Like very few of those covers. I think Dream Theater covering Xanadu was the only one I like. The attraction for me was the sonic improvement and the live bonuses.
R40 Live Disc Three: Lakeside Park/Anthem - these are two great songs but Geddy's vocal limitations make this medley a tough go for me. Plus, I'd rather hear each song on its own. What You're Doing/Working Man - sounds like a different band! Not a big fan of the first LP and the vocals are a distraction. Not a highlight here and not the best way of closing the concert, I don't think. One Little Victory - the first of the "bonus" tracks performed at the first Toronto show, it's not one of the better Rush album openers IMO. Nonetheless, this is a pretty solid performance of it. Distant Early Warning - also from the first Toronto show, great song but this performance seems a little disjointed to me. Red Barchetta - also from the first Toronto show, one of my personal favorite Rush songs. Not the most brilliant version, but always great to hear. Clockwork Angels - the last of the alternate songs played the first night in Toronto, this was one of my favorites on the studio album but neither live version does that much for me. The Wreckers - taken from the show in Buffalo, this is a good performance of one of the best songs on the Clockwork Angels album. A nice extra. The Camera Eye - taken from a show in Kansas City from earlier in the tour. Strong version of this excellent album cut. Losing It - taken from a show in Los Angeles, we get a second performance of this long-neglected Signals track on the same live album! The difference here is that, rather than Ben Mink on violin, we have a different player. Not sure this is a different enough performance to warrant including the song twice on the album, although it's certainly a good version. Overall, R40 Live is one of my least favorite Rush live albums. Geddy's voice is a distraction throughout and some of the instrumental fire seems lacking in comparison to past releases. The song choices are kind of odd as well. Since this was the final Rush non-compilation (or reissue) album, here's my final ranking of Rush's non-compilation albums: 1. Power Windows 2. Moving Pictures 3. Hold Your Fire 4. Permanent Waves 5. A Farewell To Kings 6. Signals 7. Caress Of Steel 8. Grace Under Pressure 9. Hemispheres 10. Snakes & Arrows 11. R30: 30th Anniversary World Tour 12. Snakes & Arrows Live 13. A Show Of Hands 14. 2112 15. Fly By Night 16. Vapor Trails 17. Different Stages 18. Rush In Rio 19. Clockwork Angels 20. Grace Under Pressure 1984 Tour 21. Test For Echo 22. Clockwork Angels Tour 23. Roll The Bones 24. Exit...Stage Left 25. Time Machine 2011: Live In Cleveland 26. Presto 27. R40 Live 28. All The World's A Stage 29. Counterparts 30. Rush 31. Feedback
I don't tend to compare live and studio albums directly. They are in their own categories. Rush is not a band that changed their songs greatly for the live versions. Thankfully, they also didn't punish us with extended jams, which can get old very quickly. One could ask what is the point of the live versions? I find them more gritty and real. Occasionally they may even sound better than the studio versions. Rush gave us no shortage of live albums over the years, here's my ranking of the audio albums. Rush Live Album Rankings 1. Exit Stage Left - Yes the guitar has a slightly muted tone, similar to Signals, but the band was really at the peak of their abilities and this album boasts a number of songs which are clearly improved over their studio counterparts. Beneath Between and Behind, A Passage to Bangkok, Xanadu would be examples. I always come back to this one. Great songs and great playing. 2. R30 - Probably the best combination of great sound, setlist and band performance. Geddy's voice is still mostly intact. 3. Grace Under Pressure Tour - The set list is not as good as ESL but the band is super tight and brings the fire. Guitar is not muted like ESL. 4. Different Stages - I was pretty impressed by this when it came out. Really makes you feel like you are at the show. 5. All The World's a Stage - Great document of that early era. 6. A Show of Hands - Solid document of the synth years. Really skews towards Hold Your Fire and Power Windows material. 7. 1977 Hammersmith Odeon - This was partially presented as a bonus disc on DS, later provided in full show for the AFTK 40th disc. Band is super tight but Geddy's vocals are a bit shrieky for this show. 8. Clockwork Angels Tour - A good live presentation of a great late period album. At this late stage in their career, Geddy's vocals are always an issue when compared to earlier live documents. 9. Snakes and Arrows Tour - Seemed like the tempos were a little slow for this one. Otherwise solid. I rate the bluray higher because of the great visuals. 10 Rush in Rio - This could have been near the top of the list if had just been recorded better. 11. R40 - Love the set list, but Geddy really struggles to sing the early material. Drums are a little muted as well. 12. Time Machine - seemed like Geddy's vocals were off more than normal this night. It's not awful, but one of these had to come in last.
Live album rankings... this is tough, but I'll give it a shot, without having had a chance to relisten to them all back-to-back (which would take close to 24 hours) 1. E...SL (my first love - great set list - great performance - muddy recording) 2. Different Stages (complete 2112 - bonus disc - fantastic setlist) 3. All the World's a Stage (fantastic raw performance) 4. Permanent Waves Tour - 40th anniversary (great performance and songs) 5. Rush in Rio (maybe their best set list and performance - just really, really muddy recording) 6. Grace Under Pressure (first show I attended) 7. R30 8. Hammersmith Odeon - 40th anniversary 9. PinkPop - 40th 10. A Show of Hands 11. Clockwork Angels 12. Snakes and Arrows 13. R40 14. Time Machine
2112 Bonus Tracks 2112 (Overture/The Temples Of Syrinx) - we have this live version from Edmonton 1981 on the Moving Pictures tour; again, we only get the first part of the song. It's startling to hear this younger version of the band, particularly Geddy, after so much listening to stuff from the last two tours. Nothing particularly special about this performance; it's good but not particularly well recorded. A Passage To Bangkok - 1980 live version from Manchester, UK on the Permanent Waves tour. Solid version and better recorded. Solar Federation - this is just the vocal part from the "Grand Finale" section of "2112" by itself without the music. Marginally interesting. 2112 - recorded live in Toronto 1976 on one of the other nights that wasn't used on All The World's A Stage. This version is also shortened but is pretty similar to the version that was used on the live album. Something For Nothing - recorded live in Toronto 1976 on one of the other nights that wasn't used on All The World's A Stage. Only marginally different from the version that was included on that live LP. The Twilight Zone - this is a bootleg audience recording taken from a 1977 show (location unspecified) and it is, frankly, barely listenable. Why they would include this on an official release is a real head scratcher. Surely they had a multitrack of this from some concert that could have been used. 2112 Radio Ad - from 1976 and just a curio ("Rush has assumed control with their new album....on Mercury records and tapes!") 5 other bonus tracks consist of other artists covering songs (or portions thereof) from the original 2112 LP. I'm skipping these as I'm not particularly interested in covers.
Rush – A Farewell To Kings (40th Anniversary Limited Edition Super Deluxe) Label: Anthem (5) – B0027243-80, Mercury – B0027243-80, UMe – B0027243-80, Ole – B0027243-80 Format: Box Set, Deluxe Edition 4 × Vinyl, LP, 180 Gram 3 × CD, Deluxe Edition Blu-ray, Blu-ray Audio Country: US Released: 01 Dec 2017 Genre: Rock Style: Prog Rock A Farewell To Kings CD1-1 –Rush A Farewell To Kings 5:56 CD1-2 –Rush Xanadu 11:12 CD1-3 –Rush Closer To The Heart 2:56 CD1-4 –Rush Cinderella Man 4:23 CD1-5 –Rush Madrigal 2:35 CD1-6 –Rush Cygnus X-1 10:29 Live At Hammersmith Odeon - February 20, 1978 CD2-1 –Rush Bastille Day 6:03 CD2-2 –Rush Lakeside Park 4:30 CD2-3 –Rush By-Tor & The Snowdog 5:07 CD2-4 –Rush Xanadu 12:21 CD2-5 –Rush A Farewell To Kings 6:19 CD2-6 –Rush Something For Nothing 4:11 CD2-7 –Rush Cygnus X-1 10:26 CD3-1 –Rush Anthem 4:54 CD3-2 –Rush Closer To The Heart 3:26 CD3-3 –Rush 2112 19:30 CD3-4 –Rush Working Man 4:08 CD3-5 –Rush Fly By Night 2:04 CD3-6 –Rush In The Mood 2:36 CD3-7 –Rush Drum Solo 6:43 CD3-8 –Rush Cinderella Man 4:48 CD3-9 –Dream Theater Xanadu 11:12 CD3-10 –Big Wreck Closer To The Heart 3:25 CD3-11 –The Trews Cinderella Man 4:28 CD3-12 –Alain Johannes Madrigal 3:26 CD3-13 –Rush Cygnus X-2 Eh 4:09 A Farewell To Kings A1 –Rush A Farewell To Kings A2 –Rush Xanadu B1 –Rush Closer To The Heart B2 –Rush Cinderella Man B3 –Rush Madrigal B4 –Rush Cygnus X-1 Live at Hammersmith Odeon - February 20, 1978 C1 –Rush Bastille Day C2 –Rush Lakeside Park C3 –Rush By-Tor & The Snowdog D1 –Rush Xanadu D2 –Rush A Farewell To Kings D3 –Rush Something For Nothing E1 –Rush Cygnus X-1 E2 –Rush Anthem E3 –Rush Closer To The Heart F1 –Rush 2112 G1 –Rush Working Man G2 –Rush Fly By Night G3 –Rush In The Mood G4 –Rush Drum Solo G5 –Rush Cinderella Man H1 –Dream Theater Xanadu H2 –Big Wreck Closer To The Heart H3 –The Trews Cinderella Man H4 –Alain Johannes Madrigal H5 –Rush Cygnus X-2 Eh Blu-Ray Audio BD-1 –Rush A Farewell To Kings BD-2 –Rush Xanadu BD-3 –Rush Closer To The Heart BD-4 –Rush Cinderella Man BD-5 –Rush Madrigal BD-6 –Rush Cygnus X-1 Blu-Ray 1977 Promo Videos BD-7 –Rush A Farewell To Kings BD-8 –Rush Xanadu BD-9 –Rush Closer To The Heart ------------------------------------------------ Ok, so I actually have this one, but to be honest I bought it merely for the Steven Wilson 5.1 mix of the album. I already had Richard Chycki's mix, but I felt that Wilson would be able to do a better version, and certainly Wilson did do a better version. This 5.1 mix of A Farewell To Kings is the best of the surround mixes so far available from Rush, and I certainly hope that along the track We can get some 5.1 mixes for other albums coming up in the release schedule.... I just hope the Chycki can lift his game and put together some mixes that do justice to the albums. So far his mixes have been adequate but not an honour to the great albums he has done. It seems unlikely that Wilson will do any more. I also hope that those releases have separate bluray discs from these massive boxes, because it gets tiring paying hundreds of dollars for one disc in an enormous box, that holds somewhat limited interest for me. I am sure I will love the live material when I get around to it, but my schedule has been a little full lol Anyway, please give us your input regarding the Farewell To Kings "Big Box" Here is my run through of the 5.1 in the surround thread for anyone interested
AFtK - 40th I got this mainly for the full Odeon show - and it's nice to have the full show, but in the end, I think the bonus disc from DS is enough. The cover is God-awful and the covers leave me cold. I have it on vinyl, so I don't have the 5.1. The original album comes through nice and clear.
Rush – Hemispheres 40th Anniversary Super Deluxe Label: Anthem (5) – B0029022-00, Mercury – B0029022-00 Format: Vinyl, LP, Album, Reissue 2 × Vinyl, LP CD, Album, Reissue, Remastered CD, Special Edition Blu-ray, Album, Deluxe Edition, Limited Edition, Remastered, Multichannel Box Set, Deluxe Edition, Limited Edition Country: US Released: 16 Nov 2018 Genre: Rock Style: Hard Rock, Prog Rock Hemispheres Cygnus X-1 Book II: Hemispheres (18:09) A-I Prelude A-II Apollo Bringer Of Wisdom A-III Dionysus Bringer Of Love A-IV Armageddon The Battle Of Heart And Mind A-V Cygnus Bringer Of Balance A-VI The Sphere A Kind Of Dream B1 Circumstances 3:42 B2 The Trees 4:46 B3 La Villa Strangiato 9:37 Live At Pinkpop Festival: June 4, 1979 C1 A Passage To Bangkok 4:03 C2 Xanadu 12:32 D1 The Trees 5:10 D2 Cygnus X-1 Book II: Hemispheres - The Sphere a Kind Dream 0:54 D3 Closer To The Heart 3:16 D4 La Villa Strangiato 11:22 E1 In The Mood 2:37 E2 Drum Solo 7:31 E3 Something For Nothing 4:21 Live In Arizona: November 20, 1978 2112 (19:46) F-I Overture F-II The Temple Of Syrinx F-III Discovery F-IV The Presentation F-V Soliloquy F-VI Grand Finale Hemispheres - Cygnus X-1 Book 2 Hemispheres 18:09 CD1-1.1 Prelude CD1-1.2 Apollo Bringer Of Wisdom CD1-1.3 Dionysus Bringer Of Love CD1-1.4 Armageddon The Battle Of Heart And Mind CD1-1.5 Cygnus Bringer of Balance CD1-1.6 The Sphere A Kind Of Dream CD1-2 Circumstances 3:44 CD1-3 The Trees 4:44 CD1-4 La Villa Strangiato 9:37 Live at Pink Pop Festival: June 4th, 1979 CD2-1 A Passage To Bangkok 4:03 CD2-2 Xanadu 12:32 CD2-3 The Trees 5:10 CD2-4 Cygnus X-1 Book II Hemispheres - The Sphere A Kind Of Dream 0:54 CD2-5 Closer To The Heart 3:16 CD2-6 La Villa Strangiato 11:22 CD2-7 In The Mood 2:37 CD2-8 Drum Solo 7:31 CD2-9 Something For Nothing 4:21 Live In Arizona: November 20th, 1978 - 2112 19:46 CD2-10.1 Overture CD2-10.2 The Temple Of Syrinx CD2-10.3 Discovery CD2-10.4 The Presentation CD2-10.5 Soliloquy CD2-10.6 Grand Finale Blu-ray Audio - Cygnus X-1 Book II Hemispheres 18:09 BD-1.1 Prelude BD-1.2 Apollo Bringer Of Wisdom BD-1.3 Dionysus Bringer Of Love BD-1.4 Armageddon The Battle Of Heart And Mind BD-1.5 Cygnus Bringer Of Balance BD-1.6 The Sphere A Kind Of Dream BD-2 Circumstances 3:44 BD-3 The Trees 4:44 BD-4 La Villa Strangiato 9:37 Bonus Videos: BD-5 Circumstances (1978 Promo Video) 3:44 BD-6 The Trees (1978 Promo Video) 4:44 BD-7 La Villa Strangiato (1978 Promo Video) 9:37 BD-8 La Villa Strangiato (Live at Pink Pop Festival: June 4th, 1979) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Again I purchased this one purely for the 5.1 mix of the album. I do actually think this is a better compiled set, with the cover songs idea being dropped and the focus being on the band. I like the idea of the two concerts, even if they may be excerpts rather than complete shows. They provide a nice peak into the band live in 1978, and I like that kind of thing. To be honest I haven't had a chance to listen to the live sections yet, as I only got the set reasonably recently, and I have had a very busy year. For anyone interested here is the Hemispheres 5.1 run through form the surround thread I am very pleased that I got this set and I think it probably sits in the essential section for hardcore fans. The presentation is very good, the stuff on here is well done. I personally enjoy this a lot. La Villa Strangiato live at Pink Pop
I actually prefer to listen to part of the show on DS instead of the full show on AFtK 40th. The songs on DS was selected for a reason, and I love most of the performances on there. I especially have a hard time listening to the live Lakeside Park on the 40th. Don't know what NP was thinking with some of the fills he added to the original CoS arrangement of the song.
Hemispheres - 40th As with AFtK, my main interest in acquiring this was the live material. I already had a very good bootleg version of this show (and of the Tucson show) and this wasn't really an upgrade, nor did it include any more of the show. If they'd had the whole show (which was abbreviated) that would have been great. It was then inexplicable that they included yet another live version of 2112 rather than a live version of Hemispheres!!! WTF??? I didn't get it then and I don't get it now. I have bootlegs from this tour that are better. The original dynamics sounded fine to my ears, as does the new version. I'm not sure my ears are good enough to hear the improvement.
I had exactly the same thought. I was really looking forward to a live version of Hemispheres. They have released plenty of live 2112s. Given that this was supposed to be a focus on Hemispheres the album, its a real head scratcher to me. Maybe they weren't happy with recordings they had available, but the Tuscon bootleg sounds pretty good to me.
I guess he was trying to spice it up but I agree that those new fills don't really go with the laidback vibe of the song. The AWAS version is better. I suppose there is some interest in that they added the Moog or Taurus pedal parts at the end. Those work OK.
I haven't listened to any boots. Did they have trouble with Hemispheres as a live track? Was that part of the reason for stripping back on the technical/difficult tracks post Hemispheres?
There are some weird sounds effects going on in the Cygnus: Bringer of Balance portion but in general, the song seems to come off pretty well. It probably was a strain to sing and I think Geddy did complain about that in one of the documentaries. Here is a good boot with indexing if you want to check it out.
A Farewell To Kings Bonus Tracks Most of the bonus tracks here were already released on the third disc of Different Stages in 1998 as they come from the early 1978 London concert that was excerpted there. Here we have the complete concert in the correct running order, so I'll just cover the songs that were left off of Different Stages. Lakeside Park - decent version but something about it seems a bit off compared to the studio original Closer To The Heart - fine version of this one from back when it was new; lacks the extended ending that became the norm later on 2112 - we get a full (or nearly full) performance of the song here and it's a good one, although it can't really stand up to the studio version Drum Solo - an early Neil solo spot; not something that bears repeated listening for me Cygnus X-2 EH - a studio outtake comprised of sound effects that were used in places on the album, mainly "Cygnus X-1: Book I". Mildly interesting. There were also covers by other artists of four of the tracks on A Farewell To Kings, which I won't bother with. I would mostly be interested in getting this box set for the Blu-Ray. I assume that the stereo Blu-Ray layer is the best available stereo version of the album and the 5.1 remix by Steven Wilson seems like it should be excellent.
Hemispheres Bonus Tracks Here we dispense with the covers by other artists and just have Rush live tracks taken from two shows: the Pinkpop Festival in the Netherlands, 1979, and - supposedly - Tucson, Arizona 1978. According to Wikipedia, however, the one song that is credited to the Tucson show is actually from Offenbach, Germany 1979. None of these live tracks had been previously released, but the sound quality is not the best, unfortunately. Rather than a complete show, we just get 9 songs from Pinkpop and 1 from either Tucson or Offenbach. No studio outtakes. A Passage To Bangkok - okay version but the sound is rather boxy and distant Xanadu - very good version but hearing this makes me realize how much better they got as live performers as their career continued The Trees - fine version but nothing special Cygnus X-1 Book II: Hemispheres (The Sphere [A Kind Of Dream]) - so the epic title track of their latest album is distilled down to just this 1-minute excerpt, which leads into... Closer To The Heart - a good version but not very different from the one we heard on the AFTK bonus discs La Villa Strangiato - I like the lengthy intro and then it bursts into a strong performance of the closing track from their latest LP; cruddy sound quality though (the drums sound like cardboard boxes) In The Mood - why they so regularly played this dud during their early years will always be a mystery to me (did he sing "hey cookie" in the original?) Drum Solo - meh (but it is better than the one from the London '78 show that was on the AFTK bonus discs) Something For Nothing - solid performance 2112 - another full (or nearly so) performance of this song but the sound quality here (wherever this show actually took place) is even worse than on the Pinkpop tracks with some periodic distortion; not clear why we get yet another live version of this song, but not one of "Cygnus X-1 Book II: Hemispheres". It's a fine version, just poorly recorded. I don't know if I would spring for this box unless the reviews of the 5.1 mix of the original album were off-the-charts great. The sound quality of the live bonus material leaves a lot to be desired and I can get a good quality mastering of the original album on CD elsewhere.
It is good, but essentially Chycki hasn't seemed to do any off the charts good 5.1 mixes unfortunately. I'm hoping for any future 5.1 mixes that either Chycki is a little more adventurous or they can get Wilson, or Scheiner to do the mixes ...
Rush – Permanent Waves Label: Mercury – 00602508607158, Anthem (5) – 00602508607158 Format: Box Set, Deluxe Edition, Limited Edition, 40th Anniversary CD, Album, Reissue, Remastered, Stereo CD, Stereo Vinyl, LP, Album, Reissue, Remastered, Stereo 2 × Vinyl, LP, Stereo Country: Europe Released: May 2020 Genre: Rock Style: Prog Rock, Hard Rock Original Album CD1-1 The Spirit Of Radio 4:59 CD1-2 Freewill 5:24 CD1-3 Jacob's Ladder 7:28 CD1-4 Entre Nous 4:37 CD1-5 Different Strings 3:50 CD1-6 Natural Science 9:20 Bonus Live Content - Permanent Waves World Tour 1980 CD2-1 Beneath, Between & Behind (Live In Manchester) 2:30 CD2-2 By-Tor & The Snow Dog (Live In London) 5:52 CD2-3 Xanadu (Live In London) 12:15 CD2-4 The Spirit Of Radio (Live In Manchester) 5:08 CD2-5 Natural Science (Live In Manchester) 8:45 CD2-6 The Trees (Live In Manchester) 5:27 CD2-7 Cygnus X-1 (Live In London) 8:04 CD2-8 Cygnus X-1 Book II (Live In London) 14:45 CD2-9 Closer To The Heart (Live In Manchester) 3:26 CD2-10 Jacob’s Ladder (Live In Missouri) 7:37 CD2-11 Freewill (Live In London) 5:46 Original Album A1 The Spirit Of Radio 4:59 A2 Freewill 5:24 A3 Jacob's Ladder 7:28 B1 Entre Nous 4:37 B2 Different Strings 3:50 B3 Natural Science 9:20 Bonus Live Content - Permanent Waves World Tour 1980 C1 Beneath, Between & Behind (Live In Manchester) 2:30 C2 By-Tor & The Snow Dog (Live In London) 5:52 C3 Xanadu (Live In London) 12:15 D1 The Spirit Of Radio (Live In Manchester) 5:08 D2 Natural Science (Live In Manchester) 8:45 D3 A Passage To Bangkok (Live In Manchester) 3:45 D4 The Trees (Live In Manchester) 5:27 E1 Cygnus X-1 (Live In London) 8:04 E2 Cygnus X-1 Book II (Live In London) 14:45 F1 Closer To The Heart (Live In Manchester) 3:26 F2 Jacob’s Ladder (Live In Missouri) 7:37 F3 Freewill (Live In London) 5:46 ----------------------------------------------------------- To be honest I didn't actually get this one. For me personally this didn't have enough to interest me. I wouldn't mind the live disc, and at some point I may get the 2cd version, for the live disc, but with no multitracks for a 5.1 my main reason for getting one of these sets is pretty much gone. So I would love for those of you who did get this copy to give us a run down on your thoughts regarding this set. Cheers Mark
Permanent Waves 40th My favorite of the core albums and the most interesting of the 40th editions so far. The live stuff is good and the sound very honest, with an almost "unmastered" quality. Guess it shows how much the recordings were worked at for the Exit...Stage Left album, which has some stuff from this tour/these shows on it IIRC. I especially love having another official live version of Jacob's Ladder from this tour.
