DOES RUSH REALLY NEED EIGHT LIVE ALBUMS?

Like The Rolling Stones, Rush has a lot of live albums. Snakes & Arrows Live, which was recently released, is their eighth. A double live album that features live versions of many songs from their latest album, 2007's Snakes & Arrows (including "Far Cry," which is one of my favorite Rush songs ever), it also features a lot of classics. Most of them have already appeared on prior live albums.

Here's some of the tracks on the album: "Limelight" (it's 4th time on a live album), "Freewill" (4), "Between The Wheels" (3), "Dreamline" (4), "Subdivisions" (4), "Natural Science" (3), "Witch Hunt" (3), "Distant Early Warning" (4), "Spirit Of The Radio" (6!), "Tom Sawyer" (also 6!), "One Little Victory" (2), "A Passage To Bangkok" (3) and "YYZ" (5). I'm surprised they didn't include "Closer To The Heart," which has been on five live albums.

On the other hand, "Digital Man," "Entre Nous" and one of my favorites, "Circumstances," make thier first appearances on a live album.

So, do you need this album? Probably not. But I'm not you, and it's my belief that you can never have too many Rush albums, live or otherwise. If you think they're ripping off thier fans with all these live albums (a) you're wrong and (b) don't buy it. As I've said before, I'm excited that Rush is still working at all, after all Neal Peart has been through. Bottom line: I don't think it's a must-have - I wouldn't try to convince a Rush fan that they need to have this as I would a Stones fan with Shine A Light. And if you're looking to check out your first Rush live album, I'd probably point to (1) Exit ... Stage Left, (2) Different Stages and (3) All The World's A Stage.