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31 things only Rush fanatics know about their album sleeves


blueschica
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New article online! It's pretty interesting. Some things I knew, some I didn't.

 

"Easter Eggs, in-jokes, naked butts and Dennis Hopper – here’s what we learned from Hugh Syme's lavish coffee table book The Art Of Rush: Serving A Life Sentence"

 

https://www.loudersound.com/features/31-things-only-rush-fanatics-know-about-their-album-sleeves

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thanks for posting.

 

Same here, knew some of these stories, or variations of them, others are new to me.

 

The kid on the cover of Power Windows, hs book/record store is in my area. When a local newspaper article ran a story on him, I went to the store bought the then new re-issue of PoW and got him to sign it. Full on Rush geekdom :D

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thanks for posting.

 

Same here, knew some of these stories, or variations of them, others are new to me.

 

The kid on the cover of Power Windows, hs book/record store is in my area. When a local newspaper article ran a story on him, I went to the store bought the then new re-issue of PoW and got him to sign it. Full on Rush geekdom :D

 

That's so cool! If I had lived nearby I would've been all over that!

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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 ..

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Nice article but the vapor trails comet thing a joke when clearly depicts the WTC on 9/11

 

Thats why the album called what it is,, the tracks are the vapor trails of the planes that day

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Nice article but the vapor trails comet thing a joke when clearly depicts the WTC on 9/11

 

Thats why the album called what it is,, the tracks are the vapor trails of the planes that day

 

Uh.... no.

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Nice article but the vapor trails comet thing a joke when clearly depicts the WTC on 9/11

 

Thats why the album called what it is,, the tracks are the vapor trails of the planes that day

 

I think that is a coincidence actually, but it certainly works as that if you want it to. That's I had always looked at it too.

 

People forget that not long before this, the Hale-Bopp comet passed through our solar system and was very bright in the sky every night for a few weeks, which lends credence to the comet interpretation.

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Nice article but the vapor trails comet thing a joke when clearly depicts the WTC on 9/11

 

Thats why the album called what it is,, the tracks are the vapor trails of the planes that day

 

I think that is a coincidence actually, but it certainly works as that if you want it to. That's I had always looked at it too.

 

People forget that not long before this, the Hale-Bopp comet passed through our solar system and was very bright in the sky every night for a few weeks, which lends credence to the comet interpretation.

 

I bought VT on release day at J&R Music in downtown Manhattan. A short distance from where the WTC once stood. I got out of the store, held up the CD to the sky and noticed that the 2 black bars pretty much fit the perspective where the towers stood - AND the fireball from the 2nd plane between them. Works for me. That's what I see whenever I look at that cover.

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I had no idea that is the under construction CN Tower on the cover of AFTK! I'm shocked I'd never heard that as a Torontonian.

 

I too read the following line from the article, and thought, "Huh, what?!":

 

That image was superimposed against a shot of the Toronto skyline – the skeletal structure in the background is the then-under construction CN Tower, soon to be the world’s tallest building.

 

That skeletal structure is a rail yard light tower, similar to the one seen in the center of this old CN rail yard photo, looking towards Bathurst (what is now the new Railway Lands development: https://gencat4.eloquent-systems.com/webcat/systems/toronto.arch/resource/ser1465/s1465_fl0751_it0022.jpg

 

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(?).

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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! ;)

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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)!

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Nice article but the vapor trails comet thing a joke when clearly depicts the WTC on 9/11

 

Thats why the album called what it is,, the tracks are the vapor trails of the planes that day

 

I think that is a coincidence actually, but it certainly works as that if you want it to. That's I had always looked at it too.

 

People forget that not long before this, the Hale-Bopp comet passed through our solar system and was very bright in the sky every night for a few weeks, which lends credence to the comet interpretation.

 

I bought VT on release day at J&R Music in downtown Manhattan. A short distance from where the WTC once stood. I got out of the store, held up the CD to the sky and noticed that the 2 black bars pretty much fit the perspective where the towers stood - AND the fireball from the 2nd plane between them. Works for me. That's what I see whenever I look at that cover.

 

VT-WTC-2021.jpg

 

This is how I see it.

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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

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I feel stupid now, posting that I never knew it was the CN Tower on the AFTK cover... I glanced at it before reading that and didn't look at the cover again. It clearly is not the Tower under construction. Ugh.
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I feel stupid now, posting that I never knew it was the CN Tower on the AFTK cover... I glanced at it before reading that and didn't look at the cover again. It clearly is not the Tower under construction. Ugh.

Here are some photos of the

 

contruction, and, yeah, it looks nothing like the AFTK background image.

 

12651000964_80c690c67d_b.jpg

 

Yard light scale model:

 

HOYardTower0140.jpg

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Nice article but the vapor trails comet thing a joke when clearly depicts the WTC on 9/11

 

Thats why the album called what it is,, the tracks are the vapor trails of the planes that day

 

I think that is a coincidence actually, but it certainly works as that if you want it to. That's I had always looked at it too.

 

People forget that not long before this, the Hale-Bopp comet passed through our solar system and was very bright in the sky every night for a few weeks, which lends credence to the comet interpretation.

 

I bought VT on release day at J&R Music in downtown Manhattan. A short distance from where the WTC once stood. I got out of the store, held up the CD to the sky and noticed that the 2 black bars pretty much fit the perspective where the towers stood - AND the fireball from the 2nd plane between them. Works for me. That's what I see whenever I look at that cover.

 

VT-WTC-2021.jpg

 

This is how I see it.

 

Except that's not how the art is oriented and if you look at the entire painting, you can see it's got nothing to do with that. Unless the artists says otherwise, I think some folks are looking for a connection that isn't there.

 

8QnkkcFl.jpg

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That bottom image really needs rotating anti clockwise 90° for full effect, let's be clear here is an abstract image that nobody has admitted to its precise nature, is kind of meant to get you thinking about it and guess what - rotate so fireball at top and you get an unmistakeable representation of the WTC on 9/11

 

This is the rush album in the direct wake of 9/11, it is near to incredulous that such an abstract image looking so like the towers on 9/11would not be so, the coincidence would be ridiculous.

 

Furthermore the album's very title kind of alludes to the event, perhaps even saying the tracks themselves are vapor trails to 9/11.

 

I personally dont get why some can't see this, that image depicts the towers on 9/11 absolutely no doubt about it. The band and their marketing team etc just couldn't admit it straight up, probably regarded as too sensitive and maybe inappropriate at the time but they took a risk on it as they had to acknowledge the momentousness of the time. This is the rush album produced through 9/11, they needed to emphasize that fact.

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That bottom image really needs rotating anti clockwise 90° for full effect, let's be clear here is an abstract image that nobody has admitted to its precise nature, is kind of meant to get you thinking about it and guess what - rotate so fireball at top and you get an unmistakeable representation of the WTC on 9/11

 

This is the rush album in the direct wake of 9/11, it is near to incredulous that such an abstract image looking so like the towers on 9/11would not be so, the coincidence would be ridiculous.

 

Furthermore the album's very title kind of alludes to the event, perhaps even saying the tracks themselves are vapor trails to 9/11.

 

I personally dont get why some can't see this, that image depicts the towers on 9/11 absolutely no doubt about it. The band and their marketing team etc just couldn't admit it straight up, probably regarded as too sensitive and maybe inappropriate at the time but they took a risk on it as they had to acknowledge the momentousness of the time. This is the rush album produced through 9/11, they needed to emphasize that fact.

 

There's nothing in the lyrics of Vapor Trail that points to 9/11 anymore than it points to the tragic events of Neil's life. Also, Rush is under zero obligation to explain the meaning of their work. More than many other bands, I think they've always tended to let the music and the lyrics speak for themselves. The fact that this new article doesn't give any indication of VT's art being about 9/11 makes me doubt the possibility, as well as the fact that those two black bars weren't included on the remix album cover. You're free to interpret things however you like, but without any real evidence, it's just a theory.

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That bottom image really needs rotating anti clockwise 90° for full effect, let's be clear here is an abstract image that nobody has admitted to its precise nature, is kind of meant to get you thinking about it and guess what - rotate so fireball at top and you get an unmistakeable representation of the WTC on 9/11

 

This is the rush album in the direct wake of 9/11, it is near to incredulous that such an abstract image looking so like the towers on 9/11would not be so, the coincidence would be ridiculous.

 

Furthermore the album's very title kind of alludes to the event, perhaps even saying the tracks themselves are vapor trails to 9/11.

 

I personally dont get why some can't see this, that image depicts the towers on 9/11 absolutely no doubt about it. The band and their marketing team etc just couldn't admit it straight up, probably regarded as too sensitive and maybe inappropriate at the time but they took a risk on it as they had to acknowledge the momentousness of the time. This is the rush album produced through 9/11, they needed to emphasize that fact.

 

There's nothing in the lyrics of Vapor Trail that points to 9/11 anymore than it points to the tragic events of Neil's life. Also, Rush is under zero obligation to explain the meaning of their work. More than many other bands, I think they've always tended to let the music and the lyrics speak for themselves. The fact that this new article doesn't give any indication of VT's art being about 9/11 makes me doubt the possibility, as well as the fact that those two black bars weren't included on the remix album cover. You're free to interpret things however you like, but without any real evidence, it's just a theory.

 

Well, it's open to interpretation. Like anything else. I see what I see in the art. Other's don't. So be it.

 

I will also mention that Peaceable Kingdom was going to be an instrumental. But Neil wrote the words after seeing the events of 9/11. So there's that.

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That bottom image really needs rotating anti clockwise 90° for full effect, let's be clear here is an abstract image that nobody has admitted to its precise nature, is kind of meant to get you thinking about it and guess what - rotate so fireball at top and you get an unmistakeable representation of the WTC on 9/11

 

This is the rush album in the direct wake of 9/11, it is near to incredulous that such an abstract image looking so like the towers on 9/11would not be so, the coincidence would be ridiculous.

 

Furthermore the album's very title kind of alludes to the event, perhaps even saying the tracks themselves are vapor trails to 9/11.

 

I personally dont get why some can't see this, that image depicts the towers on 9/11 absolutely no doubt about it. The band and their marketing team etc just couldn't admit it straight up, probably regarded as too sensitive and maybe inappropriate at the time but they took a risk on it as they had to acknowledge the momentousness of the time. This is the rush album produced through 9/11, they needed to emphasize that fact.

 

There's nothing in the lyrics of Vapor Trail that points to 9/11 anymore than it points to the tragic events of Neil's life. Also, Rush is under zero obligation to explain the meaning of their work. More than many other bands, I think they've always tended to let the music and the lyrics speak for themselves. The fact that this new article doesn't give any indication of VT's art being about 9/11 makes me doubt the possibility, as well as the fact that those two black bars weren't included on the remix album cover. You're free to interpret things however you like, but without any real evidence, it's just a theory.

 

dude, who cares about the remixed version or this new article, we talkin bout the original release, when it was released, at the time it was released, 9/11 was just too big for the band to ignore, hugh syme produced this abstract image in the heat of the event, the band appreciated it but had to be subliminal to an extent, they couldnt be seen to be capitalising on 9/11 in any way hence no-one admitted to it but f*ck it, you open that image out with the fireball at top and no doubt, no doubt AT ALL, represents the WTC on 9/11

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That bottom image really needs rotating anti clockwise 90° for full effect, let's be clear here is an abstract image that nobody has admitted to its precise nature, is kind of meant to get you thinking about it and guess what - rotate so fireball at top and you get an unmistakeable representation of the WTC on 9/11

 

This is the rush album in the direct wake of 9/11, it is near to incredulous that such an abstract image looking so like the towers on 9/11would not be so, the coincidence would be ridiculous.

 

Furthermore the album's very title kind of alludes to the event, perhaps even saying the tracks themselves are vapor trails to 9/11.

 

I personally dont get why some can't see this, that image depicts the towers on 9/11 absolutely no doubt about it. The band and their marketing team etc just couldn't admit it straight up, probably regarded as too sensitive and maybe inappropriate at the time but they took a risk on it as they had to acknowledge the momentousness of the time. This is the rush album produced through 9/11, they needed to emphasize that fact.

 

There's nothing in the lyrics of Vapor Trail that points to 9/11 anymore than it points to the tragic events of Neil's life. Also, Rush is under zero obligation to explain the meaning of their work. More than many other bands, I think they've always tended to let the music and the lyrics speak for themselves. The fact that this new article doesn't give any indication of VT's art being about 9/11 makes me doubt the possibility, as well as the fact that those two black bars weren't included on the remix album cover. You're free to interpret things however you like, but without any real evidence, it's just a theory.

 

dude, who cares about the remixed version or this new article, we talkin bout the original release, when it was released, at the time it was released, 9/11 was just too big for the band to ignore, hugh syme produced this abstract image in the heat of the event, the band appreciated it but had to be subliminal to an extent, they couldnt be seen to be capitalising on 9/11 in any way hence no-one admitted to it but f*ck it, you open that image out with the fireball at top and no doubt, no doubt AT ALL, represents the WTC on 9/11

 

You're expressing your opinion as if you know exactly how that transpired, when in reality you have no idea, just like the rest of us.

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