Customer Reviews
Stop cutting corners with the product - By: Mr Smeam, 17 Jun 2008 
I have hundreds of CDs. Only four times have I bought new CDs that were faulty. On alll four occasions they were Rush CDs. They seem much thinner than the ones others use. On this occasion both CDs skip because the digipak has somehow leaked glue onto both of them. Now I have to queue in the post office to send it back for my refund. Someone ought to tell them that with alll these returns skimping won't make for better margins in the end.
As for the music (the tracks that didn't skip) it's what you expect. Drums a bit too loud & bass a bit too quiet in the mix. Four stars when I get a copy that plays.
Rush refreshed - By: A. Rickett, 06 May 2008 
There was no way i wasn't going to buy this CD, & I'm pretty sure there won't be many converts, but to me this is a rewarding rush live release. If you like Permanent Waves, Moving Pictures & Snakes & Arrows this is your live tour. The latter is their best studio album since Signals. The set picks its way through the difficult eighties & ninties synth but those songs included from this era come across well. There's no Xanadu, 2112 & early stuff but at least there are no joke interpretations & compilations to hide their boredom with these songs. Although i had massive anticipation of the R30 tour I found this tour & it's CD record more in spirit with the Rush i like.
Snakes and Arrows slightly miss the mark - By: Lord of the Rings reader, 03 May 2008 
Having seen Rush on the Snakes & Arrows tour at the NEC I found myself disappointed at what I had heard as the overalll sound quality of the show was very poor compared to the usual Rush standards. While I like the Snakes & Arrows studio album I wasn't impressed by the amount of songs off it that they played live. It's not a case of another live Rush album but you do have the sense they are cashing in what with the studio, the MVI version & now the live version. To be fair though the recording quality of this album is good. Long have I been impressed with Rush since I first saw them live in the late 70's both in studio & live albums, however from my point of view this live album was not needed as the setlist isn't as good as previous live albums. It may also distance some long standing Rush fans due to the lack of older favourites & even older gems that they have previously played live i.e By-Tor, Xanadu & 2112 although there were one or two highlights, Circumstances & Entre Nous spring to mind. Give me feedback grief if you want, however the review is just my opinion as a long standing Rush fan.
Buy this now!!! - By: J. J. MCGORRY, 26 Apr 2008 Like many I thought "Not another live double from Rush" but as I was lucky enough to see the Snakes & Arrows tour I had to buy it since the set was superb. I was not disappointed, this is the best Rush live album since Different Stages which I listen to more than any of the others. Live In Rio & R3O were good but very similar in set listings for me, Snakes & Arrows live is a welcome change since the band played many older numbers on that tour. This disc is a must for anyone who was at the Snakes & Arrows concerts, during the London show I attended I remember standing with a smile on my face through the whole show. This album has the same effect. Buy & enjoy.
...does what it sez on the tin... - By: Mr. H, 25 Apr 2008 
Last years Snakes & Arrows album saw Rush hitting a belated creative high, something reflected both in journalistic appraisal & in the shape of a Grammy nomination. Why, even I said of the record that "this is the sound of a veteran band finding a way to charge the batteries & finding a way to move forward without leaving the past behind".
In fact, it was so good I even managed to drag myself along to a butt numbing three hour live show which saw the band perform nine of the Snakes & Arrows tracks across the 2 sets. I thought that the live show was a long slog, full of peaks & troughs, but that the high points were high enough to ensure that it was another good night for Rush.
And so, with a band hiatus coming up to enable them to indulge in some moustache growing, what better way to 'celebrate' the album & tour than with a 27 track double live CD. Of course, that's what Rush do, this being the eighth such release since All the World's A Stage came out in 1976. This one is a straight run through of the set, recorded over two nights in October 2007 at the Rotterdam Ahoy! arena, which means it replicates the show I saw. Now the one thing you can never fault Rush on is their musicianship, so there are no bum notes & missed cues here. However, that's the one thing you can fault them on. Because apart from some audience noise you wouldn't reallly know you were listening to a live show. Although there are also a few clunky edits between tracks, where Geddy Lee gets his minimal chit chat cut off.
Back to the music, & there is no doubt that the legions of somewhat scary Rush fans who were surrounding me that night will be rushing out to pick this up. They will not be disappointed, as the band rattles though powerful versions of "Freewill" & "The Main Monkey Business." As it was on the night, the highlight of the set was a 1-2-3 punch of "Subdivisions," "Natural Science," & "Witch Hunt" which are simply amazing, & one of the best uses you can put a spare quarter of an hour to.
I still think the drum solo should be outlawed by international law, so immediately skipped over "Malignant Narcissism," but they redeem themselves with a closing fanfare of "The Spirit Of Radio," "Tom Sawyer," "One Little Victory," "A Passage to Bangkok," & "YYZ."
People who strayed from the Rush path during their synth era will enjoy hearing how the band has returned to the world of rock, & people who attended the shows will enjoy it as a souvenir, especiallly as it's unlikely that so many Snakes & Arrows tracks will be performed live again.
It's not the best Rush live album, you want the 3CD Different Stages set for that. But it does what it says on the tin. A DVD version of this show is also planned & expected in late 2008 / early 2009. This has been confirmed on the bands official website, & will feature video from the same Rotterdam shows.
