CHRONICLES

My first Rush purchase but I already knew many of their songs. The first of many compilations to come. The biggest let down would be only having an excerpt of "2112" and the live songs. The live songs are not bad, but I would have preferred studio songs in their place(and not just studio versions of the live songs). The tracklist is decent. I think only "Working Man" should have been used from the first album; "Finding My Way" sounds too much like Zeppelin. It also would have been great if they included "Marathon", one of the band's best '80s songs.

So, you get the classics and the more well known singles along with album tracks like "La Villa Strangiato". Generally most of the longer tracks are not here. So no "Necromancer" or "Xanadu". This set covers 1974-1989. The first disc is pre-Moving Pictures. Because you don't get some of the longer album tracks, you don't quite get an accurate picture of the band's evolving sound. You hear a chronological change but it seems abrupt.

If you have no Rush albums this is a good place to start. Other compilations have generally the same songs as here. You are still better off getting a copy of Hemispheres or Moving Pictures. A good introduction to the band but doesn't show you everything they are capable of. 3 stars.