ALL THE WORLD'S A STAGE

Rush

Heavy Prog

3.85 | 513 ratings

From Progarchives.com, the ultimate progressive rock music website

clintonb

This is a very raw-sounding album, especially compared to some of their later live albums. Perhaps it's a little to raw for me.

Here's an amusing anecdote about an outsiders perspective of this album. I play in a rock band that has a boyfriend/girlfriend couple. The girl is about 50 years old, and she pretty much missed out on the music of the 70's so she really knows nothing about Rush. One day after practice she announced that she found an old tape of one of her boyfriend's old bands. She pulls out this old cassette and pops it in the boombox. I immediately recognize the song as By-Tor and the Snow Dog. I said, that's Rush! She agreed that the music sounded Rush-like. She thought it was HIS band playing a Rush song! We said, that it really is Rush. So he says to fast forward, maybe his real band is on the tape. She keeps playing different parts of the tape, and it's all Rush songs. Turns out the tape was a copy of All the World's a Stage. She was surprised. She said "That's Rush? I thought it sounded like a garage band!" Ooooh.. that hurt. But she's right, it does sound very raw and unpolished. But it is also very energetic!

Someone described Geddy's voice as witch-like in one of the other reviews. That is exactly the image I used to have in my head when I was younger- a witch or a warlock or something like that. It is very high and piercing with too much vibrato. I can understand why his voice used to turn people off. I guess I prefer his vocal style after the Hemispheres album.

This version of By-Tor and the Snow Dog blows away the studio version. They actually play the part I call the "after the battle" part. It is real trippy sounding.

I never play this album. It is just a little too raw for me. I recommend checking out the third CD of the Different Stages live album. It is from 1978 and some of the same material and energy, but sounds a little more polished.

I also thought I read in a magazine that this is an album that Alex Lifeson would love to forget.

| 3/5 | 2006-2-13

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