Customer Reviews

All the World's

5 star:		(53)
4 star:		(28)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

A live set recorded over three days in 1976, in many ways this is a great introduction to the early Rush material-- featuring four songs each from the debut album and "Fly By Night", two from "Caress of Steel" and "2112" (although admittedly including the length title track), this really gets to the good material without much of the fluff.

Opening with the monster combination of "Bastille Day" and "Anthem", the tone for the show is set-- if there's a complaint to be made about the live show, its that it leaves out any display of the quieter side of Rush-- mind you, the quiet side was a one or two song thing on each record, it'd be nice to have heard some of it.

If you like the early material, you'll like this set, that simple. The "Fly By Night" material seems particularly inspired, I much prefer this take of "By-Tor and the Snow Dog" to the studio.

Overall, its a good show-- they'd have better material to pick from the future, but for the time, its a good show, and besides, its hard to imagine Geddy Lee these days shouting "Come on, let's see some hands!".

Just recently I bought "All The Worlds A Stage" for the first time on cd. At first I didn't like it very much because it sounded pretty raw when compared to the smoother EXIT STAGE LEFT. I think with the release of EXIT they were playing better because they had been doing about 250 shows a year for quite a few years and they were maturing as live musicians, but still, this first live album shows them more raw and energetic, so it's good to have both in your possession. It sounds much better to me than when I first heard it in 1981. This remaster sounds quite a bit better than the vinyl album did (which is something that I can't say about all rock albums). If you don't have this live album, but have a lot of the studio albums, don't hesitate in aquiring this first Rush live album.

Rush's first chapter is always interesting to me. They started out like a heavy-metal, blues type band, " A baby Zeppelin" as someone quoted. Rush let their original drummer go. Even as a devoted Rush fan and amateur drummer, I still never heard the official reason why he left the band. However, Neil entered the picture. Many styles were covered over the next couple of albums. Finally, almost broke and written off, they created 2112. A new life, new success, and new direction. I believe that " All the World's A Stage " is a culmination of all that happened to them. While Rush were playing their hearts out and enjoying their success, you can almost hear them evolving musically on this CD. Hints of whats to come is on display. This CD is enjoyable to listen to, even though its not ranked as one of Rush's better live efforts. Its a great way to end a chapter, and move on to the next.

A favorite of mine for many, many years. I remember seeing Rush in the summer of 1979... my very first rock concert. I was stunned by their power and the sound the three of them made. "All the World's a Stage" was recorded when Rush was on the road promoting their "new" album, 2112. You could tell they had been working hard to get the songs as tight and disciplined as they sounded on the album itself. By-Tor and the Snow Dog is probably my favorite recorded live song, by any group. And I remember seeing it performed live in its entirety in that 1979 show I saw. I was proud to be a huge Rush fan before they really made it big in '81 with Moving Pictures. By-Tor was always the song I'd play to my non-believing friends when I told them what a great band Rush was. Phenomenal drumming and bass playing. This is the best live Rush album in their catalog. I haven't heard any bootlegs, but this is the best of the ones in their official catalog. Enjoy it!

Although it wasn't as well recieved,in my opinion,'All The World's A Stage' is just as good,if not better than some of the over-played live lp's that came out in the same era by bands like Kiss,Ted Nugent,Yes,Peter Frampton and Cheap Trick.I've always loved this double-length live record.Plus the label cared to take the trouble to stick the entire twelve song/79 minute show on one disc.Yeah!This is better than the later day Rush live efforts.Tunes here were pulled from their lp's 'Fly By Night','Caress Of Steel' and '2112'.I think I loved the epics the most,the fifteen-minute "Temple Of The Syrinx" and the twelve-minute "By-Tor And The Snow Dog".Classic stuff here,I tell you.Also liked "In The Mood","Working Man","In The End" and "Finding My Way".I remember partying to this lp late into the summer nights way back when.A must-have.

This is one of the best live albums ever recorded. I bought it back in 1992, and I still love it as much now as I did when I first heard it. The playing is top-notch, and of course the songs are also excellent -- this is, after all, RUSH we're talking about here. I also think the live sound quality is terrific: it's powerful and heavy (much heavier than their later stuff, and heavier than any of their studio releases), and it's somewhat psychedelic at times. My favorite songs on this CD are "2112", "Anthem", and "By-Tor and the Snow Dog"; the instrumental section of "By-Tor and the Snow Dog" is, by itself, worth far more than the price of the entire CD (as a matter of fact, it's priceless). If I were you, I would buy this album immediately. If you don't, you'll never know what you're missing.

If you are a drummer, or aspiring to be one, this album IS A MUST. Mr Peart's fills and speed are inspiring. His solo on "Working Man"/"Finding my Way" is a piece of art. His speed on the double bass is hard to match.

I bought this not long after it first came out on vinyl and it has stayed with me through tape and CD re-incarnations ever since. By far the best of the live albums, recorded shortly after the release of the cataclysmic "2112" which was to provide the Rush signature for the next three years. Dodgy vocals and the odd bum note certainly don't detract from the overall experience: "Bastille Day" puts it's studio version to shame, and "2112" (apart from the unforgiveable omission of "The Oracle") is as good an enticement to go out and buy the whole album as you are likely to get.
It's been said many times that the first 3 albums (actually only the first 2 and a half to my mind) are little more than Led Zeppelin tribute offerings. Certainly this similarity is accentuated in the live version: the feedback and pedal work from Mr Lifeson on "By-Tor" could just have easily have been a certain Mr Page on the live rendition of "Rain Song".But the knockers, pseuds and so-called "purists" should remember that even Led Zeppelin weren't the Led Zeppelin most people would claim to know when they first went on the road.
Buy it as an interesting historical document in charting the development of the band if you must. But much rather buy it for what it is.

Rush were a struggling progressive hard rock trio during their early years, but by the time they released their first live album ALL THE WORLD'S A STAGE in 1976, they had solidified their status as a force to reckoned with. When Rush went on this tour, their landmark fourth album 2112 was climbing higher up the charts and became their first gold record. With that stream of confidence, the band made a triumphant homecoming to Toronto and played for three glorious nights, which is all layered out for our listening pleasure on ATWAS.

Though the band hints at progressive ambition with awesome versions of "2112" and "By-Tor and the Snow Dog," ALL THE WORLD'S A STAGE mainly focuses on the early heavy metal side of Rush. "Bastille Day" and "Anthem" prove to be a winning hard rock combo, and I love the way the catchy "Fly by Night" leads smoothly into the bluesy "In the Mood." "Something for Nothing" sounds even more powerful than it does on the studio version, and the Zeppelin-esque "Lakeside Park" relaxes you a bit after the first four pile-driving tracks. But without a doubt the best performance on here belongs to the five-part, 15-minute version of "2112." With "Discovery" and "Oracle" taken out, this trimmed down "2112" sounds infinitely heavier and epic in concert than on the 20-minute studio original. Alex Lifeson reigns supreme on this track, especially during "Presentation."

The aforementioned "By-Tor and the Snow Dog" just flat out rocks with some exotic, beautiful moments during the instrumental portion. "In the End" is a great power ballad with good singing by Geddy and hair-raising guitar work, and Neil Peart's drum solo during the "Working Man/Finding My Way" medley sounds like the one he did on the live "YYZ," but I still love it. The menacing "What You're Doing" closes out the set list, with the band members all leaving after the show is over.

If you don't want to get all four of Rush's early records in one shot, then ALL THE WORLD'S A STAGE is the perfect coda for fans wondering how Rush were like in their beginning years. Also recommended: EXIT...STAGE LEFT, another live album which is just as good, if not better.

When I was about 17-18, I had this album down on guitar. Self Taught. Had borrowed it for months from the local library and my social life was wrecked, at home working out the Alex Lifeson solo parts. THE great thing about this album as a guitarist is that there appear to be no overdubs, therefore only one guitar part to analyse. A rare thing on any Rock album.

Ive not been much into Rush later, apart from Spirit of Radio.

I remember sitting in a pub in 1984 Glasgow in this period with my Punk/New Wave bandmates,....wishing I could be in Rush!

Brillant live expose of a band at a junction in careers or peak even, like Get Yer Ya Yas Out, No Sleep Till Hammersmith etc.. tho even those probably had overdubs. The Damned Live at Shepperton for example I gave similar attention & reckon it doesnt have overdubs either. You have a better chance of learning a part if a guitar is alone and exposed.

I have never actually owned ATWAS yet, so reckon its high time I bought it & brought that wee part of my teenage brain to life again. Am 42 now and just won a Scholarship to Berklee College of Music, Boston.

Rush have proved to me to be a significant bridge between Punk,Rock and Jazz respectively

May post another review when I listen to it again