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The Camera Eye


sullysue

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QUOTE (paganoman @ Aug 14 2005, 12:14 PM)
QUOTE (Snowdog @ Aug 13 2005, 09:40 PM)
TCE is right near the top of my all time favorite songs by any band, anytime, anywhere, etc. As Sue said, it is simply a musical masterpiece. The dynamics of this songs never fail to blow me away. Particularly after the extended intro when the songs "kicks in." It still gives me goosebumps. Alex's solo fits the song perfectly. It is, imo, one of the solos that just "fits" in a song so well. Everything about that solo reflects the imagery and musical dymanics of the song. Lyrically, I think it is one of the most vivid, image evoking pieces Neil has ever written. I can see that leaden sky, that soft spring rain, the pavements teeming, etc. I'm getting goosebumps writing this  laugh.gif

I have been in love with this song since it's release. I never grow tired of it and it always leaves me wanting more. I just can't tell you guys how much this song means to me and how much I love it.

My one regret is never seeing it performed live. How I wish I could have. I have seen it performed on some DVD boots from the Signals tour and I sadly have to say that for some reason, this song just doesn't seem to go over well live from the one performace I have seen. This completely baffles me. I just don't understand why the magic from the studio doesn't transfer over to the live show. After much anger at the boys not including TCE in the R30 set list given what a huge fan favorite it is, I have to say I'm beginning to understand their reluctance to perform this song live. Sadly, I'll never see it performed. But I can still enjoy it over and over again in my cd player.

SNOW - I was just about to click submit when I saw your post on my screen. So I had to go back and quote this. Your first paragraph NAILS it!! cool.gif So have so many others - but I can't quote them all.

 

Man, I just friggin' love this song. It was the first of the Rush "long-form" songs I've ever listened to - and maybe because of this reason - it remains my favorite of all of them.

 

Moving Pictures, imo, is one of the greatest 'sounding' records in history. There is so much separation and dynamics in the music that it transports me. Each instrument is a completely independent performance which sounds like a song within itself, and yet as an ensemble it's amazing how the three of them merge seamlessly together and collectively kick my ass.

 

The energy build up on The Camera Eye is nothing short of astounding. After that lengthly build-up on the extended intro, when Neil slams those floor toms and Alex hits that first power chord, it's that feeling you get when you explode down the first hill of your favorite rollercoaster. A total adrenaline surge like you've just repelled off a high rise building.

 

And the way the lyrics flow with the music, I always feel like I'm perched 20 stories over a crowded avenue in NYC or London - getting an aerial view of all that's happening. The hustle and bustle of the thousands upon thousands who scurry along from one place to the next.

 

When I was a kid, I used to listen to this song over and over while I sat at my desk in my bedroom doing my homework. It was one of those old stereo units where you had the tuner with all the knobs and buttons on the front face, and on the far left would be an 8-track slot. Then on top would sit the turntable with the removable dust cover. I used to use that cover as a trap for my superhero action figures. It was awesome. I also remember that one night I was flipping the dust cover in the air and catching it. But one time I missed and it landed on top of my Moving Pictures record, smashing it into a hundred pieces. I had to go out and buy a new one.

 

Anyway, TCE is one of my all time favorite Rush tunes. It's the fastest 11 minutes I've ever spent. It goes by so quickly. I would have fell out of my skin if they played that during the R30 tour. While I LOVED the setlist, I wish they would have dragged out more tunes like they did with Between The Wheels. For a 30th Anniversary, more of the lesser played tunes would have been wild, and this one would have scored huge. But, as far as I've read or heard... each time they consider this song - it just doesn't satisfy them enough to do show after show. And when they have to consider a 10+ minute song, I suppose it has to held to a higher standard than the others.

 

Ok - one more thing. Moonraker once mentioned a really cool moment in the song, which I thought was really cool, since it's one of my favorite moments as well. Check it out.

 

Great 'sounds' in the songs

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Funny how Rush's music can invoke such strong emotional connections that we can remember exactly where and when we were when we were listening to it. I'm still trying to come up with answers for the thread about where we were when we first heard such and such. I think the problem is that their music had been and now is again such an intregal part of my listening experience that I find it hard to pin down those precise moments in time. But, I can remember when I first got Moving Pictures, listening to the first side, flipping it over, and having The Camera Eye play into my headphones. I could not believe what I was hearing. It was almost as though I had been smacked in the head and told, "This is real music. Get it?" I wish I could relive that moment of discovery over and over again. It rocked my whole idea of what music was.

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QUOTE (sullysue @ Aug 14 2005, 04:36 PM)
Funny how Rush's music can invoke such strong emotional connections that we can remember exactly where and when we were when we were listening to it. I'm still trying to come up with answers for the thread about where we were when we first heard such and such. I think the problem is that their music had been and now is again such an intregal part of my listening experience that I find it hard to pin down those precise moments in time. But, I can remember when I first got Moving Pictures, listening to the first side, flipping it over, and having The Camera Eye play into my headphones. I could not believe what I was hearing. It was almost as though I had been smacked in the head and told, "This is real music. Get it?" I wish I could relive that moment of discovery over and over again. It rocked my whole idea of what music was.

It's amazing how I can't remember what I did yesterday, but this shit I can remember just fine. laugh.gif

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QUOTE (paganoman @ Aug 14 2005, 03:47 PM)
QUOTE (sullysue @ Aug 14 2005, 04:36 PM)
Funny how Rush's music can invoke such strong emotional connections that we can remember exactly where and when we were when we were listening to it. I'm still trying to come up with answers for the thread about where we were when we first heard such and such. I think the problem is that their music had been and now is again such an intregal part of my listening experience that I find it hard to pin down those precise moments in time. But, I can remember when I first got Moving Pictures, listening to the first side, flipping it over, and having The Camera Eye play into my headphones. I could not believe what I was hearing. It was almost as though I had been smacked in the head and told, "This is real music. Get it?" I wish I could relive that moment of discovery over and over again. It rocked my whole idea of what music was.

It's amazing how I can't remember what I did yesterday, but this shit I can remember just fine. laugh.gif

biggrin.gif Yup. Sucks getting older. But, I would much prefer to remember those things than the fact that I just burned the hell outta my kids grilled cheese just now!!!

 

 

Damn it! mad.gif

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QUOTE (sullysue @ Aug 14 2005, 04:57 PM)
QUOTE (paganoman @ Aug 14 2005, 03:47 PM)
QUOTE (sullysue @ Aug 14 2005, 04:36 PM)
Funny how Rush's music can invoke such strong emotional connections that we can remember exactly where and when we were when we were listening to it. I'm still trying to come up with answers for the thread about where we were when we first heard such and such. I think the problem is that their music had been and now is again such an intregal part of my listening experience that I find it hard to pin down those precise moments in time. But, I can remember when I first got Moving Pictures, listening to the first side, flipping it over, and having The Camera Eye play into my headphones. I could not believe what I was hearing. It was almost as though I had been smacked in the head and told, "This is real music. Get it?" I wish I could relive that moment of discovery over and over again. It rocked my whole idea of what music was.

It's amazing how I can't remember what I did yesterday, but this shit I can remember just fine. laugh.gif

biggrin.gif Yup. Sucks getting older. But, I would much prefer to remember those things than the fact that I just burned the hell outta my kids grilled cheese just now!!!

 

 

Damn it! mad.gif

rofl3.gif rofl3.gif

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yes.gif The Camera Eye one of my all time favorites. I remember seeing it performed MP tour I thought the abstract animated visual on back screen worked beautifully with the song. To me this is pure poetry in the style of the Welsh poet Dylan Thomas.I feel the same way about Jacobs Ladder,Both mood pieces that put you in a trance and evoke certain images in your'e subconscious.
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QUOTE (softfilter @ Aug 15 2005, 11:31 AM)
yes.gif The Camera Eye one of my all time favorites. I remember seeing it performed MP tour I thought the abstract animated visual on back screen worked beautifully with the song. To me this is pure poetry in the style of the Welsh poet Dylan Thomas.I feel the same way about Jacobs Ladder,Both mood pieces that put you in a trance and evoke certain images in your'e subconscious.

I saw them in Dallas on the MP tour, but I honestly cannot recall them playing it. That would be a travesty if I've heard it live and can't remember it.

 

 

Oh, crap.... old.gif

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In a Q magazine special on Classic Rock Album's (which featured Moving Pictures) if I remember correctly Alex is quoted from somewhere as saying The Camera Eye is obviously a homage to Genesis!?.

 

Personally quite like Genesis (well up until Duke, gets a bit hit and miss after that) but don't hear the similarity myself.

 

The Camera Eye is an absolute belter though. Favourite bits, Alex's big guitar chords and Neils drums underneath and the guitar solo which has a killer bassline beneath it. 1022.gif

 

2.gif

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QUOTE (Test4VitalSigns @ Aug 16 2005, 06:54 AM)
Too bad they didn't include it on the Exit Stage ..Left album confused13.gif

I thought that was strange too. Because on the Exit...Stage Left video it's being played before the show when Geddy is talking.

 

The Camera Eye is indeed a great song, very fitting to the excellance that is Rush and specifically Moving Pictures. You have to love that burp towards the end of the eighth minute, than the obligarory, "Oh my God!"

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QUOTE (sullysue @ Aug 15 2005, 07:48 PM)
QUOTE (softfilter @ Aug 15 2005, 11:31 AM)
yes.gif  The Camera Eye one of my all time favorites. I remember seeing it performed MP tour I thought the abstract animated visual on back screen worked beautifully with the song. To me this is pure poetry in the style of the Welsh poet Dylan Thomas.I feel the same way about Jacobs Ladder,Both mood pieces that put you in a trance and evoke certain images in your'e subconscious.

I saw them in Dallas on the MP tour, but I honestly cannot recall them playing it. That would be a travesty if I've heard it live and can't remember it.

 

 

Oh, crap.... old.gif

Sullysue, assuming the show you were at was in April 1981, here's the setlist as posted on Power Windows

 

Moving Pictures Tour

February 19, 1981 - July 4, 1981

Tourdates - Tourbook

 

2112 (Overture/Temples of Syrinx)

Freewill

Limelight

Hemispheres (Prelude)

Beneath, Between and Behind

The Camera Eye

YYZ

Drum Solo

YYZ

Broon's Bane

The Trees

Xanadu

The Spirit of Radio

Red Barchetta

Closer to the Heart

Tom Sawyer

Vital Signs

Natural Science

Working Man (reggae intro)

Hemispheres (Armageddon)

By-Tor and the Snow Dog (abbreviated)->

In the End

In the Mood

2112 (Grand Finale)

Encore: La Villa Strangiato (classical guitar intro)

 

ohmy.gif ohmy.gif ohmy.gif ohmy.gif ohmy.gif ohmy.gif ohmy.gif ohmy.gif ohmy.gif

biggrin.gif biggrin.gif biggrin.gif biggrin.gif biggrin.gif biggrin.gif biggrin.gif biggrin.gif

 

 

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QUOTE (madra sneachta @ Aug 16 2005, 08:44 AM)
QUOTE (sullysue @ Aug 15 2005, 07:48 PM)
QUOTE (softfilter @ Aug 15 2005, 11:31 AM)
yes.gif  The Camera Eye one of my all time favorites. I remember seeing it performed MP tour I thought the abstract animated visual on back screen worked beautifully with the song. To me this is pure poetry in the style of the Welsh poet Dylan Thomas.I feel the same way about Jacobs Ladder,Both mood pieces that put you in a trance and evoke certain images in your'e subconscious.

I saw them in Dallas on the MP tour, but I honestly cannot recall them playing it. That would be a travesty if I've heard it live and can't remember it.

 

 

Oh, crap.... old.gif

Sullysue, assuming the show you were at was in April 1981, here's the setlist as posted on Power Windows

 

Moving Pictures Tour

February 19, 1981 - July 4, 1981

Tourdates - Tourbook

 

2112 (Overture/Temples of Syrinx)

Freewill

Limelight

Hemispheres (Prelude)

Beneath, Between and Behind

The Camera Eye

YYZ

Drum Solo

YYZ

Broon's Bane

The Trees

Xanadu

The Spirit of Radio

Red Barchetta

Closer to the Heart

Tom Sawyer

Vital Signs

Natural Science

Working Man (reggae intro)

Hemispheres (Armageddon)

By-Tor and the Snow Dog (abbreviated)->

In the End

In the Mood

2112 (Grand Finale)

Encore: La Villa Strangiato (classical guitar intro)

 

ohmy.gif ohmy.gif ohmy.gif ohmy.gif ohmy.gif ohmy.gif ohmy.gif ohmy.gif ohmy.gif

biggrin.gif biggrin.gif biggrin.gif biggrin.gif biggrin.gif biggrin.gif biggrin.gif biggrin.gif

wub.gif Oh, thank you, Madra. How nice of you to go to all of that trouble just for me. Wow, too bad that doesn't bring back memories....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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QUOTE (sullysue @ Aug 14 2005, 04:36 PM)
I can remember when I first got Moving Pictures, listening to the first side, flipping it over, and having The Camera Eye play into my headphones. I could not believe what I was hearing. It was almost as though I had been smacked in the head and told, "This is real music. Get it?" I wish I could relive that moment of discovery over and over again. It rocked my whole idea of what music was.

goodpost.gif You nailed it Sue!

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QUOTE (Snowdog @ Aug 16 2005, 09:46 AM)
QUOTE (sullysue @ Aug 14 2005, 04:36 PM)
I can remember when I first got Moving Pictures, listening to the first side, flipping it over, and having The Camera Eye play into my headphones. I could not believe what I was hearing. It was almost as though I had been smacked in the head and told, "This is real music. Get it?" I wish I could relive that moment of discovery over and over again. It rocked my whole idea of what music was.

goodpost.gif You nailed it Sue!

I remember being very excited when TCE started playing on the 2nd side, It was though I had not been abandoned by the the band I loved so much!

 

I was 18, and the Rush epic song lover. I mean, at that time, it was Rush's long songs that I loved so much.

I was 1st a fan captured by COS. Bastille Day was the rocker, but The Necromancer and TFOL were my favorites.

Then 2112 blew me away.

Then Xanadu, Then Cygnusx-1 book 1, and finally book 2 Hemisheres. 2.gif

(LaVilla too!!)

 

When Perm.waves came along, I must confess that I was mildly dis-appointed with the short songs. Jacob's Ladder , and Natural Science held my faith as I saw them as pocket epics , and they endeared themselves to me.

 

When MP came out, I was hoping for a big return toward the long songs!!

After the 1st side, I was feeling desperate. Red Barchetta seemed like a really abreviated epic song, and I was panicked. YYZ only assurred me that even the instrumentals were gettin shorter "There will never be anything like LaVilla again!!!!" I thought.

 

After the 1st side played, I felt like putting in a YES song...'Close to the Edge' wouuld suffice.

Yet, I flipped over the vinyl disc, and Alas! ..The Camera Eye played.

All my hopes for epic were realized, and I realized that not only was this a great song, but it was a great album. All of the sudden, I liked the first side , because TCE was on the second side biggrin.gif

Not only that, but TCE was everywhere. It seemed like I was hearing the pounding/ringing guitar intro pulsating out of cars going down the street, or seeping out bedroom windows as I walked by...it was everywhere. For the 1st time ever, Rush was no longer private, they were no long just MY favorite band, but everyone was getting some.

I love TCE...I especially love the melody of the verses and Geddy's singing in them. That's all...

 

 

trink39.gif

 

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TCE is part of my discovery of Rush. In summer camp around the 7th grade circa 1981 or so there was a guy who was a big Rush fan. This was also the time everybody had boom boxes as they were new and popular. He had the 2112 cassette tape and would listen to it. I was tagging along with him jamming on 2112 really enjoying this new band I had discovered called Rush. He gave me a cassette tape called moving pictures and I listened to the first track. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. This was the best music ever created as far as I was concerned.

 

I listened to Tom Sawyer over and over and over..... After a day or so I decided to finally listen to the second track. And well - crap - it was the same experience again but different. I couldn't believe there could be two excellent songs off of one album. Well another day and I decide to listen to track three and well you can guess what happens.

 

It wasn't until about the third or fourth day of hording his cassette (he asked for it back but I was avoiding him!!) that I finally got to TCE. I was absolutely blown away. Here was the best song EVER WRITTEN IN THE HISTORY OF THE WORLD right here in my ears. I must have listened to that tape over 200 times that week.

 

Well long story short - i've bought every album and seen every tour since.

 

rofl3.gif

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So much cool shit in this thread. I love it!!

 

goodpost.gif goodpost.gif goodpost.gif goes out to all of you

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QUOTE (paganoman @ Aug 17 2005, 08:04 AM)
So much cool shit in this thread. I love it!!

goodpost.gif goodpost.gif goodpost.gif goes out to all of you

Wow! Such enthusiasm, Pags! biggrin.gif

 

I was playing The Camera Eye on my iTunes a few minutes ago, and I had it BLASTING into my headphones, and my boss came in, looked at me, and said, "I can hear that loud and clear. I didn't know you liked Rush."

 

 

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QUOTE (sullysue @ Aug 17 2005, 09:56 AM)
QUOTE (paganoman @ Aug 17 2005, 08:04 AM)
So much cool shit in this thread.  I love it!!

goodpost.gif goodpost.gif goodpost.gif goes out to all of you

Wow! Such enthusiasm, Pags! biggrin.gif

 

I was playing The Camera Eye on my iTunes a few minutes ago, and I had it BLASTING into my headphones, and my boss came in, looked at me, and said, "I can hear that loud and clear. I didn't know you liked Rush."

 

 

ohmy.gif

 

 

unsure.gif

 

 

 

653.gif

 

 

 

biggrin.gif

Hmmm. I smell a promotion. laugh.gif

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QUOTE (paganoman @ Aug 17 2005, 08:57 AM)
QUOTE (sullysue @ Aug 17 2005, 09:56 AM)
QUOTE (paganoman @ Aug 17 2005, 08:04 AM)
So much cool shit in this thread.  I love it!!

goodpost.gif goodpost.gif goodpost.gif goes out to all of you

Wow! Such enthusiasm, Pags! biggrin.gif

 

I was playing The Camera Eye on my iTunes a few minutes ago, and I had it BLASTING into my headphones, and my boss came in, looked at me, and said, "I can hear that loud and clear. I didn't know you liked Rush."

 

 

ohmy.gif

 

 

unsure.gif

 

 

 

653.gif

 

 

 

biggrin.gif

Hmmm. I smell a promotion. laugh.gif

.... or my headphones being taken away. He also rolled his eyes. laugh.gif

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QUOTE (circumstantial tree @ Aug 17 2005, 10:10 AM)
oh well, some people just don't get it. I wonder what he listens to.  unsure.gif

Well.... he recognized TCE. That's got to mean something. confused13.gif Not a clue what, but... something. laugh.gif

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It's one thing if a fellow Rush fan does not like the Camera Eye, but when a non-fan cuts down Rush, watch out brotha! mad.gif

 

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