Rush - Snakes and Arrows Live
Revitalize old songs the band 
Ciro HIRUMA
When Rush started the live album Different Stages (1998) and Rush in Rio (2003), the production opted for a sound concept: capturing the mood well, the sound of the public in order to create the effect of being present in a concert of the band. If the intention was good, the result was not satisfactory: the songs lost their sharpness, some passages were saturated, without a definition efficient, as you can get today in recordings of concerts.
In Snakes and Arrows Live, which now reaches the market, the same idea prevails, but the sound quality improved, you can hear the instruments with greater sharpness, details, the nuances of the music. But the sound of the public seems a loop, a continuous and repetitive beat of applause and cries that form a single mass sound without many variations.
A great sense of the double CD are the songs of the ancient repertoire of the group, which will no longer appear in shows. This is the case with "Between Nous" the classic album Permanent Waves (1980) and "Digital Man" (from Signals, 1983), with its touches of reggae. From a more recent past, the phase of synthesizers is in evidence in "Between the Wheels" (1984) and "The Misson" (1987), two findings that they value highly the concert.
There are also other "discoveries": open the show with "Limelight", the anthology Moving Pictures, is a great application. "Natural Science", which for a long time not attended the launch of the live band, is an important composition that influenced bands like Dream Theater. Just listen to "Sacrified Sons" or "In The Presence of Enemies Pt.1", the group of Mike Portnoy to note the similarities.
Disclosure
The Rush bet high on his latest studio album, Snakes & Arrows. It is eight slots to attend this work live. It is a curious CD, which attempts to partially recover the sound of turning the years 1970-1980. The guitar of Alex Lifeson is a reference to that effect. However, some songs open in an extraordinary way to lose interest then become monotonous.
The impression is that extend in excess. Versions "edit" would be welcome. Saved in the registry to live instrumental "The Main Monkey Business" and "Malignant Narcissism - From Slagwerker", which brings an incredible line of low soil of Geddy Lee and Neil Peart of the battery.
What is missing add? The return to the repertoire of shows from "Subdvisions" and "Witch Hunt". The controversial work of the previous band, Vapor Trails, and hyperdynamic heavy for some, cold and distant to others, is in "One Little Victory" and "Secret Touch".
Snakes and Arrows Live define the current state of Rush: the musicians remain bright, playing with conviction and maintains his success among fans. But what to do when the best songs the band belong to a well-distant past?
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