Music reviews. CD reviews. Critically hip!

There was a time where Rush would release live albums on a clockwork basis, following every 4th studio effort. Nowadays, a new clock holds sway, one on which every studio effort is followed by a corresponding live release. In the last decade, the band has managed to produce two albums of original music, and no less than three full scale live packages. So, on some level, I could see how critics might dismiss their new package, Snakes & Arrows Live, as overkill. But that totally fails to take into account the rabid, critics be damned fanbase this band commands, which hungers for anything they put out. Take into account the dwindling number of albums the boys probably have left in them, the rumors of retirement, et cetera,

And if you’re considering all that, quit doing so and sit back to enjoy S&AL for what it is, a ready to roll capture of a band that still has it together, and does an admirable job backing up what is probably their best album in nearly 20 years.

Now, I’ll admit, I am a Rush fan, and one that wasn’t able to make any of the dates of this tour, so I’m glad to have this document. At the same time, I was also taken aback by the initial news of another live release, for reasons stated above. There was a point of realization, though, where I thought about all the Rush tours (Presto!) that I would loved to have a lovingly prepared official live rendition from – after all, as a band with 18 studio albums behind them, Rush inevitably disappoints many fans each tour with their set lists. Last year’s excellent Snakes & Arrows, rightfully gets the lion’s share of attention on here, with nine of its 13 songs represented. But older material doesn’t get the shaft either, what with Rush playing ‘an evening with….” format, eschewing opening acts to entertain its fans longer. The result is a 27 track double album featuring songs from across the band’s 30+ year history.

While fans used to getting, Closer to the Heart every time out may yet grumble about its omission, others will purr with contentment upon hearing often overlooked gems such as Entre Nous, and Natural Science, seeing the light of day, as well as the reggae-tinged Digital Man, and the Hemispheres, cut, Circumstances.

I haven’t yet made up my mind about the sound on this live album; at times, I think it has the right about of roughness to it, really delivering that live feel; other times, I find myself wishing for a little more punch from Alex Lifeson’s guitars, as on my favorite Snakes & Arrows track, Armor and Sword. What on the original is a warm, enveloping guitar sound comes across as subdued and timid on the live counterpart. Geddy Lee’s voice, too, is a point of debate, sometime sounding strong, sometimes showing his age. He left the love/hate high pitched shriek behind in the early 80s, not that you’d know by listening to critics, and continues being a bass god. Behind the kit, Neil Peart also remains a paragon among drummers, and displays a sense of humor in his drum solo, entitled, De Slagwerker. Humpbacked on the grooving instrumental, Malignant Narcissism, De Slagwerker, completes an impressive and rousing 10+ minutes.

The band follows that up with the gentle, acoustic, Hope, after which they close out the album with a string of classics, save one. Strangely enough, One Little Victory, taken from 2002’s Vapor Trails, a song that I haven’t cared all that much for previously, sounds right at home nestled between, Tom Sawyer, and Rush’s ode to cannabis, A Passage to Bangkok.

One more thing warrants mention. A previous live disc, Rush in Rio attracted criticism for an ever present crowd factor. On Snakes & Arrows Live the crowd is tastefully blended in and out of the breaks between songs, and present here and there at slow points in songs. All in all, I prefer the crowd noises on Rush in Rio. I never got that “chill factor”, shivers up and down my spine induced by the Brazilian crowd vocalizing along with the guitars at points of that previous package. The producer did leave an appreciative crowd in place for portions of the drum solo, and it might explain why I enjoyed that track in particular.

All that said, Snakes and Arrows Live is a pretty decent live album. Even if it’s not the best they’ve ever put out, the album is a very welcome document of a tour I wish I’d been able to witness.