Rush - Replay X 3: I won't even try to be impartial here. I'm not going to fool anyone. Rush is my band. Not that I'm in the band, of course, but they're mine anyway. And today they finally fulfill a wish many a fan has had: put out those old concert videos on DVD!
When I first got into Rush, back in the early '90s, one of the first things I did was head to a big chain video/music store and check out what videos they had. This was back in the day when these places made sure to carry a really wide variety of stuff — if a band had a video out, they'd most likely have it, mostly because they couldn't afford not to carry it lest they lose that one rental to another store. So if it was available, they'd have it. And even if it was out of print, they may still have it. And have it they did — or them, I should say, as they had both of the live videos Exit . . . Stage Left and Grace Under Pressure.
My friends and I watched them a few times and that was that — back they went and life went on. I hadn't been hooked by Rush quite yet and so their out-of-print status didn't really mean much to me. (I bought a copy of the then still in-print A Show Of Hands video tape, of course, and it still remains in my collection today.) It wasn't until a few years later, when I got into the internet Rush community, that I realized these videos were long gone and that I'd lost my one chance to grab onto these and hold them dear by, as others had, (oops!) "losing" them and paying back the store for them. There was always hope they'd go back into production again. They never did.
When this new-fangled technology called "DVD" started to appear on the horizon, hope began to glimmer that we'd soon see these long-lost concerts released, but year after year, nothing.
And now, finally, after years of fretting and wondering, those original concert videos are being released. The thing is, with years to fret and wonder, the fans start looking at all the other concert videos being released from other bands' vaults with all this extra footage and they ponder the possibilities. What could Rush dig up for these that we've never seen?!
Article comments
1 - Gordon Hauptfleisch
Speaking of splintered-off Replacements, I just want to put in a good word for Chris Mars compelling first release "Horsehoes and Hand Grenades" where he wrote all the songs and played most of the instruments. He had three other solo albums, too.
2 - DJRadiohead
You know, I liked 100% Fun more than Girlfriend which is likely sacrilege but it won't be a first for me.
Those deluxe editions get pricey... but I might roll the dice on that one- it will give me a chance to remember him when he wasn't making slightly above average duet covers albums.
3 - Mark Saleski
dang, i don't own any Matthew Sweet.
...and now i've got these freaking Rush videos making their way toward my credit card!
4 - Tom Johnson
DJR: I still have to pick up that covers album. I listened to a stream of that and didn't love all of it, but some of it was really quite good. Some of it . . . well, that stuff came across like a typical covers album - heard those songs too many times and didn't need to hear them again. Never would have put Hoffs and Matthews together, but the pairing worked out really well. Maybe Vol. 2 will be a better overall effort.
I kind of stayed away from Girlfriend on purpose for years. You know me - I'm a fan of the underdog when it comes to music, so 100% Fun and In Reverse are the ones I've paid more attention to. But Girlfriend is now finally going to get some attention when I finally find an affordable copy of this thing.
Mark: He's one of the better modern pop song writers. Why he goes so ignored is beyond me. Much of Sweet's catalog can be found real cheap used on Amazon and Half.com, so you can invest without too much fear. Highly recommended!
5 - DJRadiohead
Tom, I reviewed that disc if you are curious to get a more detailed reading of my particular thoughts on it.
Saleski- he has some real powerpop chops, at least on his best stuff.
6 - Mark Saleski
so i gather....i gotta start making a list again so that when i arrive at a store i having something to go on (rather than always heading over to the "weirdo" section)
7 - godoggo
Paul Westerberg has become the guy he used to make fun of.
8 - Gordon Hauptfleisch
If that means he doesn't drunkenly lay flat down on the stage and slur "Yummy, yummy, yummy, I got love in my tummy..."--I'll take it.
9 - godoggo
Hmm. I never had the pleasure (I actually showed up to a Replacements show once, but was shocked to find that it was sold out - I had no idea how big they were), but I once read an interview with the Mats in which they said that, before a show, they would actually take a huddle to decide, "Well, should we suck tonight or should we blow 'em away?" Sometimes they'd decide upon the former, apparently.
10 - Gordon Hauptfleisch
It might've been fun if I was toward the front and they stuck to just a few stuporous-statured cover songs, but half the show became that and there was nothing to see because they were all on the floor of the stage. The decision in the huddle went against us that night.