Rush - Working Men Live (12 tracks) +Album Reviews

A Pointless Release

R. Short | United States | 11/17/2009

(2 out of 5 stars)

"Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong but this has to be the first time there has been a "greatest hits" packaging of previously released live recordings. For me there is no such thing as too much Rush live...but why bother with this? Most fans like myself likely already own the three live albums which this material is taken from. Speaking of which, why isn't the live album "Different Stages" represented? That has the entire version of "2112" not to mention (imho) the best available live recording of "Natural Science". Another complaint...a live compilation...a Rush live compilation..with no drum solo? Unthinkable! Okay now I realize that the version of "One Little Victory" hasn't been released however, the song is available on two other live sets and this isn't one of those songs that changes drastically from tour to tour. One final thought..this really is just another "Best of" Rush release with an audience. Most of the songs are the standards.."Tom Sawyer", "Limelight", "Spirit of Radio", "Closer To The Heart"..etc. Rush is a great live band but I really can't see any reason for purchasing this one. I do like the artwork though."

Crawling Men

John Stainer | Plantation,Florida | 11/18/2009

(2 out of 5 stars)

"Another useless live Rush package. Saying you "need to own" the best live Rush songs from the last 3 or 4 tours is like saying you like being awakened by a screaming toddler at 5 am on a work day. What cracks me up about this is the fact that not only are these songs available on other live discs...but these versions are just weak!

1. Limelight - LOL. Really. Quite possibly the weakest and slowest version of this song ever recorded.

2. Spirit of Radio - If you own the Grace Under Pressure Live cd or Exit Stage Left... version...then you own the best professional releases of this track.

3. 2112- Really? We needed this version? If you are going to go all out then at least put out the Different Stages version, I mean the whole intention of this was to capture the live Atlantic Records years right?

4. Freewill - Painful. If you own Exit Stage Left...you own the only version you will ever need.

5. Dreamline - Again, a song that is readily available on Different Stages, Rush In Rio, R30 discs, and Snakes & Arrows Live.

6. Far Cry - This makes a bit of sense...still trying to milk what ever you can off of the last live and studio release.

7. Subdivisions - Have you noticed the trend here? How many Mercury/Polygram songs do we have here versus Atlantic years? Looks like even Atlantic knows Rush's best years were decades ago now.

8. One Little Victory - Oh ok. So we get the "unreleased come buy this because you don't own this version yet" track. It will be featured on the upcoming R30 re-release next month..ON BLU-RAY ONLY. Thanks for thinking about those who only own DVD players still (89.2% of the nation).

9. Closer To The Heart - Let's start the count - Exit Stage Left, Grace Under Pressure Tour 84 Live, A Show of Hands, Different Stages, Rush In Rio, and now...Working Men.

10. Tom Sawyer - We can always use the 102,000th release of this song in some way, shape, or form.

11. Working Man - A song from 1974 is on an Atlantic Records best of collection.

12. YYZ - See above for Closer To The Heart.

If somebody actually consulted..gee..I dunno...FANS...Atlantic could have actually made money here. They could have released Atlantic era only tunes that were recorded from live tours during their tenure with the label and have even more that are unreleased and fans would have snatched this up!

This could have worked for a best of live package:

1. Show Don't Tell

2. Stick It Out

3. Bravado

4. Ceiling Unlimited

5. Superconductor

6. Test For Echo

7. Time and Motion

8. Scars

9. Where's My Thing?

10. Far Cry

11. The Pass

12. War Paint

13. Limbo

14. Double Agent

Now here is something that would actually shed light on their Atlantic material and gasp! More than half of these songs were big radio hits and radio singles. They must be really hard up to sell Mercury's material over there at Atlantic."

Come now...

Bryan M. Tucker | baltimore | 11/24/2009

(1 out of 5 stars)

"I place myself in the top 1% of RUSH fans in the world. Love 'em. But come on folks! A best of live???? The only fans I can see loving this are the ones that can't be objective when it comes to Rush. As another person mentioned, were they to release a best of live from their entire career with prev. unreleased stuff (and you know there is a warehouse of material they are saving until the end), I would be on that like right on Christ. I have about 3 hours of unreleased early studio songs, live sound board recordings and bootlegs from over the years and most of it is in stereo with some kind of mix. Got it ALL from the Power Windows website before Atlantic made them shut down the downloadable section. THAT would be worth going to Best Buy or ordering it on line.

I will support this band come hell or High Water (pun intended) but this is as pointless as middle east politics.

"

Unnessesary product for the Christmas 2009 season

Sampson Simpson | Canada | 11/25/2009

(2 out of 5 stars)

"12 tracks, all but one previously released on live Rush albums of recent vintage. It is hard to imagine what purpose this album serves, except to keep Rush product on the shelves while the band is on break during the Christmas season. While the music is excellent (obviously), it is hard to imagine a Rush fan that would play this single-disc album before listening to the actual live albums that the tracks were sourced from.

Here's a tracklist, and a breakdown of where these tracks were lifted from:

1. "Limelight" (From Snakes & Arrows Live)

2. "The Spirit of Radio" (From R30)

3. "2112 Overture/The Temples of Syrinx (From Rush in Rio)

4. "Freewill" (From Snakes & Arrows Live)

5. "Dreamline" (From R30)

6. "Far Cry" (From Snakes & Arrows Live)

7. "Subdivisions" (From R30)

8. "One Little Victory" (From the R30 tour) (Previously Unreleased)

9. "Closer to the Heart" (From Rush in Rio)

10. "Tom Sawyer" (From Snakes & Arrows Live)

11. "Working Man" (From R30)

12. "YYZ" (From Rush in Rio)

"One Little Victory", a stormy firecracker of a version, is the lone previously unreleased song. Is that one song worth your $15? You decide. I can tell you that "One Little Victory" is basically all you're going to get for your money. There is no booklet and there are no liner notes to speak of. The cover art, once again by Hugh Syme, is quite nice however, hinting at past works.

The songs fade-in and fade-out, which to be honest I prefer when a CD is taken from multiple sources, although you may not. The songs that are selected lean heavily on oldies as opposed to newer tracks, which does not really reflect what a Rush concert is about these days. Clearly, this is to entice consumers who want songs they have heard frequently on the radio. At least the running order is well sequenced for maximum firepower.

I can't recommend this album to anybody except completists and Rush diehards. Everybody else would be well advised to spend their money on Rush In Rio, R30, or Snakes & Arrows Live. While Rush are on break, be sure to catch Alex Lifeson with Mike Smike, Jean-Paul Trembley, and Robb Wells in the new TV show, "The Drunk And On Drugs Happy Funtime Hour".

2 stars, not for the music, but just because it's a bit of a Christmas cashgrab."

Has it come to this!

Richard Campbell | Kent, Wa United States | 12/09/2009

(2 out of 5 stars)

"I've seen these guys MANY times live, and they only seem to keep getting better. They were a HUGE influence on my own musical style and recordings.

But, really? Has it come to this? I mean releasing material that has been released, and re-released and re-released.......This is almost getting as bad as 50 different release versions of Elvis recordings. How many different times, which appear and sound like the same recordings of Closer To The Heart, Tom Sawyer, etc, blah, blah.....do we have to hear?

I would LOVE to hear a release of all the "other" tunes on the albums, such as High Water, Different Strings, A Passage to Bangkok, Circumstances, and, especially, Chemistry, just to name a few.

I'm sorry, I was just NOT impressed with this and I should have known.

"

Search - Rush :: Working Men ( Live)

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