Of the four live albums produced before the extended hiatus between Test for Echo and Vapor Trails, this one is my favorite. It was also the first Rush album I ever owned, thanks to the fact that I liked the riffs in "Working Man".
It doesn't have the best set list (that would probably go to Different Stages and its two discs worth of tracks or the Rush in Rio DVD, which is even more comprehensive), but what it might lack in songs that were written afterward is trumped by energy and performance.
The band was riding the wave of 2112, and were booked on a three-night stand at Massey Hall in Toronto. The liner notes from my version are a bit sparse, so I'm not sure which songs were plucked from which night.
Somehow, I managed to pluck the original CD version (I believe I got it in 1994 or '95, so this was before the remasters), so mine was missing the excellent version of "What You're Doing" that's on the LP and remastered CD. Still, I didn't think I was missing out on much.
The band has described the recording as "raw", and the next live album was a bit toned down as a result. To me, this remains a mistake. If anything, the sound of All the World's a Stage is about as close as I could get to actually seeing them in 1976. I doubt the same can be said of Exit...Stage Left. And, well, if they sounded like that in 1981, I wouldn't have enjoyed it as much.
Say what you will about their progressive music and lyrics, but first and foremost Rush is a loud rock band. This album shows that quality in spades, right from the get-go.
And despite what I said above about song choice, All the World's a Stage is sequenced pretty damn well. I might not have put "2112" and "By-Tor" back-to-back, but that's about the only complaint that I can muster, and it isn't much of one. Although, I guess it's too bad that one of the longer cuts from Caress of Steel didn't get a spot on here, even as a bonus track. They probably weren't even on the set list at that point, though.
"2112" is also missing a couple parts: "Discovery" and "Oracle: the Dream". I don't mind "Discovery" not being there, but it still kinda galls me that "Oracle" got tossed out. True, they're back in place for the version on Different Stages, but by that time the whole thing was played one step lower due to Lee not being able to replicate the high notes.
I guess that means it's not a perfect live album. Oh, well. I love how the band goes at it and the production is about as good as it would get.
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Next time: newfound creative freedom results in another great album.
