Imagine living in a place where Rush was censored and certain songs were never released as they were deemed "controversial". I was recently browsing the Japanese Rush fansite
Diamonds In The Waste, and was surprised to see that the iconic red star was missing from the cover of the original Korean pressing of
2112. The red star is of course iconic of
the flag of North Korea. According to SRO/Anthem, this was the Korean record label's decision and therefore out of their hands. In addition, I was told that on a related note "Tai Shan" was "dropped from some far eastern pressings" of
Hold Your Fire. Delving into this further, Junya Suzuki from
The Sphere pointed out that other Rush Korean releases have had similar changes due to their anti-establishment political views: "The Weapon" was dropped from
Signals, "Red Lenses" was dropped from
Grace Under Pressure and "Territories" was dropped from
Power Windows. Surprisingly, "Witch Hunt" was apparently included on the Korean pressing of
Moving Pictures, which is odd, as you would think that "those who know what's best for us" would protect their citizens from those dangerous Canadian views!
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Dominion, the third album by US metal band Benedictum, was released March 8th. Included as a bonus track is their cover of "2112 Overture/Temples of Syrinx"; vocalist Veronica Freeman recently discussed how she was once a "closet" Rush fan:
