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Subject: 02/25/91 - The National Midnight Star #178
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The National Midnight Star, Number 178
Monday, 25 February 1991
Today's Topics:
Hissy Hemispheres
Freewill, the band
_Didacts_and_Narpets_
IMPORTS.
Neils Drumming, A Drummers Comments
grammys
Rolling Stone & Signals
More on Drumming etc.
(none)
Abbreviations
Grammys, etc...
New Album
Signals theme
The boyz' families
Various
Superconductor, Signals Blueprint, & 2112
another one?
The Pass & Prime Mover
Crossword Puzzle in Signals Program
By-Tor and The Snow Dog
Discussions (ad nauseaum)
----------------------------------------------------------
[ This originally came in last week, but due to problems with the
incoming mail, it was put aside to clean up. I forgot to get it
into Friday's digest, so here it is today. (Sorry, Doyle!)
:rush-mgr ]
Date: Thu, 14 Feb 91 11:00:38 PST
From: donehoo@olivee.ATC.Olivetti.Com (Doyle W. Donehoo)
I heard this rumor that Rush is holding off their LP
for a Christmas release, and to insure a particular
producer (hopefully Rupert Hine). Personally, I don't care
who produces as long as it's not Peter (Vanilla Mix) Collins.
I also hope the Boyz have shaken off their "back to basics"
kick, though I wouldn't mind if they explored more along the
lines of "Available Light", and cut loose Peart more as in
previous (before PRESTO) recent LPs.
----------------------------------------------------------
Date: Fri, 22 Feb 91 13:51:16 PST
From: jdinkins@viper.calpoly.edu (nobody)
Subject: Hissy Hemispheres
> The sound quality of my Hemispheres CD is terrible. The hiss reminds
>me of a tape played back without dolby. But regardless, I think even a bad
>sounding CD is better than a cassette or LP.
I have both the domestic and canadian hemispheres cds, they both sound
extraordinarily hissy. Same goes for my new-bought album.
BUT... My original first press of Hemispheres is quiet as a lamb, and
sounds much better than the cd (yes, I do have an excellent record
player, you can barely tell the diff between Steeley Dan cds and
records). It is slowly growing ticky though, as I rerecord it for car use.
Bummer...
jeff
----------------------------------------------------------
Date: Fri, 22 Feb 91 17:46 EST
From: "The Master, Black Knight" <ANAGRAM@DESIRE.WRIGHT.EDU>
Subject: Freewill, the band
I can't say for sure where they play, but here in Dayton there is a bar that
has one of their posters up. I looked at it from the far side of the bar for
about twenty minutes trying to figure out which Rush poster it was, as it
looked like one I'd never seen before. I finally went over and looked at it,
and it said they had played this bar. One time shot? Maybe, or maybe they
play a little bit broader of an area than just Cleve and such....
----------------------------------------------------------
Date: Fri, 22 Feb 91 18:03 EST
From: THE VAX BANDIT <JCRABTREE@DESIRE.WRIGHT.EDU>
Subject: _Didacts_and_Narpets_
I have discussed with a fellow Rush fan this song. He is of the opinion
that it is an interchange between Geddy and Neil. I haven't had a chance to go
over it closely, and if I did I probably couldn't hear who it is anyway. But I
just thought I would toss that out for your consumption.
Jason Crabtree | "I can't believe you're saying
Wright State University | These things just can't be true"
jcrabtree@desire.wright.edu | -RUSH
----------------------------------------------------------
From: soliz@ecn.purdue.edu (Joshua J Soliz)
Subject: IMPORTS.
Date: Fri, 22 Feb 91 19:07:44 EST
HELLO,
MY FIRST POSTING SO BE PATIENT WITH ANY ERRORS!! DOES ANYONE HAVE THE
CONCERT CD WITH THE TITLE "Red Stars of the Solar Federation"?? I HAVE
IT AND HEARD IT'S NOT TOO PREVELANT. PLEASE E-MAIL ME BELOW IF YOU DO.
ALSO, DOES ANYONE HAPPEN TP KNOW HOW TO CONTACT NEIL?? I KNOW IT WAS
ALREADY POSTED, BUT I HAVE BEEN TRYING TO CONTACT HIM FOR AGES!!
"The BAGMAN"
soliz@en.ecn.purdue.edu
----------------------------------------------------------
Date: Fri, 22 Feb 1991 19:15 EST
From: "I Dont Wanna Work, I Just Wanna Bang On My Drums All Day..."
Subject: Neils Drumming, A Drummers Comments
Good day, eh!
Since there has been a discussion about the complexity and now supposed
uncomplexity of Neils drumming on Presto, I thought I would throw my two
cents in since I play drums and listen to ALOT of Rush (But dont we all
do that :) ).
I have noticed personally that the songs on Presto with the exception of
Scars and much simpler than anything Neil has ever done on a Rush album.
The premise used in Scars was a neat concept and is certainly VERY complex
(Bass and snare with feet and paradiddles on pads for the latin sounds),
those of you who might not play drums and not know how tough this really is
this is what he is doing : L R L L R L R R pattern with his hands
distributed over the pads for the latin percussion sounds and the backbeat
of the snare is controlled with the left foot, bass with right.
Other than Scars, I feel the rest of the drumming is simplistic in nature,
still consdering the use of odd time signatures and whatnot. But I still
have MUCH difficulty playing alot of older Rush while the songs from Presto
I picked up fast and I can play right along with the CD.
This is not a bad thing and I dont think anyone should bash Peart for this!
There are two types of "simplistic" playing... this simplistic playing where
the drummer cant do anything but therefore MUST play simple, and the
simplistic playing where the drummer can play like apeshit but prefers to
lay low... this kind of drummer KNOWS how to play busy but for the music
prefers to lay low... this is what I think Neils attitude was in creating
the drum parts on Presto, he has said in the pages of Modern Drummer how he
prefers to listen to a simplistic drummer who knows what he is doing... so
maybe it was an expirement on his part... we can only wait until the next
release to see what Neil does... Another thing, anyone can go hog wild on
an instrument, bash enough and eventually the mess you put together will
sound good... it is nice to see Neil lay low a little, it shows how much
of a technical genius he really is...
So the real point is, not whether the playing is simplistic or advanced,
but is it technical and proper for the rest of the music, I think Neil fills
both shoes, being technical behind the kit and playing drum parts that fit
Geddys and Alexs music so well.
--Rob.
Internet : Coming soon (really!)
Bitnet : LIZAK98@SNYBUFVA.bitnet
----------------------------------------------------------
Date: Fri, 22 Feb 91 16:31:30 PST
From: bgros@sensitivity.berkeley.edu (Bryan Gros)
Subject: grammys
seems that, with the way the grammys have been going for the past
few years, we should be glad that rush has never(rarely) been nominated.
i guess it means they might have some talent. :-)
anyone wonder why "Best New Artist" seems to be such a kiss of death?
Milli Vanilli was an extreme, but where are such winners as Men at Work,
Christofer Cross, and Cindi Lauper? Not that i care where they are,
but seems strange that they have disappeared.
- Bryan Gros
bgros@sensitivity.berkeley.edu
----------------------------------------------------------
Date: Fri, 22 Feb 91 19:49:41 -0500
From: cs132042@cs.brown.edu (Jason Rosenberg)
Subject: Rolling Stone & Signals
People,
For those who like a touch of irony...if you didn't know
already(I don't remember seeing it posted, but then I don't
remember a lot of things...) in the Rolling Stone issue that
has Sinead O'Conner on the cover is also the readers poll...
guess who gathered honers for favorite bass player and
favorite drummer...Poor, unrecognized Alex, eh?!? As a
shameless, off the subject plug, check out the radio stations.
WBRU in Providence made the medium market list for the 2nd year
in a row. Little do many listeners know that the station is run
90% by students at Brown (myself included!). Just a pat on the
back...
Someone(I'm too lazy to check who) asked about lyrics and a
theme to signals. Has anyone else noticed a wonderful, storylike
continuity to the albumn? Skipping Subdivisions, you have a song
about childhood and simplicity. Two songs later you have a song
about adulthood/complexity. In between you have a song about how
things go from A to B, H to O or even Analog to Digital? A couple
more songs follow and then there is a song about losing what matters
in life- midlife crises and the such. Finally, there is Countdown
which COULD be seen as an ascent- either to Heaven/death OR to a
higher existance(for lack of a better cliche) coming from defeating
your fears/troubles.
This was a poor explanation of a "somewhat" questionable topic,
but it always struck me as apparent, and impressive. Any agreement
objections, flames or compliments on my genius insights...?
Jason Rosenberg
----------------------------------------------------------
Subject: More on Drumming etc.
From: lance@cynic.wimsey.bc.ca (Lance Neustaeter)
Date: Fri, 22 Feb 91 18:33:00 PST
(Doyle W. Donehoo):
>>>Until PRESTO! Fantastic! My first opinion was "He's gone back to
>>>the older style
>
>Yes, possibly true: more basic, 4/4 feel, simplistic, driving.
>Pre-2112.
From my, a drummer's, point of view, Rush has had 3 basic periods:
The first includes FBN, CoS, 2112, and aFtoK. The second: Hemi, PeW,
and MP. The third: Sig, P/G, PoW, and HYF. That's my opinion. We
all seem to agree, however, that "Presto" is a definite departure from
"period #3" (a positive departure, IMHO). When I said that in
"Presto", he's gone back to the older style, it is Period #2 I am
referring to. This Period is the one I felt was Neil's Drumming at
it's (all around) best (Not exclusively, there are good drum songs in
the other periods as well, but I'm talking in general).
ps. There's something neat about P/G that makes it stand out, to
my mind, as not quite the same as the others in that period.
* * * * *
A person a while back was wondering when Rush began using weird
time sigs and changes: The album "Fly By Night" (Neil's first).
"Anthem" begins in 7/8. Then there's "By-Tor and the Snow Dog" with
he movement, "The Battle" which contains the "7/4 War Furor", but I'm
sure they're dropping the occasional eighth-note in there (it's seems
to be much easier to play than to count).
When I speak of my preference for Rush's "2nd period" drumming, it
is not only time sigs/changes that cause the preference (that's a part
of it though). For instance, on FBN the drumming on the song
"Beneath, Between and Behind" is extremely Kool and makes good use of
quarter and eighth note triplet phrases. The song is 4/4 throughout
but definitely NOT basic or simplistic. Conversely, a weird time sig
by itself does not make a song's drumming "intricate". Take, for
instance, "Kid Gloves". It's a neat song, but not because of
"intricacy".
Good Premises, $ They laugh 'cause they know they're
Lance Neustaeter $ untouchable, not because what I said
<lance@cynic.wimsey.bc.ca> $ was wrong. --Sinead O'Conner
----------------------------------------------------------
Date: Sat, 23 Feb 91 01:32 EDT
From: IDBST@vms.cis.pitt.edu
Subject: Abbreviations
Hi all in Lotus Land - -
As of late, I have been reading the abbreviation 'IMHO' quite a bit.
Could someone please tell me what this means? It is quite hard to follow an
argument when one can't understand what is said.
Thanks . . .
[ Quick brush-up: IMHO/IMO = "In My [Humble] Opinion"; OBRQ = "OBligatory
Rush Quote"; WRT = "With Respect To"... There is a newsgroup somewhere
where an article is available detailing the common Usenet abbreviations.
Does anybody remember where it was, or does anybody have it? :rush-mgr ]
Ian Bjorhovde idbst@vms.cis.pitt.edu
University of Pittsburgh
----------------------------------------------------------
From: mstovino@ATHENA.MIT.EDU
Subject: Grammys, etc...
Date: Sat, 23 Feb 91 11:28:50 EST
Greetings RUSH fans...
Rush WAS nominated for a Grammy in 1981 for "Best rock
instrumental" for YYZ, of course.... They didn't win; I'm not really
sure who did. I was only 11 at the time, but I had already gotten
into the Boyz...
What's this about a new RUSH song??????????
Another thing.... MP, Signals, and P/G were all digitally
remixed sometime last year. If you bought your CD before then, its
AAD, and after, its ADD. I've done A-B comparisons between the two
versions of Signals and MP, and I can't hear the difference... and its
DEFINITELY not a case of poor equipment! I agree, the background
noise on Hemispheres SUCKS!!!!!!!!
.... Mike
"Everybody got to deviate from the norm.... "
----------------------------------------------------------
Date: Sat, 23 Feb 91 14:54:26 EST
From: DAR0@NS.CC.LEHIGH.EDU (David Andrew Rossing)
Subject: New Album
Does anyone know why if Rush is recording now, the album will not
be out until fall. Seeing that Presto started recording in June and
came out in November, that would mean this new album should be able to
come out sometime around July. They've said in the past that they like
to take their summers off, so the album should be totally finished by
May. Why the wait?
On another note, I bought this week an interesting Rush video. I
got it through a bootleg dealer, but it's great. It's a professionally
shot tape of Rush in Michigan on the Presto tour. The sound is ok, but
the video is fabulous and brings back some great memories. If anyone
could get a hold of of this, I would recommend it, because a lot of
questions asked here about their live show can be clearly answered
background vocals, rabits, ect.).
Trivia question: What was the title of the movie on the
marquee of the movie theater in the intro
segment on the Presto tour?
-Dave
----------------------------------------------------------
Date: Sat, 23 Feb 91 17:14 EST
From: Noah Christian <V128PTHD@ubvmsc.cc.buffalo.edu>
Subject: Signals theme
I would hazard to guess that the theme linking the Signals album is the
interaction of people:
Subdivisions deals with the interaction of people with a rigid template
of conditions of how to look and act.
Chemistry obviously deals with the chemistry of people talking to each
other (affirmed by Rush).
The Analog Kid shows a boy free from any rigid temaplate of how to look
or act. My favorite part: when Geddy sings `flash' in, ``a
flash of silver leaves,'' Neil hits a crash cymbal. Listen
with headphones, it shows REMARKABLE composition, subtlety, and
attention to detail in Peart's drumming.
The Digital Man: Linked with Analog Kid in more ways than the title,
I think this can be linked to Supertramp (``And they showed
me a world where I could be so acceptable'')
New World Man: Impulsiveness and lack of maturity of a skilled young
man interacting with a world of elders. I think of this as
a song about `yuppies.'
Losing it: The losing of a skill that someone uses to interact with
other people (writing, dancing) especially when accomplished,
is devastating, especially when their expression is through
their art.
The last song--Countdown?: Rush was invited to a shuttle launch years
before. In the end, the radio communication has:
``Thanks for the music, Bob''
``Oh, we enjoyed it, we just wanted to share some of it
with you.''
As for The Pass, let's not bicker. I joined the newsgroup late, and I
did not realize it was such a heated subject. The above interpretations are
not carved in stone, feel free to contradict them, just don't be dogmatic about
it.
The advantage of having 700 people on this net is that there can be a
free exchange of ideas. Subscribing to this net shows an interest in Rush, a
common thread we all share. Even so, we all have different beliefs, and I
certainly don't mind hearing other people's views pertaining to Rush and the
content of their music, lyrically, rythmically, or any other -ally. None of
us have the ultimate truth about lyrical meaning, not even the writer. Inter-
pretation of the poetic is very complex and changeable.
When a writer says ``no, that's not what I meant,'' or ``I never really
thought about that,'' it's not because that's not what the writing says.
If we can't discuss these things freely, which I believe we can, then this net
should be changed into a `newspaper.'
``Signals get crossed,
and the balance distorted
by internal incoherence...
Noah Christian
V128PTHD@UBVMS.BITNET
----------------------------------------------------------
Date: Sun, 24 Feb 91 19:09:30 -0500
From: Michael S Savett <savvy@chopin.udel.edu>
Subject: The boyz' families
Greetings - just a quick note to the poster who asked about the group's
family life...Geddy is married and has one son(that I know of), Alex is
married and has two children (not sure of sexes) and Neil is married and
has a 12-year-old daughter.
Hope that helps you out...
BTW...Rush has been nominated for a Juno award for Canadian gourp of the
year...
Savvy
----------------------------------------------------------
Date: 25 Feb 91 00:49:06 EST
From: Brad Armstrong <71161.1313@CompuServe.COM>
Subject: Various
There was a comment made lamenting the fact that Hemispheres had not
been remastered to remove the tape hiss. I think that would be a
mistake. Any method used to remove the hiss would also remove some of
the information (music) that we want to hear. Some methods are worse
than others, but the easier (read "less expensive") ones would be the
more likely candidates. Remastering would likely be a good idea
though, as the analog recording can be optimized in other ways.
Pete says:
> I have no idea why the press attacks the guys so badly and never
> gives them any credit or parise. Why so hostile? I personally feel
> that if you can get 17 albums put together and remain on the music
> scene for some 15 years and have the following they do, that you
> must be doing something right.
I think that the attacks are largely out of ignorance or are attempts
to give positive views to that which will sell or conform to the
image that the reviewer desires for himself, but the success described
seems more likely to be an indicator that someone has sold out rather
than they "must be doing something right" (unless that something is
'salesmanship'). I would give examples, but that could get
unecessarily offensive.
Jon describes a method for "eliminate" Geddy's singing, by connecting
the two speaker ground wires together. This will produce a
differencing between the left and right tracks as indicated, but is
hard on your amplifier. If you decide to do this, make sure your amp
is up to it and don't run at anything more than a low level. Also,
make sure the amp is off when you change this type of wiring in any way
or you may lose an output transistor or two. Hooking the speakers up
in series, as described, can put a difficult load on the amp, but don't
ry to get cute and hook up both speakers in parallel. This is another
easy way to fry transistors. Using just one of your two speakers is
preferable to hooking up both as described. Simply hook each of the
two leads from one speaker to the opposing positive terminals (left +
and right +). The same warnings from above apply. This configuration
can be used to get a surround sound channel for your stereo. This
really works well, but you have to be careful. I can describe this,
and the logic behind it, to anyone with an interest in inexpensive
surround sound.
Matthew Deter writes:
> No, she simply has one theme: Freedom.
referring to Rand's works. I don't see this at all. The arguments she
spends most of her effort on are for a strict objective approach
(Objectivism). FreeWILL is one prerequisite of this, but freeDOM is
not. Her fictional heroes were anything but free to act most of the
time. They pursued the goals of objective thought in spite of not
having freedom to implement them. Before you shout 'flame on' and have
at me about freedom as an end in itself, read on ... Her 'ideal'
societies, like the mountain hideaway in Atlas Shrugged, were just
that: ideals. The purpose of these 'ideals' and heroes was to put
real-world goals in perspective by painting an anarchical ideal. In
the real world things would not work they way they did in that
fictional one, but the story sure ends up telling you where it's at
(form her point of view), right? It's much like preaching about
'heaven', or writing an alternate Earth novel. But I digress...
(besides, I have to go down into my flame-proof bunker now :) )
Big Wave Dave comments that La Villa Strangiato on Chronicles has more
hiss than on Hemispheres. My comparison of the two would be just the
opposite. The hiss is VERY slightly reduced on Chronicles and the
clarity of the music is somewhat improved. This is the sort of
remastering job I was referring to above.
Chainsaw asks about a 'theme' in Signals. I don't think there is meant
to be a theme in any of their albums. There are obviously many common
threads throughout their music, but no concept albums that I can
see. There is a sort of musical style unity to their albums, but this
pattern is due to their constant attempts at trying new artistic
ideas, not to any thematic pattern.
In response to Eric Kay's grouping of TNMS readers by letter, I think
he's pretty well got it down :). I'd say I'm a "C".
Lance N. asks about "hey, hey, hey" in the back of Chain Lightning. I
can only hear the long digital reverb there, can you be more
specific?
Also he attempts interpretation of the 'lyrics' to Didacts & Narpets: I
don't agree with most of it. I've never really worried about a strict
interpretation of it, but those words aren't at all what I hear. There
are two 'voices'. One which appears in the center (Geddy), and another
that appears on the left or right (Alex?). The non-centered voice is
simply saying "hey" repeatedly. I don't know what Geddy is saying, but
the whole thing strikes me as a sort of improvisational reprise of the
center chorus of In The Valley. As a side note, some of the tape edits
are painfully obvious in this short section. The police whistle he
mentioned, it does sound like a whistle anyway, in Distant Early
Warning is there though. Do you know for sure that that is a
whistle? I suppose that's about the only way left to add more
simultaneous instrumentation to his playing (using his mouth, that
is).
Magician.
/Nondisclaimer: The opinions expressed above necessarily represent\
\ the opinions of the management of the Lion's Den, as I am it. /
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Brad Armstrong 71161.1313@compuserve.COM
The Lion's Den ...uunet!compuserve.com!71161.1313
Rochester, NY THIS SPACE FOR OFFICE USE ONLY
"... everybody got to elevate from the norm." - N. Peart
---------------------------------------------------------------------$
----------------------------------------------------------
Date: Mon, 25 Feb 91 02:03:37 -0600
From: Ed Federmeyer <ed@iitmax.iit.edu>
Subject: Superconductor, Signals Blueprint, & 2112
Three things...
1) "Superconductor" always reminded me more of the guy in the movie
"Broadcast News" (William Hurt I think...) than any kind of
band bashing by RUSH. (For those who haven't seen Broadcast News
or forgot... They guy I'm refering to is a T.V. news anchorman
who does stuff like fake tears during a story to "make the audiance
think he really means it." ) I just _know_ I should not say this,
(so why will I??? :-) Personally, I think Superconductor is the
best song off Presto, and Presto is the best work from Rush to date.
I actually *like* the accessability of Superconductor. I really
don't think you have to be obscure or specifically non-trendy to
be good... (Oh man I can hear the flames staring... Don't,
*please* don't... Whooosh-hisss Ahhhhhhhrrrgggssizzle!)
2) I noticed in the liner notes to "A Farewell to Kings" they say
special thanks to "Dirk, Lerxt, and Pratt". I remember reading
in the RFAQ list that "Lerxt" referes to Alex, but WHY? How do
you get from "Alex" to "Lerxt"?? I would assume then, that the
others (Dirk and Pratt) refer to Geddy and Neil??? Is this true?
Seems kinds wierd that they would put special thanks to themselves!
Anyway, I also noticed that on the Signals blueprint, they have
"Lerxtwood Mall", "Olde Dirk Road", and "B.J. Pratt & Assoc."
Any connection??? :-) And... What are the yellow line and red
pushpins supposed to be all about on the blueprint?
3) All this discussion about what Ayn Rand would think about RUSH
songs (2112 in particular) got me re-listening to 2112. At the
end, when they go "...We have assumed control...", is that the
"lost brotherhood of man" (mentionied in the "Oracle") coming
back to reclaim the planets? (Also alluded to in the "Oracle")
If so, it seems that the guy in 2112 killed himself for nothing
just before the Federation was overthrown. Is this blindingly
obvious and I just missed it all these years? I always thought
"...we have assumed control..." somehow refered to the Federation
taking complete control now that the last of the opposition was
gone (ala 1984.)
----------------------------------------------------------
Date: Mon, 25 Feb 91 09:19:51 EST
From: joezete@wpi.WPI.EDU (Peter John Chestna)
Subject: another one?
I know how much people love these surveys, but I think most
of you will enjoy this one.
It seems every tour I see RUSH I have certain expectations of
what they will play, what they will bring back, where the drum solo will
be, etc...
Also, everyone has a favorite RUSH period of four albums or
so and would like them to concentrate in that area.
My question:
What would you consider to be the perfect RUSH playlist?
If you were picking the songs to be played on a tour to start say
tommorrow, what would you want them to play. (Please keep the
concert to a realistic length, say ~2 hours, we don't want Neil's
arms to fall off.) I'll let this run until the responses slow down
and then accumulate and post the results.
Also taken into consideration will be the opening and
closing selections, and encore selections. Please format in the
following fasion:
opening song:
song list
last song:
encores:
song list
Also list what band you would like to open for them.
Now is the chance to get a concensus of what your favorites are.
Make sure your favorite songs get played, VOTE.
Pete
joezete@wpi.wpi.edu
thank you for your indulgence.
----------------------------------------------------------
From: medrcw!bob@uunet.uu.net
Subject: The Pass & Prime Mover
Date: Mon, 25 Feb 91 8:56:57 CST
Greetings, good people;
I'd like to take up a little bandwith to answer a couple of issues
discussed in TNMS #176.
John J. Mendenhall (wicat!jjm@hellgate.utah.edu), in his
article "Them Religious people", asks the questions:
>Are there any religious people out there (Christians, satan
>worshippers, Jews, Buddists, or whatever) who have been influenced
>by anything having to do with RUSH?
>.. are there any other readers on the list who can see Christian
>values in RUSH's material?
I don't know that I would identify some of the values expounded in
Rush's music as exclusively Christian, because I have heard them
expounded by Christians, non-Christians, and athiests alike. I
think it would be safe to say that Peart's lyrics promote a highly
ethical position that has little or nothing to do with religion,
Christian or otherwise.
Having grown up in the West, I'm sure that Neal Peart has been
exposed to a great deal of Judeo-Christian thought, as have we all;
I tend to believe that he shuns the trappings of organized religion
and lives according to Kant's Imperative; that is, to make his moral
and ethical decisions as though the basis of his decision would
affect all Mankind.
Yes, I'm affected by Rush's music:
"Let the truth of Love be lighted!
Let the love of Truth shine clear!"
"Prime Mover <CJB117@PSUVM.PSU.EDU>", in the article "The Pass
analysis, Hemis-hiss, etc.", says:
>IMHO, Peart is decrying religion, which has always told its
>followers that they are doomed to failure/damnation/etc. (No
>question as to my religious stance, eh?) I really don't think Peart
>was using "Christ" as an emphatic; he's never done it before. I
>think he was trying to get the message across that belief in Christ
>(fill in the blank for your religion of choice) dooms one to an
>ignoble fate, or, rather, the _belief_ that one has an ignoble fate.
Ahem.
Belief in Christ does not doom one to an ignoble fate, and
Christianity does not damn its own communicants. Rather,
Christianity holds the promise of personal salvation, eternal life
in the Presence of God, and peace.
It is obvious that "Prime Mover" is not conversant with the tenets
of Christianity; may I politely suggest that Ayn Rand is perhaps not
the best source of information about that particular faith, since
she was an atheist. I might also suggest that until "Prime Mover"
rises from his/her ignorance, that he/she might follow the old
adage: "It is better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to
speak and remove all doubt."
----------------------------------------------------------
Subject: Crossword Puzzle in Signals Program
Date: Mon, 25 Feb 91 10:59:23 -0600
From: neely@antares.mcs.anl.gov
Hey all,
I remeber about 6 or 7 years ago, when I was first
getting into RUSH, my neighbor showed me his brother's
program from the Signals tour. The thing I remembered most
about it was that it had an incredible full-page crossword
puzzle of RUSH trivia that a fan had made.
I know this may be asking alot, but does anybody out
there have a copy of this that they could send? I'll gladly
reimburse for postage and time spent, etc...
I was originally thinking that maybe someone could
make a .gif out of it and post it on syrinx - but does anybody
know if the resolution would be too coarse to make out the
numbers on the puzzle?
Rob Neely
Argonne Nat'l Lab
Argonne, IL
ORQ: "Well I can do what you do. You just do it better..."
----------------------------------------------------------
Date: 25 Feb 91 09:33:00 EDT
From: "MAPLE::AXEMAN" <axeman%maple.decnet@pine.circa.ufl.edu>
Subject: By-Tor and The Snow Dog
Hello fellow RUSH fans!!
My roommate and I are mega-fans of RUSH's early classic titled "By-Tor and
the Snow Dog." We were wondering if anyone knew anything about how the song
came about. We did some research ourselves on the subject, but we only found
information (in books of Norse mythology) about a guy named "Tyr." He was a
great warrior but he was good unlike Neil's By-Tor ==> "By-Tor, Knight of
Darkness..." so we are unsure of where By-Tor really came from. Any info
would be HIGHLY appreciated.
Gregg Brown
"The hopeful depend on a world without an end, whatever the hopeless may say." - who else???? :)
----------------------------------------------------------
Date: Mon, 25 Feb 91 13:08 EST
From: <CJB117@PSUVM.PSU.EDU>
Subject: Discussions (ad nauseaum)
Well, folks, I did it... I managed to stir up some debate.
I wasn't aware that "The Pass" debacle had been going on *that* long (issue
#20, as someone told me). As I mentioned, I have been a sporadic subscriber.
Yes, as our rush-mgr said, too much debate can be too much of a good thing...
On to other topics:
chainsaw@jhunix.hcf.jhu.edu asks if there is a common theme running through
_Signals_. I have a tape of an interview with Geddy and Neil regarding that
album, and Neil says that he was trying to write lyrics that were more pract-
ical and oriented toward experiences that the listeners may have had. There
is a common thread: human experience. Every song (except maybe "The Weapon",
which is part of the Fear Trilogy anyway) deals with an element of the human
experience. "Losing It" deals with death and age, "Subdivisions" with suburban
hell (perhaps a redundant statement!), "The Analog Kid" with youth, etc., etc.
I guess the _human_ theme is what makes this album so good (IMHO).
Yours,
Michael Sensor (accessing CJB117@psuvm.psu.edu)
"Happy Valley", Pennsylvania
On to other topics:
chainsaw@jhunix.hcf.jhu.edu asks if there is a common theme running through
_Signals_. I have a tape of an interview with Geddy and Neil regarding that
album, and Neil says that he was trying to write lyrics that were more pract-
ical and oriented toward experiences that the listeners may have had. There
is a common thread: human experience. Every song (except maybe "The Weapon",
which is part of the Fear Trilogy anyway) deals with an element of the human
experience. "Losing It" deals with death and age, "Subdivisions" with suburban
hell (perhaps a redundant statement!), "The Analog Kid" with youth, etc., etc.
I guess the _human_ theme is what makes this album so good (IMHO).
Yours,
Michael Sensor (accessing CJB117@psuvm.psu.edu)
"Happy Valley", Pennsylvania
----------------------------------------------------------
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Copyright The Rush Fans Mailing List, 1991.
Editor, The National Midnight Star
(Rush Fans Mailing List)
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End of The National Midnight Star Number 178
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