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Subject: 12/12/90 - The National Midnight Star #128
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The National Midnight Star, Number 128
Wednesday, 12 December 1990
Today's Topics:
Lasarium typo
Re: Weinrib or Leibowitz?
Re: Rolling Stones' Reviews
Signals
RE: 12/10/90 - The National Midnight Star #124
Reviews, a few other things
Re: 12/11/90 - The National Midnight Star #126
Rolling Stone BS
Fly By Night
Re: Alex's contribution to the band
Rolling Stone reviews...
Re: "In The End" transcription problem
Rolling Stone Comments
R.S. bashing Rush
----------------------------------------------------------
Administrative note: The recently posted special edition interview
with Alex (on CARAS artists of the decade) was a repeat of an article
posted previously by another submitter. The first one was included
in a regular (long) edition of the NMS, which is why the second one
slipped past - I forgot about the first. My apologies to you all for
the wasted space.
Also, we've received our first idiot (senseless flame) posting by a
non-member. I removed it and responded to the sender. I'm surprised
it took this long!
rush-mgr
----------------------------------------------------------
Subject: Lasarium typo
Date: Tue, 11 Dec 90 09:35:40 PST
From: Bob Joslin <bobj@hpindix.cup.hp.com>
I see in my last message, I forgot a certian word or two...
>the first right (Martin Luther King Jr Drive). After about 1/4 - 1/2
>mile, take the next left into the Music Concourse. The entrance to
>the Planetarium is on the CAS building. (The Planetarium is actually
>on the north side of the building. If your not familiar with SF, get
>a map!
Should be
the first right (Martin Luther King Jr Drive). After about 1/4 - 1/2
mile, take the next left into the Music Concourse. The entrance to
the Planetarium is on the SOUTH SIDE OF THE building. (The
Planetarium is actually on the north side of the building.) If your
not familiar with SF, get a map!
Sorry!
Bob Joslin
----------------------------------------------------------
Date: Tue, 11 Dec 1990 10:03:20 PST
From: crenshaw.osbu_north@xerox.com
Subject: Re: Weinrib or Leibowitz?
I remember Karen Post mentioning that, too, and I think she did say
Weinrib. Anyone know what happened to Karen? I miss her input on
this topic.
Oh, and re: the nationality of Geddy, if I may quote the B-Man, "Gary
is from a family of Polish Jews..." and Alex' folks are from Yugo-
slavia. Anyone know the geneology of Neil? While we're on the topic...
Sorry if this is a little choppy...first time I've ever posted to a
mailing list.
Cheryl
ORQ: "All the world's indeed a stage, and we are merely players..."
----------------------------------------------------------
From: bold%astroatc.UUCP@cs.wisc.edu (Jeff Beck)
Subject: Re: Rolling Stones' Reviews
Date: Tue, 11 Dec 90 12:07:31 CDT
As far as the Rolling Stones' Reviews...
Those guys have their heads up their *sses. What do you expect from a
magazine that votes Michael Jackson as an excellent musician?
Maybe a good "entertainer", but...
They're a waste of money, and a waste of bandwidth, as far as I'm concerned.
--
***************************************************************************
*Jason Bold-Madison,WI= [(rutgers||ames)!uwvax||att!nicmad]!astroatc!bold *
*"Hey, ten bucks is ten bucks" - Geddy Lee *
***************************************************************************
----------------------------------------------------------
Subject: Signals
Date: Tue, 11 Dec 90 12:40:21 CST
From: T.J. Higgins <a106d!tj@uunet.UU.NET>
In TNMS #125 (article in Sounds magazine), Geddy talks about _Signals_:
>
> "I guess it's our desire to bring some fresh air into the
> band. It's very easy to fall into the trap of producing yourself to
> death and planning every minute of your life."
I was very surprised to read the above statements. I can recall
first hearing Signals and thinking that it was way overproduced. I
don't have the info here with me at work, but I think Signals was
produced by Rush alone. Thus they have no one to blame but
themselves for this overproduction. Geddy's words are the exact
opposite of my feelings toward Signals. I felt (and still feel) that
much of the album was contrived, planned, and produced almost to the
point of sterility (being from Huntsville, I still get chills from
"Countdown"). Mostly, though, the album bores me.
With the possible exception of A Show of Hands, Signals is my least
favorite album. Signals also came in dead last in a poll that was
taken last winter in rec.music.misc by Erland Sommarskog. What ever
happened to the album poll on TNMS? Were the results ever posted, I
haven't seen them. If so, will someone please mail them to me?
It's also interesting to note that one of the least-liked albums
almost became the name of this forum!
----------------------------------------------------------------------
T.J. Higgins 205-730-7922 | higgins@ingr.com (Internet)
Intergraph Corp. M/S IW17A3 | uunet!ingr!higgins (uucp)
Huntsville, Alabama, U.S.A. | b17a!tj (Intergraph internal)
"The people who have crippled you,
You want to see them burn" -- Black Sabbath
----------------------------------------------------------
Date: Tue, 11 Dec 90 18:16 GMT
From: CHRISLEY@vax.oxford.ac.uk
Subject: RE: 12/10/90 - The National Midnight Star #124
Hello, Rush fans!
Recently I picked up two Rush items: a picture 12" with a live version
of enemy within, and a 12" (in a scintillating sleeve) with Distant Early
Warning and New World Man, both live. I have Vital Signs live from the
New World man single, and I have the interview with Neil from countdown.
Are there any other official releases of songs that I don't have (from the
last 10-15 years or so)? One that comes to mind is the live version of
red sector A, but since there is a version on ASoH, I'm not too bothered. I
suppose "Lock and Key" from the laser disc is another good example of what
I'm looking for. Any suggestions?
Ron Chrisley
chrisley@csli.stanford.edu
----------------------------------------------------------
Date: Tue, 11 Dec 90 13:56:07 EST
From: Aashi Deacon <aash@ms.uky.edu>
Subject: Reviews, a few other things
The main problem with reviews of Rush albums (and several
other bands in fact) is that *I* can't appreciate a Rush
album the first, second, or fifth time I listen to it. It
needs time to sink in, time to "fester" Trying to write
anything meaningful after hearing something once or twice
will certainly result in something meaningless.
About "In the End," I'll have to pick up my guitar and
think about it. I could play it, but it's been a while,
so then i'll post the "REAL" chords :).
aash
--
aash@ms.uky.edu, aash@ukma.bitnet "the only thing i ever really wanted to
{backbone|rutgers|uunet}!ukma!aash say was wrong, was wrong, was wrong."
pr02184@ukpr.uky.edu
----------------------------------------------------------
Date: 11-DEC-1990 14:24:34.35
From: Lord Geoffrey Stanton-Williams <JYAUS@EAGLE.WESLEYAN.EDU>
Subject: Re: 12/11/90 - The National Midnight Star #126
Re: In the End
I myself have not listened to In the End since reading all these bits about
it, so Alex might have very well tuned the guitar to D before playing the
riff, and I just hadn't noticed. However, if you want to be able do to the
chords in both keys without using two guitars, the intro is indeed
C / F / Eb / Bb
You can play the Eb easy by playing it like the top three strings of a D,
moved up a fret. Granted, this cheater's-technique works only if you're going
to play the basic chords. For the arpeggiated bits inbetween the basic chords,
it doesn't work so well and you'll have to re-tune, capo, etc.
:Jeff: jyaus@eagle.wesleyan.edu "Duct tape is like the Force. It's got
jyaus@wesleyan.bitnet a light side and a dark side and it
holds the Universe together."
----------------------------------------------------------
From: robin_m@apollo.com
Date: Tue, 11 Dec 90 14:05:21 EST
Subject: Rolling Stone BS
>Subject: Rush Laserium shows
>From: Bob Joslin <bobj@hpindix.cup.hp.com>
>Fellow Rushians,
>I've had several people ask me for more information about the Laser
>Rush show at the Morison Planetarium...
Is it going to be playing anywhere else, to the best of your knowledge?
I would be very interested in knowing if it is coming to New England
especially.....
>From: rlr%bbt@rti.rti.org (rader)
>Subject: Rolling Stone Critics
>Their reviews are pretty lame, though, and if I
>actually used them to guide my record purchases, I'd have the worst collection
>of crap in the US!
Too true :-)
>From: bancroft@iris.eecs.ucdavis.edu (Steven Bancroft)
>Subject: Re: Rolling Stone mag & RUSH
>It seems that whenever I read a Rolling Stone album review of ANY kind
>(those including RUSH as well), I _always_ disagree with the opinions
>presented by whoever is reviewing the album. They like an album, I don't.
>They cut on one, and I like it. My rating = (5 - R.S. rating) in stars, in
>most cases.
That 5- system works for me too. In fact, another guy I use this system
with is Robert Christigau. I don't know where he reviews in really, but he
doesa/used to do record reviews in Playboy magazine. Anything I liked he
would invariably hate, and vice-versa. I was overjoyed that in a music review
compilation he called Rush "The most obnoxious band ever to have existed",
presumably due to the complexity of their music, too much for his pea-sized
mind to understand.
I think Mojo Nixon said it best when he said "Rolling Stone can suck my bone."
:-)
-Marshall
"Packaged like a rebel or a hero
Target mass appeal"
----------------------------------------------------------
Date: Tue, 11 Dec 90 14:26:30 -0800
From: bancroft@iris.eecs.ucdavis.edu (Steven Bancroft)
Subject: Fly By Night
Thanks to all of you who replied about the Fly by Night acoustic intro...
It was mentioned in some of the messages that Alex's guitar might have been
"tuned down" to the appropriate key in which to play the song
(C->F->Eb->Bb.) What I want all of you to do now is get out your copies of
Fly By Night, and play "In The End". Put your headphones on, too, if you
want. Now listen carefully. When the acoustic set is done, the tape
speeds up slightly (the pitch of the sound fading out rises slowly but
consistently)..and then the Electric guitar jam starts. It may be that the
reason I am having so much trouble getting my chords to sound like the ones
on the tape is because they are slowed down versions of D->G->F->C. It
makes sense to me, since the difference between C->F->Eb->Bb and D->G->F->C
is only a whole step, and since the tape is in fact speeding up, this
change explains the change in key _up_ by one whole step.
Any comments?
Steven Bancroft There is no safe seat at the feast
University of California, Davis Take your best stab at the beast
The night is turning thin
Internet bancroft@iris.eecs.ucdavis.edu The saint is turning to sin
BITNET smbancroft@ucdavis.BITNET
UUCP ..!ucdavis!smbancroft --RUSH
----------------------------------------------------------
Date: Tue, 11 Dec 90 17:43:40 -0600
From: Ed Federmeyer <ed@iitmax.iit.edu>
Subject: Re: Alex's contribution to the band
Okay, in a previous post I mentioned that I'd look for an interview where
Alex talks about how he records his solos. The interview (along with a
separate interview with Geddy) is in the April 1986 issue of Guitar Player
magazine... They mostly discuss the more technical areas of recording
Power Windows. The relevant portion of the interview with Alex is:
Q: How do you record solos?
A: I like to play eight or ten tracks of solos, and then I get kicked out
of the control room [laughs]. Everybody sort of dives in. Geddy likes to
really get into doing that. He and the engineer sit down, and Neil makes
some suggestions. Of course, the producer is there, too, and they piece
together a solo. I come back in after a couple of hours when they have
something assembled, and if I like it, then we either stick with it or we
keep that as a starting point and go for another whirl over some of the
older tracks.
[skipping ahead a question]
Q: Do Geddy and the others ever assemble a solo that's unlike anything
you would usually come up with?
A: Yeah, often. Well, to me it always sounds like I did it, or that it
would have just been a matter of time before I'd have gotten around to
something like that. But I would have gone through a lot of different
directions before getting to it. So I don't ever think its _that_ different.
Often I pick up a lot of neat little parts with this method. Otherwise, it's
too hard most times because I'm too engrossed in it, too involoved. I'm
concentrating so hard on what I'm doing that I can't possibly be objective.
So I'm better off if I go crazy on eight tracks, take a break from it, and
then come in and listen to what they've assembled.
These are the most relevant portions of the interview. It (and the Geddy
interview) are several pages long, and (in my opinion) very interesting
if you like the more technical aspects of how Rush does their thing.
Ed Federmeyer (ed@iitmax.iit.edu)
----------------------------------------------------------
Date: Tue, 11 Dec 90 19:29:31 -0500
From: dchao@ecn.purdue.edu (David H Chao)
Subject: Rolling Stone reviews...
Greetings, fellow Rush-ers! After reading through all the Rolling Stone
interviews, I can't help but to feel disgusted. Some of the reviews weren't
bad... (i.e. David Fricke's review of _Power Windows_) but in general I get
the feeling that Rolling Stone just plain hates Rush in general.
For example, let's take the _Grace under Pressure_ and _Presto_ reviews.
Both albums got 3 out of 5 stars- not bad considering the ratings given to the other albums they reviewed. But despite this slightly above average rating,
they still spend 70% of the reviews hacking down Rush. You would expect that
for 3 stars they could at least spend more of the review telling why it got
3 stars, instead of telling why it didn't get any more.
The worst one of all the reviews was _A Show of Hands_. I can't believe
that guy said that "the music has the emotional emptiness of bad jazz fusion"!!
Rush is certainly one of the best groups to see live- they have to be consider-
ing the lack of airplay of their music. So not only does Rolling Stone hack
their albums to pieces, they don't even acknowledge them as anything decent
live! Good grief!
In the end, however, we should all forget about these stupid reviews and
remember that WE are the ones who really make a difference. Although it would
be nice to see a decent review more often, we shouldn't really care as much
critics say. After all, if Geddy, Alex, and Neil listened to the critics, we
would probably be hearing Rush on the Top 40 countdown next to the New Kids
on the Block!! (or maybe some lip synch Rush?) :-)
Oh... and to all Rush-ers in Pittsburgh- keep calling Buhl and try to get
those laser shows!!! One of my friends up at University of Michigan told me
that they asked officials at Buhl about getting the laser shows, but they
said there wasn't enough interest!!! Let's get those call in!!!
Happy Holidays!!!!!
-Dave
dchao@en.ecn.purdue.edu
David Chao (pronounced Chow)
Purdue University
----------------------------------------------------------
Subject: Re: "In The End" transcription problem
Date: Tue, 11 Dec 90 17:53:47 CST
From: David Sandberg <dts@quad.sialis.com>
Steven Bancroft writes that he's having trouble figuring out the chords
on the intro of "In The End" from Fly By Night. This is what he had
come up with so far:
> C -> F/Bb -> ???? -> ????
>From a purely theoretical standpoint, the basic chords of the intro are
CMag, FMag, EbMag, and BbMag, with some typical-for-Alex 9th and 11th
suspensions tossed in for good measure.
> I tried it in another key (G), and it works out great:
>
> D -> G -> F -> C
This (DMag, GMag, FMag, CMag) is actually the progression used on the
Fly By Night version from the modulation onwards... although I would
term the key as D Dorian, with a few accidentals common to rock music
modifying it. The progression is definitely rooted on the D, anyway.
The problem you are probably having is that the chord positions on the
intro of the studio "In The End" are uncomfortable if not impossible
for those chords when using a standard guitar tuning. The EbMag chord
in particular seems to include the low Eb, which just ain't there unless
the guitar is tuned down. Now, Alex's acoustic could have been tuned
down to achieve this, but I believe the master tape of the intro was
purposefully slowed down to "deepen" the intro to a lower key. Reason:
if you listen carefully to the decay of the bass and guitar chords just
before the modulation on the studio version (i.e., just before the
electric guitar kicks in), you can hear both instruments bend upward to
the new key, and the bend is far too smooth and even to have been
actually performed by the musicians themselves. (How _do_ you evenly
bend a whole chord on an acoustic guitar? Answer: you don't.)
The upshot is that Alex probably played the intro of the studio version
using the same DMag, GMag, FMag, CMag figure used in the rest of the song;
the key was changed later by varying the tape speed.
I consider the fact that Alex plays the entirety of the live "In The End"
(from All The World's A Stage) in D Dorian to be adequate confirmation of
my hypothesis.
Just another Rush-inspired guitarist...
--
\\ David Sandberg \ ,=, ,=, \\
// dts@quad.sialis.com / | |uadric `=,ystems //
\\ uunet!umn-cs!sialis!quad!dts \ `=\ `=' \\
----------------------------------------------------------
Date: Wed, 12 Dec 90 10:06 EST
From: THOMPS00%SNYBUFVA.BITNET@CORNELLC.cit.cornell.edu
Subject: Rolling Stone Comments
Why is everybody putting down the Rolling Stone interviews? THIS
IS A RUSH DIGEST, NOT someplace to let out all your angry feelings
about bad reviews. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, but can
we PLEASE stop haunting the reviews?
Beeker
----------------------------------------------------------
Date: Mon, 10 Dec 90 15:32:43 est
From: ulowell!hawk.ulowell.edu!drivard@das.harvard.edu (Dennis Rivard (Wiseguy))
Subject: R.S. bashing Rush
In the 12/10/90 issue of TNMS, Barry Lowell Brumitt asked about Rolling
Stone's warped sense of music...
I'll offer this... whenever I read the R.S. music reviews, I always
take them with a grain of salt... quite frequently they are way off base
... the reviews we saw on Rush are a prime example...
I still read them to get a sense of what the album is like, but I
never go out and buy a album solely on an R.S. review....
Dennis
(This is my 1st posting to the list, though I've been reading for quite a while
----------------------------------------------------------
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