Track Listing

Disc 1:

1. Dreamline
2. Limelight
3. Driven
4. Bravado
5. Animate
6. Show Don't Tell
7. Trees
8. Nobody's Hero
9. Closer to the Heart
10. 2112: Overture
11. 2112: The Temples of Syrinx
12. 2112: Discovery
13. 2112: Presentation
14. Oracle
15. Soliloquy
16. Grand Finale

Disc 2:

1. YYZ
2. Test for Echo
3. Analog Kid
4. Freewill
5. Roll the Bones
6. Stick It Out
7. Resist
8. Leave That Thing Alone
9. Rhythm Method
10. Natural Science
11. Spirit of Radio
12. Tom Sawyer
13. YYZ

Disc 3:

1. Bastille Day
2. By-Tor & the Snow Dog
3. Xanadu
4. Farewell to Kings
5. Something for Nothing
6. Cygnus X-1
7. Anthem
8. Working Man
9. Fly by Night
10. In the Mood
11. Cinderella Man

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #45376 in Music
• Released on: 1998-11-10
• Number of discs: 3
• Formats: Box set, Live

Album Details
Japanese Version featuring a Bonus Track: Force Ten.

Entertainment Weekly
The band's recent material rings hollow....

Customer Reviews

a little too expensive
Maybe it's just me, but there's very little difference in sound between the domestic release and this imported release of Different Stages. Don't be fooled by all of the advertisements. They all say it has extra tracks. They should say extra track. Not tracks. The only extra track is Force Ten, and the live version on A Show Of Hands is much better. If you collect imports, and you like Rush, and you like spending too much money, then get this cd. Otherwise, there's not much difference, other than the extra song and the fact that this imported version comes with a booklet of the lyrics to all the songs on this cd. In English and in Japanese.

Corrections to the above reviews
I have both the US and Japanese releases of Different Stages. The main differences are:

1) A lot of Japanese text on the Japanese version. Go figure.
2) Tour book from the AFTK tour
3) One bonus track, Force Ten. This is a good version of this song, but not worth forking over the $$$ for this set unless you are a hardcore fan.

If you ARE a hardcore fan, the tourbook is the real reason to get this set. NOTE: I have heard that subsequent Japanese issues of this DO NOT INCLUDE the tourbook, so caveat emptor.

Now, about the sound quality of the two version. Let me tell you, it is EXACTLY THE SAME. How do I know? Because I ripped disc1 from both releases and compared the audio in a high-end sound editor. Guess what? They were identical.

Great live sets from 1997, 1994 and even 1978
The fourth live release by Rush, "Different Stages" followed the usual pattern of 4 studio/1 live disk, but both with featuring material primarily from the previous four releases.
This set spans the entire career of Rush, focusing mostly on the 1974-1981 releases, and then the 1990s releases after Presto. Rush was very generous with this three-disk set, and with over 3.5 hours of music, there's a lot of bang for your buck.
I agree with other reviewers that the sound is good, but not great. Still, the instruments come through very clearly, especially Geddy Lee's bass and Neil Peart's drums. Alex Lifeson's guitar sounds get muddy sometimes, but the tones that he uses and energy of his performance injects these songs with a lot of life. His playing breathes emotion into these performances, whereas Lee and Peart are more the technical rhythm players. It's a good balance. Geddy Lee's vocals sound better on the 1994 and 1997 recordings, especially on the later material, for which he was able to adjust his changing voice. He still hits the notes in Analog Kid, but Freewill and Spirit of Radio have taken some adjustment. On the 1978 concert disk, his vocals sometimes have that shrieking banshee quality, especially with the very early material like Anthem, Fly By Night and Bastille Day. Lee's vocals can be said to be an acquired taste, but here's a guy who has learned to use his voice better over time, especially in live performance with the difficult instrumental tracks he has to play simultaneously.

The best part of hearing live performances of favorite songs is hearing what changes and surprises the artists bring us.
In set one, there's the short bass solo by Lee during Driven. Very cool. I also like the jam at the end of Closer to the Heart. To cap it off, there's a complete performance of 2112.

Set two includes many of the usual hit tracks, like Test for Echo, Tom Sawyer and Freewill. There's also a great cut of the instrumental Leave that Thing Alone, followed by an update of Peart's drum showcase, The Rhythm Method. I also liked the version of Natural Science even better than the studio version on Permanent Waves. YYZ rocks and has a teaser of Cygnus X-1.

Set three is the 1978 show from London. I really liked how By-Tor and the Snow Dog merges into Xanadu at the chimes part. Very well done. There are a lot of cuts from Farewell to Kings, and Lifeson does some cool chorus washed guitar on Cinderalla Man. Cygnus X-1 has the great stop/start math rock that Rush was famous for, and the Working Man/Fly by Night/In the Mood combo is very effective. My one critique with this disk is that Peart's drums were sometimes too busy, stepping on the other musicians, something that is more tempered on the later cuts.

Great jams from one of the greatest jam bands ever. Highly recommended as a first live disk for fans. Then get Exit...Stage Left.