CHRONICLES

My introduction to Rush came with this album on recomendation from a friend, this collection of songs immediatly clicked with me and I was head over heels madly in love with them, from the chippendale voice of Geddy Lee, the strong bass and drum backbone of the songs, the added synth melodies and alex's guitar skills, often overlooked, but really right up my alley.

The best aspect of the collection is the chronological order of the songs which reveal both the continuity of quality, and the progress and develepment Rush went through over the years. From the early Led Zep type hard rock towards a more progressive rock approach and eventually to the amazing synth laden heavy rock, with pop-credibility that made Rush unique in the eighties. They never forgot to reinvent themselves through naturall development, which also adds to this collection as to prevent it from being repetitive.

The tracklist is as good as can be, naturally personal favourites are always missing, as I sure would have liked YYZ, Xanadu, Cygnus X-1, The Pass or Natural Science(to name just a few) in the list, but that's also a strength of the collection, it leaves something to be desired.

Basically I think this is the ultimate collection for people who like me at the time are unfamilliar with rush's music and want a good taster of what Rush sounds like. For me it was a beginning, if you already are determined to get some Rush, or already have most of the albums you can easily skip it for in the end it's the original albums that hold the purest of ear candy.

Only for novices, but good at that.