a lot of flatted-fifth, barre chord
heavy distortion and power stuff happening, the musical material of late, if
anything has increased in complexity. Now, just because Alex isn't using
full-on distortion with humbuckers doesn't change anything except timbre.
People get very used to hearing one kind of sound and musicians like to
change their sound, to make it better. Alex went to single coil pickups
with massive effects, and solid state preamps. This gives him a very
bright, present, searing, high-end tone. This is a far cry from his fat,
humbucking sound of his old Gibson semi-solid electrics. I must say that
I personally prefer that sound - I imagine that Alex will revert to that
sound at some point in the future. Alex went to strats around the time of
Signals, then switched to Strats, then to PRS guitars for "...Bones." If
you will notice, he also stopped using chorus around the time of "Presto".
So his playing is now sort of raw, unaffected, almost garage-ish if it
weren't for the digital effects he uses. His solo tone is nasal and thin,
almost buzzy - the digital echo he uses fleshes it out somewhat and gives
a distant sort of sound. The keyboards, if anything, have become more and
more wet and lush, where Geddy's bass is now more like a standard bass that
most rock groups would use - the trebly high end that Geddy formerly favored
has now been replaced by a clicky, low-bass-mid thrumming. It's a matter of
taste. Once you get into your 30s, you simply stop wanting a lot of harsh
high-end garbage in your signal to protect your hearing, and by then you've
outgrown a lot of the "harsh"ness you may have formerly relied on as a staple
of your sound. If anything, Rush, in terms of sheer musical parts have
compressed their extended songwriting formula down to 3-6 minutes of very
controlled arrangements. Gone are the days of 8-9 minute pieces where
every idea was fleshed out to its logical extreme, but in my mind this is
a good thing because most of those "explorations" were somewhat disorganized
jamming. Don't say "La Villa" fits in there, because they used a lot of
Carl Stalling bits in there, and it is very well organized. Even Alex'
solo builds from small, lilting notes to an emotional climax. On the
new records, I see Rush attempting to break beyond their old territories.
Some of the older records had appeal limited to adolescent boys - it's a
fact. People grow up and stop wanting to listen to that - they want a
broader view. Hence Neil's incredible growth in the lyrics department.
His writing is, perhaps, more about the "big picture", rather than sci-fi
epics or stories of old. He's grown, too. Yes, if you want to listen to
the Rush of old, grab an old album or start a band dedicated to that sort of
thing. But don't expect RUSH to "go back" to a tried and true formula. I'm
sure it gets as old to them as it does to any bar band on the circuit, no
matter how much they love it initially.
UUCP: {amdahl!bungia, crash}!orbit!pnet51!tmadson
ARPA: crash!orbit!pnet51!tmadson@nosc.mil
INET: tmadson@pnet51.orb.mn.org
----------------------------------------------------------
Date: Mon, 28 Sep 92 11:14:07 -0300
From: ron@convex.esd.mun.ca (Ron Wiseman)
Subject: Re: Is Neil an athiest
Hi,
According to Neil himself he is an agnostic.
Here's a quote from Network Magazine sometime in '89:
after discussing Mytic Rythms - "I'm agnostic", said Neil at the time, "but
curious and romantic enough to want to believe it's true."
Bye now,
Ron
----------------------------------------------------------
From: Scott David Daly <skipdaly@wam.umd.edu>
Date: Mon, 28 Sep 92 09:36:49 EDT
Subject: new Rush book?
Hello all!
I heard a rumor that Andrew Macnaughton (Rush's photographer)
was putting a book out about the band around Christmas time. Is this
true...anyone got details?
What's the latest on b-man's new book?
Skip
----------------------------------------------------------
From: Scott David Daly <skipdaly@wam.umd.edu>
Date: Mon, 28 Sep 92 09:54:55 EDT
Subject: CoS tour dates
Hiya.
I was looking at Jimmy's "tour dates" listing and I noticed
the gap in dates for the Caress Of Steel tour. I've tried to get
some info on that tour myself (with no luck). I know that this is
one of those "get a life" things...but I guess the mystery of those
dates just appeals to me. I tried calling Anthem about information,
and they said that their records only go back seven years!
I can't believe that with a list of over 1000 people we
couldn't dig up SOMETHING! This would be a cool little project (just
for fun). If you think it's in the "get a life" category,
fine....don't participate. But I think it would be fun to do some
digging (maybe through old newspapers....they're always kind of neat
to browse through anyway!). Another possible source for info would
be checking at some of the local small-type places they would have
played on that tour (hopefully their records go back further than 7
years!).
These are the things we DO know about the tour:
-it ran for 3.5 months (approximately Sep-Dec 1975)
-it involved playing SMALL places (bars, etc.)
-I think Geddy mentioned something about Atlanta,Georgia
being played
[ In the 2112 presskit it mentions they played in the Midwest and Northwest.
: rush-mgr ]
-this is an assumption of mine...but I personally feel
Cleveland MUST have been played! This was the band's
stronghold...even if the album was flopping, they could
probably count on SOME support from where they got their
start!?
It would be neat to dig up some history about this tour! A lot of
the other dates on that listing came pretty easily (not to sell short
the tremendous job Jimmy has done!). These dates are going to have
to be dug out! Anyone interested?...
If you're interested, drop me some mail...and start digging
through your local library!
Thanks,
Scott Daly
P.S. Please don't waste time/space going on about this in the NMS
with "get a life", etc. etc. If you think it's a waste of time,
fine...don't waste YOUR time going on about it. This is not really
an organized effort...it's just a little hobby and (for me) a fun
thing to blow some time on!
----------------------------------------------------------
From: becker@areaplg2.corp.mot.com (John Becker)
Subject: Re: NMS #524 - high school halls; CD warning
Date: Mon, 28 Sep 92 10:14:30 CDT
In NMS #524, mattb <mbarnett@cclink.fhcrc.org> writes:
>
> A few years ago on MTV I saw that a Rush poetry packet of
> some type was distributed to a shitload of high school
> classes. If I remember correctly, it included lyrics from
> Power Windows (some if not all the songs). It was supposed
> to be a new approach to get kids interested in poetry. Does
> anybody know the actual contents of this packet?
I remember hearing this on MTV too. I asked about this here quite awhile
back, and several others remembered it too. But no one has ever come forth
and said that they actually saw the material, or better still had a copy. I'm
beginning to think that either this was some marketing idea that never
actually took place, or that it was a totally bogus story put out by MTV.
Maybe it was their idea of a joke. Certainly, many NMS subscribers must have
been in high school at that time. How about it, people, can anyone confirm
the existence of this material? Does anyone have the original MTV item on
tape?
In the same issue, <STU_NESHUE@VAX1.ACS.JMU.EDU> warns that several of the
CDs I had mentioned the day before were similar. Thanks for catching that. I
remembered something like that had been posted before, but I couldn't find it
at the time. I don't have any of these myself, but I remembered that people
had asked about them, so I just wanted to pass along the info about where
they were available.
John
----------------------------------------------------------
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End of The National Midnight Star Number 525
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