EXIT... STAGE LEFT

Before I heard this album, the only other Rush albums I heard were Moving Pictures and Signals. After hearing the tracks on this album, I had to go and buy all their old albums. This really is like a "classic hits" live album.

I prefer some of these live song versions over the studio versions: - A Passage to Bankok. I like the "chinese" riff better on this version. - Beneath, Between and Behind. This seems more energetic and exciting. - Jacob's Ladder. It sounds more majestic to me. - Xanadu. The volume swell intro part sounds more "spacey" and relaxed than the original. I like the vocal phrasing better. - Freewill. The bass intro before the solo is more active and flows better. - La Villa Strangiato. I think it has a better, longer solo and has added "vocals".

My favorite section of the album is the Broon's Bane/The Trees/Xanadu section. It starts out with the beautiful solo classical guitar piece Broon's Bane and then goes into The Trees. The end of The Trees fades into the spacey, trippy, atmospheric Xanadu intro.

I don't think the Moving Pictures material is on par with the studio originals.

Originally I thought the sound quality of this album was great, especially compared to the very raw sound of their prior live album: All the World's a Stage. But these days, I think it sounds a little muffled, and perhaps a little bit too polished. I think their "Different Stages" live album has a nice balance between rawness and polish.

This is one of my all-time favorite albums. A "desert-island" album if you like.