Rush - Show of Hands

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Music reviews of Show of Hands

Music Review: Pretty good live album, but it could have been better
Rating: 3 Stars

-1981 and before
CLOSER TO THE HEART
WITCH HUNT
tkdmateo's comments: Great songs, but what are they doing here? If I understand correctly, Rush puts out a live album everytime they are about to move on in their musical direction, and so they reflect on the music from each period. These both came out before the last live album EXIT.... STAGE LEFT. I can understand Witch Hunt because it was not on there, but Closer To The Heart was! They did extend the ending, which was nice, but to me, having it on here too is overkill.

-1982 [SIGNALS]
SUBDIVISIONS
tkdmateo's comments: Only one song? WHY? This album is severely under-represented! Fortunately, they picked the best one on there, and improved it, but they are missing some key songs like The Analog Kid, The Weapon, and New World Man. Where are those?

-1984 [GRACE UNDER PRESSURE]
EARLY DISTANT WARNING
RED SECTOR A
tkdmateo's comments: I can understand that people didn't like this album as well as some of the others. It's songs were darker and the lyrics invoked fear, but that doesn't mean that it didn't have its good songs. Red Sector A definitely deserves to be here. It's my favorite GUP track, which only improved in a live setting, but Early Distant Warning isn't as strong as people believe it to be. Afterimage and The Enemy Within from GUP would have been nice alternatives to EDW.

-1985 [POWER WINDOWS]
THE BIG MONEY
MANHATTAN PROJECT
MARATHON
MYSTIC RHYTHMS
tkdmateo's comments: Okay, now here's an album that isn't short on key song picks. If there were more, it'd be too much. I thought that PW was the best album from the Rush 80's synth era, so I don't have a problem with the song listing. It's the quality of the tracks themselves. THESE ALL SOUND WORSE THAN THEIR STUDIO COUNTERPARTS! (<-pardon the pun). Well, maybe Manhattan project was played okay live, but in The Big Money, Geddy isn't even singing with the song during the chorus! The fact that the synths were stripped down may delight some stingent fans, BUT YOU DO NOT DO THAT TO MARATHON OR MYSTIC RHYTHMS! Without the background choruses and synthesizers, those two songs lose the impact that their studio versions projected so well. Good songs, but should have been played better.

-1987 [HOLD YOUR FIRE]
FORCE 10
TIME STAND STILL
MISSION
TURN THE PAGE
tkdmateo's comments: Since most of this live recording is in fact from the HYF tour, there are going to be many songs promoting this album. Surprisingly, of all the albums on here, HYF's song choices are not only good, but they are played up to par with their studio versions. I thought that Time Stand Still and Turn The Page sounded excellent.

-1988 (for this live recording only)
RHYTHM METHOD (drum solo)
tkdmateo's comments:YES! YES! PERFECT ADDITION TO THIS LIVE ALBUM. Neil's 4-minute-plus solo drumming session proves that he can let loose with style, speed, and precision unlike any other. I wish that the synths were taken out of this one though, as they seemed a bit out of place.

Overall, I would have to say that this is a fair live album, but more songs from specific albums and improved PW tracks would have made it great. For these 2 things, I dock 2 stars off, giving my final score of 3 stars. I only recommend this to Rush fans who have listened to the other albums it's representing first. However, don't let the low score discourage you from checking this one out. If you don't like 80's era Rush, then avoid ASoH, but otherwise, get it after you have bought Signals, GUP, PW, and HYF. It's the only collection of live songs from this era. Sadly, almost all of these songs aren't in their live set anymore, so this album is the best bet for those who want to hear them. If you buy this, ATWaS, E...SL, and the DS 3-disc live set, you will have all the live Rush you will ever need.

Description of Show of Hands

Classic Rock CDs

• Music > Styles
• Hard Rock & Metal
• Pop
• Rock