News of a live Rush album has always been greeted with great enthusiasm from the band's loyal fans. Even after a wealth of official live releases spread throughout a five-decade career, Time Machine, captured April 15, 2011, at the Quicken Loans Arena, generated great anticipation as soon as news started to travel. This one was special. This one was recorded in Cleveland!
Cleveland, Ohio. A midsize American city straddling the Northeast and Midwest. Home of the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame, beloved sports teams, and a radio station program director who played a key role in Rush history. Since early 1974, when early adopter Donna Halper of WMMS dropped the needle on the first album's "Working Man," she and Cleveland have been forever linked in this band's story.
But this is more than the tale of a city.
When Geddy, Alex, and Neil decided to tour in 2010 and 2011, they were breaking their own firmly established rule. From All The World's A Stage (1976) through Exut...Stage Left (1981), A Show Of Hands (1988), and Snakes & Arrows Live (2008), Rush had always recorded tours that supported a studio album. Now, for the first time in their career, they would do it the other way around.
In early 2010 the band convened to begin work on what was to eventually become Clockwork Angels. At the same time, though, their manager, Ray Danniels, had suggested they do some touring. So, following Ray's wishes, they hit the road while simultaneously making progress on some new material.
Rush historians will attest that in years past, the band debuted songs live before committing them to record. "Xanadu," "Tom Sawyer," and "Subdivisions" were given such litmus tests. But Time Machine marks another departure. By the time the tour was ready to launch — it would span 82 dates throughout the Americas and Europe — Geddy, Alex, and Neil had already recorded two brand-new songs. And instead of following the typical sequence, they released "Caravan" and "BU2B" just prior to opening night, June 29, 2010, in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Included among many Rush staples, these songs are in fact two of the most notable. For the first time ever, material appeared first on a live album, then on a studio album.
Then there's the Moving Pictures segment. Rush had previously come close to performing an entire new studio album. Often the setlist included every song but one or two from the latest release. But on this tour the band were all in for their 1981 classic, playing it in its unbridled, celebrated entirety. The complete seven-song sequence on Time Machine was in fact released on LP as the stand-alone Moving Pictures: Live 2011. However, to experience it in the context of the entire show supports the band's decision to include it in the first place. You can feel the elation of the Cleveland fans that night as "Vital Signs' closes out the suite.
Among the "hits" appearing in setlists over the years, a few live rarities show up. "Presto," the title track from the band's 1989 studio album, had never been performed on stage, so here it makes its first and only appearance on a live Rush release. "Faithless," from 2007's Snakes And Arrows, wasn't played on that tour and was thus considered by many fans to be one of the great Rush songs never to find its way into a set. Alex's incredible solo is an unequivocal highlight of this release.
Then there's "The Camera Eye," appearing here in the Moving Pictures suite. Not performed live since the end of the band's 1983 Signals tour, this cinematic favorite had been in high demand for years. Hearing it in its complex entirety is certainly another standout moment.
Time Machine features a number of Rush's signature songs as well: "The Spirit Of Radio," "Subdivisions," "2112," "La Villa Strangiato" — the list goes on. Notable is "Freewill," the 1980 Permanent Waves cut received night after night with boundless applause from crowds all over the world. Just after the solo section, before Geddy sings, "Each of us, a cell of awareness," you'll hear Cleveland responding to the incredible display of musicianship with louder applause than follows any other song that night. Where "Tom Sawyer" is greeted with ritual enthusiasm to say the least, "Freewill" brings sheer pandemonium, as the album you're holding will attest.
These magnificent two-plus hours of listening offer an array of unique features worth celebrating. The historical significance of Rush live in Cleveland. The unplayed songs, the unrecorded songs. Moving Pictures top to bottom. You don't have to choose among them, but if you want to make an exercise of it, you'll certainly relish the time spent trying.
I'll be right there with you.
Rush Arguably Canada's Greatest Rock Band - Chill Magazine, June 2010 Rush: Beyond the Lighted Stage Special - Classic Rock Presents: PROG Magazine, July 2010 Rush: Living Legend Award / Making of Moving Pictures - Classic Rock Magazine, January 2011 Rush: Time Machine Tour Special - Classic Rock Presents: PROG Magazine, May 2011 The Music Issue: Alex Lifeson - Bayview Post, June 2011 The Music Issue: Geddy Lee - North York Post, June 2011 Close Up on Neil Peart - Rhythm Magazine, August 2011 Alex Lifeson: Rush Keeps Rollin' - Vintage Guitar Magazine, September 2011 A Rush of Light: Four Decades in the Making - Professional Lighting & Production Magazine, September 2011 Back to the Future - Total Guitar Magazine, September 2011 Welcome To The High Tech World Of Steampunk - Mobile Production Monthly, September 2011 Neil Peart: The Modern Drummer Interview - Modern Drummer Magazine, December 2011 Time Machine Live (Review) - Guitar Techniques Magazine, April 2012
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