A SHOW OF HANDS

Rush's third official live album was recorded at the peak of the band's Synth Rock/New Wave- phase. Radical changes had been made in the band's sound and approach from 1982's Signals onward. Rush was obviously adapting to the musical climate of the 80's with these albums. Representing the albums of this period (Signals, Grace Under Pressure, Power Windows, and Hold Your Fire), and with a track list almost completely focused on songs taken from those albums, A Show Of Hands is fundamentally different from the previous official live album, Exit... Stage Left.

Overall, this is a pretty lifeless live album. There is almost none of that live energy that characterises previous as well as later live albums by the band. Personally, I am not very fond of this period of Rush, but if you are especially interested in this period of Rush live, the recently released Grace Under Pressure Live (CD and DVD) is a much better choice than A Show Of Hands. It has a better track list and more energy. On Grace Under Pressure Live, they managed to take the studio tracks from this era to another level, improving on them, making them a bit rockier and give them more punch. But on A Show Of Hands there is no such tendency. Frankly, I would rather listen to the Hold Your Fire studio album.

This album also represents a band that clearly had given up on their Prog past. The only old track featured here is Closer To The Heart.

A weak point in Rush's live discography.

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