Cygnus X-1 (the whole piece) and Xanadu
Printed From: Progarchives.com
Category: Progressive Music Lounges
Forum Name: Prog Recommendations/Featured albums
Forum Description: Make or seek recommendations and discuss specific prog albums
URL: http://www.progarchives.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=123327
Printed Date: April 23 2024 at 10:00
Software Version: Web Wiz Forums 11.01 - http://www.webwizforums.com
Topic: Cygnus X-1 (the whole piece) and Xanadu
Posted By: softandwet
Subject: Cygnus X-1 (the whole piece) and Xanadu
Date Posted: June 26 2020 at 07:57
|
Are they connected to each other, since the riff of Xanadu is kind of the same as the one in Cygnus X-1 Book II? ------------- So don’t evade the surgeon’s blade Cos the answer could be in your mind Maybe one cut and we’ll find We’re just a wavelength behind But we are entwined And I know what you need |
Replies:
Posted By: chopper
Date Posted: June 27 2020 at 04:33
|
They're different stories - Xanadu is obviously from the Kubla Khan poem and the story of Cygnus X-1 continues on Hemispheres. I've never noticed the riffs being that similar (depending on which ones you're referring to). |
Posted By: Jaketejas
Date Posted: June 27 2020 at 18:48
| I agree. That Samuel Taylor Coleridge poem which inspired Xanadu is an enjoyable read. I remember the first couple of lines ... In Xanadu did Kublai Khan a stately pleasure dome decree, where Alph the sacred ran ... through caverns measureless to man ... and down to a sunless sea. Or is it sunlit sea? I can’t remember. Something about ... twice five miles of fertile ground ... yada yada yada. It’s good! Very descriptive. Got me reading some poets like Walt Whitman at the time. There is a riff in Circumstances that reminds me a bit of Xanadu. It has a chord form that moves upward on the fretboard and keeps some open string notes while the one in Xanadu sounds more like a Carcassi style classical guitar riff (thumb picked on low strings) in first position, although he probably uses a pick. It also relies on some open strings but doesn’t move position. Both are beautiful riffs using open strings. |
Posted By: Hrychu
Date Posted: June 27 2020 at 20:33
Yes, they are. They're both written by the band Rush.  I think they just loved writing in 7/8 time. ------------- Bez pierdolenia sygnał zerwie, to w realia wychodź w hełmie! |
softandwet wrote:Posted By: FatherChristmas
Date Posted: July 11 2020 at 05:58
|
Sorry for being off-topic, but Rush could have written far more interesting music than they did about Kublai Khan in Xanadu. Virtually unknown Kagans of the Mongol Empire, for instance, Mongke Khan, achieved far more than he did. Mongke Khan conquered the entire Ayyubid Sultanate (now all Middle East + Egypt, whose sultans were descended from the legendary Saladin), not to mention Korea and Dali, a small bit of China (pun intended). All Kublai Khan did finish of the already weakened Chinese Song Empire (his predecessors had already conquered half of it) and twice failed to invade Japan. Unimpressive.
------------- "Music is the wine that fills the cup of silence" - Robert Fripp "I am an anti-Christ" - Johnny Rotten |
Posted By: richardh
Date Posted: July 12 2020 at 01:08
yeah what a waste of space....he should have tried much harder
|
Posted By: iluvmarillion
Date Posted: July 23 2020 at 23:56
| I've always thought they were related and in the world of CD's you could have put the two together to form one album. I wouldn't change one note on either album, just put the two together. |
Posted By: someone_else
Date Posted: July 24 2020 at 00:11
|
I cannot think of any other connection than Xanadu and Book I being on the same album. ------------- 
|
Posted By: Blacksword
Date Posted: July 24 2020 at 00:52
|
Never noticed any connection. ------------- Ultimately bored by endless ecstasy! |