Hidden Treasures - Darktoberfest Part I

[Scott]

I want to spend the rest of October playing songs that are thematically dark, scary, evil, what have you... sounds fun right? It all leads up to Halloween and its all in fun, so I think I have a couple topics that you may find interesting. Like this first one.


As far as I know Rush is the only Rock band to have recorded a tetralogy (Jon, please correct me here). But its essentially a series of 4 related songs, usually associated with opera. Now before you cite the Saga chapters, there's 8 of those so they don't qualify unless there's something called a double tetralogy (Jon would know). Now onto the topic of the month, and this week it's Fear!


"Fear" is a set of four songs by the band Rush. The composition consists of Part I: "The Enemy Within" (from 1984's Grace Under Pressure), Part II: "The Weapon" (from 1982's Signals), Part III: "Witch Hunt" (from 1981's Moving Pictures) and Part IV: "Freeze" (from 2002's Vapor Trails). Parts I, II, and III were released in reverse order, while Part IV was released a little more than 18 years after Part I. The songs do not follow a set storyline. Instead, they deal with topics relating to the emotion of fear.


In a 1994 interview, Neil Peart describes what inspired the "Fear" Series:

The idea for the trilogy (remember this was way before it became a tetralogy) was suggested by an older man telling that he didn't think life was ruled by love, or reason, or money, or the pursuit of happiness -- but by fear. This smart-but-cynical guy's position was that most people's actions are motivated by fear of being hungry, fear of being hurt, fear of being alone, fear of being robbed, etc., and that people don't make choices based on hope that something good will happen, but in fear that something bad will happen.

I reacted to this the way all of us tend to react to generalities: 'Well, I'm not like that!' But then I started thinking about it more, watching the way people around me behaved, and I soon realized that there was something to this viewpoint, So I sketched out the three (you forgot that this was way before it became a tetralogy didn't you?) 'theatres of fear,' as I saw them: how fear works inside us ("The Enemy Within"), how fear is used against us ("The Weapon"), and how fear feeds the mob mentality ("Witch Hunt").

As it happened, the last theme was easiest to deal with, so it was written first, and consequently appeared first on record, and the other two followed in reverse order for the same reason.


PLAYLIST --> http://www.podsnack.com/CA69EFD9E8C/av19sucu

	Grace Under Pressure 1984 Part I - The Enemy Within Generally acknowledged as one of Rush's darkest albums, Grace Under Pressure was thematically influenced by the growing tensions in the Cold War at the time. Consequently, the album's running theme is pressure and how humans act under different kinds of pressure. In songs like "Between the Wheels" and "The Body Electric", Peart's lyrics explore the pressure put on by life as a whole. In "Afterimage", he describes the impressions left by a loved one that dies suddenly. One track, "Red Sector A," is notable for its allusions to the Holocaust and concentration camps, inspired by Geddy Lee's memories of his mother's stories about the liberation of Bergen-Belsen, where she was held prisoner. While the album's opening track "Distant Early Warning" has been interpreted as dealing with the pressure involving the aftermath of nuclear holocaust, Peart demurred in a contemporaneous interview, saying, "It's about a lot of stuff".
	Signals 1982 Part II - The Weapon The opening line to this song "We've got nothing to fear - but fear itself?" is taken from the third sentence of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's First Inaugural Address on March 4, 1933 - "So first of all let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear. . .is fear itself. . . nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance."
	Moving Pictures 1981 Part III - Witch Hunt According to the Rush biography Visions, the saying at the beginning was purposely mixed so it could not be understood. The idea was to add to the feeling of fear. It was created using sounds of the band screaming outside the studio. Vocalist Geddy Lee told The Plain Dealer newspaper in a 2011 interview the song's message is even more relevant today than when it was first recorded: "It's one of those songs that means as much today, if not more, considering what's gone on in the world with racial profiling and all these different issues. The sentiment of that song is as appropriate as ever." The song was recorded the same night that John Lennon was shot in New York. The band was right in the middle of laying down the tune when they heard the tragic news.
	Vapor Trails (Remixed) 2013 Part IV - Freeze Much of the recordings were from one-off jam sessions and many of the original takes from those sessions were used to construct the songs. Rush made extensive use of computers and music editing software to piece the jam session recordings into songs. Neil Peart remarked... Eventually Geddy began to sift through the vast number of jams they had created, finding a verse here, a chorus there, and piecing them together. Often a pattern had only ever been played once in passing, but through the use of computer tools it could be repeated or reworked into a part. Since all the writing, arranging, and recording was done on computer, a lot of time was spent staring at monitors, but most of the time technology was our friend, and helped us to combine spontaneity and craftwork. Talk was the necessary interface, of course, and once Geddy and Alex had agreed on basic structures, Geddy would go through the lyrics to see what might suit the music and "sing well," then come to me to discuss any improvements, additions, or deletions I could make from my end.

[RJhog (Admin)]

This looks very interesting.  I'll have to set aside some time so I can really listen to the lyrics.  I love darkness in songs.

[Niels (Mod)]

I thought it was full of german songs? That's what Octoberfest means around here :-) I'll be back.

[Scott]

I knew that but I was too drunk to make the connection when I posted this...

[Jon]

Hmmm............

Hmm.......

Hm.....

Nope, I got nothing. If I remember correctly, Wagner did a tetralogy, but that was many years ago and I guess it isn't "rock". Maybe it was for its time.

Never really paid attention to the songs having something in common. But, if you say they do and Rush says they do, then I guess they do. To have them in no semblance of an order is just craaaazy. Maybe that was their intention. They're Rush and they['re smart. 

So, all these songs are evil so of course I like it. Because it's evil.

Just curious, why didn't you use "Freeze" off of the original recording? Or, better yet, include both of them here. 

Hey, that would be an interesting list. Old version and then remixed versions. You heard it here first. You cannot say it was your idea. It's mine. MINE. 

Interesting list this week, I kinda learned something new. I guess.

[Scott]

I loved Vapor Trails when it came out (One Little Victory is still a great track) but it was hard to listen to only because of the production/mix.  The remixed edition fixed everything and the songs now shine as they should, therefore when I post a track from Vapor Trail I will default to the remixed version unless there is a valid reason to go back to the original.  Didn't see it working that way for this list... Posting both is a great idea however!

[Jon]

I know.

It was my idea.

[Niels (Mod)]

Grace Under Pressure is one of my favorite RUSH-albums. Maybe only second to 2112. I even like this song, though they are doing their reggae-sound a bit, which I'm not that fond of. No, it's a great album. Distant Early Warning and Red Sector A are AWESOME, awesome tracks!! AWEsome!!!!

This song could easily had appeared on GUP. Signals is a bit harder for me to love, and I don't know why? It's not one of their worst albums, but not in top 5 either. This song is kind of the same way, not bad, pretty good in fact, but not among their best.

I think I posted this song years back, where you, among others, Scott, said that it was one of the weakest tracks from MP, or that you would had picked another track. It has always been among my favorites from MP. I've got a few live-DVD's where they do one or two great live-performances of this song.

Unlike you guys, I'm not that much a fan of RUSH's "after 1987"-albums, EXCEPT the newest one. That was an awesome "comeback" IMO. I don't hate it, since it's RUSH, and they are always better than 90% of the bands out there. I just don't think, the songs are that strong, including this one. Maybe someday, I see the light, if I get some time, and listen repeatingly to those albums. It certainly sounds better than 99.99% of the "new" music being released these days.

[Meow]

[Scott]

That describes "fear" perfectly!

[RJhog (Admin)]

Quite cool bro.  Unfortunately, I had to listen to this at work, which obviously means I can't get a one hundred percent uninterrupted listening experience.  Still, I enjoyed it.

I liked all four of the songs.  I didn't really get that "scary" feel from the songs themselves.  So I looked up the lyrics.  And they did have some scary stuff in them.  I don't own Grace Under Pressure, which I think I need to remedy.  I totally dig the outline of it above and I've always liked the song Distant Early Warning.  The theme sounds fascinating, so I'm gonna put this one on my wish list.  And it's only 4.99.

From the reading above, Vapor Trails really sounds pieced together.  Does the finished album sound that way?  I have it but I don't think I've ever listened to it.  

I also thought about what four songs I would pick from my favorite band if I were trying to put together a scary playlist. Here goes:

1. Almost Human (Love Gun)

2. Not For The Innocent (Lick It Up)

3. God Of Thunder (Destroyer)

4. Unholy (Revenge)

Of course, they are all sung by Gene, but Paul did write GOT.  Anyway, that's all I've got...

[RJhog (Admin)]

Forgot to say that Black Sabbath (the song) by Black Sabbath (the band) is probably the scariest song I've ever heard.