RUSH

As I've mentioned before, good compilations for bands with expansive careers are something of a necessary evil. They offer a bargain in terms of popular hits as well as a representative sample of the band's career, but unfortunately deracinate all those tracks from their contexts. Record labels make money, people get what they want, and everybody is happy. The catch-22 is that compilations of mainstream progressive rock bands will almost always miss the mark with their hardcore fans and merely placate casual fans. While the creators had the good sense to fill up the CD with music, they sacrificed many amazing pieces for the sake of being comprehensive. However, the product lives up to its name, and it delivers the goods; it's just that there is so much more "available light" out there, and no constrictive item such as this will please anyone who knows the music of Rush even half was well I do. For those wanting a decent sampling of Rush's career, this isn't a bad deal, but I would recommend a studio album instead- almost any studio album, in fact, to this. With so many gems cut out in creating this one, there won't be much to be satisfied about, and certainly won't be much that cannot be heard on the radio (or its spirit, whatever the case).

A Show of Hands is a live album release by Canadian progressive rock act Rush. The song selection on the album pre-dominantly represent the four studio albums released in the years 1982 - 1987: Signals (1982), Grace Under Pressure (1984), Power Windows (1985) and Hold Your Fire (1987) with only few excursions into the earlier part of the band´s discography.

In addition to the power trio rock instrumentation of guitar, bass and drums, the album features extensive use of eighties keyboard and synth sounds which might not fall into everyone´s taste. Personally I enjoy the very clinical sound of this period of Rush career. It suits the almost futuristic music that Rush played in those days well. The performance and the sound quality are simply fantastic. Rush are incredible musicians and they are able to 100% reproduce their music in a live environment. Not a wrong note or out of tune vocal part is heard on this album. Actually the songs at times sound a bit too much like their studio counterparts IMO. The production does have the effect that songs like Subdivisions, Turn the Page and Mission really come to live compared to their studio counterparts. Or in other words the songs from Signals and Hold Your Fire come to live. I have slight issues with the production on both studio albums and it´s really great to hear those songs with a powerful sound. The song selection is overall excellent making A Show of Hands a kind of best of eighties Rush album ( excluding the two early eighties albums which both had a very different sound when compared to the four albums predominantly represented here). The only track I miss here is Prime Mover from Hold Your Fire ( one of my alltime favorite Rush tracks), but I guess we all have our favorites and it´s hard to satisfy everyone.

The drum solo track The Rhythm Method doesn´t do much for me though. It´s always impressive to hear great musicians play solo on their instrument but the experience is best enjoyed if you´re actually there and not on an album IMO. Actually it´s seldom I even enjoy it when I´m present. It´s usually when I go to the bar for more beer. I´ve never been much of a fan of Closer to the Heart which is one of the two songs on the album that represents the earlier part of Rush discography, the other being Witch hunt (part III of Fear) from Moving Pictures (1981). The first I could have done without while the latter appear here in a pretty great version that makes its studio counterpart look somewhat pale in comparison. I could have wished for a better song selection from the early part of Rush discography but I guess most of the songs from that period are covered fine on the two previous live album releases by the band All the World's a Stage (1976) and Exit.....Stage Left (1981).

Rush aren´t the most daring live act out there and on A Show of Hands they seem more or less content with reproducing the sound of their studio albums. I could have wished for a more experimental or playful approach ( the many programmed synth parts make this impossible) but on the other hand the album does have some great qualities that earns it a 3.5 - 4 star rating ( just feast on that bass playing for an example of the high quality playing or the above mentioned powerful versions of songs from Signals and Hold Your Fire). The album makes a good entrance point to the eighties synth heavy part of Rush discography as it is as much a best of compilation for that period as it is a live album.

The perfect album to a non prog fan... just ideal!

One of the most beloved progressive albums of all time. To help new fans to start discovering what prog is all about, this the perfect album I can suggest. Moving Pictures is a cohesive group of songs in which these talented musicians brings out all their technical skills, interesting melodies, long arrangements, appealing rhythms and creative songwriting. Everything is well balanced to be complex and simple at the same time. Everyone can "get it" right from the start.

It's the only album I have hear entirely from Rush so I can't compare to other albums but this is one of the best balanced albums I have heard in all my time as a prog fan. The 80's vibe is there, the 70's moody parts are there, the instrumental twist and turns are all there, the complex arrangement and the groove are all together and the appealing taste to some kind of mainstream access is there as well.

Tom Swayer is a great tune to start, entertaining and short. YYZ is a instrumental track very dynamic an accessible as well, with great arrangements, not acrobatic but a composition with a lot of taste. Great. Limelight has a strange vibe in the overall and sounds a little 80's to me, moody and the melody is quite beautiful. I think the sound of the keyboards is what makes a plus, bringing the song to something a lot more fresh. The same to The Camera Eye, in which the keyboards set the mood to the becoming track that maintains an interesting work through it's 11 minutes of great vibe.

There are not highlights in the album, because it's quite complete. Every song seems to be in the right position and all the musicians works are for the songs, you know, like every instrument develops just the right things without been self indulgent or trying overshadow the rest of the band. Maybe the only thing that is not brilliant is the singers voice, he is great, but sometimes when he gets too high I don't enjoy it that much, but that's a personal claiming and it's not a fault for the album? is just that I could preferred a different voice but it doesn't hurt the songs in anyway. The album is short, really, but remember it was the time of the Vynil and maybe after hearing this album you will wish more of this band. I know I am and I'm still searching for more music from them.

Heavy prog it is and is the best you can get from start. Go, take a look? with 454 reviews already and you still don't give them the shot...? come on!!! 5 stars!

Great live concert of this famous band re released on DVD in 2007. Concert from 1988 to promote Hold your fire album just relese prior year in 1987. Great concert full of classic Rush tunes. Brillian is for me Mission, on of my fav Rush pieces ever, great are the lyrics too, the rest are also top notch. Excellent prestation of the band, plus some brilliant and very sugestive cartoon movies shown on almost every piece. If you have the VHS is ok, if you have the DVD is also ok, in any case a must have for every Rush fan and not only. Recommended.

End of the Rush peak window

I'll go out on a limb here and state the conclusion I've reached watching Rush for 30 years. Their peak, primo period is not Counterparts, nor is it the long-haired 70s years with the side long tracks (as cool as those are). Rush's peak was a 3-album swing beginning with Moving Pictures and ending with Grace Under Pressure. This is the music that best fused their many substantial talents of great songwriting, performance, and progression. This was their proggiest achievement, melting the spirit of those long '70s epics into their own personal style, something shorter and more accessible, but no less rocking. These songs were just as good as the often meandering epics. They rocked every bit as hard and their technical proficiency grew in leaps and bounds. This DVD is perfect witness to just how amazing this band was from '80-84. Certainly there were memorable moments before and after but this period is the one that captures Rush at their most devastating.

Now naturally there are some aspects of the period that can't avoid the cheese factor. For whatever reason, this period saw necessary to go over the top on aspects of the synth and electronic drumming not to mention the fashion issues. The sound quality of the show is also not as perfect as it could be. Don't let these issues spoil the meal for you. And the first, second, and third courses are killer versions of the songs from these three home-run albums. "Witch Hunt" and "Distant Early Warning" are smoking, dramatic versions. The Lifeson solo on "The Weapon" is utterly fantastic, and of course Neil is Neil throughout. My only complaint is that they cut short their time for more material from this period to waste on those awful 70s medleys they always insist on doing. It's a real shame that "Temples of Syrinx / Finding my Way / In the Mood" find their way onto this disc in the medley form, while requiring some key tracks from Grace and Signals to be left off. I saw this tour and can vouch that the current material was played to enormous enthusiasm in the hall, and there should have been even more of it in the video release. Nevertheless, this is a killer document from the true peak of the Rush career and is a must for fans. Just ignore some of the period silliness (like some of the cringe-worthy video on the screen) and pay close attention to the songwriting and the on-fire performance of the three members. I saw other tours after this and the songs, and energy, were just not to this level.

Wow.....what can I say about this wonderful collection that hasn't already been said? All I know is, that when this then 15 year old boy heard 'Tom Sawyer' for the first time, his whole musical landscape changed forever! After buying and then listening (repeatedly) to the rest of the record, it was all over.....a prog-head was born!!!!!! (altho, I didn't know what to categorize it as, except kick-ass) it did open my mind to other bands that I hadn't yet discovered such as Yes, Genesis, E.L.P. , and others. Then I started working backwards from here on the Rush catalog.....and since forward...(and seeing them in concert now 6 times and counting)....still, I can put this record on and be transported back to when I first heard it, every track holds a special memory and of course this record gets a 5-star rating!!! The greatest from the greatest!!!

What could you expect about this live album film?

Ok first this album was filmed in the Moving Pictures tour exactly between 1980-81, this was the first release of Rush in Video, we have an excellent setlist and amazing performence by them on stage. Also Im going to give you some pros and cons of this live album.

Its very interesting how the early Rush played on stage, so furious, so energetic, so wild (specially the Geddy´s voice) this concert is an incredibly footage, maybe you can expect a masterpiece of concert but no really. We have top songs in this gig, Xanadu is well-executed and the guys play this song with double neck guitars and half bass-half 12 strings guitar by Geddy. Also you can see how they are getting funny on stage even joking between Alex and Geddy, by the way is very strange to see Xanadu with both instruments, so this video contains an excellent choice if you want to check Xanadu with double neck instruments because Rush no longer use them. The are also some introductory chats before some songs by the band member like Tom Sawyer and some cartoon sequences in Red Barchetta. Well I almost said some of the Pros, now the Cons.

YYZ is not played complete (just some scenes from Neil´s Solo) at least no in film footage but wheter in the audio album of the same name. The medleys are funny but I´d prefer to see 2112 (Overture/Temples of Syrinx) as usual, but its ok both medleys are funny and very entertaining. The credits roll with YYZ in the audio(not complete). Overall it a great footage if you want to see Rush in post-early days,--Highly Recommended!

Transition album lacking the best of both styles

Permanent Waves was the transition album from "epic" period Rush of long, winding monsters like Hemispheres to the rock masterpiece of Moving Pictures. It is one of their highest rated albums on the site but I'm in the minority of reviewers who find it a bit on the uneven side. The first two tracks are pointing towards what was coming in earnest on the next release though neither match the quality in songwriting. "The Spirit of Radio" became a huge concert favorite for the band and "Freewill" contains some unbelievable chops by all three that still amaze me. Then comes the highlight which is the dark and brooding "Jacob's Ladder." I just love the snare rolls Peart peels off during the intro. Then Geddy delivers the dramatic, stormy lyrics over the ominous rhythm with some nice keys in the background. It swells into a huge opus with some jaw dropping leads by Lifeson. Like my friend John I have memories of this era Rush which come flooding back when hearing songs like this. Side two is where things drop off pretty substantially with the mediocre "Entre Nous" and "Different Strings". "Entre" is particularly weak with its tiring chorus, "Strings" is a decent piece with interesting downbeat mood but nothing exceptional. The short album closes with its longest track "Natural Science" which despite some interesting change-ups and the usual great playing, doesn't get to where "Xanadu" or "La Villa" took us. Permanent Waves is certainly not a bad album and any Rush fan will appreciate it, but for me it's simply a good album. Each of the next three albums have held up better, and are more interesting and meaningful to me over the decades.

A TRUE MUST HAVE FOR ANY RUSH FAN, AS WELL AS ANY PROG FAN.......But, and thats a big BUT, it is at the end of their first wave of music, which indefintely was the best time for the band's music. after 1981, just like most other high caliber prog bands (yes, genesis), a new feel entered into their music, and that feel is "corny". These guys always rocked, but nothing beats their raw, heavy prog of the 1970's, they are heavy prog right? well they were in this period, and made some of the most memorable music in the history of rock and roll, progressive rock, and hard core trio's. Greatest trio ever lived???? this one I will debate til the day I die between them and e.l.p......I will never be able to pick, even though rush rips better than most bands to this very day in their older age. Unfortunately I was never able to see them in those days, but did manage to catch recent shows, 3 of them in the early 2000's....and they were fantastic. I have to admit, when they delved into music of the 80's is when I went on my beer run to the stands, but highlights are always songs off this album. YYZ I tried learning on drums when I was 10 years old. I have had a passion for this tune my whole life. Tom sawyer is a classic and surpasses any criticism of being played too much on the radio because good music will never get old and this song is a classic heavy prog song that encompasses all aspects of good well-rounded musicianship. Limelight? red barchetta? also classics, and also part of one of my favorite live albums of all time 'exit stage left' For anyone who loves guitar heavy music, with bass leading alot of the time, and a flawless drummer who's regarded as one of the best in history, this band is for you and you can start out with this album. But venture earlier as 'hemispheres' is a wonderful example of a lengthy prog-epic....'fairwell to kings' is a must have......as well as 'fly by night'

p.s. want an opinion of one of the greatest heavier prog songs ever done? cygnus x-1.....as well as second part to it, hemispheres. neither are on this particular album I know, but to me are considered high points in a very, very stable 70's decade into early eighties with 'moving pictures' and 'exit stage left' all albums are must-listens....and if you like one of them, you'll like any others between 1971-1981

I cannot explain myself why monsters in music,icons.living legends or no matter what else we can call them,WHY they don't have a limit of decency and tha fair spirit and character to stop one day?!?!WHY?!?!We are really tired about the endless LIVE albums from RUSH,and that's why this fantastic progressive band trick their fans with box sets,LIVE albums,compilations?!?! Are still they hungry for more money?Because die hard fans will continue to buy no matter what RUSH will release...edit...offer to the market!There are nothing new anyway ,the same hits again and again,the classical screams from the crows from the tapes in the background and nothing special added?!?!So,there is unbelieveble commercial hypocrisy to continue to squeeze and make proffit after one mediocre studio album like SNAKES AND ARROWS and bombing after that fans with compilations,live albums.anthologies...That's unfair and dishonest from RUSH or their label!!!All I can say,being a RUSH fan from more than 25 years is SHAME,SHAME,SHAME!And I think that they are worse than IRON MAIDEN,the most commercial band from the marketing point of view!Even DREAM THEATER are more fair,versatile and diverse in their options and they are also "unleashed" to edit new materials in all the formats possible too!Fans are happy anytime?!?!Relly?!?!I doubt about it.Me,a RUSH disspointed fan I stopped from long time to make aquisitions of my favourite band for all the products thet they continue to edit with disrespect and hypocrisy! For respect I give 1 STAR to this weak and uninsipred LIVE album,because it's RUSH anyway,but they don't deserve even that!SHAME!ENDLESS SHAME!