ALL THE WORLD'S A STAGE

This album was my introduction to Rush when my friend bought it on spec soon after it came out - one of the 70s dreaded "double live" albums. I remember we listened in amazement when the opening riff to "Bastille Day" kicked in (we both thought it sounded like Rainbow's "Kill the King") and then these weird vocals started "Well, there's no bread.". However we soon grew to love the album and even played a couple of the songs at our band's first ever gig (where the singer unwisely attempted to sing "Bastille Day in the original key, but that's another story).

Anyway I digress. This is the first of the regular Rush live albums, featuring songs from their first 4 albums ("Rush" up to "2112"). The atmosphere of the gigs really comes across and some of the songs are an improvement on the rather sterile studio recordings. "In The End" really comes to life here, and the ending is a real "goose pimple" moment. The legendary "By-Tor and the Snow Dog" is also awesome.

There are great versions of "Bastille Day", "Lakeside Park", "Anthem" and "Something For Nothing". There are also a few downsides - 2112 has the "Discovery" and "Oracle" sections missing (unlike the Different Stages version), "Fly By Night" is segued with "In The Mood" and so loses the middle section and I've never been that keen on the tracks from their debut album.

Having said that, this is a good document of the early Rush period.

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