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Music CD - Rush: Exit...Stage Left
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Music CD: Exit...Stage Left
Artist: Rush
List Price: $13.98
Our Price: $8.75
Your Save: $ 5.23 ( 37% )
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: Island / Mercury
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Average Customer Rating:  
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Tracks:
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1. The Spirit Of The Radio
2. Red Barchetta
3. YYZ
4. A Passage To Bangkok
5. Closer To The Heart
6. Beneath, Between & Behind
7. Jacob's Ladder
8. Broon's Bane
9. The Trees
10. Xanadu
11. Freewill
12. Tom Sawyer
13. La Villa Strangiato
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Binding: Audio CD
EAN: 0731453463226
Format: Live
Label: Island / Mercury
Manufacturer: Island / Mercury
Number Of Discs: 1
Publisher: Island / Mercury
Release Date: 1997-07-01
Studio: Island / Mercury
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: A great follow up to 'All The World's A Stage'!
Comment: Rush is one of those great bands that knows how to put out a great live album. They proved that in the late '70s with 'All The World's A Stage' and proved it again in 1982 with 'Exit...Stage Left.'
This was recorded on the 'Moving Pictures' tour. Neil, Geddy and Alex jam here, just like on the previous live album, and perform concert classics like 'Tom Sawyer,' 'The Spirit of Radio,' and 'Xanadu' brilliantly.
'A Passage To Bangkok' is far superior to the studio version. This is just a great version, and this version was so good, Mercury put it on their 1992 compilation 'Chronicles.'
Overall, if you like Rush and great live records, than you'll love 'Exit.' It's a classic. And Mercury did a great job remastering this. In translation, the sound quality is unbeatable!
Highly recommended for any Rush fan or anybody who likes classic live records. It's a classic. ENJOY!!!
Customer Rating:
Summary: Not just one of the best live albums ever, but one of the best ever PERIOD
Comment: Before I got this album for my birthday, I had only heard songs like "Tom Sawyer" and "Working Man" and was never really into Rush. One night I decided to relax in my room, put on my headphones, and listen to the album straight through. WOW.
"Spirit of Radio" - terrific opening song, especially the way it just abruptly starts with that awesome riff. I haven't heard different versions of this song, but I think it's safe to say the band is totally together and knows what they're doing to start a concert with this. 9/10
"Red Barchetta" - this one drags on a little bit too long, but is nicely sprinkled with mini-solos throughout from all players. It has a nice "driving" beat (pun intended) and is overall musically good, but just a tad bland. 7.5/10
"YYZ" - How amazing this would've been in concert I'll never know. Without Geddy Lee's vocals, you see how terrific all 3 musicians are. Great guitar work, unbelievable bass (especially the part right before the drum solo), and the SICK drum solo in the middle. It sounds like four people playing every type of percussion instrument ever made. I don't know how Peart does it, but this is probably the best drum solo I've ever heard. 9.5/10
"Passage to Bangkok" - It's pretty hard to follow up such an amazing instrumental, but I feel Rush could've done a better job with this. It's just an OK song, nothing that catchy, but it does have one of the many kickass guitar solos Lifeson shreds in this concert. 7/10
"Closer To The Heart" - I can see why this radio-friendly hit was popular, but it never connects with me. Good lyrics and obviously great playing, but not one of my favorites. Luckily it has an excellent transition to the next song. 6.5/10
"Beneath, Between and Behind" - Pretty bland, actually. Sounds like a mix of a lot of Rush hits with nothing that special or distinctive. 6/10
"Jacob's Ladder" - Here's where the album starts to pick up for an incredible second half. I always love songs with many different parts (a la Pink Floyd) and this one is no exception. Bizarre time signatures are a Rush staple, and the 13/8 in this song is played flawlessly. Peart just has a natural ability to stay with these off-putting beats but manages to fool you into thinking it's easy. It's one of the more trippy Rush songs yet is musically genius and just brilliant. 10/10
"Broon's Bane/Trees" - "Bane" is a beautiful classical-sounding piece played with much power by Lifeson. It transitions awesomely into "Trees" which is simply a good old rock song. Nothing much to say that hasn't been said - complex rhythms, screaming guitar, fantastic drum and bass. 8.5/10
"Xanadu" - following a flawless transition into a trippy Phish sounding intro sets up one of the best live rock epics. Seriously, I can't believe they pulled off something this massive in concert. Like I said before, I love songs with many different parts. After the trippy part comes the part that begs to be played at full volume. While after Lee sings Xanadu is a little anticlimatic as it goes right back into verses, it's still great. The last few minutes are an awesome jam and it ends on a crazy chord that they hold and have fun with for about 20 seconds. 10/10
"Freewill" - signature Rush sound right here. 5/4, 7/8 time sigs are present, great instrument work. It's pretty hard to talk about this sound, but if you like Rush's hits even a little bit this is sure to suffice. 9/10
"Tom Sawyer" - my favorite Rush hit, it's got awesome synth, great lyrics and knows how to rock. You all know the song, and this version will not disappoint.
"La Villa Strangiato" - well, it looks they saved the best for last. Kickass opening guitar solo; it's a shame that Geddy Lee and Neal Peart seem to steal all the thunder when Alex Lifeson can shred like this. This song builds and builds and then changes to a minor key that ends with a guitar solo that really has tons of emotional power. A terrific three-part song, and a perfect way to close out one of the best concerts recorded on CD.
Overall, excellent, excellent album, especially if you let it play through just to hear some of the greatest rock transitions this side of "Dark Side". It's great to hear progressive rock sound like this and how well it holds up more than 25 years later. This is also a good album if you're just getting into Rush, as it's accessible and is a true showcase for this brilliant Canadian trio.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Arguably Rush's best live album to many
Comment: Canadian power trio rockers Rush's tenth album entitled Exit...Stage Left was released in October of 1981.
Exit...Stage Left was Rush's second double live album and
the album took its title from the old Hanna-Barbera cartoon character Snagglepuss' classic quote.
Exit...Stage Left is my third favorite live Rush album (I like Different Stages and Rush in Rio a tad more due to the fact that they are raw sounding and you can hear the crowd singing loudly on each of those) and I first heard most of the album on a now-defunct radio station in Boston in May of 1990 and got on cassette in July of 1990 and subsequently the remastered CD.
The bulk of this album (sides 1,3 and 4 on the original vinyl) were recorded on the band's 1981 tour in support of their Moving Pictures album in Canada (which consist of spirited versions of "The Spirit of Radio", "Red Barchetta", "YYZ" (with drummer Neil Peart's classic drum solo), the "Broon's Bane" guitar solo of guitarist Alex Lifeson's, "The Trees", a 12 minue plus "Xanadu" (originally on A Farewell to Kings), "Freewill", "Tom Sawyer" and "La Villa Strangiato") with four tracks (side 2 of the original album) recorded in the UK on the 1980 Permanent Waves tour(a stellar "A Passage to Bangkok" (removed off the original CD due to time constraints (reinstated on the remastered CD), "Closer to the Heart" (with the Glaswegian crowd singing in unison with the band), 'Beneath, Between and Behind" and a nine minute "Jacob's Ladder" with a nice instrumental intro and bass player/singer/keyboard player Geddy Lee crediting this track to T.C. Broonsie (a pseudonym for producer Terry Brown (whom produced this and all of their first 11 discs)).
There were some complaints that Rush polished the tracks on this album (re-recorded bits of a solo or vocal but not the whole songs like KISS did on Alive and Rush admitted this in all interviews unlike KISS whom waited 28 years to come clean) and faded out the live noise which was done even more so on 1989's A Show of Hands which had worse twinkering than this.
Despite this, ESL reached #10 on the Billboard album chart upon its release and was Rush's fourth Platinum album of 1981 (the only band that accomplished this feat then) and was the band's third Top 10 album in a row and another great live album in the pantheon of rock and roll.
Highly recommended!
Customer Rating: 
Summary: The Closing of Rush's Progressive Era
Comment: This is part two of a comprehensive four part series of Music Reviews of the Progressive Rock band Rush. When a band has been around as long as RUSH has (30 years), their styles will change just as their clothing and hairstyles. I group the bands second five releases into what I call their "Mid-Era Progressive" phase. These albums include: A Farewell to Kings (1977), Hemispheres (1978), Permanent Waves (1980), Moving Pictures (1981) and Exit Stage Left "Live" (1981)
Rush ends this chapter of their musical career with... what else? A Live album that captures the band's latest and most extensive tour yet, the Moving Pictures tour. Which rolled right into the Exit Stage Left tour in October of 1981. Featuring recordings from both the previous Permanent Waves tour and the Moving Pictures tour, Exit Stage Left is Rush's second official live release and is considered by many fans as the band's best ever live offering.
Exit is a very nice cross-section of songs from their latest album to selected classics from their progressive era. 4 1/2 stars actually.
Best Tracks: Xanadu and La Villa Strangiato Live
Customer Rating:
Summary: Great Live Performances From the Best Group Ever
Comment: This is NO DOUBT,the best Rush cd ever.They are the greatest live band ever in my opinion.This is a must buy CD.I think this is the 4th or 5th copy I have had.All the others were worn out because of constant playing.
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Editorial Reviews:
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Throughout their existence, the Canadian power-prog trio has steadfastly released a lengthy live collection every fifth album. Released in 1981, Exit is Rush's second (and best) such release, and it captures the band at the very top of its artistic (and commercial) curve--before keyboard and synthesizer work became central to its sound as opposed to providing mere accents. When they embarked on this tour, Rush had just released Moving Pictures, which continued their move away from longer suites and featured more streamlined song craft. Exit, however, offers a perfect blend of winding, fusion-leaning, virtuoso instrumentals ("YYZ," "La Villa Strangiato"), extended sci-fi epics ("Jacob's Ladder," "Xanadu"), sentimental ballads ("Closer to the Heart" in unison with the whole crowd, "The Trees"), and tauter songs ("Free Will," "Tom Sawyer," "Spirit of Radio") that represent the best of all worlds. Musically, they generated a huge amount of sound for three men (especially Geddy Lee's mammoth bass lines and Neil Peart's octopus-like percussion); lyrically, Peart's fantasia may be pseudo-poetry, but it is poetic, and it may be adolescent wisdom, but it is wise. --Marc Greilsamer
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