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late producer Rupert Hine. Snakes and Arrows single " Far Cry " is excluded, replaced by instrumental“ The Main Monkey Business.” On the other hand, all songs except the pan- Atlantic suite“ The Camera Eye” appear from the landmark 1981 album Moving Pictures. Aside from the signature single“ Tom Sawyer,” the songs are offered as potent live cuts from sources including the live album Exit … Stage Left.
Along the way, R50 presents the extremes of Rush’ s ever-changing sound. 1978’ s Hemispheres finds the trio at its proggiest with the heady“ Xanadu.” During the dazzling instrumental passages of a concert recording of“ La Villa Strangiato,” close listeners can catch a fleeting mistake by Lifeson. It takes away little from an otherwise commanding performance of tricky material, but it’ s just enough to suggest that these technical titans might actually be human after all. Fans can play spot the difference while listening to the Vault Edition of“ The Trees,” a looser take with an alternate guitar solo and vocal that was used in the console game Rock Band 2. At the other end of Rush’ s stylistic range is“ Time
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Stand Still” from 1987’ s Hold Your Fire. The sentimental pop confection features a guest vocal from Aimee Mann,( then of“ Voices Carry”) band‘ Til Tuesday.
Peart’ s pulverizing performance on“ One Little Victory” from the 2002 comeback album Vapor Trails and a pair of acrobatic drum solos drawn from different periods of live performance demonstrate how the drummer became one of the most celebrated musicians in rock music.“ Ladies and gentlemen, the good and wonderful Professor on the drum kit,” says Lee when introducing his bandmate. Songs like the thundering but camera-shy“ Limelight” and the relatable portrait of teenage alienation“ Subdivisions” are examples of Peart’ s thoughtful and literate lyrics.
Lee’ s work as one of rock’ s foremost bassists shines on fare including instrumental“ YYZ” and 1996 title track“ Test for Echo.” Lifeson’ s inventive guitar work cuts through tracks from Rush’ s keyboard-heavy‘ 80s material like“ Between the Wheels” and“ The Big Money,” particularly during the live performances. Lifeson digs into the heavy riff of“ Stick
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it Out” from 1993’ s grunge-era Counterparts. The suitably frenetic“ Headlong Flight” is a standout song for Lifeson from Rush’ s careerclosing concept album Clockwork Angels.
The R50 timeline concludes where Rush began, with a live recording of the early bluesrock medley " What You ' re Doing / Working Man / Garden Road” from the band’ s final
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concert in 2015 at the Forum in Los Angeles, CA.
Ultimately, R50 is the most comprehensive introduction to new fans without an overview of Rush’ s singular career. Much of the intrigue for longtime listeners will be in the first half of the set, working toward Moving Pictures. Completists will want R50 for the album’ s
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