SOUNDTRACK: RUSH-A Farewell to Kings (1977).
Although I recently said that Caress of Steel is one of my favorite Rush albums, I’m really torn between a number of their albums from the 1970s. I’ve loved A Farewell to Kings since the time I got it: it’s over the top, and it showcases all of the band’s strengths.
The opener “A Farewell to Kings” features a wonderful classical guitar intro that morphs into a heavy rocking masterpiece. There’s time changes galore and it’s all over in just about 5 minutes.
It’s followed by “Xanadu,” one of Rush’s all time great epics. Tubular bells, cool guitar effects, Rush’s first great use of keyboards-as-effects, even a cowbell solo all open this song with sufficient grandeur for what’s to come. A slow vocal intro leads to a super fast exploration of Coleridge’s “Kubla Khan.” Whenever people wondered why Neil’s drumset was so big or why Alex (and Geddy) had doublenecked guitars, they needed only listen to this to be amazed that three men could play it all. 11 minutes long and not a wasted second.
One of Rush’s biggest hits and perennial favorite “Closer to the Heart” comes next and it still sounds pretty fresh all these years later. “Cinderella Man” is an overlooked track on this disc, but it showcases Rush’s drift away from the individualism vs state of 2112, and move toward the individualism of doing what’s right for all: “he held up his riches to challenge the hungry.” It also features a blistering solo from Alex. “Madrigal” is a very short acoustic song, quite a departure for the time but a nice delicate track before….
“Cygnus X-1.” The other epic on this disc. And right from the start you know you’re in new territory here. A fully distorted voice, bells echoing like they are floating at sea (or in outer space), all kinds of build-up lead to a noisy bass line coming from far away in the depths of space. And after 2 and a half minutes of build up, the whole band kicks in with this off kilter heavy rocker. It’s basically the story of a space ship flying into a black hole. It also features some of Geddy’s most screechy vocals. I wish I could remember the exact quote, but my friend Joe’s bandmate had a wonderfully derogatory description of the end of this song.
But aside from the end, the main body is great. From the 5 minute mark, the song is a catchy, driving song as the Rocinante flies through the galaxy. From the 7 minute mark, the song is seemingly caught in the black hole, as the song drifts about, compressing the song into a manic session of fast fast fast riffs and Geddy’s tortured screams. It’s pretty intense, and guaranteed to alienate as many people as it wins.
The album features so much experimentation, and it’s wonderful to see a band with so much creative energy release a disc with so many fantastic moments. Very few records take risks like this anymore.
[READ: March 21, 2010] The Color of Heaven
This final book of the Kim Dog Hwa’s trilogy is a wonderful conclusion to this sweet story. If you’ve read my previous two posts about these books, you know that this is the story of, Ehwa, a young woman as she matures in rural Korea several generations ago. By this third book, she has turned 17 and has met the love of her life. Sadly for her, Duksam has had to leave suddenly. At the end of book two, he set sail in part because he was fleeing an angry mob, but also in an attempt to make money as a fisherman so that he can save up for his beloved Ehwa.
The earlier sections of this volume show Ehwa and her mother waiting and waiting and waiting. Ehwa waits for Duksam, while her mother waits for the picture man, a salesman who returns to her whenever he can (which is not often enough for her). And, here is where Kim Dong Hwa’s mastery shines. How interesting can it be to watch two women waiting for men to show up? And yet through a combination of wonderful drawing skills, subtle facial expressions and amazing backgrounds, rather than being bored, you feel their longing and the helplessness of their position.
What was nice about this final book was that there are no scary negative surprises here. Our women have suffered enough and they are ready to settle down in the next stage of their lives.
We have great sympathy for Ehwa’s mother who is losing her daughter, and yet we are also elated at her excitement that her daughter is getting married to a decent man who loves her and can look after her. And watching Ehwa going stir crazy waiting for her man to come home, still unsure of what her mother will think of him (because they have not met), keeping things silent while wanting to burst…it’s incredibly moving.
The final chapters which show their wedding and the “honeymoon” are really beautiful. Seeing her in her traditional wedding outfit, she’s actually glowing (and how you do that with a few black lines is beyond me). And the final scenes where they are finally joined together, in page after page of dialogue-free, metaphorical images, it’s just breathtaking.
This is a thoroughly enjoyable and very satisfying trilogy. It should elevate anyone’s opinion of comics (regardless of what you think of them already). And, anyone looking for a beautiful, coming of age story would be hard pressed to find one more engaging than this one.
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