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...Amarcord: in 1981 the Rush cyclone really invaded the world. The fascinating heavy-progressive architectures of the devilish Canadians had been revealed in a stunning succession of albums (from 2112 to Moving Pictures, let's say), in a stylistic growth that went more or less from Led Zeppelin to Yes (no less!), supported by those technical skills that made them win polls in specialized magazines around the world and by an exciting and very personal imaginary. No sign of fatigue for Rush from '74 to '81, ready to take the place of the 'dinosaurs' of hard rock and classic prog (who indeed had quite a few problems) in the hearts of music maniacs; and the proverbial difficulty for vinyl dealers in classifying the band, well, I've always understood it as a great acknowledgment of stylistic variety and compositional synthesis ability.
'Exit... Stage Left' is their second double live album and the best record ever made by the boys from Toronto, and I'm categorical about that. We will learn over the years that the 'four in the studio / one live' cadence (maintained by the power trio throughout the XIX century) is both a celebration and a closure of an artistic period awaiting a new mutation, so 'Stage Left' celebrates and closes the most properly hard/prog/AOR period, the one of greatest success (three excellent singles in the charts, incidentally) and millions of copies sold of four genius albums suitable for airplay but absolutely not commercial. Marrying the majestic constructions of 'Xanadu' (Coleridge, no less) with the deceptive immediacy of 'Spirit Of Radio' is not for everyone, also because the interplay of odd times and explosive breaks of this latter track is truly astonishing, especially for a track that went to number one in the charts. It took exceptional compositional skills and instrumental techniques, capable of lightening stuff worthy of 'Heart Of The Sunrise' for use and enjoyment of rockers around the world, and the fruits are exactly in this superb live album.
Recorded mainly in Glasgow and Montreal, the album is wrapped in the usual fanciful cover, full of misleading symbols and messages for the initiates. The tracklist is absolutely breathless, starting right from the hit 'Spirit Of Radio' and continuing through electrifying versions of the best tracks from the 1977-81 repertoire (and a dive back to 1975). The three are perpetually soloing, or almost: Lifeson's guitar is captivating (at the time he used a semi-acoustic live for greater resonance, and it's worth studying his bizarre and intricate fingerings), while Peart's drums are confirmed at the highest peaks in the rock field, full of rototoms and offbeats with the addition of a glockenspiel, stuff comparable only to Carl Palmer. Geddy Lee is the one who should enjoy himself the least: singing at those unattainable levels (in fact, he won't reach them again) while simultaneously playing a thundering and omnipresent bass, keyboards and pedals in turn, and in one track even the electric guitar, brings him closer than anyone else to a sort of Otto and Barnelli of rock, and being a rock star with that nose and still being likable... period. In 1981 Rush was the university of hard rock, listen, take notes, and do lots of homework, otherwise, nisba.
The peaks of a stunning set are the instrumental 'YYZ' (which would later become the code for Toronto's Pearson Airport), enriched by a famous and unsurpassable drum solo; the epic 'Xanadu'; the biblical 'Jacob's Ladder', and above all the mysterious and dreamlike final 'Villa Strangiato', which Rush described as 'an exercise in self-indulgence' and encapsulates in nine pressing minutes, rendered on stage in a better and more compelling way than in the studio, really all the technique and imagination possible. (A track that in '78 the trio tried more than 40 times, before mastering its execution for recording purposes, and which they play here with perfect nonchalance, indeed having fun and shouting imperceptible pleasantries from one side of the stage to the other). The audience obviously also enjoys the hits, and the beautiful 'Tom Sawyer' and the very popular 'Closer To The Heart' (ah, Ayn Rand's writings!) cannot be missing in a set in which the guitarist also offers a beautiful classic acoustic unreleased in the opening of the classic 'The Trees'.
Left out of the album (a gold record within a few months) were a remarkable version of '2112 Overture', in the medley version with 'By-Tor And The Snow Dog', as well as 'Camera Eye' and the opening 'Limelight', but you can't have everything in life, I guess. (Why not? I advocate for a reissue with bonus tracks).
None of us really makes the text, of course, but in a genre discotheque 'Exit... Stage Left' should not be missing for any reason. Sure, if you're annoyed by those who compose amazing stuff and sing and play awesomely, you can abstain, naturally. The alternative to total knowledge and subsequent veneration of this ten-and-praise album is the complete discography of Leone di Lernia, I guess. Your call.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 The Spirit of Radio (05:17)
Begin the day with a friendly voice
A companion unobtrusive
Plays the song that's so elusive
And the magic music makes your morning mood
Off on your way, hit the open road
There is magic at your fingers
For the spirit ever lingers
Undemanding contact in your happy solitude
Invisible airwaves crackle with life
Bright antennae bristle with the energy
Emotional feedback on a timeless wavelength
Bearing a gift beyond price, almost free
All this machinery making modern music
Can still be open-hearted
Not so coldly charted, it's really just a question
Of your honesty, yeah, your honesty
One likes to believe in the freedom of music
But glittering prizes and endless compromises
Shatter the illusion of integrity, yeah
Invisible airwaves crackle with life
Bright antennae bristle with the energy
Emotional feedback on a timeless wavelength
Bearing a gift beyond price, almost free
For the words of the profits were written on the studio wall
Concert hall
And echoes with the sound of salesmen
Of salesmen, of salesmen
02 Red Barchetta (06:45)
My uncle has a country place, that no one knows about
He says it used to be a farm, before the Motor Law
And on Sundays I elude the 'Eyes', and hop the Turbine freight
To far outside the Wire, where my white-haired uncle waits
Jump to the ground
As the Turbo slows to cross the borderline
Run like the wind
As excitement shivers up and down my spine
Down in his barn
My uncle preserved for me an old machine -
For fifty-odd years
To keep it as new has been his dearest dream
I strip away the old debris, that hides a shining car
A brilliant red Barchetta, from a better, vanished time
Fire up the willing engine, responding with a roar!
Tires spitting gravel, I commit my weekly crime...
Wind in my hair -
Shifting and drifting -
Mechanical music -
Adrenalin surge -
Well-weathered leather
Hot metal and oil
The scented country air
Sunlight on chrome
The blur of the landscape
Every nerve aware
Suddenly, ahead of me, across the mountainside
A gleaming alloy air-car, shoots towards me, two lanes wide
I spin around with shrieking tires, to run the deadly race
Go screaming through the valley as another joins the chase
Run like the wind
Straining the limits of machine and man
Laughing out loud
With fear and hope, I've got a desperate plan
At the one-lane bridge
I leave the giants stranded
At the riverside
Race back to the farm
To dream with my uncle
At the fireside...
04 A Passage to Bangkok (03:44)
A Passage To Bangkok
Our first stop is in Bogota
To check Colombian fields
The natives smile and pass along
A sample of their yield
Sweet Jamaican pipe dreams
Golden Acapulco nights
Then Morocco, and the East,
Fly by morning light
We're on the train to Bangkok
Aboard the Thailand Express
We'll hit the stops along the way
We only stop for the best
Wreathed in smoke in Lebanon
We burn the midnight oil
The fragrance of Afghanistan
Rewards a long day's toil
Pulling into Katmandu
Smoke rings fill the air
Perfumed by a Nepal night
The Express gets you there
We're on the train to Bangkok
Aboard the Thailand Express
We'll hit the stops along the way
We only stop for the best
05 Closer to the Heart (03:07)
And the men who hold high places
Must be the ones who start
to mold a new reality
Closer to the Heart
Closer to the Heart
The Blacksmith and the Artist
Reflect it in their art
They forge their creativity
Closer to the Heart
Yea, Closer to the Heart
Philosophers and Plowmen
Each must know his part
To sow a new mentality
Closer to the Heart
Closer to the Heart
Yeah ah
ohhh ahh
(Solo)
A Wooah, Wooo
You can be the Captain
And I will draw the chart
Sailing into destiny
Closer to the Heart
Closer to the Heart
Well,Closer to the Heart
Yeah, Closer to the Heart
Closer to the Heart
I said, Closer to the Heart
07 Jacob's Ladder (08:42)
The clouds prepare for battle
In the dark and brooding silence.
Bruised and sullen stormclouds
Have the light of day obscured.
Looming low and ominous
In twilight premature
Thunderheads are rumbling
In a distant overture...
All at once, the clouds are parted.
Light streams down in bright unbroken beams...
Follow men's eyes as they look to the skies.
The shifting shafts of shining weave the fabric of their dreams
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Other reviews
By Ambassador
In this performance of "YYZ", lies all the greatness of Rush: the ability to engage the audience by perfectly blending different styles.
Lifeson’s solo halfway through La Villa Strangiato is indescribable in words: an incredibly emotional crescendo, to be listened to with closed eyes, freeing the mind.
