Rush - Exit...Stage Left

[JJ88]

^Fully agree. ATWAS is the only one of their live albums I've heard (and I've heard none of the most recent ones!) which has an 'event' feel, and the only one I've heard which really adds anything substantial to their overall legacy. It features almost every strong track on their first four albums too.

Agreed on the comparison with Yesshows here...neither album flows especially well as a listening experience. I still like this one but it would have worked better without the fades (and with 'Limelight', to be a near-definitive summary of this particular period).

That Sectors version looks grim. I seem to recall some fans don't like the 1997 CDs either but those are the only ones I've ever had and I could never be bothered tracking down any others.

[Jerjo]

It's too much of a pain in the ass to copy but I came up with my own Yessongs playlist to give it a better flow.

I'm still fond of ATWAS - takes me right back to my sophomore year in college where my roommate got suicidal because I played it so much (he was into "christian folk music"). Of the "new" live albums I like Different Stages and Rush in Rio for their raw sound. On the rest, Ged's diminished voice just drives me nuts on the older songs.

[Paulrus]

I'm still fond of ATWAS - takes me right back to my sophomore year in college where my roommate got suicidal because I played it so much (he was into "christian folk music").

LOL, you just made me remember an incident back in my early 20s when about 10 of us were on a long drive to go camping and I was blasting ESL on a boom box in the back. After a good hour or so a buddy of mine who's kind of a snooty jazz and classical bassist calmly turned to me and said "Paul, will you please turn that fucking shit off?"

[ronmac]

Different Stages did have a concert from the Farewell to Kings Tour, but i haven't listen to that in a while. I have to compare to ESL.

It sounds much better but is not a great performance. Geddy's voice is a bit off. It was a welcome release, though, and the main reason I bought DS. Wish it was a full show, though.

[Trane]

I'm still fond of ATWAS -

this was my first concert in a "big hall", the first my parents allowed me to go at (though Massey Hall is not big in many sense of the word), I was lucky enough that my buddy's big brother had excellent tickets for us.

So one can wonder why this one of those threasured albums of mine.