Rush Album-Pair Discussion Of The Week! (Now with POLL!!! VOTE!!!)

[Orbert]

Isn't it?  But that's rhetorical.  Of course it is.

I whip out that expression ("grok in fullness") every once in a while, just to see who catches it.

[contest_sanity]

Grokin' Them Angels

[Nick]

I fell behind on this, mainly because I've wanted to make sure my gf was around when I was playing the stuff (she's seeing them with my in Oct), finished with HYF, and will hopefully zoom all the way up to T4E this weekend.

[The Letter M]

I fell behind on this, mainly because I've wanted to make sure my gf was around when I was playing the stuff (she's seeing them with my in Oct), finished with HYF, and will hopefully zoom all the way up to T4E this weekend.

It's cool, I totally forgot to update this for a week, so I guess I've given you time to catch-up! Glad to hear you're sharing the journey with your gf!

-Marc.

[The Letter M]

A Show Of Hands was their most "balanced" live album of their first three, it wasn't too raw and loud, but it wasn't too polished and clean. The band found a comfortable medium of live ambiance and perfection and compiled some of their best songs into a live album, and other than the closer "Closer To The Heart", the whole album is new material! And what a spread of material it is, although we only get 1 song from Signals and 2 songs from GUP, 8 of the songs come from the band's then two newest albums, which is okay because they're some of my favorites! It's hard to top live albums like ATWAS and ESL, but I think they did quite a good job on this one.

Different Stages has two unique properties - it's 2-disc live show (the main set) contains, for the first time ever, the complete live performance of "2112" AND it comes with a bonus disc of a show from the 1978 AFTK Tour! Now that most of the main show is taken from a single concert (with some swapped songs from various other shows on the CP and TFE tours), we're treated to a LOT of different songs, not just from that band's 4-album phase (as the previous 3 live albums were). So we get gems like "The Analog Kid" and "Natural Science" (which might've been eliminated from a single-disc show), in addition to the aforementioned full performance of "2112". My only gripe is that we get 7 songs that have already been released live (at least once) in lieu of other newer songs from Presto and Roll The Bones, and even to this day, Presto remains highly under-represented in the live setting. However, we are treated to 11 new songs (out of the 25 they had played live from the Presto-TFE tours), so it's not ALL a big loss.
The REAL treat, however, to this whole set is the 1978 show, where every song is killer. We get a sweet rendition of the "By-Tor"/"Xanadu" medley, as well as one of the band's early "Working Man" Encore medleys, although it saddens me that they had to edit the drum solo. I was okay with them taking away "2112" but the drum solo!!! IT'S THE PROFESSOR!!!

-Marc.

[Phoenix87x]

Both A Show of Hands and Different Stages are two of my favorite live albums of all time.

    and that 3rd disc of Different stages just smokes. 

[KevShmev]

The Test for Echo tour was awesome since this was still pre-internet for all of us who went, so we had no idea what was gonna be played.  Sadly, a deejay on KSHE95, the local hard rock radio station, spoiled it the day before about them playing all of 2112, but Natural Science was still a massive surprise.  I also remember being shocked that they played Resist and not Totem from TFE, as on the Rockline show pre-release for TFE, they spoke glowingly about Totem, while Resist almost seemed like an afterthought, so who knows what happened there. 

[Lowdz]

Two excellent live albums, though I've not played either for a long time (I did watch the dvd of ASOH recently). I've gone off live albums on the whole, but I used to love them.

[dbrooks22]

The Test for Echo tour was awesome since this was still pre-internet for all of us who went, so we had no idea what was gonna be played.  Sadly, a deejay on KSHE95, the local hard rock radio station, spoiled it the day before about them playing all of 2112, but Natural Science was still a massive surprise.  I also remember being shocked that they played Resist and not Totem from TFE, as on the Rockline show pre-release for TFE, they spoke glowingly about Totem, while Resist almost seemed like an afterthought, so who knows what happened there.

   Wasn't pre-internet for me!  Full setlist was on the web, FYI.  I also got the Counterparts tour setlist off the web in '94.  I made a replica mix-tape of it for the drive to the show.

[The Letter M]

The Test for Echo tour was awesome since this was still pre-internet for all of us who went, so we had no idea what was gonna be played.  Sadly, a deejay on KSHE95, the local hard rock radio station, spoiled it the day before about them playing all of 2112, but Natural Science was still a massive surprise.  I also remember being shocked that they played Resist and not Totem from TFE, as on the Rockline show pre-release for TFE, they spoke glowingly about Totem, while Resist almost seemed like an afterthought, so who knows what happened there.

   Wasn't pre-internet for me!  Full setlist was on the web, FYI.  I also got the Counterparts tour setlist off the web in '94.  I made a replica mix-tape of it for the drive to the show.

  Nice! What about the RTB Tour? Did you freak out when they played "Xanadu", then launched into "Superconductor" halfway through?

-Marc.

[King Postwhore]

I believe the website was The National Midnight Star.

[dbrooks22]

The Test for Echo tour was awesome since this was still pre-internet for all of us who went, so we had no idea what was gonna be played.  Sadly, a deejay on KSHE95, the local hard rock radio station, spoiled it the day before about them playing all of 2112, but Natural Science was still a massive surprise.  I also remember being shocked that they played Resist and not Totem from TFE, as on the Rockline show pre-release for TFE, they spoke glowingly about Totem, while Resist almost seemed like an afterthought, so who knows what happened there.

   Wasn't pre-internet for me!  Full setlist was on the web, FYI.  I also got the Counterparts tour setlist off the web in '94.  I made a replica mix-tape of it for the drive to the show.

  Nice! What about the RTB Tour? Did you freak out when they played "Xanadu", then launched into "Superconductor" halfway through?

-Marc.

Counterparts tour was my first 3 Rush shows.  Did that really happen???

[dbrooks22]

I believe the website was The National Midnight Star.

I posted this story in another thread, but some dude on some online Rush forum actually sent me a copy of Counterparts a full TWO MONTHS before the album was released.  No idea who he was or why he did it, but i had the album before anyone.  Just arrived in my mailbox, no questions asked.

[The Letter M]

Counterparts tour was my first 3 Rush shows.  Did that really happen???

Oh unfortunately. at the time, I was only 6 years old, so I didn't know Rush (and I wouldn't until nearly a decade later), but I have read setlists and listened to soundboard boots of that tour, and they really did play "Superconductor" at the half-way point of "Xanadu". They did a similar thing on the Presto Tour, except they went into "YYZ", which was less surprising and jarring. After the CP Tour, where they played "Hemispheres: Prelude" after "Xanadu" (the best of the 3 Xanadu 90's medleys), they laid "Xanadu" to rest until the R30 tour a decade later.

-Marc.

[Nick]

And now, a nearly a decade later again... it's time.

[jammindude]

Never cared for ASOH. 

1) It sounds very stale to me.  The live versions sound *way* too much like the studio versions.  I think the band had become so synth heavy, there was no wiggle room to play things differently.   Half the performance was programmed before the show even started.   At least, that was the way it felt.

2) The *TWO BEST SONGS* from the video were left off the CD.   I would have MUCH rather either had a two disc version, or drop CttH in favor of Territories and Prime Mover. 

3) Other glaring omissions.   WHY...WHY did they not include the complete Fear Trilogy as it stood at the time?  We would have to wait for the P/G soundtrack to be released almost 20 years later!!!   Also.  The live versions of RSA with the explosion after "shouting guards and smoking guns" are far superior than this version.   I remember being instantly disappointed.   It was just one more thing that made this album lose it's "live" feel, and just made it sound like they were recreating the studio versions verbatim.   

Different Stages is a different story.   The highlight of the whole album for me is the way Geddy goes off on the middle section of Driven.   That's the kind of moment that makes a live album, A LIVE ALBUM.   

Different Stages beat out ESL as my all time favorite Rush album, and it's STILL my favorite live Rush album to this day.   Great set...great tour....top 5 album they were touring for...2112 in its entirety.   It's nearly perfect.   (I would have liked to see more T4E material though.   I would have been happy to drop the repeats of The Trees, Closer to the Heart and Freewill in favor of Half the World, Virtuality (or Time and Motion) and maybe something from Presto like War Paint or Scars)

[The Letter M]

And now we come to the band's latest two albums...

Vapor Trials was the band's big "come back", after Neil's tragedies, this was an album of healing and moving forward, and they came right out of the gate with "One Little Victory". This album has some of my favorite Rush songs of the last 6 albums - "Earthshine", "Vapor Trail", "Freeze", "Secret Touch" and "How It Is" (yep, I actually enjoy that one!). There's some great pieces on here, but unfortunately the production/mastering ruins a bit of the enjoyment of the album, but I recently gave this whole album a spin (with pretty good headphones on my iPod) and it wasn't so bad. It is an album that sorely needs remastering/re-issuing, and hopefully the band get around to it ASAP.

It is a shame, however, that so few songs from this album have been played live, and in the 3 tours since, we haven't gotten a new live track from here! There are 8 tracks that haven't been played from this album, and at least HALF of them deserve to be played live at least ONCE - "Freeze" (to complete the "Fear" Series live!), "Vapor Trail", "How It Is", and possibly "Peaceable Kingdom" and/or "Stars Look Down".

Snakes & Arrows was move into a heavier direction, something that the band has zig-zagged around since Roll The Bones. This album also had a couple of firsts for the band - songs that segued into each other and more than one instrumental! This album definitely broke the mold for the band, IMO, and showed us that they weren't afraid of still experimenting and changing, I guess you could say, Progressing. Despite the feeling that songs in the 2nd half of the album are the weaker tunes, every track on here is on-par, if not better, especially "Bravest Face" and "Good News First". I'd say the only weak tune on the album is the closing track (then again, Rush have had some pretty weak closing tracks over the last few albums).

Also, playing 9 out of the album's 13 tracks live on the S&A Tour was a bold move, and then playing "Faithless" on the following tour - we haven't had that many "new" tracks played from the last album in awhile (I think not since Power Windows, with 7/8 songs played lie). I can only hope that the remaining 3 tunes ("Bravest Face", "Good News First" and "We Hold On") get some live play time in the coming years. Then again, if Clockwork Angels is a hit, there may not be enough room in the set list in the coming years to fit S&A tunes!

-Marc.

[Phoenix87x]

Vapor Trails- VT was my first Rush record and I like it a lot. Its pretty damn good, considering the circumstances and the possibility that the band may never have re-formed. VT is a very solid album, but it suffers from its length. I don't even think I've ever made it from beginning to end. Overall, its a full album of good, with the occasional really good songs. But nothing really stands out as excellent or masterpiece material.

Snakes and Arrows I love this album and it may be one of my top ten favorite Rush albums. It just scratches every itch I've got. And Hope frequently brings me to tears. This was the first album that I felt was really great since PW and HYF, even though I really do like Counterparts. In short I love this Snakes and Arrows

[KevShmev]

My opinion on these two, especially when comparing and contrasting them, remains the same:

VT has the higher highs, but also the lower lows. 

S&A is pretty consistent in that almost every song is good, some being very good, but I am not sure there is any song on there I would call truly great. 

[jammindude]

Vapor Trails was a huge disappointment.    I love the first 5 tracks...then it's pretty uninteresting, loud and obnoxious.   There's a saving grace down the stretch with Freeze...but that's it.    I think Geddy's double tracked vocals are particularly bad...and Earthshine in particular reminds me of Slim Whitman doing heavy metal.   I can only picture Martian heads exploding every time I hear the song.    High points are most definitely Ghost Rider and Freeze.    But Peaceable Kingdom and And the Stars Look Down are both really good as well. 

Again...VT had the same problem that Counterparts had.   Trying to be really over the top heavy...just for the sake of being heavy....and not just being *RUSH*. 


Snakes and Arrows was a much mellower album to my ears.    And I don't think Hope and Faithless should ever be separated under any circumstances.   There really is not a bad song on the entire album, and even picking out my favorites are difficult.   But Workin' Them Angels, Faithless, Far Cry, Malignant Narcissism, The Main Monkey Business, Larger Bowl, Spindrift, Bravest Face, We Hold On.....oh forget it.  I started to type a list of just my very favorite stuff, and realized I was 2/3rds through the album and still going.   But that's exactly how good S&A is.   

[The Letter M]

So I've decided to add a week for the last decade of live albums from Rush, just to give everyone a week to digest the new album before we discuss it here.

-Marc.

[Nick]

Going to listen to these two when I get home. Works out since I get home around 4:15 and I'm waiting till about 6:30 (when the gf gets there) to listen to the new album for the first time.

[The Letter M]

Going to listen to these two when I get home. Works out since I get home around 4:15 and I'm waiting till about 6:30 (when the gf gets there) to listen to the new album for the first time.

 

-Marc.

[The Letter M]

Rush In Rio is such a, well... RUSH! Canada's great power-trio staged in front of 40,000 fans - that's just about 13,333 fans per band member there! Can you imagine having 13,333 show up to a concert JUST FOR YOU. Mind-boggling, yes, but this show was one for the ages. Not only does it break out of the shell of past concerts for being a show with a HUGE crowd, the crowd itself is now a part of the whole show (and not just "Closer To The Heart" as on ESL). They sing and chant along with all the songs, lyrics AND music (like in "YYZ"). And, also, for the first time, we get a COMPLETE Rush show on a live album, as well as 2 bonus tracks of songs they alternated on the set list (although I am saddened we didn't get "Ceiling Unlimited", giving us ALL the songs they played that tour).
The set list itself is full of great choices, including "Natural Science" (a hold-over from the previous tour), "La Villa Strangiato", and the entire encore! Not to mention, Neil has an amazing solo, and Geddy gets the spot-light in "Driven" and at the end of "Leave That Thing Alone". The band fires on all cylinders and pull off an amazing show. If ATWAS was the band at it's most raw on stage, ESL showed them fine-tuned and polished, ASOH gave us a balance of power and perfection, while DS treated us to the entire "2112" and a bonus show, RIR's uniqueness is the CROWD and the ENERGY and the POWAH!
This show also holds a special place in my heart because I got the CD set from my brother and the DVD set from my dad back in Christmas 2003, about 2 months after it was released. I was shocked and amazed at the same time, and I spent months watching the DVD and listening to the show. I got those sets about a year after I started getting REALLY into Rush, so it's release really sticks to me as a special memory.

R30 is a bit more of a polished show than RIR, but it's got a unique feel to it, although I am upset we did not get the whole show, especially considering we would get the whole show for the next two live releases. Either way, the best things about this show are the opening overture that segues into "The Spirit Of Radio", as well as the trio of "2112"/"Xanadu"/"Working Man", although the full-run of "2112", "By-Tor & The Snowdog", "La Villa Strangiato", "Xanadu" and "Working Man" makes for a KILLER final 35-38 minutes of the 2nd set!!! Too bad we didn't get it on the official live release - they haven't had an epic 5-song run like that in their setlists in YEARS.
There isn't much else special about this show, at least for me, though I enjoy the inclusion of "Red Barchetta", "Between The Wheels" and "Animate". It upset me that Presto was the only album not represented on this tour, and any song would've been great to hear live...heck, even "Superconductor" would've been interesting!!!

-Marc.

[KevShmev]

R30 is easily the one Rush live DVD of the last four that I watch the least, which is a shame since it was shot so brilliantly.  But just about everything on there, I can get on one of the other newer DVDs, the notable exceptions (for me) being Animate (which is too slow and suffers by shortening the choruses), Xanadu (which doesn't have the whole intro, which is criminal) and the R30 Overture (which IS awesome). 

But Rio...yeah, that is just beyond awesome.  Great performances, great set list and tremendous energy from the crowd.

[Phoenix87x]

Rush in Rio- In 2004, I had only a vague idea of who Rush were and never had any inclination that they would become my favorite band in the world. That all changed the day my Step-dad gave me Rush in Rio. Its like buffet of their music, letting me taste and sample a little bit of everything. It was the perfect entryway into their music. After a few viewings I was hooked. And because of Rush in Rio, they are now and forever will be my favorite band in existence.

R30- Its great, but I always find myself going back to Rush in Rio.

[Nick]

R30 looks fantastic, but otherwise is also my least watched Rush DVD.

[Orbert]

I keep hearing that R30 is great but the least-watched or least popular.

[Phoenix87x]

^^^ in all the years I've owned R30 I think I've only watched it once.

 and that's not a knock against it. I just usually end up watching Rio when I'm in the mood for a Rush DVD.


   

[The Letter M]

^^^ in all the years I've owned R30 I think I've only watched it once.

 and that's not a knock against it. I just usually end up watching Rio when I'm in the mood for a Rush DVD.


 

I may have to agree with this sentiment - I do recall watching RIR many times after I got R30, but only R30 a couple of times. I find the following pair of live shows (S&A Live and Time Machine Tour) to be better shows and sets in general. Although I'll also agree with Nick in that R30 *looks* good, but it doesn't save it from being any better than RIR (which, on the other hand, has a lot camera changes that can be jarring).

-Marc.

[Orbert]

That's part of the problem with Rush releasing so many concert vids.  Yeah, choice is good, variety is good, more is better, but when you're in the mood for a Rush concert, you're going to tend to go with your favorite, or maybe second favorite, or maybe one with a particular song you're in the mood for.  Something's gotta drop to the bottom of the list, and it sounds like R30 just has a few things stacked against it.

[MasterLomaxus]

Rush in Rio is what made me a die hard Rush fan.  Then R30 came out and kind of dissappointed me.

[Nick]

Rush in Rio is what made me a die hard Rush fan.  Then R30 came out and kind of dissappointed me.

I can echo most of these statements.

I may have told this story before, but here it goes...

When I started getting into music, I happened to buy 3 CDs at Best Buy one day, one of which was The Spirit of Radio compilation. After being floored by that I raided my dad's collection to find Fly By Night, Moving Pictures, and Counterparts. At this point I was primed and ready for Rush to take over my life. I went back to  Best Buy looking to get more, and to my surprise there was a big Rush display... why? Well, turns out Rush in Rio had just been released a few days prior, and so I picked the DVD up. I must have played that DVD nearly to death in the following weeks, and after my initial CD contact with TSoR, I consider that to be the thing that plunged me down the rabbit hole.

As for R30, I wasn't wholly disappointed, just had a few big gripes. The first being that as someone who saw the tour I wanted the whole show (which was finally reconciled recently with the Blu-Ray), and the show needed more energy. There was pretty much no crowd in R30, and after the amazing experience of Rush in Rio that was simply unacceptable. And overall, while some people think it just needed to by dialed back a little bit, I think RiR crowd volume is perfect. The crowd helps to make the live album.

[Big Hath]

yeah, the crowd almost makes the band a quartet for that show.

[crazyaga]

i listened to some rush for the first time today
they are pretty good