Always liked this one, don't pull it off the shelf too
often but always dig it when I do. Cd 1 and 2 are
mostly from Test For Echo tour with a few tunes
from Counterparts tour thrown in for good
measure. Then CD 3 is a whole show from
Hammersmith Odeon in '78. So with the whole
3-cd set you get a great cross-section of their
80's forward synth stuff and the London '78
show with the early more guitar based stuff.
If you've never checked this one out before
then you won't be disappointed, I would
recommend this release to any type of Rush fan!
“Different Stages” is kind of a lost treasure chest collection of live songs; therefore, it is an absolutely must own live album for Rush fans. In addition to the 70’s, 80’s, and 90’s song staples that appear on the live releases before and after “Different Stages,” we also get a ton of rarities that don’t appear on any other live Rush album such as “Cinderella man,” “Cygnus X-1 (in its entirety),” “A Farewell to Kings,” and most notably, “2112” (in its entirety). Now, Rush has played the “Overture” and “Temples of Syrinx” sections of “2112” many times live, and there is a 15-minute version on “All the World’s a Stage that was recorded during the “2112” tour, but they strangely omit the “Discovery” and the “Oracle: The Dream” sections from that version. On this version, however, we get the whole 7-part/ 22-minute song in all its glory, and it is without question the seminal version of the song, trumping even the original studio version, which is amazing considering they recorded the original studio version 24 years before the release of this album. - Rush fan/collector.
