ALL THE WORLD'S A STAGE

Rush is a great live band and this album appropriately catches them in the full power of their early phase.

The songs are more effective live and hit their full stride in front of a rowdy audience. Furthermore the song selection is important in that you get a great sampling of their first four albums. The Fly By Night material is the strongest in my opinion. By-Tor is an absolute standout track.

I still feel that the bulk of their "young" period is for fans only, especially when we're talking about a progressive website. But I can bump this album up another star because it does successfully encapsulate the period completely enough that it allows the casual Rush fans the option of buying this one release instead of all four of the previous albums.