Was Caress of Steel "drug-fueled"?

[shaun3701]

well the poem "Kubla Khan" which was the inspiration for Xanadu was the result of an opium trip lol.

[SiriusRushFan]

QUOTE (Xanadoood @ Dec 7 2009, 08:46 AM)

That in studio interview they give right around the time of PeW, Alex is FRIED!...at one point Geddy gets right up in his face just to freak him out. I think the boys still like to indulge on occasion, casually.

I love that video. Is this the one you mean?

They look pretty there. Watch at a little over the 3:00 mark where Alex is looking at Geddy and Geddy jumps in his face. lol

 

Part 2 is funny too. Alex with the green mask and Geddy zoning out at the end with his glasses.

Edited December 7, 2009 by SiriusRushFan

[Tick]

All I can say about the title of this thread is, it was for me.

[SiriusRushFan]

QUOTE (tick @ Dec 7 2009, 04:01 PM)

All I can say about the title of this thread is, it was for me.

Ya me too! Like Geddy has said before about CoS, there was 'too much smoke in the studio' back then. lol

[presto123]

Was it drug fueled?...... Does a bear shit in the woods?

[MMCXII]

QUOTE (Alex @ Dec 6 2009, 07:21 PM)

I would say yes for most bands but the lyrics and songs are too smart to be completely drug fueled.

are you kidding? I get my best inspiration when I'm on weed. why just the other day I smoked a little and before long I was imagining myself driving a red 69 dodge charger with an "03" on the side and a rebel flag on the roof with circles around all the stars... beside the flag it said "Geddy Lee" instead of "General Lee"

 

.... ok on second thought you might have a point

[Xanadude69]

QUOTE (Xanadoood @ Dec 7 2009, 08:46 AM)

That in studio interview they give right around the time of PeW, Alex is FRIED!...at one point Geddy gets right up in his face just to freak him out. I think the boys still like to indulge on occasion, casually.

I know this video its so funny!

 

I don't know what they were on or doing during the recording of CoS. BUt what ever it is they should do it again for the new album.

[shaun3701]

I think they should all eat some shrooms or drop some acid before going into the studio. Maybe we'll get a 2112 part II or something.

[TheWater]

QUOTE (SiriusRushFan @ Dec 7 2009, 10:59 PM)

QUOTE (Xanadoood @ Dec 7 2009, 08:46 AM) That in studio interview they give right around the time of PeW, Alex is FRIED!...at one point Geddy gets right up in his face just to freak him out. I think the boys still like to indulge on occasion, casually. I love that video. Is this the one you mean? They look pretty there. Watch at a little over the 3:00 mark where Alex is looking at Geddy and Geddy jumps in his face. lol   Part 2 is funny too. Alex with the green mask and Geddy zoning out at the end with his glasses. haha this is so funny somewhere in the 2nd video you can't see what Alex is doing but Geddy hits him... I wonder why...

[metaldad]

[Jp93]

"Panacea, liquid grace" and "Draw another goblet from the cask of '43" were all I needed to hear.

[MMCXII]

QUOTE (Jp93 @ Dec 9 2009, 12:46 PM)

"Panacea, liquid grace" and "Draw another goblet from the cask of '43" were all I needed to hear.

for me it was: I've lost a few more hairs... I think I'm going bald

 

yes kids... this is Rush on drugs!

[Xanadoood]

QUOTE (SiriusRushFan @ Dec 7 2009, 03:59 PM)

QUOTE (Xanadoood @ Dec 7 2009, 08:46 AM) That in studio interview they give right around the time of PeW, Alex is FRIED!...at one point Geddy gets right up in his face just to freak him out. I think the boys still like to indulge on occasion, casually. I love that video. Is this the one you mean? They look pretty there. Watch at a little over the 3:00 mark where Alex is looking at Geddy and Geddy jumps in his face. lol   Part 2 is funny too. Alex with the green mask and Geddy zoning out at the end with his glasses.   That is the one. Just classic!...Al is just SO out of it. Hilarious.

[GeddyRulz]

QUOTE (The Main Monkey Business @ Dec 7 2009, 06:24 AM)

It's fair to say that Rush collectively smoked weed for sure and most likely tripped on LSD occasionally (although I think Geddy and possible Alex stayed clear of LSD), but it was the 70s and seen as a tool in the music industry allowing for inspiration and freedom to write / produce great music, no different to a bodybuilder using steroids back in the 70s as at the time it was acceptable and seen as an aid. What Rush managed to do under the influence though is what other bands failed to, and that was to stay in control all the time and come up with some of the most amazing epic songs and remain focused on their goal. Neil was clearly the more LSD inclined member in his youth having played in a band previously titled "LSD forever" and references in COS are evident such as 'draw another goblet from the cask of 43', also apparently at the end of cygnus X-1 the voyage you can hear an irrational, heavy paced heartbeat induced by LSD which is apparently Neils although I am not too sure about this. But lets not get too fixed on this hangup otherwise we all end up believing that idiot on the net - egodeath

Agreed. I think Michael "Egodeath" Hoffman has taken this acid thing too far. Way way too far. He's basically convinced himself that he sees LSD references in every song from FBN to GUP. I could go on with a rebuttal to his findings, but what's the point? To everyone who reads Hoffman's stuff: please take it with a whole canister of salt and consider the 'drug-fueled' source.

 

When I saw this thread's title, I actually thought it was going to be another thread started by someone who'd recently come across Egodeath on the Internet and wanted to share. I've seen it a dozen times.

 

By the way: Neil was never in a band called "LSD Forever," he was in a band which wrote a song called "LSD Forever"... and by his own admission, at the time the song was written he and the other guys in the band had never taken LSD and didn't know what they were talking about! Of course, Neil has also admitted to a half-dozen (or so) acid trips in his life... but that's far from the almost daily use implied by Michael Hoffman. And really, even if you were heavily into acid, would you incorporate that subject into ALL of your songs?

[sungycx1]

LSD, for the most part, is an intellectual's substance of choice. Really smart people are irresistably drawn to it, because of the affects it has on the mind and imagination. That being said, the members of Rush are REALLY smart, and though they are too modest to say so, they are very much intellectuals. Given the time that COS was written and recorded, when I first heard the lyrics "draw another goblet from the cask of '43", I instantly knew what it meant. OF COURSE it refers to LSD!!! It is just silly to try to deny it.

[JohnnyBlaze]

LSD, for the most part, is an intellectual's substance of choice. Really smart people are irresistably drawn to it, because of the affects it has on the mind and imagination. That being said, the members of Rush are REALLY smart, and though they are too modest to say so, they are very much intellectuals. Given the time that COS was written and recorded, when I first heard the lyrics "draw another goblet from the cask of '43", I instantly knew what it meant. OF COURSE it refers to LSD!!! It is just silly to try to deny it.

Sorry, but I think your first sentence is utter rubbish. The things my friends and I (and many many others) experimented with 15 years ago had nothing to do with us being intellectuals. I wouldn't argue that what we did was stupid but I am arguing that those activities were intellectual pursuits...especially when our friend Rob starts the 'journey' by saying, "Okay boys, keep your hands and feet inside at all times"

[Phantom]

In Beyond the lighted stage, doesn't Geddy make reference to them indulging during the making of Caress of Steel?

[kooma]

I'm sure this has been discussed before, but I seem to remember a quote from one of the guys that COS was somewhat of a "drug-fueled" album. It wouldn't be surprising, some of the songs do sound a bit trippy, especially the two longer epics. And if so, are we talking about just weed here? Or were the boys experimenting with the harder stuff?

True and utter NONSENSE, COS is a magical album... :smoke:

[Mika]

LSD, for the most part, is an intellectual's substance of choice. Really smart people are irresistably drawn to it, because of the affects it has on the mind and imagination. That being said, the members of Rush are REALLY smart, and though they are too modest to say so, they are very much intellectuals. Given the time that COS was written and recorded, when I first heard the lyrics "draw another goblet from the cask of '43", I instantly knew what it meant. OF COURSE it refers to LSD!!! It is just silly to try to deny it.

 

Why all the 'instant recognition' to "the cask of '43" being about LSD? Is this some specific LSD thing I have no clue about? I always liked the sound of that line, assuming it's about wine.

[GeddysMullet]

LSD, for the most part, is an intellectual's substance of choice. Really smart people are irresistably drawn to it, because of the affects it has on the mind and imagination. That being said, the members of Rush are REALLY smart, and though they are too modest to say so, they are very much intellectuals. Given the time that COS was written and recorded, when I first heard the lyrics "draw another goblet from the cask of '43", I instantly knew what it meant. OF COURSE it refers to LSD!!! It is just silly to try to deny it.

 

Why all the 'instant recognition' to "the cask of '43" being about LSD? Is this some specific LSD thing I have no clue about? I always liked the sound of that line, assuming it's about wine.

 

I always assumed it was wine too, but apparently, 1943 was when the psychedelic properties of LSD were discovered.

[John V]

Being a former LSD user, I am having some issue with any type of intellectual effectiveness on the part of the drug.

 

It is true LSD does incite hallucinations and sometimes paranoia. Rarely does LSD provide any sense of well being. In fact, I have found it to be the exact opposite.

 

LSD from my perspective would not been conducive to any intellectual art. Whereas heroin is proven to have been the catalyst for some in the music world.

 

Meaning, If LSD helps with cognitive intellectual progress, I should be god.

[bathory]

It's fair to say that Rush collectively smoked weed for sure and most likely tripped on LSD occasionally (although I think Geddy and possible Alex stayed clear of LSD), but it was the 70s and seen as a tool in the music industry allowing for inspiration and freedom to write / produce great music, no different to a bodybuilder using steroids back in the 70s as at the time it was acceptable and seen as an aid. What Rush managed to do under the influence though is what other bands failed to, and that was to stay in control all the time and come up with some of the most amazing epic songs and remain focused on their goal.

 

Neil was clearly the more LSD inclined member in his youth having played in a band previously titled "LSD forever" and references in COS are evident such as 'draw another goblet from the cask of 43', also apparently at the end of cygnus X-1 the voyage you can hear an irrational, heavy paced heartbeat induced by LSD which is apparently Neils although I am not too sure about this.

 

But lets not get too fixed on this hangup otherwise we all end up believing that idiot on the net - egodeath

 

 

alex said in an interview he did acid when he was 15

[upstateNYfan]

LSD? No way. Not during the making of the album. THC and ETOH? Lots. Edited May 21, 2013 by upstateNYfan

[Rushman14]

Geddy Lee: I didn't think anyone would like it. But I loved it. I loved doing Caress of Steel, too. Mind you, when we did Caress of Steel, we were smoking way more hash oil. I really think that was part of the problem. I will say now that we did not do that while we were making 2112. We kind of straightened up a little bit. We kind of felt maybe we weren't seeing straight.

[Mika]

Geddy Lee: I didn't think anyone would like it. But I loved it. I loved doing Caress of Steel, too. Mind you, when we did Caress of Steel, we were smoking way more hash oil. I really think that was part of the problem. I will say now that we did not do that while we were making 2112. We kind of straightened up a little bit. We kind of felt maybe we weren't seeing straight.

 

I just read this entire set of interviews over from cygnus-x1.net - a good read! I was going to copy and paste that line over here, but you beat me to it.

 

I'm glad, BTW, that Geddy liked CoS - it's a really good album, in my opinion - very interesting to listen to, with some really great music and singing output.