A SHOW OF HANDS

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.