A SHOW OF HANDS

Without a doubt the best of the live albums. No point in picking out individual tracks here, every one is excellent and unmissable. The sound is superb and the whole cd can be played again and again, without tiring. Rush at their best. If you only buy one live Rush album, make it this one!

"A Show of Hands" sums up RUSH's last four albums: "Signals", "Grace Under Pressure", "Power Windows", "Hold Your Fire". Not a body of work the band will be remembered for when all is said and done, but each has its share of good tracks, which the band slices from their original source with surgeon's skill. On stage, GEDDY LEE splits his time between bass and synthesizer, so the bottom end drops out from time to time, making the performance seem a little flat. Still, what the band lacks in passion they make up for in execution, delivering clean, accurate versions of the originals. And the selection here is spot on: "Subdivisions", "Time Stand Still" and "The Big Money" are obvious choices, but drawing out album cuts like "Turn The Page", "Mission", "Marathon" and "Distant Early Warning" are eminently informed additions. What's missing isn't insubstantial -- "New World Man", "The Body Electric", "Prime Mover" -- but you can't have everything. Compared to their previous two live sets ("All The World's A Stage", "Exit... Stage Left"), "A Show of Hands" is cold and remote, which isn't an indictment since that's where RUSH was musically at the time. The set's warmest moment comes at the close, with a version of "Closer to the Heart" that the audience clearly relishes. Anyone familiar with the band's work since "Signals" should know what to expect from "A Show of Hands".

It's a different musical chapter than their earlier classics, but one that RUSH fans have taken to heart. Personally, I think any excuse to keep RUSH in the limelight is a cause for celebration. However, the suggestion by some that this exceeds "Exit... Stage Left" is off the mark. Note that, while the performance sounds consistent throughout, this is actually drawn from two separate tours: the 1988 "Hold Your Fire" tour and the 1986 "Power Windows" tour. The performance is also available on VHS/laser disc as "A Show of Hands" - The Video Concert.

Recorded during the "Power Windows" tour '86 and the "Hold Your Fire" tour '88, "A show of hands" is definitely one of the most boring live recordings I've ever listened to. Many RUSH devoted fans actually recognize how Geddy struggles to get the "perfect" pitch when he "sings", or at least, when he tries to do so. but to be fair, the album's got brilliant passages as well, such as "The Rhythm Method" where Neil PEART executes for over 4 and a half minutes, beautiful, compassed and improved drum solo music. The live versions of "Subdivisions" and "Closer to the Heart" are the most revealing pieces out of the entire album, making the whole production worthwhile to listen to. The intro resembling the "Three Stooges" opening theme is quite funny as well, but despite how poor and awfully produced this album is, no matter what kind of music genre you play, you have to give a hi-fi sound quality when releasing a live album, and "A Show of hands" doesn't have it.

You might as well reconsider purchasing this album because it ain't nothing out of this world, but if you still won't believe me and go for it, you might as well go and purchase the live DVD of this tour too, "A Show of hands - The Video Concert" to look at it with your own eyes.

This live album didn't impress me as much as their previous live "Exit...Stage Left", but it's a nice collection of their 80's songs and a fair document of the band's live show from the late 80's. What made me disappointed was the style how Geddy maneuvered between his bass guitar and keyboards. Some parts which had both of them on the studio album, are now played merely with the synthesizers, and the result isn't very satisfying as the sound gets flat. The album opening with funny intro and "Big Money" is still a very powerful performance of a good song from a poor studio album.

This live affair is the culmination of the 4 albums that came after Moving Pictures. These albums are Signals, Grace Under Pressure, Power Windows, and Hold Your Fire. Rush was at the height of the synth era and they were gaining new fans and retaining their old ones. Their live shows became more of a tight and cohesive affair than ever. Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson, and Neil Peart were at the height of their abilities on this one. The sound is crisp and clean, the keyboards are smooth and clear, the drumming is tasteful and concise, and the guitar work is intricate and yet simple at the same time.

The album opens with their classic intro of the Three Stooges theme. It goes immediately into Big Money, a very faithful version of the studio counterpart. The bass sound, however, doesn't have the punch of the studio affair. Lee's vocals are at his best, and they only get better during the show. Subdivisions follows and is one of the strongest songs on the album. The Oberheim solo in the middle is replaced by some synth choirs instead, but it still retains that feel from 1982. The songs from Hold Your Fire are well represented, yet I still find it hard to enjoy them fully (I consider Hold Your Fire as the weakest Rush album). The two GUP songs are also very well represented, Distant Early Warning and Red Sector A are played with precision and skill, and retain the same mood as the studio counterpart. As a treat, there are two pre-Signals songs featured. Witch Hunt is from the often considered masterpiece Moving Pictures, and it surpasses the studio version. The closing track, Closer to the Heart from A Farewell to Kings, features an extended quasi-reggae outro and it shows that Rush can still hark back to their old roots of jamming.

Overall, this is a good live album from their 80's output. I recommend it to those who want to hear live Rush from the height of their often considered "weakest" era. 4/5.

It's another excellent live set from great band Rush. I first owned the live video concert of this album in laser disc (LD) format which I still keep it now. It's an attractive show and later I found out that there is a different setlist because in the video setlist there is no "Subdivisions" from "Signals" album which has become my all-time favorite of Rush track. When I realized it I can not let myself not owning the audio CD as it's here at track 2. So I purchased the CD. It's no regret at all having this format. The show starts off with powerful song "The Big Money" from "Power Windows" album. There is practically no major difference between studio version as the band performs excellently- it seems like they record the song in the studio but actually in front off audience. Another great thread is when "Distant Early Warning" is played. It reminds me as well to the live version under "Grace Under Pressure Tour" live video in which I have reviewed as well at this site. Again, Geddy Lee shows his skills in playing bass guitar and at the same time sings the song in a relax manner. Alex Lifeson gives his hard edge guitar solo and fills in a song which has modern sounds of digital era. Neil Peart - the drummer and lyrics writer - seems to play exactly the same with the studio version.

"Mystic Rhythms" which has a slow part at the beginning helps provide a musical break from heavy songs. In this performance there is a nice works between keyboards, bass guitar and electric guitar in a bit atmospheric nuance - especially when Geddy sings "Mystic Rhythms .!!!" . it's a nice music segment. As was the case with previous live recordings, this time Neil Peart gives again his solo augmented with orchestrated sounds under "The Rhythm Method (Drum Solo)". The show closes with their classic song "Closer To The Heart".

No doubt, you should own this CD especially if you like rock concert album. It's an excellent addition to any prog music collection. If you see the video version, go and buy it! It's an excellent live show video. Keep on proggin' ..!

Peace on earth and mercy mild - GW

Another live album by the band, which seemed unfatigable in the 80's.

Honestly, this goes in the 'maybe' pile. Most of the stuff is from the Hold Your Fire album and Power Windows era, which is the most forgottable period of all. Die-hard fans could get it, but the common man should not start here to appreciate Rush. The VHS show was pretty awesome, but the fact of just seeing them is enough.

The setlist is kinda lame, compared to the super ones we got in the last years. We could forget lame-o songs like Big Money, Marathon or Mission. Too bad the Subdivisions version on this one is sooo far away from the original (which kicks butt), and we don't need another forgettable version of Closer to the Heart!

Pretty much for fans, but don't miss the show of the same name. Lots of humor!

"A Show Of Hands' seems a little too plastic to me as we get a lot of synths and not enough bottom end. And Geddy's vocals seem higher than usual. I guess i'm just not a big fan of this period of RUSH.

Good choice for the first song though as "The Big Money" gets the record off to a great start. Nice guitar solo from Alex after 3 minutes as Neil's drums rumble along. Great ending to the song as well. Some other highlights for me are,"Subdivisions" which takes me back to the early eighties for a brief moment as the synths signal the start of the song. "Witch Hunt (Part III of Fear)" is more like it as far as i'm concerned with a good solo from Alex towards the end of the song."Time Stand Still" takes a while to get going, but it does turn out to be a highlight. "Red Sector A" is so well done, great tune ! "Closer To The Heart" a fan favourite, features a beautiful instrumental interlude with some incredible bass and lead guitar. Nice version.

Overall a good live record, but RUSH has made better ones in my opinion.

A good example and "best of" collection of Rush's '80's output (minus "Permanent Waves" and "Moving Pictures"), containing most of their finest songs from this era played with more energy and flair than you're likely to find on their studio releases.

However, comparing this live album to their later releases one can really tell the difference in the band's stylistic quality, and "Show of Hands" comes off as sounding almost commercial when juxtaposed to the more mighty and raw sounding "Different Stages". I suppose it was just the band's decade long obsession with perfection that eliminated their once unstoppable rock, and while those albums (and "Show of Hands") certainly aren't bad, they just aren't on par with the group's finest. This album, however, does a good job of showcasing their sound during those days.

I would say that "Show of Hands" is a logical purchase for fans of "Grace Under Pressure" through "Hold Your Fire", but don't think it'll be as powerful as other live albums.

Setlist 3 Instrumental Performances 3 Stage Energy 3 Live Experience 3

They disengaged, they turned the page

Rush's '88 live album is quite good, but isn't that what we always expect from the band? It seems that every time the band wants to change their sound and move in another direction they release a live album. This was the case for albums like their 1976 release All The World's A Stage which saw them move from their heavy roots onto their classic era, and from their classic era they Exit(ed)... To Stage Left to make their move onto heavier synthesized grounds with their Signals album. Now, at the end of that era they'll make their move again.

Recorded over their Power Windows and Hold Your Fire tours the track listing shows very much where the band was at the time. What's nice is that if you are a devoted fan of the band then you're going to get a lot of material here that was not previously, or has not subsequently, been released live. Of course, the performance here is quite good, as it always is, but what really either makes or destroys this album for most is the selection of songs.

People who loved Rush's 80s period should find a lot to like here. Songs like Turn The Page, Marathon, Mission, Mystic Rhythms, Force Ten and Red Sector A are some of Rush's best and certainly the best from that particular era. However, some prog fans may be turned off by others on the album such as Time Stand Still or The Big Money. One of the real highlights of this album, however, is the performance that caps off the album. Closer To The Heart is performed in fine form here. Coming into the end of the track the band decided to tack on an extra two and a half minutes of upbeat instrumental to the track which make it something truly special.

However, I'd really only recommend this one to fans or those who like Rush's 80s period or those who don't mind a bit of New Wave in their prog. Still a good effort none the less, this one is very deserving of a high 3. Not for everyone but good for most.

Probably the best Rush live album ever. It was my very first CD I ever bought (even before I had a CD player!). Rush used to release a live double LP every four albums as a kind of closing chapter of a different phase. And this is what you get: recorded during the Hold Your Fire tour, it shows the band at its creativeness peak. The musicanship is, as always, awesome. I love this 'keyboards' stage of the band. To me it was their most progressive and bold time. Neil Peart is simply outdoing himself again. What a guy! But the whole band is their finest form. they reached a near perfection state by this time.It was hard to believe that only 3 guys could produce so much sound, with so much precision and conviction. I had great expectations on the Exit Stage Left live offering, but that album was a bit of a disappointment while A Show Of hands excelled all my best wishes. Even though the DVD version is better (for it has more songs), this is the live Rush that I hear the most. And with the same pleasure, I should point out. Some live versions are even better than the original studio ones (like Subdivsions). The production is very good and the overall sound is great.

It was only unfortunate that this CD sighted the last of the truly creative period in Rush's career, since it was all bound to go dawnhill from then on. But that's another story. A Show Of hands was a great testimony of one of the world's most interesting and influential groups to emerge from the 70's. Highly recommended.

Rush's third live album documents songs from their 1982-1988 period. The songs are all performed well, with a few exceptions where Lee's vocals seem out of tune. They key thing about this album when considering purchasing it is, do you like 1980s Rush? If the answer is yes, you'll probably enjoy this one very much. If the answer is no, likely you'll find this one hard to sit through. With the exception of Closer to the Heart, every track is from Rush's most accessible, synthesizer-driven period. Just based on that fact alone, this isn't one everyone should get.

I liked most of the Rush's 1980s period with the exception of their Hold Your Fire album of 1988. So I found most of this collection an enjoyable listen, particularly the material from Grace Under Pressure. My guess as to why there is hardly any older material on this live set is that it seemed Rush used their live albums to document the previous four studio albums they made, although later live albums would not follow this formula. Besides, these were the songs that were popular among Rush fans in the 1980s, so this is what they focused their live sets on.

Three stars because this isn't for everyone. If you love 1980s Rush, you'll love this.

First of all, I'm a huge fan of the Rush era documented here, let there be no mistake abouth that. To me, this setlist looks equally impressive then those from the 2 previous live albums. However, they give a poor performance, more concerned with sounding right and getting every little piece in the correct place. These songs must have been too hard to play with just 3 musicians, even if they listened to awe-inspiring names like Neil, Alex and Geddy. The programmed synth parts leave no room for any improvisations or changes and the overal sound is too plastic.

Show Of Hands is drained of all the energy that makes their live albums so spectacular. None of the songs here adds anything to the originals, which all sounded better, more precise and more passionate then this lifeless performance. One of the (few) disappointing Rush live albums. The DVD version is a lot more fun. Fans only.

"A Show of Hands" is a live double album release (double vinyl/single CD) by Canadian progressive rock act Rush. The album was released through Anthem Records/Vertigo Records in January 1989. The track selection on the album predominantly represents the four studio albums released in the years 1982 - 1987: "Signals" (1982), "Grace Under Pressure" (1984), "Power Windows" (1985), and "Hold Your Fire" (1987) with only "Witch Hunt (Part III of Fear)" and "Closer To The Heart" being excursions into the earlier part of the band´s discography. Rush had already covered the pre-1982 era of their career on the 1976 "All the World's a Stage" and 1981 "Exit.....Stage Left" live albums, so the tracklist makes perfect sense. A video featuring the same title as this live album was released in February 1989, but features completely different recordings and a tracklist which varies from the tracklist of this release.

Most of the material on "A Show of Hands" was recorded during the 1988 tour supporting "Hold Your Fire" (1987) in both the US and in England. "Mystic Rhythms" and "Witch Hunt" were however recorded in East Rutherford, New Jersey, during the 1986 "Power Windows" (1985) tour.

Stylistically this is Rush at their most keyboard/synth heavy, but their power trio rock instrumentation of guitar, bass, and drums are still the core of their sound, along with the distinct sounding voice and vocal delivery of Geddy Lee. The live versions of the tracks generally don´t differ much from the studio versions, but tracks like "Subdivisions", "Turn the Page", and "Mission" which are culled from "Signals" (1982) (the former) and "Hold Your Fire" (1987) (the two latter) are more powerful sounding than in their original studio versions. It´s always hard to satisfy anyone with the track selections on a live album, but since the premise is predominantly selections from the four albums mentioned above, I think Rush made some decent decisions (the least interesting are described later in the review). The only track I´m missing is "Prime Mover" from "Hold Your Fire" (1987), which in my opinion is THE highlight of that album, and one of the highlights of the 80s-era Rush releases.

Personally I´m not a big fan of drum solos and the inclusion of the drum solo track "The Rhythm Method" is not a plus in my book. Sure it was probably a blast witnessing the master himself and his incredible playing skills if you attended the actual gig and maybe it makes more sense when watching the DVD version of "A Show of Hands" (which also features the drum solo), but here it´s not that interesting. I´m also a bit critical of the inclusion of "Closer to the Heart" if it was included to represent the 70s part of the band´s output. Yes it´s a decent enough track, but it´s arguably not a highlight from that part of the band´s career, and I can name quite a few other tracks from that era (which didn´t appear on any of the two previous live albums) that I would much rather have had included on "A Show of Hands". With that in mind I´m actually happy Rush opted to include "Witch hunt (part III of Fear)" from "Moving Pictures" (1981), because that track is given a lift in quality and appears here in a more interesting version than the original.

Rush aren´t exactly the most daring or experimental live act out there and on "A Show of Hands" they seem more or less content with reproducing the sound of their studio albums. Even the tracks which feauture a more warm and heavy sounding production in the live versions compared to their studio counterparts, are played very true to the originals here. It could have been interesting to hear musicians of this quality challenge themselves a bit more...maybe re-arrange the tracks or do something a bit different, but that´s not what you are going to hear on "A Show of Hands", which actually works better as a 80s Rush best-of compilation than as a live album release. Still the quality of the recordings is so high and the musical performances on a level beyond what most other artists are able to produce, that a 3.5 - 4 star (75%) rating is still deserved.

(Originally posted on Metal Music Archives)

As had become traditional for Rush by this point, after four studio albums they brought out this live piece to summarise this particular era of their career ranging from Signals to Hold Your Fire. This is an era which started out strong but started to flag towards the end, with Hold Your Fire finding the approach wearing thin, but fortunately the live versions of the material from that album (and the somewhat better-liked but still contentious Power Windows) show a bit more flair and style than their studio renditions.

Unfortunately, compared to their two preceding live albums Rush had less scope for throwing out any curve balls. With only three musicians onstage, and a lot of the songs in question requiring more simultaneous synth and guitar Alex Lifeson could handle all at once (the man only has the two arms, after all!), on these tours the synth parts had to be largely preprogammed, more or less killing any scope they had to introduce any variation into the songs.

As a result, the album ends up being a little lifeless, an exercise in playing the songs from the albums more or less how you remember them from the studio editions; at some points only a bit of crowd noise mixed in here and there gives the impression that the band are live at all . Perhaps hiring a guest musician or two to provide backup on the synths might have made for a more organic experience, but then again the trio's chemistry has always been so tight that incorporating more musicians into it would be a dangerous proposition indeed.

Alternately, if the album had included more 80s performances of less synth-dominated parts of their back catalogue it might have gone better - it closes with a reasonable rendition of Closer to the Heart, and the difference between that track the program-locked material before it is striking. But then again, All the World's a Stage and Exit Stage Left had already covered all the best songs from prior eras, and there seems to have been an effort made to avoid duplicating songs presented on those two; I can certainly see the logic behind that, and to some that might make A Show of Hands better value, but at the same time I think it does risk steering into the constraints the band were under.

In short, by this stage of their career Rush had written themselves into a corner with their live albums, in that everyone was expecting this release to focus on the tracks from Signals to Grace but the fact was that the songs in question just didn't lend themselves well to live performances. The album's saved by the fact that for the most part they give solid, energetic renditions of the material, and it's impressive just how much they can nail the non-synth parts live, but it's best to come this if you want a quick "best of synth-era Rush" rundown, not because you want a live album which actually sounds live.

A Show Of Hands is a quality concert experience and is a summary of the 80s albums "Signals' (1982), "Grace Under Pressure" (1984), "Power Windows" (1985) and "Hold Your Fire" (1987). These albums are not the best of Rush but live the songs tend to be better than the sound on the studio releases. The songs are from "Hold Your Fire" mostly and I believe they are better heard live than on that album so that is a drawcard of this particular recording. It also has a very solid quality sound throughout.

From "Hold Your Fire" the songs appear, Mission, Force Ten, and Turn The Page so there is a lot from their latest at the time.

Closer To The Heart is always present of course along with quintessential The Spirit of Radio. I always love to hear the magnificent Red Sector A and hard rocking Force Ten, and it was great to hear Mission, another one rarely heard live.

Marathon, Manhattan Project and The Big Money from "Power Windows" are good rockers for the crowd to get into. The drum solo by Peart is terrific, with his vibes section and patented cymbal jazz splashes along with some incredible triplet work.

The concert is overall very strong, but it is better to get hold of the DVD which features extra songs and great visuals; one of the best live documents of the band and worth getting hold of above the rest.

Further from the heart

Rush's third official live album was recorded at the peak of the band's Synth Rock/New Wave- phase. Radical changes had been made in the band's sound and approach from 1982's Signals onward. Rush was obviously adapting to the musical climate of the 80's with these albums. Representing the albums of this period (Signals, Grace Under Pressure, Power Windows, and Hold Your Fire), and with a track list almost completely focused on songs taken from those albums, A Show Of Hands is fundamentally different from the previous official live album, Exit... Stage Left.

Overall, this is a pretty lifeless live album. There is almost none of that live energy that characterises previous as well as later live albums by the band. Personally, I am not very fond of this period of Rush, but if you are especially interested in this period of Rush live, the recently released Grace Under Pressure Live (CD and DVD) is a much better choice than A Show Of Hands. It has a better track list and more energy. On Grace Under Pressure Live, they managed to take the studio tracks from this era to another level, improving on them, making them a bit rockier and give them more punch. But on A Show Of Hands there is no such tendency. Frankly, I would rather listen to the Hold Your Fire studio album.

This album also represents a band that clearly had given up on their Prog past. The only old track featured here is Closer To The Heart.

A weak point in Rush's live discography.

The "four studio = one live" pattern marches on. As one might expect, this album is primarily based around the last four Rush studio albums, which isn't exactly my favorite Rush era of all time. Even worse, there's only ONE song from Signals ("Subdivisions," done mostly the same as before, just like most of the stuff on here), which means that the album primarily concentrates on the very 80's Rush albums that I DON'T like. Throw in another stupid version of "Closer to the Heart" (I really, really, really don't like that song) and this album should utterly blow.

And in parts, it does just that, and yet the album manages to not suck. There are some serious stinkers on here (listening to "Turn the Page," "Manhattan Project" and "Mission" consecutively is my personal equivalent of entering the 8th circle of hell), as expected, but the song selection manages to please me about as much as it possibly could, once I recover from the presence of, again, only ONE Signals track. Bastards. But anyway, Grace rewards my ears with the two standouts ("Distant Early Warning," "Red Sector A"), and I'd go so far as to say that the live version of the latter manages to surpass its studio counterpart. The playing isn't different, but there's a level of intensity and OVERWHELMING desperation in Geddy's singing that the studio version could only hint at. As for the HYF stuff ... er ... well, "Force Ten" is here! Yay!

Best of all, though I never want to suffer through "The Manhattan Project" again, the band also makes sure to throw on the three Power Windows tracks that I loved oh so much. The differences between these and the originals are mostly in the semantics, of course, but if pressed I'd probably say that "The Big Money" is done as well as before, "Marathon" a little worse (the first verse drags a bit too much here) and that "Mystic Rhythms" somehow got EVEN BETTER. Perhaps it's just my ears playing tricks on me, but it almost seems to me that the band managed to loosen up just a smidge for this track, allowing a bit of flow and vitality to seep into the track that wasn't there before. Many might disagree, but I can easily see why the band put this version of the track on their compilation Chronicles instead of the original (which I still love, mind you).

The one big surprise of the album comes right after "MR" - the band brings back "Witch Hunt" (from Pictures) and it also has an energy that I largely missed originally. Alex suddenly gets some crunch back in his guitar, Geddy snaps out the lyrics intensely, and overall it was a large part of what made me go back and give Moving Pictures a bunch of extra listens.

Anyway, that's your album, (except for Neil throwing in the SAME drum solo that he gave on the past two live albums - yeah yeah, I'm sure there are some differences, but do we need this many versions of it??? Bleh). As much as it should bother me in general (I also get irritated at the cover - I don't want to see a cover that emphasizes Geddy behind keyboards rather than playing his bass), much of it manages to be surprisingly decent. At worst, it works as an ok compilation of the last few 80's albums - I'd recommend skipping Grace and HYF in favor of this, but that's just me.

Oh! I forgot about what is EASILY the funnest part of the album! The introductory music is Three Blind Mice! Let's give our Rush-men credit - even when their pretensions become goofily grotesque, they still find a way to not take themselves too seriously. What a bunch of good guys, dorky as they may be.

Rush's third skin change concludes with the release of the live album "A Show of Hands" at the end of the 80's, with a setlist built on the basis of their most clearly synthesizer-oriented stage, ranging from 1982's "Signals" to 1987's "Hold Your Fire".

Despite the displeasure of many for this turn in the musical aesthetics of the Canadians, more digitised and aseptic of raw roughness and intricate developments that had marked their stellar works of the late 70's and early 80's, "A Show of Hands" is a very good album that reflects the recognised virtuosity of the trio and their evolution not alien to the energised and overflowing tendencies that new wave and pop brought in their 80's DNA.

To highlight especially the humorous introduction with the Three Stooges theme, prior to the contagious vitality of "Big Money" and its ending, more rounded than that of the studio version of the album "Power Windows", the impeccable execution of "Subdivisions", the emotional epic sense of the epilogues of "Marathon" and "Mission", the percussion solo of master Neil Peart in "The Rhythm Method", the luminous and crystalline guitars of Alex Lifeson in "Time Stand Still", and the bass of Geddy Lee in the extended and conclusive "Closer to The Heart", which besides being the only song of the second stage included in the published setlist of the album, is the unbeatable closing with the full band.

Additionally, a VHS version (updated in 2006 to DVD) of "A Show of Hands" was released, which in this case did include some songs from the first two stages of the band, such as "The Spirit of Radio", "Tom Sawyer" and "2112" among others.

Very good

4 stars