[usr 8.0 text=true]
REVIEW – No one was more excited for Rush going into the Hall of Fame than I was I feel. I feel Rush never really got the respect they deserved. They never had the number one album, or the millions upon millions sold releases of bands like Zeppelin, Floyd or The Rolling Stones. They never had any flashy interview style or said outlandish things to get noticed, they just let the music do the talking. In 1993, I saw them for my first time live with Candlebox opening. It was the Counterparts tour. Here we are 22 years later talking about what can possibly be the farewell year for Rush in 2016. R40 is three 3 cds and one blu-ray of their sold out show this summer and showcases that while the band members are in their 60’s, they are still just as incredible now as they were then in their heyday. I will admit the 2011: Live in Cleveland Time Machine deal was a letdown, but Geddy and the boys have made up for it. This was shot in Toronto, Canada and will make the Rush fan base very happy. The biggest negative to this is the same issue I have with every band that I followed for over 30 to 40 years still playing today, the set-list. There is a few songs I wish were included, but I am not sure what I would ask them to take back for them to put the others in. The biggest shock to me is that they did the same thing they did in 93, they did Animate and then played Roll the Bones. I am a huge fan of both Counterparts and Roll The Bones, and I am shocked that they would cover those and not Stick it Out? Shocked we did not get Show Don’t Tell, Limelight, Dreamline, Free Will, Fly By Night and so many others. The record starts off rather safely with The Anarchist, which does not really showcase the band’s strengths.
I found the first disc more about the instruments, as we get some great bass playing by Geddy. He is hard-thumping with a passion, and we get Lifeson on the guitar just full of passion and energy. The drumming of Peart is just on point. The second and third disc of the cd part were the nostalgic ones, when you got the classics and Geddy just showing people he still can hit the ones live even 40 plus years later. A lot of today’s bands would be smart to listen to this band on this disc showing this much passion so many years of being ignored or opening shows 10 to 15 years in their career for lesser bands. There is one thing you can say about the blu-ray and cd, this is a band that thrives on the fans. You see the band really giving the fans everything song to song. I will admit the last few studios records I was not the biggest fan of, but live these guys seem to be more inspired closer to the end than ever before. Rush is in a class all by themselves, and this 40 year journey into their career was really goose-bump inducing and tears of joy, if this is how it ends, I bow to you guys. Despite the flaws about some of the songs from the last few years that I was not a fan of on disc one, this is still a must for the rest of what they give us.
RUSH ‘R40 Live’
Director: Dale Heslip
Writer: Robert Cohen (Additional Material)
Stars: Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson, Neil Peart
RUSH ‘R40 Live‘ | Official Trailer:
