http://www.amazon.com/RUSH-ABC-1974-Rush/dp/B005LCECU6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1380000218&sr=8-1&keywords=Rush+Agora

I don't know how I missed this but, it was released in November 2011...too much time here on F.U., I guess...anyway I just picked up a copy and here's my review.

THE GOOD - I've listened to this album once...and I can honestly say, I think it's their BEST officially released live recording. With some caveats, of course...To begin, this was Peart's FIRST recording with Lee and Lifeson. Peart and Lee were both 21 while Lifeson was just a few days shy of 21. There is just absolutely a palpable sense of urgency and youth not heard in any of their other official live recordings. Neil spends the span of the disc absolutely PUMMELING his skins. The epic moments of the set are a 9:00+ cut of "Working Man" (which always has special significance when played in Cleveland...never more so than here in 1974!), and this leads you right into a 2:00+ drum solo. And this solo is just straight ahead, Canadian rolling thunder. No Buddy Rich...no midi effects...no tubular bells...no gongs...just the man and his drum set laying down machine gun fire. Given that this was recorded in 1974, the sound quality is great. It has some amplifier hum...some speaker crackle and pop...but it's glorious. Included are rarities "Fancy Dancer" and "Garden Road" which have never been officially released...studio or otherwise.

THE BAD - It's 1974...so if you prefer their music beyond "Fly By Night"? This may not be for you. But, give it a listen if you can. I've never cared for much before "2112" either and this live album gave me a new found appreciation for these songs. Also, there are odd segues between tracks. I'm not sure if this was done for time purposes or what but there are clear cuts between tracks which is mostly crowd noise anyway but, it gives an odd stop/start feel to each song instead of a continuity to the overall album. Finally, I'm not sure if this was done in post-production but Geddy's interaction with the crowd consists only of, "Ok, we're gonna' play this number for you...{insert song name}." or some slight variant therein. Again, I'm not sure if this is Geddy still getting comfortable in front of a crowd or what...let's face it, he's not exactly Springsteen when it comes to crowd interaction. And that's fine...he and the boys are there to rock.

THE UGLY - There are 3 bonus tracks included. Now, I have always been of the opinion that if you're going to offer some bonus tracks, they should ENHANCE the listener experience and/or album value. Iron Maiden and many other bands that are re-releasing or re-mastering their back catalogues are offering bonus tracks...and they're all great in Maiden's case. Not so with the 3 bonus tracks included here. It's hard to believe these 3 tracks were recorded at the SAME VENUE just ONE YEAR later. The sound is very distorted and really only "Fly By Night" is listenable. In closing, Amazon classifies this album as an "import" which technically is correct since it comes from Canada but, $22.00 is steep...shop elsewhere, I'm sure you'll get a better price.


SUMMARY - If you're not part of RUSH jihad...I permit you to pass on this album...for now. Come back later when you're familiar with a dozen or so albums, even those not represented here. If however you're an ardent fan, I highly recommend it.

My understanding is that it is basically a bootleg recording released legit. It's on my list of "maybes". Garden Road might be the trick. I've heard snippets of that before and wished it was on the first album.

tomahawk Wrote:
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> My understanding is that it is basically a bootleg
> recording released legit. It's on my list of
> "maybes". Garden Road might be the trick. I've
> heard snippets of that before and wished it was on
> the first album.

Yes, that's correct Hawk. For 30 years, this has been the alleged gold standard of RUSH bootlegs. I heard bits a pieces on cassette tape (remember those?) back in the early 90's but, it was a copy of a copy, etc...

Ever since Pearl Jam has been doing their "official bootleg" recordings starting in 2000, many bands have jumped on this bandwagon. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pearl_Jam_bootlegs

I've never quite understood the business model of offering "official bootlegs". Obviously, with the internet, individual band performances get nearly instant legend status. "The Who" was selling official bootlegs and I bought the CD/DVD from the show on 3/8/2007 because I went to that show. I dunno'...clearly it's profitable or they wouldn't do it but, it really floods the market with product. Then again, there's probably Pearl Jam fans or Who fans out there who would say, "Oh...you don't have all their bootlegs? I guess you're not much of a fan..."

There was an awesome Rush bootleg floating around back in the late 80s/early 90s, I think was from the Permanent Waves tour, and I think it as from the Fort Worth, TX show. They opened with Working Man and then played a whole bunch of covers and long extended trippy segues, and then closed with 2112--> China Grove--> the 2112 Jam. I wish they would release this or put it on mp3.

This release has been around forever, how about talking about something that is more recent. Should I post my review of LedZep IV?

answers to the questions Wrote:
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> This release has been around forever, how about
> talking about something that is more recent.
> Should I post my review of LedZep IV?

Hmmm...Led Zeppelin IV was released in 1971. RUSH'S "Live at the Agora" was OFFICIALLY released in 2011 (which I acknowledged in my first post). 2 years is not quite forever, there's a strong contingent of RUSH fans on this forum and we enjoy discussing the band and their music. There's very little new music that's being made today worth discussing...I'm sure there's worse things being done on this forum then discussing a 2 year old album.