LeChuck

On 5/22/2022 at 12:00 PM, ytserush said:

How many copies of the signed editions were printed? I have no problem settling for one unsigned but a signed copy might be nice.

Where are these signed copies of the catalog mentioned?  I looked around and all I see mentioned / for sale are the normal (presumably unsigned) copies.

They are about to reissue a modern version of the Oberheim synth Geddy played on 'The Camera Eye' .. so I am once again listening to it isolated.  What a fantastic synth track, let alone the complete recording with the rest of the bass/drums/guitar/vocals

7 hours ago, dream & vapour said:

The '76 Gibson Dove was used in the studio for 'Closer to the Heart', as well as a Gibson B-45 12-string.  Here's a link to the auctioned Dove: RUSH: ALEX LIFESON CLOSER TO THE HEART STUDIO AND STAGE PLAYED 1976 GIBSON DOVE ACOUSTIC GUITAR (WITH UK WORK PERMIT AND TOUR BOOK) WITH NFT (julienslive.com)

Interesting, I didn't even realize there was a 6-string acoustic on 'Closer to the Heart'.  The 12-string is the one I'm curious about - that's not in the auction right?

I'm not a guitar player, but I am curious where the studio 'Closer to the Heart' 12-string acoustic guitar is now.  And the guitar synth he used on Hemispheres (I'm guessing he dumped that one a long time ago, since it sounds like it was not so great to use).

Hugh Syme did a gallery showing here and was signing items and chatting.  He was awesome and talked forever about anything you wanted to ask him about!  One of the best events I've been to in a long time.

I couldn't find a link showing if the Jose Ramirez classical guitar sold (and if so for how much).  Anyone know?

 

That one was the most intriguing to me since it said he used it in the studio for 'La Villa' and 'The Trees' (and in some of the music videos back then).  I'm not a guitar player either, but the thought of being in the same room with that guitar kind of blows my mind.

 

PS - I wonder which guitar he recorded 'Closer to the Heart' on?  From the descriptions, it doesn't sound like it's any of these.  I wonder if he still has that guitar synth from 'Hemispheres' too.

What is also remarkable about this album is apparently how difficult is was to complete, according to the band members. Which is not too surprising given the complexity of the arrangements. I wonder what tracks made this masterpiece so hard to bring to the finish line.

It's interesting to me to hear Geddy talk about how high it all was to sing. I haven't checked the actual notes, but off the top of my head it doesn't seem too terribly much higher than some of the stuff on AFTK or 2112. But I'm guessing it's more of a vocal burnout thing since he had been doing it for years by that point.

 

On a side note, I still can't even imagine what it's like to be able to sing that high in the first place. Especially with all the power he had like on Temples of Syrinx. It dumbfounds me that people can even do that (and make it seem pretty easy too).

I've been reading through Art of Rush lately and just got through Power Windows. Has anyone ever seen a photo of the actual room/window used for the original cover shoot (before Hugh Syme turned it into a painting)? I saw an interview with Neill Cunningham (boy on the cover) and he said it was taken at a house in Cabbagetown.

 

Obviously don't want to stalk anyone's property to find it or anything .. just curious if it's ever turned up in photos (or if it's location is even known)

Back to Hemispheres today. Even though this album is short track-wise, there is something just magical about what is there. The playing is top notch, the song writing still has those great fantasy and mythological roots, and I love the mix of electric / acoustic / synthetic instruments (this is also my favorite part of AFTK - just the right balance of instruments with new synth sounds).

Circumstances! Good head banging tune ;)

Indeed - at least Subdivisions and Fly By Night were played. Any others? For some reason I'm not so great at recognizing songs in situations like that, even if they are ones I've heard a million times (I think my wife recognized Subdivisions before I did)

Yep - as much as I love Xanadu on ESL, the timing sort of comes and goes there too (almost to the point of being distracting)

I can't keep up with all these anniversaries! Hemispheres is awesome - the playing seems like it really hit perfection on this album, and the recording and tone of the instruments was top notch. I love that Geddy brought in his new Oberheim 8-voice synth, although he really used it pretty sparingly. His bass tone on this album knocks my socks off. AFTK and Hemispheres were really a magical duo ..

Hurrah! Giving it a listen again now. I like the other live albums, but this one takes the cake for me since it captures them at the peak of my favorite era. Soon the double neck guitars and Oberheim synths and Taurus pedals would start fading away into newer tech and gear. Sure would be nice to get a Blu-ray release of the video sometime ..

Turn the Page! Love me some of that HYF bass

"A reason NOT to listen to Rush's studio albums"

 

There are no reasons, imo.

Indeed, I was assuming this was a joke thread and it would be empty!

 

I enjoy listening to live versions for variety and to see how they pulled off all the arrangements .. but I'll take the studio versions hands-down any day

Indeed, I just see a comet .. as described in more detail here by Hugh Syme:

https://ultimateclas...r-trails-cover/

The only way the under-construction CN Tower might appear in the AFTK cover artwork is if Syme painted it to look like a smokestack. But even then, the taper doesn't match that of the CN Tower. Which makes me wonder, is this a misquote/mistake in the article(?).

It sounds like all the info in this article is coming from Art of Rush. Which reminds me, I need to pick that up now that it's available again in a new edition ..

 

I agree that tower looks like the rail yard tower you posted. And it also makes me wonder then what shot did they use for this. Are there many of those towers around? I wonder if it could be tracked down at all nowadays (assuming it even still exists). The building next to it is pretty distinct, perhaps that could be used to track this site down. I hate mysteries! ;)

 

I should have known to check Wikipedia for clues. After looking there and then digging through old postcards and aerials, the buildings on the cover are the Harbor Square condos and the Harbour Castle hotel. The shot would have been taken looking east, and the CN Tower (if it were actually in the photo) would be further off to the left. Lots of railways and smokestacks over there - here's a neat thread from the Steve Hoffman forum where there is a photo from the approximate area and a slightly different angle (who knows, maybe that is the exact rail light tower from the cover - demolished by now apparently)

 

https://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/rush-album-by-album-song-by-song.920543/page-105

4. No camera trickery was involved in getting the shimmering star on the front of 1976’s breakthrough 2112: it’s a photograph of a star, covered in red gel and immersed in water in a specially built Perspex aquarium measuring 30-inches by 20 inches by 5 inches.

 

 

I have always wondered if that was real or painted! Now I wonder what happened to it, and if there is any chance it survived. Oh the thought that this aquarium and the red star could be sitting in a closet somewhere ..

 

Just to follow up on this, there is some good info from the Art of Rush gallery site:

 

 

To create the effect, Hugh Syme built a small aquarium out of acrylic and placed it on top of an image of the Star that he’d created on high-contrast Kodalith film. He applied a red gel called rubylith underneath it. Then Hugh set up a strobe underneath a clear table so that its light blasted through the transparency of the star, the layer of gel, and the water of the aquarium.

 

“We agitated the surface of the water,” says Hugh. “That’s how we achieved that undulating version of the Star.”

 

The starry night sky in the background of the cover was also handmade. Using a Rapidograph drafting pen, Hugh drew black dots on a big sheet of white paper. He created a negative out of it so that the black dots now appeared to be white stars on black paper. Hugh wanted some of the stars to seem nearby and others to appear distant. To achieve that effect, he combined two photographs of the starry backdrop: one shot with a sharp lens and the other shot with a soft toric lens to create a blurry halation.

 

One final touch remained. Hugh taped small pieces of CTO filtration film behind certain stars to give them a cyan tint and make them appear planet-like. He then placed his galaxy of blue and white stars on a vertical light table and lit a strobe behind it to create the exposures. The water tank and stars were both shot in-camera, simultaneously.

 

The color combination of the artwork would become an occasional recurring motif on future covers. “Red, white, black…we have a word for that: ‘Rushian,’” says Neil Peart.

 

It is fascinating to me to read how he did that, and that it was all photographed at the same time - wow! Once again though I'm left to wonder if anything remains of that photo shoot (star backdrop, red star, aquarium, or anything at all). It kills me to think this stuff probably all ended up in the trash (like the Death Star)!

The only way the under-construction CN Tower might appear in the AFTK cover artwork is if Syme painted it to look like a smokestack. But even then, the taper doesn't match that of the CN Tower. Which makes me wonder, is this a misquote/mistake in the article(?).

It sounds like all the info in this article is coming from Art of Rush. Which reminds me, I need to pick that up now that it's available again in a new edition ..

 

I agree that tower looks like the rail yard tower you posted. And it also makes me wonder then what shot did they use for this. Are there many of those towers around? I wonder if it could be tracked down at all nowadays (assuming it even still exists). The building next to it is pretty distinct, perhaps that could be used to track this site down. I hate mysteries! ;)

Cygnus X-1 Book II! What an awesome ride this song is, the playing is off the charts

4. No camera trickery was involved in getting the shimmering star on the front of 1976’s breakthrough 2112: it’s a photograph of a star, covered in red gel and immersed in water in a specially built Perspex aquarium measuring 30-inches by 20 inches by 5 inches.

 

 

I have always wondered if that was real or painted! Now I wonder what happened to it, and if there is any chance it survived. Oh the thought that this aquarium and the red star could be sitting in a closet somewhere ..

Analog Kid! Once again they have a song with a kickass rocking jam that hits you all of a sudden with a powerful slow section. Those synth choir voices get me every time .. what a sound!

Subdivisions!

 

That music video is so great at capturing the feelings it brings out for me. I am also thinking how it wouldn’t have been the same if it was made at any other time. Although now that I say that, it would be interesting to know what Subdivisions would sound like if it were on Hemispheres or P/G or HYF ..

 

 

So much P/G love lately! Putting back on 'The Enemy Within' since I love that one (for the fantastic grooves, and also the slow parts where his new PPG Wave synth is shimmering away)