Customer Reviews

Exit... Stage Right: String Quartet Tribute to Rush

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

"Exit...Stage Right" is a string quartet tribute to Rush which follows the track listing to Rush's 1981 release "Exit...Stage Left."

Choosing from the second live album by Rush allows a good selection from one of Rush's key progressive and inspired periods. There are cuts from "Farewell to Kings," "Hemispheres," "Permanent Waves," and "Moving Pictures" as well as a couple tidbits from earlier albums.

Like most tribute albums, this collection will appeal primarily to Rush fans, especially those who prefer the earlier music from the 1970s and early 80s. I've also thought of springing some of these gems on family members who are not rock fans to see what they think.

The translation from electric instruments, especially bass and drums, was a challenge and not always entirely successful. Naturally, the six-string guitar parts and keyboards translated better with violins and cellos.

The intro to Spirit of Radio shimmers on violin and there is a really cool middle part, but the violins doing the vocal parts come off as a little screechy. Well, the same could sometimes be said about Geddy Lee's voice. I guess it's an acquired taste kind of thing.

I really enjoyed the version of Red Barchetta, with lush strings and beautiful counterpoint throughout the melody.

YYZ does not fare so well. It's hard to duplicate funk and jazz on cellos and string bassess. Sorry. The part where the keyboards come in was better.

A Passage to Bangkok is a pleasant surprise, loaded with lots of great counterpoint between treble and bass parts.

Closer to the Heart retains much of the emotion and spirit of the original melody, but the guitar solo didn't quite work for me. The vocal arrangement definitely made up for that.

Beneath, Between and Behind ends up sounding very busy and the vocal part is too tinny.

Jacob's Ladder, with its mathematical structure and guitar/bass/percussion triple counterpoint works well in the classical medium. There is a lot of nice layering on this abbreviated version.

Broon's Bane, a solo guitar piece by Alex Lifeson, comes out sounding very beautiful, with some additional layers to add depth. The segueway into The Trees is very smooth and the intro to that song works very effectively. Even the part where the tempo picks up flows nicely. The rock parts could have been choppy, but there is a really nice arrangement into the keyboard solo with some wonderful melodic counterpoint. Remember, Neal Peart's drum parts have mostly been eliminated or taken over by string basses, so some cool parts get left out.

Xanadu features a few electrical enhancements and is probably one of the best arrangements on the disk. There is a lot of nice melody and rhythm counterpoint and the vocal part comes across very nicely. You can see how Rush had a definite symphonic bent around some of their songs.

On Freewill, there is again some unexpected counterpoint with the guitar and keyboard parts, but the bass cannot duplicate Geddy Lee's style. There's something missing...oh yes, drums and the bass solo and jam is completely eliminated.

Tom Sawyer again pales in comparison to the original, sounding choppy and not particularly melodic. The guitar solo with the added bass part makes up for this but still this doesn't quite work.

It's difficult to review a set of songs against their originals, but when comparing classical versions to originals by a rock trio, there will be pieces and parts that work and some that don't. Still, I found this to be an interesting disk and worth exploration into how music parts flow together.

As a classical musician and teacher, I have listened to and performed a multitude of pieces ranging in a multitude of styles. I am also a Rush fan and have been since the 70s. I was introduced to "Exit Stage Right" by a student of mine. I liked the CD so much that I bought six copies, 1 for myself and five as Christmas gifts for family members and friends. The arrangements are brilliantly scored to achieve an excellent adaptation from electric bass, electric guitar and drums to a much more physically demanding and challenging acoustic/fretless rendition. I must say that these performers are amazing and this recording is as good as it gets from an orchestral standpoint. This is a must have recording for any Rush or Quartet Aficionado. I recently received my Recording Academy Ballots for the 45th Annual Grammy Awards and saw that this CD is up for Instrumental Pop Album Of The Year... It is definately getting my vote!!!

Having just seen 2 Rush concerts in the past week, I still have live Rush sounds and sights in my head that return and resonate when I listen to String Quartet Tribute to Rush. With that disclaimer out of the way, I highly recommend this album to hardcore Rush fans as well as the casual listener. There are no jarring keyboards/vocals from Geddy, nor any brilliant Peart drumming, but if you have the songs imbedded in your acoustic memory you can fill in the blanks to please you as you wish. Standout songs IMHO are Red Barchetta, YYZ, The Trees, and Freewill, but no song is unlistenable. Regarding the title of this review, I may very well keep this CD for years so I can use it as "office music" if/when I own my own practice someday. Some visitors will appreciate the "classical" sound, while others may recognize the rock origins of the music. It's not "Something for Nothing", it's something for everyone!

I bought Rush's Exit Stage Left when it first came out. It was the first cassette I played on my stereo in my new Trans Am and it was the only tape I ever wanted to listen to in it. My girlfriend always wanted to listen to Loverboy or The Outfield. Well, I played that tape so much that it finally locked up and got eaten in that cassette player. I sold that car and married my girlfriend. Now, two cars later, I've got a new Trans Am with a CD player and since I bought the "Exit Stage Right" CD, it is all that I listen to. I find myself going down the road, with the stereo CRANKED, jamming to a string quartet! IT'S HILARIOUS! Finally, my wife let's me listen to Rush. She even let's me listen to the original now! I came to Amazon.Com to buy her a copy of the Exit Stage Right CD cause she's been borrowing mine too much and I can't stand not having it. This CD is very cool and has given me the opportunity to really start liking the way that string arrangements sound. I would tell anyone who likes Rush (especially if you like "Exit Stage Left") to buy this CD and if you want to get a great gift for a friend that likes Rush this is the one to get for them! Thumbs up to Mr. Rubenstein on a great job with his tribute to Rush!

I've been an obsessed fan of Rush for about 20 years, but I wasn't in any hurry to run out and buy this CD. Nevertheless, while browsing through the record store yesterday with money in my pocket, I picked up this disc and sped home to have a listen.

I was immediately struck by how FAITHFUL these string adaptations are to the original Rush songs. Even my wife, who's only familiar with Rush through me, was able to identify song titles by just the first few bars of each of the disc's twelve tracks. A full orchestra could probably have interpreted the songs better than just this string section alone, but these are pretty good adaptations. The cellos (and sometimes a bowed double bass) take the bass part, the violins and violas take the guitar parts, and a higher-pitched violin plays the vocal melodies. Lacking any drums or percussion, all of the string instrumentalists play with a percussive attack to compensate. It works. Some of the songs lend themselves to this unusual interpretation better than others, but all of these versions are true to the originals.

What most excites me about this disc is my ability to play it anytime and anywhere without offending the musical tastes of older listeners. Generally, Rush isn't appropriate as background music while parents and grandparents are visiting. Likewise, "Moving Pictures" is not one's first musical choice when entertaining dinner guests at the table. Now, with this CD, you can avoid being socially inappropriate AND still listen to your favorite Rush songs! As somebody else here mentioned, this CD could be played in your doctor's office without blasting Grandma away with screeching vocals and hard-rocking guitar. Kind of like a muzak version of Rush.

I'm thinking of buying a copy of this CD for my in-laws, who appreciate melodic and complex music but would probably feel assaulted by Rush's originals.

...And not offend any of my clients!!!

It's unbelievable! I bought the Exit Stage Right CD and really liked it. I was playing it at an open house and every single person commented about how beautiful (or awesome) the music was!

From younger couples to senior citizens... An older couple said "you have so much more class than the last open house we just went to"!!!

If only they knew that I'm just a HUGE RUSH FAN and I couldn't hardly play Exit Stage Left ....HaHaHa!!! Now I can listen to RUSH songs, crank 'em up and noone will ever know that I'm really just a Rocker Chic who sells houses!!!

So cool! 5 STARS, 2 Thumbs and an extra bonus for whoever thought of doing this great CD!

Get it! YOU'LL LOVE IT!!!

Of all the things! I went to the store to get the new RUSH CD and I saw Exit... Stage Right, A String Quartet Tribute To Rush in the Rush bin. I have every Rush recording that has ever been released, so I had to get this one. I really was not expecting anything worthy of the real thing, but I wanted to see how close this would be to the original songs. At first, I skipped through the intros really fast and every song seemed to be really close to the original intros. Then I listened to the each song all the way through and to my amazement, it was practically identical to the original recordings from RUSH! I hate to admit it, but I don't miss the drums! Each song has very good percussive arrangements and rhythms that mymic the original recordings and the melodies are displayed in the songs like a mirror image of the original recordings! A perfect title and an AWESOME CD! I think that the producers of this recording should take a bow and I wish them great success with an excellent CD that I would suggest to anyone to purchase ... It will quickly become one of your favorite RUSH CDs!

WOW!

GREAT!

EXCELLENT!

Okay, here's the low down:

My best friend from High School gave me a copy of this CD. He knows my admiration for Rush, because I'm a bass player and Geddy is my hero.

I had heard about this CD, but I'm not a big fan of orchestra music and I didn't believe that anyone could properly pay tribute to Rush (mostly because of what I've heard in the past).

Well, if you haven't got this CD yet because you were like me, GO GET IT! It is TOTALLY worth it! I was so impressed with it that I went ahead and bought two copies for a couple of my old bandmates (who are also huge Rush Fans) and I can't wait for the CDs to get here so I can just blow them away with how cool this CD is!

This release is truly a splendid surprise. Even a casual Rush fan will truly appreciate how unique this recording is. The interaction of strings and cello duplicating the complex rhythms that have defined Rush for over 20 years is fantastic!

...BUT WONDERFUL! I had to listen to it a couple of times to really appreciate it. Then I did some side by side comparisons to the original recordings from Rush. All in all, this is a really cool CD and has made it in to my personal Top 5!

I think all the songs are really cool to listen to in this format, but the ones that seemed to translate the best were YYZ, RED BARCHETTA, JACOBS LADDER AND XANADU.

I would recommend this CD to anyone who loves Rush and appreciates quartet music.