SNAKES & ARROWS LIVE

RUSH used to be very predictable with their live albums, releasing a live record after every fourth studio album.That is until their prolonged hiatus where they have now almost flooded us with several live releases on cd and dvd. I wasn't even going to bother with this one until King By-Tor convinced me that I needed to, and he was right.There's a ton of music on here over two discs and 27 songs but for me the time flies by. Honestly I haven't listened to my favourite band for quite some time so I was blown away all over again by many of these tracks.The sound quality is superb and Geddy's bass is shaking the floor boards. Neil and Alex are in our faces as usual showing why they are the best at what they do on this planet. It's difficult to pick highlights because every single track impresses me (fanboy !).

The first track to really move me was "Entre Nous" from my all time favourite album "Permanent Waves". I don't know what to say to be honest. Even after all these years this song takes me back to when I was in my late teens driving around the beaches in the summer in the green machine. So emotional. "Mission" was interesting because it made me think of going to the "Vapor Trails" concert in Toronto right away. I listened to a lot of RUSH albums before that concert that I didn't own up until then including "Hold Your Fire". "Freewill" has been my favourite song for as long as I can remember.The power and words and performance by each of the guys is incredible even after all these years. It still gives me goose bumps.

The reason i'm giving this 4 stars is because of the tracks off of the "Snakes & Arrows" studio album that they do here.They take up about a third of this recording so if your not into that album chances are this will be an average album for you. I love the new stuff. Sure it pales when compared to their 1977-1981 output but it's a lot better than their synth years. And again it all "sounds" so good.They just kill on the "Main Monkey Business". Incredible ! Great to hear a track from "Vapor Trails" as well in "Secret Touch". Check out the heavy rhyhm section on "Circumstances". Man I listened to "Hemispheres" a lot back in the late seventies. Great to hear those pulsating synths to opens up "Subdivisions" on disc two but the next two tracks in "Natural Science" (one of their best tracks ever) and "Witch Hunt" are even more impressive. An amazing instrumental display on "Mailgnant Narcissism-De Slagwerker" my God ! "Tom Sawyer", "A Passage To Bankok" and "YYZ" all kick ass to end the recording. And I love barbeque chicken ! Keep it going boys !