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Disc Chronicles
Rush's
Alexander Ha
Last month, Canada's
premiere rock group, Rush,
released a collection drawing form
each of its sixteen previous
albums. Entitled Chronicles, the
2 CD compilatioon is their first
one to include both studio as well
as live material.
For the price of about $2B one
gets not only digital remastering,
but also a healthy dose of Rush
material. The 28 songs add up to
almost two and a half hours
worth of music.
Rush, the group's self titled
and produced first album, rendered
the hit, "Finding My Way," an
appropriate opener for
Chronicles.
Rush's first album was too
successful a release to be ignored
by Mercury Records, who signed
them a long term deal. Aside
from a recording contract by a
"Chronicles" provides an impressive
overview of Rush's evolution and
showcases the band's greatest works.
major label, there was another
change for the group. Drummer
John Rutsey decided to leave
Rush to pursue other interests.
Before the band's next album,
Fly By Night, (whose title song
appears on this compilation),
Neil Peart had joined bassist
Geddy Lee, guitarist Alex
Lifeson, and replaced Rutsey as
Rush's new drummer.
It did not take long for Peart
to exert a strong influence on Lee
and Lifeson. He provided the
impetus for such concept albums
as 2112, A Farewell to Kings,
and Hemispheres. Songs from the
concept albums, which worked
together to form a post
apocalyptic trilogy, include "The
2112 Overture," "The Temples of
Syrinx," "Closer to the Heart,"
and "The Trees."
With the release of Permanent
Waves in 1980, Rush made the
transition to more catchy FM
radio-oriented songs like
"Freewill" and "Spirit of the
Radio."
In the following year, Rush
picked up right where they left
off by releasing Moving Pictures,
which yielded such compelling
songs as "Tom Sawyer," "Red
Rarchetta," and "Limelight."
Coming next week:
The Collegian
entertainment section puts
in the front row.
you
career
About Permanent Waves and
Moving Pictures, bassist Geddy
Lee said in Chronicles' liner
notes. "It was time to stop the
concept stories [and] to come out
of the fog for a while and put
down something concrete."
Riding the crest of the wave
of their two previous albums,
Rush released what turned out to
be their most popular live
collection, Exit... Stage Left ,
which is represented on
Chronicles by "A Passage to
Bangkok."
Arguably, their next album,
Signals, was as notable as any of
their previous releases, but for
some reason did not receive the
same commercial success as
Permanent Waves, Moving
Pictures, or even Exit... Stage
Left. &gnats supplies two
brilliant songs, "Subdivisions"
and "New World Man," for
Chronicles.
After Signals, Rush took a
two-year break from recording
only to return with albums more
concerned with political issues.
Grace Under Pressure contained
two songs about nuclear war
including the respectable
"Manhattan Project," and then
shifted to their worries of greed in
"The Big Money."
Rush's fourteenth album,
Hold Your Fire, gives Chronicles
the hit "Time Stand Still" and the
dynamic "Force Ten."
Having arrived at the end of a
six year creative writing session,
a live album was the next step. A
Show of Hands was released as
the band prepared for its next
phase. The final song on
Chronicles is the cut "Show
Don't Tell" from last year's issue,
Presto.
Although Chronicles is no
substitute for a large collection of
Rush albums, it does provide an
impressive overview of the
group's evolution and their best
material along the way. For any
Rush fan who is not a fanatic
about the group and does not plan
to buy all sixteen of their
released, Chronicles is definitely
the way to go.
The Collegian
New film Pacific Heights
anything but calm
b Christi Luden
The Collegian
The perfect con-artist finally
meets his match. Destroyipg
dreams and lives seems to be his
game until he tries to destroy a
feisty woman and her temper
ridden boyfriend.
Michael Keaton portrays the
suave con-artist. Melanie Griffith
and Matthew Modine play Patty
and Drake, a happy and
enterprising couple who start a
wonderful life together. Then
Hayes steps into the picture in
Pacific Heights.
Patty and Drake decide they
want to combine their funds and
move in together. When a realtor
shows them a Victorian mansion
for $750,000 they fall in love
with the idea of restoring it.
Since it comes complete with
two rental units, they can afford
the mortgage payments.
After restoration, the search
for tenants begins. A Chinese
couple is the first to move in.
Then, after a mishap with another
ay •
R+
A
A RTQA RV E D
COLLEGE JEWELRY Payment Plans Available 111 igai
tenant-to-be, Carter Hayes
(Keaton) flashes his money,
gives a few unreliable references,
and takes over the studio
apartmem
"Takes over" is the key
phrase. He moves in, changes the
locks, doesn't pay his rent, and
won't answer the multiple
Review
knockings on his door. And, by
law, the happy couple can't do a
thing.
The film goes through a series
of bizarre and saddening scenes at
the beginning. It then seems to
slack off in the excitement area,
but picks up again for a well
deserved and "happy" ending.
All the acting is done almost
BEHREND BOOKSTORE
OCTOBER 15 & 16
Thursday, October 11, 1990
to perfection.
Keaton combines calmness,
anger, and deception into the
ultimate psychotic con-man.
Griffith portrays a sweet and
loving woman, but is tough
enough to seek revenge when her
life is shattered. She's also the
fix-it partner behind the
restoration of the house.
Modine is the typical male
protecting his property. His
terrible temper is the source
behind a lot of violent scenes,
but his loving side is brought out
in the end.
Director John Schlesinger also
does a superb job. He combines
oddness and flare with a great
storyline to produce scenes that
make you flinch and jump.
As a whole, Pacific Heights
was a great movie. It wasn't too
gory or heart-thumping scary, but
contained small doses of each to
add excitement to a well thought
out storyline. It's on the list of
must-sees in my book although
other critics haven't given it
many top notch reviews.
10-4 pin