DO YOU NEED *ANOTHER* LIVE RUSH ALBUM? YES. YES YOU DO

Well, I do anyway.  Rush recently released Time Machine, their ninth live album, and their fifth in the past decade.  What makes it different? Well, not too much.

But it does feature the band performing their greatest album (arguably) Moving Pictures, start to finish. And yeah, there are plenty of live versions of "Tom Sawyer," "Red Barchetta," and "Limelight" out there (although this "Barchetta" is a bit different, they go into a surf version of main riff). But I don't think the band ever performed "The Camera Eye" on tour before, and longtime Rush fans (myself included) were excited to hear them play it.

They also played two songs from their upcoming album, "BU2B" and "Caravan." Supposedly that album is coming out this year.  There's also a new Neil Peart drum piece "Moto Perpetuo" which has more of his jazz/swing influence. What else is different about the album?  They add a bit of reggae (yes, really) to "Working Man." So, really, it's not a totally essential to have.  But for Rush fans, well, anything new is fun to have. That's how we roll.

RUSH - CLASSIC ALBUMS 2112 AND MOVING PICTURES DVD

I've written before about the Classic Albums DVD series: I really dug the Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers Damn The Torpedoes edition, as well as the Black Sabbath Paranoid episode. Now, I've just watched another one that focuses on two Rush albums, 1976's 2112 and 1981's Moving Pictures.

The timing for this seems a bit weird, as it has only been a few months since the DVD release of Beyond The Lighted Stage, the only real Rush documentary, and certainly the only real authorized one. I am pretty sure that some of the interviews from that film were used here.  And the guest list on that one - there were interviews with Trent Reznor, Billy Corgan, Les Claypool, Gene Simmons, Tim Commerford, among others - isn't improved upon.  The big name commentators here are Taylor Hawkins of The Foo Fighters (who was in Lighted Stage) and Ed Robertson of Barenaked Ladies. The one notable addition - and to me, a very surprising one - was Rolling Stone writer David Fricke. Rolling Stone has traditionally written off Rush, so I was surprised to see one of their best, and most high-profile, writers speaking positively about them.

Of course, both of these albums were pretty well covered in Beyond The Lighted Stage, but they get a bit more detail here.  The Ayn Rand influence on 2112 has been well documented, but it was interesting to hear more of the band's explanation about it.  Particularly where Geddy Lee reacts to accusations that the band are "nazis" - given that he is a child of Holocaust survivors.  And Fricke rightfully points out that just because drummer/lyricist Neil Peart was influenced by Rand, he doesn't necessarily agree with everything she ever said.

As with all the Classic Albums discs, there is fun footage of each member of the band explaining their parts of the songs, and the producer of the album (in this case, Terry Brown) isolating different tracks from the master tapes in the studio, which is always fun to watch. Some of the extras were fun also - I love watching the band talk about their influences (although there was nothing really new there) and they went in depth about the 2112 track "Something For Nothing," which is also a bit Rand-ian, and definitely (and defiantly) anti-hippy-ish, which makes sense, as so many rock critics (particularly of the Rolling Stone ilk) really were a part of the hippy scene.

As No Expiration fans know, I'm a huge Rush fan, and I love seeing any interviews with them. If you were going to watch one non-concert DVD, I'd have to recommend the more comprehensive Beyond The Lighted Stage, but if that's too long for you, or you (like me) just can't get enough Rush, I'd recommend this.

RUSH AT JONES BEACH: AWESOME (and funny!)

Who says Rush isn't funny?  They've been pegged with that reputation, but fans have long known that Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson and Neal Peart enjoy a good laugh.  And on thier current tour, besides playing every song from their classic 1981 album, Moving Pictures, they showed off their sense of humor with a couple of silly/funny films. They have a history of doing this kind of thing: on the last tour the South Park guys gave them an intro to "Tom Sawyer," (and speaking of which, watch them play "Tom Sawyer" on Guitar Hero backstage at The Colbert Report here). The show started with a Beastie Boys-like film with the band members dressed in ridiculous costumes a la The Beastie Boys, playing both a polka band and also patrons of a restraunt.  I won't describe it well, but it made everyone laugh.  The second set started with a skit where all three guys played music biz guys on the set of a rock band's video, and during the performance for some reason Neil is playing guitar, Alex is on bass and Geddy is behind the drums.  Neil steals the show mimicing Alex's guitar faces.  And at the end of the concert there was a really funny film featuring Paul Rudd and Jason Segel of the film I Love You Man (apparently being fans of Rush was a plot point, and the guys from Rush were actually in the film) did this bit where they snuck backstage and got caught by Geddy, Alex and Neil. You could tell the guys were having fun being funny.

Laughs aside, I guess there wasn't any chance that I wasn't going to love the show! Moving Pictures remains the band's most popular, and with good reason, every song is a classic. It's my favorite Rush album as well. Side 1 is carved into the memory of anyone who has listened to classic rock radio (for better or worse): "Tom Sawyer," "Red Barchetta," "YYZ" and "Limelight." Side 2 has more stuff for the die-hards: "The Camera Eye," "Witch Hunt" and "Vital Signs." The entire performance was magnificent. 

But I'll admit I didn't love the entire show.  They opened with "The Spirit Of The Radio," maybe their best song ever - and the song they opened up with on the Grace Under Pressure tour in 1985 (which happened to be my first rock concert ever).  After that, though, they played "Time Stands Still" is one of my favorite post-Grace songs, but I always think it is weird live, because you hear Aimee Mann's guest vocals when she isn't there. They should rearrange the song, or just not play it. After that they did the title track from 1989's Presto, which  I always thought was corny (and there were so many better songs on that album, like "Scars," "Anagram," "The Pass" and especially "Show Don't Tell").  This is the first time they've played it on tour. "Stick It Out" from 1993's Counterparts was pretty rocking, but I'd rather hear "Animate." "Workin' Them Angels" from their last album, 2007's Snakes & Arrows is fine. "Leave That Thing Alone," one of their best instrumentals, also from Counterparts worked for me. "Faithless," from Snakes & Arrows (but not played on that tour) was OK but unnecessary. "BU2B" (aka "Brought Up To Believe") from their upcoming album was pretty rocking.

And after that, the "Time Machine" kicked in (they're calling it the "Time Machine Tour").  The classic "Freewill" from 1980's Permanent Waves always works (I'd love to see them do a tour where they do that album start to finish). "Marathon" from 1985's Power Windows was good - I'd way rather hear "Mystic Rhythms" or "The Big Money" (more relevant than ever in 2010). They ended the set with the always-relevant "Subdivisions" from 1982's Signals.

After the Moving Pictures set, they returned to the present with another new song, "Caravan," which was OK.  That led to Neil's always mind blowing drum solo (it's not really a drum solo, more of a "drum composition" or "drum symphony").  That's always mind blowing.  There aren't too many drummers who can interest me with a solo.  Alex then came out with an acoustic 12 string, and played a nice piece that led into "Closer To The Heart," which I still love. Then everyone lost their minds to the first two chapters of "2112" (I'd love to see a tour where they do the entire 2112 album!).  Then, from Snakes & Arrows, one of my very favorite Rush songs, "Far Cry" (I wish they'd played my other favorite recent song, "One Little Victory" from Vapor Trails).

The encore was maybe the best part of the night. The always amazing instrumental "La Villa Strangiato" (with a polka arrangement to open the song) followed by "Working Man" from their debut album (with a reggae opening).  I actually wish they just did "Working Man" straight, though, as it is also more relevant than ever in 2010 (other than the fact that many "working men" can't even get work these days).

So, maybe I complained a bit about the song selection, but hey, I'm a fan.  Really though, I'm glad the band is playing the songs they want to play: they never seemed like they were going through the motions, so if this is the combination of songs that kept them interested, then great (I do think it's weird that they play the same set every single night, but that's their perogative). Anyway, they have a new album coming out next year, I'm sure it will be followed by a tour, and I'll definitely be there to see it.

THE RUSH TIME MACHINE TOUR SETLIST

It's a bit weird to me that Rush posted the setlist to their tour on their website before the tour started. I mean, we all knew that they were going to play Moving Pictures in its entirety. But they've posted every song, in the order that they will play them, every night.  That's weird to me, but Rush are perfectionists, and improvisation isn't a part of their live thing (which is odd, as Neil Peart is such a huge jazz fan). Anyway, it includes their two new songs, and a good amount of recent material, which will surely get some complaints.  I don't love the list, I wish they included "One Little Victory" from Vapor Trails, it's one of my favorite Rush songs. But I'm sure it will be an awesome show, it always is.

RUSH TO PLAY "MOVING PICTURES" ON TOUR

Oh, HELL yeah.  Rush is going on tour this summer. This is a rarity for them: they aren't promoting a new album, but they will be performing Moving Pictures in its entirety.  As well as lots of other music, I'm sure - the album isn't even an hour long. I even hear that they may be trying out new songs from their next album: they haven't done that since the early '80s when they road tested songs from Grace Under Pressure. Get the tour dates at Rush's website. I. Can. Not. Wait.