THE SPIRIT OF RADIO (GREATEST HITS 1974-1987)

As I've mentioned before, good compilations for bands with expansive careers are something of a necessary evil. They offer a bargain in terms of popular hits as well as a representative sample of the band's career, but unfortunately deracinate all those tracks from their contexts. Record labels make money, people get what they want, and everybody is happy. The catch-22 is that compilations of mainstream progressive rock bands will almost always miss the mark with their hardcore fans and merely placate casual fans. While the creators had the good sense to fill up the CD with music, they sacrificed many amazing pieces for the sake of being comprehensive. However, the product lives up to its name, and it delivers the goods; it's just that there is so much more "available light" out there, and no constrictive item such as this will please anyone who knows the music of Rush even half was well I do. For those wanting a decent sampling of Rush's career, this isn't a bad deal, but I would recommend a studio album instead- almost any studio album, in fact, to this. With so many gems cut out in creating this one, there won't be much to be satisfied about, and certainly won't be much that cannot be heard on the radio (or its spirit, whatever the case).