DIFFERENT STAGES - LIVE

This is a 3-disc document of the live Rush experience. The first two discs contain more recent material that is a mixed bag. Some songs hit big while others miss. Somehow the sound of modern day Rush and the pace of some of their live material here just doesn't cut it to me. They need less "noise" in the mix, more warmth to the sound and in some places a little kick in the butt to get the speed right. Altering the speed intentionally for effect can be useful but the slower versions of a few tracks here detract from the original.

The 3rd disc though is a real treasure, a pretty killer show from 1978. This is nearly the Holy Grail for Rush fans, the only tour that could possibly be better to the prog-era Rush fans would be the Hemispheres tour. C'mon guys, give us a full length uncut DVD video of a show from the Hemispheres tour-now that would be something! I bet somebody filmed at least one show from the Hemispheres or P. Waves tours.

The 3rd disc makes this nearly essential to the Rush fan but for everyone else this is 3 star territory.