I have been trolling through this thread as Rush has never been on my radar, always a bit too heavy form me.
I have, however, ended up with several Lps ...they were in a small collection I acquired. I am guess they are all compilations??? What do you Rush fans think of these offerings??
Rush All the World’s a Stage (2 LPs)
Rush A Show of Hands (2 LPs)
Rush Exit Stage Left (2 LPs)
Rush Permanent Waves
For more "mellow" Rush, try Hold Your Fire, Presto (as discussed itt) as well as Roll The Bones. 3 great albums that won't make your ears bleed lol.
The first 3 albums you got are compilations of a sort, all kind of a "greatest hits" live. The last is a studio and notable for being Rush's first true break out album (i.e. radio friendly). It is an absolute classic.
I'm not the biggest fan of All The World's A Stage (the sound is too raw and uncontrolled for me). Also Rush had not yet recorded their best material (imo) so most of the content on it isn't my favorite.
A Show of Hands is a great live album in it's own way; the mix isn't the best--it's a bit "soft" or "muffled" sounding (and distant perhaps), yet has tinny or even harsh highs, and overwhelming synths. But the predominance of the synths fits much of the flavor of the songs on it and the time it was recorded, and it's great to hear the material played in this fashion (instead of being forced to sound "rawer" or "harder" than it is). It also has some great rolling synth bass!
Exit Stage Left is just a classic. :thmbsp: One of my favorite live Rush albums to this day, and it was my favorite until recently when Rush, imo, got even better live than they've ever been and came out with 3 albums that attest to this judgment very well (Rush In Rio, R30, and Snakes and Arrows Live).
But Exit was one of the first Rush albums I ever got and I always loved it's warm and friendly sound, and of course the superb playing displayed on it. Many of the versions of the songs on Exit I actually prefer to the studio (like Xanadu, Closer To The Heart, The Trees, and La Villa Strangiato), although both versions, studio and live, are great in their own way.
Anyway, you've got some fantastic material there; happy listening.
All The World's A Stage may be the first live album I ever heard in my life - a buddy of mine bought it on 8-track during my senior year in HS, fall of 76. Of course, I bought the LP because I thought the album SO amazing. I used to BLAST Working Man and Bytor using my Technics 8600SU integrated amp, Tannoy Micro table, and Cerwin Vega HED 10 speakers. Used to fry a lot of tweeters - LOL!
Then I bought Exit Stage Left in 1981/82. More tracks that were played at maximum possible volume included Jacob's Ladder, and the amazing Xanadu, both preferably in a darkened room late at night.
Exit Stage Left was the first live album I ever heard; I got it my freshman year of high school (on cd) and played/blasted the hell out of it as well (much to my parent's intense annoyance). Good times, good times. :thmbsp:
