DVD Review: Rush "Replay" (2006)

What you get here are three DVDs and a live album spanning Rush's output during the decade of the 1980s, all for around $30. The package also includes three mini-souvenir books from each trek represented here - "Exit ... Stage Left" from the Montreal Forum in 1981, "Grace Under Pressure" from Toronto's Maple Leaf Gardens in 1984, and "A Show of Hands" from an arena in Birmingham, England in 1988. (The live album is a reproduction of the "Grace Under Pressure" show.) In terms of packaging, this is most impressive DVD package I've bought since the Ric Flair 3-disc set of a couple of years back, and for fans, this is just awesome.

First, the "Exit ... Stage Left" show. The sound is a hell of a lot better than the CD release. Also, some of the more wanky moments like "Xanadu" are a lot more impressive on this DVD than it is on the "A Farewell to Kings" album version. You also get little voiceovers from the band members introducing each tune, which are pretty cool. Check out the rockin' "In the End", in my view probably the most under-rated tune from any Canadian band ever.

The next show, from the "Grace Under Pressure" era, is head and shoulders above the first DVD in terms of production values. One can really tell that Rush broke big worldwide after Moving Pictures and the amount of money they put into things like effects, staging and wardrobe on subsequent tours like this one is evidence of that. Although some fans think that Rush's decline began around this time, I disagree. Any band with the sheer amount of output of Rush is going to shift and evolve creatively over time, and here, they are doing just that.

Finally, "A Show of Hands". This is when Rush was heavy into their keyboard phase but unfortunately, two of the greatest tunes of that era, "Subdivisions" and "Time Stand Still" are not included here. That sucks. Other than that, Geddy is singing here rather than wailing like he did in the 70s and live, the weighty subject matter of Neil Peart's lyrics from the "Power Windows" and "Hold Your Fire" albums are accentuated by their treatment in the concert setting. Subsequent albums like "Presto" and "Counterparts" become even more fascinating when you consider what came before them. (I didn't mention "Roll the Bones" because it's not very good, in my view.)

Rush is one of those bands that either you get or you don't. Their chops as musicians are unparalleled and like Geddy says on the "Exit ... Stage Left" DVD, you have to position your technical abilities within the framework of a song or no one will feel it. That, to me, is what separates Rush from bands like ELP and Yes because they can pull off a riff like Sabbath and then bob and weave around that riff without ever losing its feel. I also think that this is going to be one of those things where every time I watch it, I'll notice something new and different each time.

A great purchase for those who appreciate honest yet challenging musicianship.

Overall rating: 9.5/10