I actually saw them play the whole 2112 in '75 just before the album came out.
They co-headlined with Ted Nugent at Cobo in Detroit when both were at the top of their game.
Epic.
They pretty much looked like this at the time. I remember the row of Marshall stacks behind them and the loudspeakers around the stage. My ears rang for 3 days after.
Also, it took about ten years of marriage before my wife saw the original "Twin Peaks." It was only then that she realized that ten percent of everything I had ever said to her was a Twin Peaks quote.
A buddy of mine taught himself to play the bass in high school. While we all loved 'Tom Sawyer', Don was a total 2112 fanatic. I didn't get it. Probably too high or distracted. I have 2112 on my most often used playlist, but must have limited it to 'Overture' & 'Temples of Syrinx'.
As I read the lyrics, possibly for the first time today (I'm 55, 1987 HS grad), it reminded me of "Jonathan Livingston Seagull" which was my favorite book as a kid.
Jonathan is trying to learn to fly faster, and has this crazy breakthrough when he realizes falcons have short wings.
He immediately climbs 2,000 feet, tucks his wings, and dives...SCREAMS through the entire flock...and is called before the 'league of elders' (or something like that...been 30+ years since I read it). Only two reasons to be called before the elders--either glory of shame. Jonathan is confident it must be glory--by flying this fast, he can teach his flock to dive deep to fish, freeing them from the scraps of man.
...it is for shame and he is banished. If you've never read it, pick it up. You can read it in under an hour, and it has a similar message as 2112.
The powerful are always anxious and are threatened by vibrancy, life, curiosity, energy.
Wisdom is when we remember our youthful fancies, and incorporate them into practices instead of revolutions.
Thank you for this Christopher. A decent distraction this afternoon. Need to get back to work
I need to read "Anthem". Read "Fountainhead" and "Atlas Shrugged", but not until I was in my late 20s. Loved them both. Is Anthem where the drop all singular personal pronouns? Interesting.
Richard Bach does not have the heft of Ayn Rand, much more of a hippie/new age kinda vibe--but I still love "Jonathan Livingston Seagull". The overt message is about excellence, it resonates. The deeper message is about love & service. That took a couple of decades to sink in...
A girlfriend (when I was 19) insisted I read "The Bridge Across Forever." I guess I should read "Jonathan Livingston Seagull" now that I'm a bit older and less callow.
Anthem is really short. I did it on audiobook. Very good.
I also recommend the Christopher Hurt-narrated audiobook narration of "Atlas Shrugged." Really good. Brings it to life!
Thanks Christopher. I read “The Bridge Across Forever” as well—nearly the same age. Maybe 20. “Illusions: The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah” is another Bach book I read and reread as a teen/young man.
I think much of Bach’s allure was I had turned away from Christianity at about 14-ish to become a cynical agnostic for the next 35+ years. In hindsight now, that was just a traumatized kid shaking his fist at God screaming, “WHY!?!?!? WHY!?!?!”
Jordan Peterson’s Biblical Lectures or “The Psychological Significance of the Biblical Stories”—12 or 14 lectures, all 2.5 hours nudged my curiosity in the Bible for the first time in decades. After spending time reading the Bible I found more Truth within than I had expected and more than any other source I had ever read. In short, I made a decision to believe.
I am also an Audible user for the last 20+ years. When I write or say “read a book”, listened is more accurate most of the time. Listening to books is like stealing time. I love it.
Thanks again for a great topic, opened the door to many other interesting thoughts.
Agreed. I bet 30 years from now JBP will be responsible for more men finding faith than Billy Graham. His appeal, at least with the Bible, is both intellectual and moral—not religious. His lectures are secular. Reduces the automatic resistance/walls most of us, almost involuntarily, erect when someone begins to talk God.
They don’t make bands like Rush or their contemporaries anymore. Those bands were pure talent, consummate artists…the music was as much a part of the performance as the band members! Those were great times.
Have loved 2112 for decades! You probably know that Neil Peart considered himself an objectivist and it often shows in Rush lyrics, most of which he penned.
I’ve taken the theme from Clockwork Angels and worked that into a few of my articles as analogies for the technocrats hatching their designs for control. Technically 1907 is still the Steam era, so Frederick Taylor got transmogrified into the Watchmaker.
Enjoy Clockwork Angels - Neil and Kevin Anderson wrote an adaptation, for a Rush fan it’s a must read. There are a lot moments interlaced with a lyric or a name from their anthology.
When I was young this (and many other awesome rock anthems) felt like battle music for a battle that was yet to come. The battle is upon us! Armor up! Also Rush is huge here in the land of the Trailer Park Boys 😎
You surprise me Chris, I would never have guessed that you might be a Rush fan, and strange that I do not know why I would think that. Could it be that I simply judged a book by its cover?
Neil was a great lyricist.
I have always loved Atlas Shrugged - and repeatedly tried to understand those that both bashed her personally and the masterpiece so furiously.
Finally, may I suggest that the live version of 2112 (All the World's a Stage) is much better than the studio version... which is also strange because I generally prefer the perfect arrangement and mixing of the studio release. (Except for maybe Seconds Out (Genesis) which is FANTASTIC!).
“Could it be that I simply judged a book by its cover?”
—What was it about my “cover” that said “not a Rush fan”? I am very curious!
I’ve been listening to them since the end of 9th grade. Saw ‘em three times (though it was all after the classic era, unfortunately).
“Neil was a great lyricist.”
—💯
I remember I started hearing people opine that “Rush is for 13 year olds” and similar sentiments, and that just made me like them more. I think the reason was similar to the reason people like to hate on “Atlas Shrugged”: they cannot handle the truth!
Me too, sorry to say, and I have no answer for you. Perhaps its an image I built of you through all I have read of yours. But that still doesn't make sense to me - now that I think even more about who might appreciate the Canadien power trio.
I mentioned "The Trees", if you are unfamiliar, I suggest giving it a listen - it is a short piece and oh so applicable to this world.
Otherwise,, you may "Conform or be cast out" - fuck yeah... on the money.
I recommend listening to ALL of RUSH’S albums…there’s lots of truths and pointing out the bullshit of the MAN!!! Thanks for the reminder…now I’m pulling out all the albums and having a RUSH revival day!!! Woo Hoo!!! First up…Red Barchetta!!! 🥰
CDex is an open source program that can run on Windows.
One of its coolest features is “panic mode.” Say you have a disc that's scratched, where it skips, it can go over that area multiple times and usually recover all the data!
I ripped my stuff to WAV files because they're uncompressed. Which makes them rather large files, but they're bit-per-bit copies of the originals (literally what was on the CD). From there you can do whatever you want with them.
I've used it since the early 2000s, however the newer versions are sketchy. You'd want to find one of the older revisions from before 2005. You can find old free software on “oldversion.com”
Once you rip all the songs you want, just copy them to a few flash drives, or external hard drives, and you're all set. 😉👉
Oh, I know. But I just sold my last BSR McDonald record player. I don't have any vinyl anyway, so it was collecting dust. 😑
However, it's said that if the vinyl is not damaged, the sound reproduction quality is far superior to digital.
I believe that because I remember listening to lost of music on vinyl when I was a kid, and it was always super crisp, and the stereo separation was unreal compared to cassette tapes. I was listening with big Sansui over-ear headphones.
CDs are good, but unscratched vinyl is awesome! 😉👉
It was and is…I notice a sound quality difference…most of my collection is mostly unscratched…so I’m lucky…I don’t know how I managed that over the years…and I inherited my parents collection and theirs were in pretty good shape too
That's awesome. My parents had a good deal of records, but not too many. Most of them were in "pretty good" shape, but I think my sister has them.
I would be cool to come across some of them later perhaps, if I come into some money! 😂🤣
I saw a documentary one time about the world's largest collection of vinyl records, and it's some dude that lives in Brazil who owns them all. He had to hire people just to maintain and catalog his collection.
Sorry Christopher, I can't handle the "music". It is way too chaotic for my taste. Metal has never been my forte. Except for some symphonic metal like Nightwish. I couldn't handle the first three minutes to get to the lyrics. Geezzz...we have different taste here that's for sure. Maybe I need to go smoke some mary jane, which I've only done twice in 70 years or do some "schrooms" and then try again. More to my liking and it's only 3 minutes and I can understand every word. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9UyMAuD88ZY Or how about Struggle Jennings...God We Need You Now https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sV15bz_QDfU
My taste is better than yours! NA NA NA NAAA NAA!!!! LMAO! And people taste like chicken. Surely there wasn't much else a LION eats in this environment you know.
Maybe part of the problem is that there is a lot more music out now, so you have to look harder through all the crap to find the good stuff. But there is some good stuff out there.
I actually saw them play the whole 2112 in '75 just before the album came out.
They co-headlined with Ted Nugent at Cobo in Detroit when both were at the top of their game.
Epic.
They pretty much looked like this at the time. I remember the row of Marshall stacks behind them and the loudspeakers around the stage. My ears rang for 3 days after.
https://i.discogs.com/l2PGc5KzhJV_90IyvfTf_Eq71S2RubB34pFdCq1Xx-A/rs:fit/g:sm/q:90/h:600/w:594/czM6Ly9kaXNjb2dz/LWRhdGFiYXNlLWlt/YWdlcy9BLTYxODAw/LTE2NjIwNDY1MzUt/MTMyOS5qcGVn.jpeg
Fan-freakin’-tactic.
I saw them three times, but all post-Signals. Nothing in the classic era.
Twice for me, once in 1990 aged 16 (Roll the Bones) and once two decades later. Both exceptional.
Nice!
I guess I should give later Rush more of a chance. My knowledge/interest goes mostly from Signals back…
It is there and you should check it out. Ot is called something different but has some things show related.
The cafe and resort is all I am aware of.
The cafe is real? I wanna go!
I don’t live far from where it was partially filmed. Was just there last weekend.
Recognize any places or landmarks? Is there a Big Ed’s Gas Farm?
“Damn good coffee”.
Ha! Ha! My wife has learned that many times I reply to her in lyrics. She always asks me “what was that from”. Sometimes I have to say “Me. Just now.”
Me and mine do that to each other too!
Also, it took about ten years of marriage before my wife saw the original "Twin Peaks." It was only then that she realized that ten percent of everything I had ever said to her was a Twin Peaks quote.
Yes it has. I remember well because it was my high school years and those were memorable. Lots of life going on then.
If I knew
What I know now
When I was younger…
I saw them three times starting with Power Windows. The last time I saw them they did the whole Moving Pictures album. They were a great band.
"I saw them three times starting with Power Windows."
—I think that is the same for me. Although maybe it was Grace Under Pressure first. It's been so long!
LUCKY!!!!! I’ve seen them 8 times but not that early on…I’m jealous!! 😘🥰
A buddy of mine taught himself to play the bass in high school. While we all loved 'Tom Sawyer', Don was a total 2112 fanatic. I didn't get it. Probably too high or distracted. I have 2112 on my most often used playlist, but must have limited it to 'Overture' & 'Temples of Syrinx'.
As I read the lyrics, possibly for the first time today (I'm 55, 1987 HS grad), it reminded me of "Jonathan Livingston Seagull" which was my favorite book as a kid.
Jonathan is trying to learn to fly faster, and has this crazy breakthrough when he realizes falcons have short wings.
He immediately climbs 2,000 feet, tucks his wings, and dives...SCREAMS through the entire flock...and is called before the 'league of elders' (or something like that...been 30+ years since I read it). Only two reasons to be called before the elders--either glory of shame. Jonathan is confident it must be glory--by flying this fast, he can teach his flock to dive deep to fish, freeing them from the scraps of man.
...it is for shame and he is banished. If you've never read it, pick it up. You can read it in under an hour, and it has a similar message as 2112.
The powerful are always anxious and are threatened by vibrancy, life, curiosity, energy.
Wisdom is when we remember our youthful fancies, and incorporate them into practices instead of revolutions.
Thank you for this Christopher. A decent distraction this afternoon. Need to get back to work
bsn
Gads, I may have actually gotten something right for a change. It’s been—ahem—a few decades, but I recall reading “Anthem” for Grade 11 English.
Thanks for provoking a fond memory. Slightly more idealistic times.
Be idealistic again. Good things are coming!
With the caveat of some stormy seas between here and there, I am inclined to agree with you and shall heed your advice.
We are the ones who will build a bridge over those seas…that our children might walk across in peace and freedom.
To borrow from Clif High, we may live to see sci fi world.
May we be the ones to BUILD it.
I’ve always gotten an Ayn Rand vibe from 2112.
I just learned today that it was meant as an homage to Rand’s “Anthem.”
I need to read "Anthem". Read "Fountainhead" and "Atlas Shrugged", but not until I was in my late 20s. Loved them both. Is Anthem where the drop all singular personal pronouns? Interesting.
Richard Bach does not have the heft of Ayn Rand, much more of a hippie/new age kinda vibe--but I still love "Jonathan Livingston Seagull". The overt message is about excellence, it resonates. The deeper message is about love & service. That took a couple of decades to sink in...
bsn
A girlfriend (when I was 19) insisted I read "The Bridge Across Forever." I guess I should read "Jonathan Livingston Seagull" now that I'm a bit older and less callow.
Anthem is really short. I did it on audiobook. Very good.
I also recommend the Christopher Hurt-narrated audiobook narration of "Atlas Shrugged." Really good. Brings it to life!
Thanks Christopher. I read “The Bridge Across Forever” as well—nearly the same age. Maybe 20. “Illusions: The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah” is another Bach book I read and reread as a teen/young man.
I think much of Bach’s allure was I had turned away from Christianity at about 14-ish to become a cynical agnostic for the next 35+ years. In hindsight now, that was just a traumatized kid shaking his fist at God screaming, “WHY!?!?!? WHY!?!?!”
Jordan Peterson’s Biblical Lectures or “The Psychological Significance of the Biblical Stories”—12 or 14 lectures, all 2.5 hours nudged my curiosity in the Bible for the first time in decades. After spending time reading the Bible I found more Truth within than I had expected and more than any other source I had ever read. In short, I made a decision to believe.
I am also an Audible user for the last 20+ years. When I write or say “read a book”, listened is more accurate most of the time. Listening to books is like stealing time. I love it.
Thanks again for a great topic, opened the door to many other interesting thoughts.
bsn
Yeah, man, audiobooks are awesome.
And Peterson will, I believe, be remembered for decades beyond his passing, for the massive influence he had during this time.
Agreed. I bet 30 years from now JBP will be responsible for more men finding faith than Billy Graham. His appeal, at least with the Bible, is both intellectual and moral—not religious. His lectures are secular. Reduces the automatic resistance/walls most of us, almost involuntarily, erect when someone begins to talk God.
bsn
They don’t make bands like Rush or their contemporaries anymore. Those bands were pure talent, consummate artists…the music was as much a part of the performance as the band members! Those were great times.
Let's make some new great times, and lay a path for our kids to do so!
Have loved 2112 for decades! You probably know that Neil Peart considered himself an objectivist and it often shows in Rush lyrics, most of which he penned.
Yeah man!
This is the second Rush song I've done (https://christophercook.substack.com/p/get-rush-anti-communism), but we could easily do others. Red Barchetta for sure would be next.
Got any other recommendations for a future #FMF?
Free Will
Yep, for sure that one!
In fact, I am surprised I have not done it yet!
The Big Money
Marathon
I can’t believe I left out The Trees
No worries, since I already did that one for #FMF!
I think you should consider:
Beneath, Between Behind.
Farewell To Kings
I’ve taken the theme from Clockwork Angels and worked that into a few of my articles as analogies for the technocrats hatching their designs for control. Technically 1907 is still the Steam era, so Frederick Taylor got transmogrified into the Watchmaker.
https://culturalcourage.substack.com/p/rejecting-the-watchmakers
I really enjoy the FreedomMusicFriday - gets the creative juices flowing.
Nice job focusing on Taylorism. Not many people discuss his influence, which you rightly point out is larger than people know.
I just ordered an audio CD version of "Clockwork Angels"—thanks!
And yeah, so many Rush songs to do!
But first—got to finish (and start) the Distributed Nation.
Thanks brother!
Enjoy Clockwork Angels - Neil and Kevin Anderson wrote an adaptation, for a Rush fan it’s a must read. There are a lot moments interlaced with a lyric or a name from their anthology.
Oh, did I not just buy the adaptation version? 🤣🤣
Echoes with the sounds of salesman.😂
Bastille Day
Enter Nous
Subdivisions
Red Sector A
Territories - more awesome lyrics.
Oh dang, good one. I tend to think of Rush as ending with Signals, but of course that is not true.
The Big Money
He was an avid reader…very studious
When I was young this (and many other awesome rock anthems) felt like battle music for a battle that was yet to come. The battle is upon us! Armor up! Also Rush is huge here in the land of the Trailer Park Boys 😎
There are a few other such anthems to dig on in here: https://christophercook.substack.com/t/freedommusicfriday
Right on! The next gale that sweeps from the north will bring to our ears the clash of resounding arms!
Bubbles sing great back up vocals.
https://youtu.be/0X_wUflADA8?si=bfO-Cd5dm7qG2-qo
Classic.
That was great!
Awesome thanks!
🙏🏻💜🙏🏻
These guys should have movies made from some of their projects.
💯💯
❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
Attention all planets of the Solar Federation…
My 12 minute epic The Passing Of The Law has an instrumental intro of all the themes and ends with a voice … many other ways inspired by 2112
Can I listen?
Yes. But I’m now inspired to go and remix it with the Waves plugins as I intended.
Watch this space. 😀
Loving your writing btw
Cool, sounds good, and thanks!
We …. Have …. Assumed …. Control..
First of all, you see my avatar, correct?
You surprise me Chris, I would never have guessed that you might be a Rush fan, and strange that I do not know why I would think that. Could it be that I simply judged a book by its cover?
Neil was a great lyricist.
I have always loved Atlas Shrugged - and repeatedly tried to understand those that both bashed her personally and the masterpiece so furiously.
Finally, may I suggest that the live version of 2112 (All the World's a Stage) is much better than the studio version... which is also strange because I generally prefer the perfect arrangement and mixing of the studio release. (Except for maybe Seconds Out (Genesis) which is FANTASTIC!).
“First of all, you see my avatar, correct?”
—I do now. Greatest drummer of all time!
“Could it be that I simply judged a book by its cover?”
—What was it about my “cover” that said “not a Rush fan”? I am very curious!
I’ve been listening to them since the end of 9th grade. Saw ‘em three times (though it was all after the classic era, unfortunately).
“Neil was a great lyricist.”
—💯
I remember I started hearing people opine that “Rush is for 13 year olds” and similar sentiments, and that just made me like them more. I think the reason was similar to the reason people like to hate on “Atlas Shrugged”: they cannot handle the truth!
"I am very curious."
Me too, sorry to say, and I have no answer for you. Perhaps its an image I built of you through all I have read of yours. But that still doesn't make sense to me - now that I think even more about who might appreciate the Canadien power trio.
I mentioned "The Trees", if you are unfamiliar, I suggest giving it a listen - it is a short piece and oh so applicable to this world.
Otherwise,, you may "Conform or be cast out" - fuck yeah... on the money.
Subdivisions was my gateway drug—the first Rush song I liked!
Oh, and my rocker wife totally digs Rush too.
I recommend listening to ALL of RUSH’S albums…there’s lots of truths and pointing out the bullshit of the MAN!!! Thanks for the reminder…now I’m pulling out all the albums and having a RUSH revival day!!! Woo Hoo!!! First up…Red Barchetta!!! 🥰
RIP NEIL!!! 🤘
Red Barchetta is one of my five favorite Rush songs!
The very, very simple and profound The Trees, and Permanent Waves is a masterpiece. Oh, and Xanadu (Farewell to Kings) - glorious.
Vital Signs off of Moving Pictures is absolute perfection.
I did “The Trees” for an earlier #FMF. Excellent choice.
“Xanadu” is one of my faves.
Red Barchetta is what got me really into rush…I liked 2112 but Moving Pictures is what really sucked me in…awesome song!!!
I was listening to Rush just the other day.
Many moons ago I used CDex to rip all of my CDs to uncompressed WAV files.
I have those puppies on an SD card in my phone, so I can listen to stuff like Rush in CD quality anywhere. 😉👉
Also, I can always downsample songs to MP3 to put them on other devices as well.
CDs would get damaged over the years, and some are VERY hard to come by anymore.
I have been thinking about this very subject recently. I want it all on a flash drive or something.
CDex is an open source program that can run on Windows.
One of its coolest features is “panic mode.” Say you have a disc that's scratched, where it skips, it can go over that area multiple times and usually recover all the data!
I ripped my stuff to WAV files because they're uncompressed. Which makes them rather large files, but they're bit-per-bit copies of the originals (literally what was on the CD). From there you can do whatever you want with them.
I've used it since the early 2000s, however the newer versions are sketchy. You'd want to find one of the older revisions from before 2005. You can find old free software on “oldversion.com”
Once you rip all the songs you want, just copy them to a few flash drives, or external hard drives, and you're all set. 😉👉
I will need to find a Mac version of that, or its equivalent. Thanks!
lol…I just kept all my records…and btw…the band released all of them on vinyl 😁
Oh, I know. But I just sold my last BSR McDonald record player. I don't have any vinyl anyway, so it was collecting dust. 😑
However, it's said that if the vinyl is not damaged, the sound reproduction quality is far superior to digital.
I believe that because I remember listening to lost of music on vinyl when I was a kid, and it was always super crisp, and the stereo separation was unreal compared to cassette tapes. I was listening with big Sansui over-ear headphones.
CDs are good, but unscratched vinyl is awesome! 😉👉
I think I have 100% of my old vinyl. But I suspect that 0% of it is unscratched!
Yeah, that’s usually the case. Keeping things like that safe for years is almost impossible.
It was and is…I notice a sound quality difference…most of my collection is mostly unscratched…so I’m lucky…I don’t know how I managed that over the years…and I inherited my parents collection and theirs were in pretty good shape too
That's awesome. My parents had a good deal of records, but not too many. Most of them were in "pretty good" shape, but I think my sister has them.
I would be cool to come across some of them later perhaps, if I come into some money! 😂🤣
I saw a documentary one time about the world's largest collection of vinyl records, and it's some dude that lives in Brazil who owns them all. He had to hire people just to maintain and catalog his collection.
Here's an article about it.
https://thevinylfactory.com/features/inside-the-worlds-biggest-record-collection-an-interview-with-zero-freitas/
Sorry Christopher, I can't handle the "music". It is way too chaotic for my taste. Metal has never been my forte. Except for some symphonic metal like Nightwish. I couldn't handle the first three minutes to get to the lyrics. Geezzz...we have different taste here that's for sure. Maybe I need to go smoke some mary jane, which I've only done twice in 70 years or do some "schrooms" and then try again. More to my liking and it's only 3 minutes and I can understand every word. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9UyMAuD88ZY Or how about Struggle Jennings...God We Need You Now https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sV15bz_QDfU
Yup, we have different taste!
My taste is better than yours! NA NA NA NAAA NAA!!!! LMAO! And people taste like chicken. Surely there wasn't much else a LION eats in this environment you know.
😆
I'm going to prove it. Watch your message center.
There’s really no need.
Come on, just a little kidding here. Don't take everything too serious. It's on the way. You should swap it as a joke.
You need to trade your profile picture with one where you are smiling! You look like a "Terminator" in that picture! LOL!
I am a Terminator.
The reason I don’t have a picture of me up is it makes all the women get hot and I’m married.
I've had rush music in my library. 2112 is a masterpiece of creativity, the music today is for master bating because it's that useless.
Maybe part of the problem is that there is a lot more music out now, so you have to look harder through all the crap to find the good stuff. But there is some good stuff out there.
Actually, there is a book that inspired Rush to write 2112. Acknowledged in fine print on the album cover.
A book by none other than the infamous "Ayn Rand." Who wrote the book "Anthem."
And that's the
"Rest of the Story"
Oh wow, yeah—I guess it is rather similar to "Anthem" in many ways. Thanks!
Which was a tribute to Ayn Rand
❤️