Disc Two of R40 Live: Tom Sawyer - this version seems to have more intensity and vitality than most of the others on their live albums. Not sure why. Geddy's voice isn't quite as strained (maybe doing this right after the set break helped) and it's a good version instrumentally. YYZ - solid version. The Spirit Of Radio - not a great version. Seems a bit by the numbers and Geddy's vocal is distracting. Natural Science - this is such a great song but Geddy's vocal ruins it for me; much prefer the live version on Different Stages. Jacob's Ladder - strong version of this neglected song. Cygnus X-1: Book II -- Hemispheres (Prelude) - well, we only get the intro portion of this epic song, but it sounds pretty good to me. Cygnus X-1: Book I -- The Voyage (Prologue/"The Story So Far"/Part 3) - they go right into this one but, again, it is edited (the middle sections are cut out) and a Neil drum solo is inserted instead. I'm not the biggest fan of this sort of "re-editing" of long songs (Genesis also did this to distraction on their later tours) but it sounds pretty good regardless. The shorter drum solos on the last two tours were an indication that Neil was nearing the end of his concert performing years. Closer To The Heart - it's painful to hear Geddy strain to hit these notes, but the music sounds good. I wonder why he never tried to simply switch to a lower register. Xanadu - it's great to hear this classic once again before we conclude! Sounds very good. 2112 (Overture/The Temples Of Syrinx/Presentation/Grand Finale) - another edited performance of this one and it sadly suffers from the vocal problems. Disc Three next...
Lakeside Park/Anthem I have no idea how long it had been since they played these two songs, but I assume it had been a long time. I assume it was really nice for the crowd in the concert hall to hear them, but really Geddy is way out of his range here, and it is a little off putting. He is doping his best to sing like he did when he was a young man, but that is really very hard to do after so many years on the concert stage.
What You're Doing/Working Man Again, it is really cool to take everyone back to the start of their career to close out essentially what seems to be seen already as their last tour. Geddy is struggling again, but those early songs were just so high pitched, and the voice finds it hard to stand up over decades of doing this.
One Little Victory These guys were just always amazing musicians and they performed their music with class and skill always. These tracks are like bonus tracks, and most of them weren't on the bluray.
The Camera Eye It is really cool that they included this track in the show. A great track from Moving Pictures, that would have been very easily overlooked in light of all the other tracks they could have picked.
From my perspective I am much more likely to watch the bluray than listen to the cd .... The band is excellent, but there are too many tracks that Geddy struggles with too much for me to enjoy a straight listen.... and to be honest that just makes me a bit sad, because as a singer I fully understand how hard it is to continue to punch it out over the decades... the difference for me being that nobody knows who I am, so I can just change my approach as time takes its toll. Expecting a rock singer to sound like they did at twenty, when they move into their fifties and sixties is unreasonable and unrealistic, very few if any generally do. John Farnham from Australia is a rare exception, but although his voice is still remarkable, you can still hear that he has aged. So this is a nice goodbye for the fans, and thankfully for the folks who were in the line of the tour managed to see the guys one last time, and we get this document, and Geddy wasn't too vain to allow its release, and/or didn't just put down studio vocals, so no matter what anyone thinks this is a very honourable release, that is worth having for the Rush fan. Musically it is still outstanding.
Rush 1970 - Nov 1998 Nov 2000 Geddy Lee My Favourite Headache My Favourite Headache The Present Tense Window To The World Working At Perfekt Runaway Train The Angel's Share Moving To Bohemia Home On The Strange Slipping Still Grace To Grace May 2002 Vapor Trails - interview One Little Victory Ceiling Unlimited Ghost Rider Peaceable Kingdom The Stars Look Down How It Is - live Vapor Trail Secret Touch - live Earthshine - live Sweet Miracle Nocturne Freeze (pt iv of Fear) Out Of The Cradle Feb 2003 Spirit Of The Radio - Greatest Hits 74-87 Oct 2003 Rush In Rio with concert Boys In Brazil June 2004 Feedback Summertime Blues - live Heart Full Of Soul For What It's Worth The Seeker Mr Soul Seven and Seven is Shapes Of Things Crossroads Nov 2005 R30 Apr 2005 Gold June 2006 Replay x3 May 2007 Snakes And Arrows Far Cry Armour And Sword - live Workin them Angels - live The Larger Bowl - live Spindrift - live The Main Monkey Business - live The Way The Wind Blows Hope Faithless - backtrack for discussion. posts deleted Bravest Face - backtrack for discussion. posts deleted Good News First Malignant Narcissism We Hold On Apr 2008 Snakes And Arrows Live Outtakes Mar 2009 Retrospective 3 Nov 2009 Working Men 2009 Grace Under Pressure live cd Mar 2010 Time Stand Still the Collection 2010 Icon 1 and 2 Nov 2011 Time Machine Nov 2011 Sector 1,2 and 3 June 2012 Clockwork Angels Caravan - live 2011 BU2B - Live Time Machine Clockwork Angels - Live The Anarchist - live Carnies - live Halo Effect - live Seven Cities Of Gold - live The Wreckers - live Headlong Flight - live BU2B2 Wish Them Well - live The Garden - live Sept 2013 The Studio Albums 1989-2007 Nov 2013 Clockwork Angels Tour Apr 2014 Rush - ReDISCovered 2014 R40 box set Nov 2015 R40 Live Pt 1 Pt 2 Pt3 Pt4
Sorry If Folks were a little bored with track by tacking R40, but I think we got all the other concerts available as whole shows, and it wasn't. ... but anyway. If anyone is still interested here is something to talk about over the weekend 2112 the 40th Anniversary box set. CD – DISC 1 Original Album Newly Remastered by Abbey Road Studios “2112” I OVERTURE II THE TEMPLES OF SYRINX III DISCOVERY IV PRESENTATION V ORACLE: THE DREAM VI SOLILOQUY VII GRAND FINALE A PASSAGE TO BANGKOK THE TWILIGHT ZONE LESSONS TEARS SOMETHING FOR NOTHING CD – DISC 2 SOLAR FEDERATION OVERTURE – Dave Grohl, Taylor Hawkins and Nick Raskulinecz A PASSAGE TO BANGKOK – Billy Talent THE TWILIGHT ZONE – Steven Wilson TEARS – Alice In Chains SOMETHING FOR NOTHING – Jacob Moon “2112” – Live at Massey Hall 1976 Outtake SOMETHING FOR NOTHING – Live at Massey Hall 1976 Outtake THE TWILIGHT ZONE – Live 1977 Contraband 2112 1976 RADIO AD DVD – DISC 3 Live at Capitol Theatre 1976 BASTILLE DAY ANTHEM LAKESIDE PARK 2112 FLY BY NIGHT IN THE MOOD Bonus Videos OVERTURE: Dave Grohl, Taylor Hawkins and Nick Raskulinecz A PASSAGE TO BANGKOK: Behind The Scenes with Billy Talent 2112 – 40 YEARS CLOSER: A Q&A with Alex Lifeson and Terry Brown 200 GRAM – 3LP HOLOGRAM EDITION VINYL with CUSTOM STARMAN TURNTABLE MAT SIDE ONE “2112” I OVERTURE II THE TEMPLES OF SYRINX III DISCOVERY IV PRESENTATION V ORACLE: THE DREAM VI SOLILOQUY VII GRAND FINALE SIDE TWO A PASSAGE TO BANGKOK THE TWILIGHT ZONE LESSONS TEARS SOMETHING FOR NOTHING SIDE THREE SOLAR FEDERATION OVERTURE – Dave Grohl, Taylor Hawkins, Nick Raskulinecz A PASSAGE TO BANGKOK – Billy Talent THE TWILIGHT ZONE – Steven Wilson TEARS – Alice In Chains SOMETHING FOR NOTHING – Jacob Moon SIDE FOUR “2112” – Live at Massey Hall 1976 Outtake SIDE FIVE SOMETHING FOR NOTHING – Live at Massey Hall 1976 Outtake THE TWILIGHT ZONE – Live 1977 Contraband 2112 RADIO AD SIDE SIX Custom Vinyl Etching by Hugh Syme EXCLUSIVE SUPER DELUXE BONUS ITEMS: Original Hugh Syme STARMAN Pencil Sketch Litho Massey Hall June 1976 Ticket Stub Litho Massey Hall June 1976 Handbill Three Collector Buttons 2112 CD-1-I Overture CD-1-II The Temples Of Syrinx CD-1-III Discovery CD-1-IV Presentation CD-1-V Oracle: The Dream CD-1-VI Soliloquy CD-1-VII Grand Finale CD-2 A Passage To Bangkok CD-3 The Twilight Zone CD-4 Lessons Lyrics By – Alex Lifeson CD-5 Tears Keyboards – Hugh SymeLyrics By – Geddy Lee CD-6 Something For Nothing Lyrics By – Geddy Lee, Neil Peart Previously Unreleased Bonus Audio CD-7 Overture (Live) CD-8 The Temples Of Syrinx (Live) CD-9 A Passage To Bangkok (Live) 2112 BD-1-I Overture BD-1-II The Temples Of Syrinx BD-1-II Discovery BD-1-IV Presentation BD-1-V Oracle: The Dream BD-1-VI Soliloquy BD-1-VII Grand Finale BD-2 A Passage To Bangkok BD-3 The Twilight Zone BD-4 Lessons BD-5 Tears BD-6 Something For Nothing ------------------------------------------------ To be honest the big box didn't really interest me much. I don't need an album of folks covering Rush on a Rush box set. There were some things that I liked about it, but just not enough to bother with it. I did get the cd/bluray set though, and I do enjoy it. For anyone interested here is the review of the 5.1 I'm not really sure I have much more to say that I didn't say already. But please guys, let us know your thoughts on this particular set and if there is anything that you particularly feel should be here, please post it. Cheers Mark Probably the main thing on the box set that would have interested me is this Live at the Capitol 1976
2112 - 40th / 5.1 I did get both of these for the live bits and for the covers. Steven Wilson/Porcupine Tree rivals Rush for my affection, so I was VERY curious to hear his take on "Twilight Zone" (which I thought was well-done) and I had really enjoyed Jacob Moon's take on "Subdivisions", so I was hoping for the same success with "Something for Nothing" (which disappointed me, alas). It's been a while since I listened to this and I don't have time this weekend to do them justice, but I remember liking the live tracks. The covers, outside "Twilight Zone" left me a little cold (but they aren't as bad as the covers on AFtK 40th).
Agree. To me all attempts at covering Rush on these 40th anniversary editions have been uninteresting at best and cringeworthy at worst. One selling point of these CD releases is that they contain the Magee remasters (previously only available in hi-res or vinyl) of the core albums, but for some reason they felt the need to quite radically brighten the sound up in the case of 2112. By the way, I think that decpicted blu-ray deluxe release is from 2012 or 2013 and is not part of the 40th anniversary program. I think it has the Van Dette remaster of the album in stereo (same as the sector box).
The was only supposed to be one R40 until the decision was made to tour after this was released. That's why there is confusion. This is a great release for the new fan because it has mostly everything released during this period. It's pretty much a one stop shop. Some fans have about 90 percent of this stuff already and that also includes the Best Buy Bonus Disc. I had mixed feelings about getting it, but the main attraction is obviously the Test For Echo Footage which had originally been planned to be released with the Different Stages package. So I had to cave and get it under protest. Have to admit that the only time I reach for it is when I want to watch something that isn't on everything else. It doesn't fit in nicely with the other DVDs so I its off on it's own It's a great looking package with great art but if it didn't have the Test For Echo Tour teaser I don't think I would have sprung for it.
That video has never been released on a DVD. Gotta be a rights issue. Closer To The Heart Live is a huge favorite of mine. Love watching that video.
1978 I think, could have been '79. Have to admit the band didn't sound all that great when I was at the show either. As I may have said that slope got really slippery during the second set.
Have both of these. Only got the CD sets for the music because there is an improvement here, at least with the 2015 remaster. The bonuses are a nice touch too. I really didn't like the revisionist art on either one, but at least Hugh Syme referenced his original work. No context at all with the 2012 reissue.