Review Rush - Time Machine 2011: Live in Cleveland 2011

Tracks
1. The Spirit of Radio
2. Time Stand Still
3. Presto
4. Stick It Out
5. Workin' Them Angels
6. Leave That Thing Alone
7. Faithless
8. BU2B
9. Freewill
10. Marathon
11. Subdivisions
12. Tom Sawyer
13. Red Barchetta
14. YYZ
15. Limelight
16. The Camera Eye
17. Witch Hunt
18. Vital Signs
19. Caravan
20. Moto Perpetuo (Drum solo)
21. O'Malley's Break (acoustic solo)
22. Closer to the Heart
23. 2112 (Overture/The Temples of Syrinx)
24. Far Cry
25. La Villa Strangiato
26. Working Man

Band:
Alex Lifeson — Guitars, backing vocals
Geddy Lee — bass, lead vocals, keyboards
Neil Peart — drums, percussion

Discography:
Rush (1974)
Fly by Night (1975)
Caress of Steel (1975)
2112 (1976)
A Farewell to Kings (1977)
Hemispheres (1978)
Permanent Waves (1980)
Moving Pictures (1981)
Signals (1982)
Grace Under Pressure (1984)
Power Windows (1985)
Hold Your Fire (1987)
Presto (1989)
Roll the Bones (1991)
Counterparts (1993)
Test for Echo (1996)
Vapor Trails (2002)
Feedback (EP) (2004)
Snakes & Arrows (2007)

Guests:

Info
Performed on April 15, 2011 at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio

Released 8/11-2011
Reviewed 23/11-2011

Links:
rush.com
myspace
roadrunner

Canadian trio Rush is back with a new live album, something they have been doing quite a few of lately but for this one they are playing their successful album Moving Picture in the middle of the set. You know that album which have sold quadruple platinum and starts with one of the best songs ever written in Tom Sawyer, the Moving Pictures album has sold in over 4 million copies in the US alone. Speaking of sales, the band is the rock band besides The Beatles and The Rolling Stones who have had the most successive gold- or platinum albums, which has to be said to be a quite impressive thing. Another impressive thing is that the band has been the same trio since 1974 and the only album with Rush to feature a different line-up than Lee, Lifeson and Peart is the self titled debut which had another drummer all albums since the second album Fly By Night which was released in 1975 has had the same band members, that is quite impressive I would say. A lot more can of course be said about Rush who in 2012 will be releasing their twentieth studio album called Clockwork Angels, an album we get a few tasters from on this album which is released as a 2-CD or DVD or Blu-Ray. Hallowed got only the CD-version so I cannot say anything about the moving pictures but the audio I can write about and that is what I intend to from the next paragraph onwards.

Musically Rush is a progressive rock band, their music spans from progressive rock to metal. The music is guitar driven or keyboard driven depending on which period in the band’s long history you listen to, all these periods are also represented in this live show. Geddy Lee has a high pitched vocal style but nowadays he is not screaming that much like he did on the earlier albums, other than that it is quite hard to describe the style of the band as this album spans of a very long period of time and lots of different phases in the band’s musical history. I think progressive rock is what we can describe the kind of music Rush plays as. The album has 26 tracks and it plays for close to two and a half hour, it contains most of the hit and as I earlier stated the album also plays through the entire Moving Pictures album within the track list, kind of a cool thing and I think quite appreciated amongst the fanatics, after all it is the most popular album amongst all the Rush albums. I should also say that the sound on this album is very good, the band’s performance is flawless and at times it sounds like it could have been a studio album but it still has a very much alive feel and the audience is also there of course. The album gives a quality feel I would say and Cleveland which awarded the band their first good airplay on american radio which led to their eventual success show that they did the right thing to chose that show for recording.

Personally I have never been a fan of live albums and I would prefer the studio version of these songs any day of the week but I have to admit that this live album is still very good. I mean so many great songs, like Tom Sawyer, Subdivisions, Marathon the opening part of 2112 and so on in that fashion. It is an excellent cavalcade of fantastic songs, I mean there are not many bands that can sport such a fantastic setlist on their live shows. So to say anything other than that this is a brilliant album and a brilliant performance is something of a lie.

Sure, it may not be the most necessary album released by Rush, and it is one of many live albums this last ten years so it feels a bit unnecessary. Even so it is a great album and if I had a record store nearby I would probably have gone there and bought me another Rush album.

HHHHHHH

Rush Time Machine 2011: Live in Cleveland

Rush
Time Machine 2011: Live in Cleveland