I wanna make a poll

IMO Exit is the best of their live recordings. Some think it lacks a little atmosphere but i love the versions of Xanadu, La Villa and even Closer to the Heart.

I think it respresents at their creative peak, concentrating as it does on Rush 76-82 the albums Farewell to Kings to Moving Pictures.,

Rush's live albuym modus operandi seemed to be to release one for every four studio albums and this captures their most 'prog' period. It rocks.

All the World's A Stage is very raw and is the live artefact of a band in love with the sound of an audience cheering. It's full of youthful brio and aggressive playing but ultimately I find it a bit of an ear-bashing experience. And, featuring material from their first four albums, it shows a band still coming to grips with their songwriting ability - it's rushed, frenetic and in your face.

Show of Hands is a pretty relaxed affair and to be honest added little, for me, to the canon of live recordings beyond another totally extravagant, extended and pointless drum solo (I hate 'em) and is clogged with post Signals stuff that really leaves me cold (just my own personal taste in Rush i'm afraid) 

Different Stages is an interesting collection in that it features a show from the Hammersmith Odeon the Hemispeheres tour in 1978. It features some live renditions of songs performed less often (Cygnus, Farewell to Kings etc) and sounds pretty much straight from the desk with very little added or subtracted. The other two CDs from the Test for Echo tour I think takes in Rush's 90s work pretty comprehensively - indeed it could save you the bother of forking out for some pretty substandard albums by hooking up with a live 'best of'.

I don't have Rush in Rio (how many live albums can you have by one band before it starts to become totally meaningless) so can't comment.

But If I were you I'd get Exit, Stage Left and Different Stages

Different Stages is the best:

As Arcer says it contains  a bonus CD taken from the 1978 Tour. It also contains  brilliant performances of Natural Science, Bravado, Driven and Leave That Thing Alone and to top it all a wonderful, full-length (includes "Discovery") de-tuned version of 2112. i cannot recommend this too strongly. Buy it!

Then buy Exit..Stage Left ( Classic period for Rush), then Rio.

All The World's A Stage contains an absolutely brilliant full-length version of Bytor which is worth the expense in itself. In the UK you can pick up most Rush albums for "5.99" from "Music Zone" all remastered. 

joniox,

I just have one question for you. Do you repeat yourself when under stress? Do you repeat yourself when under stress? Do you repeat yourself when under stress? Do you repeat youself..............................

ivan_2068 wrote: None, Genesis Live: Where are Wrath of Ninian? I need a fellow Genesis fan to support my choice. Iván

We are talking a choice of Rush albums JM!

Another one who I wouldnt want on my side in a murder trial.

ivan_2068 wrote: We are talking a choice of Rush albums JM! I know Reed, but Rush is not one of my top 5 bands (I recognize they are good, but I don't like all their stuff), so I'm trying to give people a wider view of Progressive Universe with a real masterpiece. Iván

Hey, I'm not gonna take this sh*t from a man whose most famous national icon is Paddington Bear!