Rush - Snakes & Arrows: Live

What’s the point, really. Rush has released so many live albums that it’s practically irrelevant at this point. For some of us old timers (read: me) we remember when the obligatory Rush live album…and yes, they were always “obligatory”…signaled the end of a Rush “era.” At least that’s what they told us on the gatefold of All The World’s A Stage. In layman’s terms, it meant that the band was getting ready for a minor stylistic change. More keyboards, less long-winded songs, harder rocking, etc., but the reality is that Rush has never really deviated that much from their original power trio approach, and by that I mean everything beyond the debut album. You see, the only time Rush allowed for a major shift was after the first album, essentially the transition from a farm-league Led Zeppelin band into the Rush as we get all geeked out about. It should come as no surprise that the reason for the geekiness is that they replaced original drummer John Rutsey with Neil Peart, a dude that breathes nerdiness every time he picks up the pen.
So again, there’s no need for Snakes & Arrows: Live unless you’re a fanatic Rush fan (and there are tons of them) or unless you’re a fairly sane fan (like me) that happened to see the tour and would like a fairly economical memento, because you were too cheap to fork over a few twenties for a concert tee.
Let’s back up a moment.
Rush’s Snakes & Arrows is the band’s best in a few decades and, with some fairly liberal trimming, could have been a great Rush album.
Rush’s Snakes & Arrows world tour found the band in exemplary form, seemingly rejuvenated from recently celebrating their 30th anniversary and releasing that aforementioned high-water studio album.
Their performances are stellar with each member delivering some passionate playing. Geddy Lee’s voice, once the topic of Pavement lyrics, has actually lowered an octave to the point where it’s less annoying yet still distinctive.
Neil Peart is spot-on and the solo he creates on “Malignant Narcissism/De Slagwerker” is fantastic: using triggers on his electronic kit, Peart unleashes a virtual big band featuring him as modern-day Gene Krupa.
And Alex Lifeson…what can you say. Lifeson’s playing has gotten more subtle and atmospheric over the years, stepping up to deliver biting solos as needed. Whereas before you may only see one specific tone originating from his amplifiers, now there are multiple textures.
Combined, these old dudes still slaughter men half their age and Snakes & Arrows: Live is a fine artifact of Rush’s twilight chops. With material heavy on the album of the same name, a few surprise catalog picks (“Between The Wheels” from Grace Under Pressure, “Circumstances” from Hemispheres, “Witch Hunt” from Moving Pictures, “Entre Nous” from Permanent Waves) and the required classics (“Limelight,” “Tom Sawyer,” “A Passage To Bangkok,” “Freewill”), Snakes & Arrows: Live rates higher than Exit Stage Left but lower than their (still) best live album All The World’s A Stage. In my opinion, it also rates a half a point higher than the actual studio album as it removes all of the filler and contains the best songs from that album.
Which pretty much makes it required listening for any Rush fanatic, who’s probably anxiously waiting for the dvd version to arrive this fall.