Author: Peter Podbrežnik
Artist: Rush
Label: Roadrunner Records
Release: 2013
Duration: 184:44
Rating: 4/5
Canadian progressive rock icons Rush may have seen their most creative days end somewhere around the late eighties, but they’re not about to be pushed into a corner, and lately they’ve surprised us with some new release almost every year, one that usually delights all the faithful. One of those is definitely the superb studio album »Clockwork Angels« (2012), which surely gave a good shake to the illusions of everyone who was convinced that Rush simply couldn’t pull off another masterpiece in their old age on the level of those ‘golden times’ mentioned above. »Clockwork Angels«, their best effort since the end of the eighties, turned out to be a huge success on several levels, and Rush decided to promote the new album heavily with a sprawling tour, with a string orchestra backing them up. With it behind them, they played the entire »Clockwork Angels« along with some longtime classics; the end results are »Clockwork Angels Tour«, a double CD and double DVD featuring a recording of the show in Dallas, USA.
»Clockwork Angels Tour« is thus a double live album, the logical product of the tour of the same name, run by the legendary, inseparable trio, which even after almost four decades is still made up of singer/bassist/occasional keyboardist Geddy Lee, guitarist Alex Lifeson and drummer Neil Peart, who seem to become even bigger friends with each passing year. On top of that, they’re one of the few prog oldtimers who, besides top-notch instrumental skills, have kept a great sense of humor too, which is of course much more obvious on the DVD version of this live recording.
The combination of a rock band and an orchestra has been done countless times before, but this is the first time Rush have gone for such a symphonic undertaking, so it’s especially interesting to hear how some old, specially picked favorites sound with orchestral arrangements, and what kind of deeply symphonic outfit all the »Clockwork Angels« compositions get. The first disc, where the trio has a blast with plenty of longtime favorites before the orchestra arrives, mostly from the eighties, is a real treat for longtime fans just on the strength of the setlist alone. »Subdivisions« is a downright dream opener, although the biggest flaw of the whole live recording shows up pretty soon, too: Geddy’s vocals. Despite years of successfully fighting it, the toll of time has worked them over quite a bit, so he simply can’t hit certain vocal lines at his old level anymore, which is most obvious on »Big Money«, where he sounds almost like a parody of himself, and at moments when his voice wobbles, you can hardly make him out.
That’s also the only major gripe about this recording, because on the other hand Rush remain fantastic instrumentalists and in their old age have only refined their live sound, so fans will have no problem enjoying some standards the trio hasn’t played live in years, like »Force Ten«, »Grand Designs«, »The Body Electric«, »Territories« and »The Analog Kid«. It’s nice to hear that Rush (once again) cherish the albums »Signals« (1982) and »Power Windows (1985), which prog purists often look down on, and which have too often been overlooked because of it. The humorous streak shows up right away, when Geddy announces they’ll be playing six million songs that night, which doesn’t actually happen, but the recording is long enough to satisfy even the biggest Rush fanatic.
One of the nicer surprises is the performance of the classic »Bravado« from the likewise somewhat overlooked album »Roll The Bones« (1991), which, along with »Dreamline«, from the same studio effort, was the only representative of the ‘difficult’ nineties that night. »Where’s My Thing/Here It Is!« is Peart’s solo spot, during which one of the greatest drummers of all time demonstrates why every aspiring young drummer should see him perform up close at least once. The first disc closes with a great rendition of »Far Cry«, the single and representative track from the previous album »Snakes & Arrows« (2007), which, truth be told, quite a few fans had almost forgotten about after »Clockwork Angels« came out, even though it was an extremely solid effort. Geddy and his two buddies say goodbye with the words that they need to take a short break because they’re two thousand years old, which of course made for a brief pause between the first and second parts of the show.
The second disc holds the peak of the whole performance, as it contains the complete live rendition of the album »Clockwork Angels« together with the orchestra. Geddy’s vocal troubles are audible again on the opening »Caravan«, especially when he tries to reach for the higher lines and he almost ‘runs out’ a couple of times, but luckily it’s still not so bad that it spoils the enjoyment of the brilliant orchestral versions of the »Clockwork Angels« standards. His bass playing is fantastic throughout, while Alex Lifeson ‘kicks ass’ with his complex guitar passages and Peart works his drum kit with astonishing dynamics and precision.
One of the concert’s best moments is the performance of the fantastic »The Wreckers«, which has one of the best choruses in the entire Rush story, with Geddy somehow managing to get his aging voice up to the desired level. »Headlong Flight« features Peart’s breathtaking drum improvisation, while the epic »The Garden« comes off as the most convincing of all the »Clockwork Angels« tracks with the string accompaniment, which is no surprise, since the original version already had a distinctly symphonic feel.
The orchestra stays with the trio for the third part of the show as well, which opens on the third disc with the »Roll The Bones« track »Dreamline«, always a joy to hear in Rush’s live repertoire. Along the way, the performance of the classic »Red Sector A« takes them back to the album »Grace Under Pressure« (1983), while Rush maniacs would surely feel cheated if their darlings didn’t play at least two »Moving Pictures« (1981) masterpieces that night, »YYZ« and »Tom Sawyer«, and at least one »Permanent Waves« (1980) evergreen, »Spirit Of Radio«. To the delight of all prog rock worshippers among their fans, Rush choose to play their famous epic suite »2112« as the grand finale in the encore, which is also the only representative of the seventies. Geddy’s vocal troubles are even more obvious here, at the moments when he has to raise his voice, yet not so distracting that they’d ruin a good version of one of their most beloved classics.
The third disc also holds a few more bonus goodies, like the fun version of »Limelight« that Rush played during the soundcheck, not to mention the almost forgotten »Power Windows« treats »Middletown Dreams« and »Manhattan Project«, both played with special care. Another big pleasant surprise is the rendition of »The Pass« from the likewise often overlooked album »Presto« (1989).
Almost four hours of meticulous, heartfelt renditions of some of the best moments of Rush’s career so far, including a full string-backed run through all of »Clockwork Angels«, should thoroughly satisfy every worshipper of the Canadian prog-rock champions. Most of them will know how to forgive Geddy his vocal troubles, though something will need to be done about them soon if he wants to keep singing the old evergreens at a halfway decent level. »Clockwork Angels Tour« is also the ideal reward for all the fans who backed Rush by going to a show on the tour of the same name, which was (once again) one of the most unforgettable of their career.
Lineup
Geddy Lee – vocals, bass guitar, keyboards
Alex Lifeson – guitar, backing vocals
Neil Peart – drums, percussion
GUEST MUSICIANS:
David Campbell – conductor
Mario De Leon – violin
Joel Derouin – violin
Jonathan Dinklage – violin
Gerry Hilera – violin
Audrey Solomon – violin
Adele Stein – cello
Jacob Szekely – cello
Hiroko Taguchi – violin
Entcho Todorov – violin
Production
Allan Weinrib
Track list
CD1:
1. Subdivisions
2. The Big Money
3. Force Ten
4. Grand Designs
5. The Body Electric
6. Territories
7. The Analog Kid
8. Bravado
9. Where s My Thing?/Here It Is! (drum solo)
10. Far Cry
CD2:
1.Caravan
2. Clockwork Angels
3.The Anarchist
4. Carnies
5. The Wreckers
6. Headlong Flight/Drumbastica (drum solo)
7. Peke s Repose (guitar solo)
8. Halo Effect
9. Seven Cities of Gold
10. Wish Them Well
11. The Garden
CD3:
1.Dreamline
2.The Percussor (I) Binary Love Theme (II) Steambanger’s Ball (drum solo)
3. Red Sector A
4. YYZ
5. The Spirit of Radio
6. Tom Sawyer
7. 2112
8. Limelight (soundcheck recording)
9. Middletown Dreams
10. The Pass
11. Manhattan Project
