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Moving Pictures (album)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Moving Pictures | |||||
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| Studio album by Rush | |||||
| Released | January 30, 1981 | ||||
| Recorded | October - November 1980 at Le Studio, Morin Heights, Quebec | ||||
| Genre | Progressive rock Hard rock |
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| Length | 40:04 | ||||
| Label | Anthem Records (Canada) Mercury Records |
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| Producer | Rush and Terry Brown | ||||
| Professional reviews | |||||
| Rush chronology | |||||
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Moving Pictures is the eighth studio album by Canadian rock band Rush, released in 1981 (see 1981 in music). The album was recorded and mixed at Le Studio, Morin Heights, Quebec.
A classic rock album, Moving Pictures became the band's biggest selling album in the U.S. hitting #3 and remains the band's most popular studio recording to date (certified Quadruple Platinum (4 million copies sold) on January 27, 1995). 2112 was certified platinum first.
Following the formula of their previous album, Permanent Waves, Moving Pictures follows a more radio-friendly format and includes the hit single "Tom Sawyer", as well as other radio standards such as "Red Barchetta" and "Limelight".
Contents |
Work on the album began in August 1980 at Stony Lake, Ontario. "The Camera Eye" was the first to be written, followed by "Tom Sawyer," "Red Barchetta," "YYZ," (correctly pronounced "Y-Y-Zed") and "Limelight." "Tom Sawyer" grew from a melody that Lee had been using to set up his synthesizers at sound checks, then was forgotten until they were searching for a part in that song. The intro for "YYZ", the IATA code for Pearson International Airport in Toronto, was inspired by the airport Morse code sent out by a beacon at the lake. Then at Phase One studios with producer Terry Brown, they began recording demos. Songs were then polished in October by playing them live on a warm-up tour. Then they started the main recording at Le Studio in Quebec. "Red Barchetta" was recorded in one take, while others took many. They had problems with equipment failures and finished three days behind schedule.[1] [2]
With a title reference to Mark Twain's fictional character, "Tom Sawyer" is an abstract commentary on a free-thinking "modern day warrior". Likely Rush's best-selling single, it is also a mainstay in Rush's live show. Lyrics for this track were written in collaboration with Max Webster lyricist Pye Dubois.
The second song on Moving Pictures is "Red Barchetta". Lyrics were inspired by the short story "A Nice Morning Drive" [1] by Richard S. Foster. Peart, however, has reported that the car that inspired the song's title is a Ferrari 166 MM Barchetta.
Next is the Grammy-nominated instrumental "YYZ". The song's title is the IATA Airport Code for Toronto Pearson International Airport. It is played repeatedly in Morse code (-.--/-.--/--..) at the beginning of the song. A staple within their live-performance repertoire, "YYZ" is widely seen as a signature Rush song, and the band's most popular instrumental; it was featured as a playable song in Guitar Hero II.
"Limelight" is another perennial radio favorite. The lyrics are autobiographical, based on Peart's own dissatisfactions with fame and its intrusions into personal life. The song contains two self-references: one, the line "All the world's indeed a stage", references their live album All the World's a Stage (as well as the famous line by William Shakespeare) while the line "caught in the camera eye" references the next track, "The Camera Eye". Alex Lifeson's guitar solo on the track is often hailed as one of his finest performances.
Side two of the original vinyl release opened with "The Camera Eye", which would be Rush's last "epic" song, clocking in at almost eleven minutes. Lyrically and musically it is an attempt to capture the energy and moods of two of the English-speaking world's great cities: New York (first verse) and London (second verse). Unlike all the other songs on the album it has never been performed live since the Moving Pictures / Exit Stage Left tours of 1981/82 (and even more sparingly played during the Signals tour of 1983). It usually tops internet polls for the song which fans would most like to see the band perform live again. The title and general thematics of "The Camera Eye" lyrics were borrowed from the work of John Dos Passos, one of Peart's favorite authors.
The sixth song "Witch Hunt" initially features voices (that according to Alex Lifeson on In the Studio with Redbeard, which devoted an episode to Moving Pictures, were recorded outside Le Studio in sub-zero temperatures with the band and crew were ranting and raving in a humorous way) and sound effects made by Lee's Oberheim keyboards, before jumping into the rock section of the song. It has producer Hugh Syme's on keyboards, and the entire drum part was recorded twice in one verse, with a percussion section created by recording each sound differently. "Witch Hunt" would become a part of the Fear series of songs, which includes "The Weapon" from Signals, "The Enemy Within" from Grace Under Pressure, and "Freeze" from Vapor Trails.
Rounding out the album is "Vital Signs", which starts off with a distinctive sequencer part made by Lee's OB-X synthesizer, shows distinct reggae flavor—the experimentation with which was likely inspired by The Police. Reggae influences would later creep into tracks found on the band's next studio release Signals.
All songs written by Alex Lifeson, Geddy Lee, and Neil Peart, except where noted
- "Tom Sawyer" (Lifeson, Lee, Peart, Pye Dubois) – 4:33
- "Red Barchetta" – 6:06
- "YYZ" (Lee, Peart) – 4:24
- "Limelight" – 4:19
- "The Camera Eye" – 10:56
- "Witch Hunt (Part III of Fear)" – 4:43
- "Vital Signs" – 4:43
- Geddy Lee - Bass guitar; Mini Moog; Oberheim polyphonic; OB-X, Taurus pedal synthesizer, vocals
- Alex Lifeson - Electric and Acoustic Guitars, Taurus pedals
- Neil Peart - Drums, timbales, gong bass drums, orchestra bells, glockenspiel, tubular bells, wind chimes, cowbells, bell tree, crotales, plywood
- Paul Northfield - Engineer
- Hugh Syme - guest appearance playing synthesizers on "Witch Hunt", art direction, cover concept and design.
- Deborah Samuel - photography
- Robbie Whelan - assistant engineer
- Bob Ludwig - mastering and remastering
- Peter Jensen - digital mastering and editing
Album - Billboard (North America)
| Year | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|
| 1981 | Billboard's Pop Albums | 3 |
| Cover | Information |
|---|---|
"Limelight"
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"Tom Sawyer"
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"Vital Signs"
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Red Barchetta
Written Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson, and Neil Peart Released: 1981
- On the cartoon Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law, the album was used as the highest alert level of a parody of the Homeland Security Advisory System.
- In Brazil, the MacGyver television series used "Tom Sawyer" as its theme music[2]
- Incident at Channel Q, 1986. This movie, directed by Storm Thorgerson, the man responsible for the Pink Floyd covers, is about a quiet suburban neighborhood that declared war on a heavy metal music VJ. During a chase scene they are playing "The Camera Eye" as one of the characters is wearing a Rush t-shirt.[3]
- The album cover is a monument to triple entendre. On the front cover there are movers who are moving pictures. Then there are people crying because the pictures passed by are emotionally "Moving". Finally, the back cover has a film crew making a "moving picture" of the whole scene.[4]
- The album cover was taken in front of the Ontario Legislature Building in Queen's Park, Toronto.
- The making of the album cover was paid by the band since the record company had said it would cost too much to create.
- In the first CD pressings of "Moving Pictures" (released in August of 1983) the first beat of "Tom Sawyer" was omitted by mistake.
- In the original album, credit was given to "Love Man and the Love Machine." In the re-issue this was clarified to credit Peter Jensen and Digital Recording Systems Company. The "Love Machine" was the band's compliment to the sound of the Sony PCM-1600 digital recording system run by Jensen ("Love Man").
Mobile Fidelity Sound Labs issued a Gold CD remaster in 1992. That release is now out of print.[[5]]
A Mercury Records remaster was issued in 1997.
- The tray has a picture of three fingerprints, light blue, pink, and lime green (left to right) with THE RUSH REMASTERS printed in all caps just to the left. All remasters from Moving Pictures through to Hold Your Fire feature this logo, originally found on the cover art of Retrospective II.
- The remastered CD restores all of the original vinyl artwork including the lyrics plus the moving picture of drummer Neil Peart which was missing on the original CD issue.
- ^ Moving Pictures Tourbook
- ^ Power Windows http://www.2112.net/powerwindows