Customer Reviews

Rush Chronicles - The Video Collection [VHS]

5 star:		(30)
4 star:		(25)
3 star:		(21)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

At long last (and many years late) Rush has entered the DVD medium with Chronicles. As a long time fan of the band, I have anxiously anticipated the day when anything from Rush's collection would be transferred to DVD. Now that the day has arrived, hopefully (and there are plans to do so) the live concert VHS catalog will be transferred to DVD as well. Unfortunately, for those who are wishing for a Different Stages live DVD, it's not going to happen... Technically speaking, this is a very good, but not quite perfect DVD. The video motion clips on the song selection menus are a nice touch, and the remastered soundtrack is a vast improvement over the muddy quality of the VHS version. The two extra videos (The Enemy Within and Afterimage) are a wonderful addition to this package, as I have missed being able to watch them on Through The Camera Eye, as my copy was unfortunately destroyed many years ago and could never replace it before it went out of print. The inclusion of the Tom Sawyer studio performance clip instead of the Exit Stage Left clip on the VHS tape was a nice surprise, for I never actually cared much for that particular version. In addition, I had never even seen the studio version clip until now, so for me, that was a bonus! This DVD is not without its flaws, though. As much as the sound quality is improved for this disc, on the live clips (Red Barchetta, Red Sector A), there are spots where the volume is a bit uneven, especially during the first minute of Barchetta. I hope the producers of forthcoming DVD transfers of Exit Stage Left and Grace Under Pressure Tour 1984 (if they do indeed happen) don't make this same mistake. And, since all of the material was shot before 1987, thus years before DVD, the picture quality is not that stunning. In fact, after comparing many of the clips between the DVD and my older VHS copy, I have found it quite difficult to even tell the difference between the two. All in all, this is a nice introduction to DVD, yet it would be even nicer if the rest of Rush's video clips had been included with the extras, namely the rest of Through the Camera Eye, which included Vital Signs, Countdown, and The Body Electric. Still it is a worthwhile collection as is, and ideal for the serious or casual Rush fan.

This video shows some of their videos between 1978 and 1987, which is all good, but there are videos that were made in that time period that didn't make it on the video, like Vital Signs, Countdown, The Enemy Within, and The Body Electric. Sure, they were already on "Through The Camera Eye", but that video is impossible to find, and you could get "Chronicles" just about anywhere. My other complaint is the live tracks. These live tracks are already on all of Rush's other live video releases. Instead of "Red Barchetta", why couldn't they put something that was played on that tour but was left off "Exit Stage Left", like "Natural Science"? Instead of "Red Sector A", why couldn't there be a live song that was left off the "Grace Under Pressure" video, like "The Body Electric", "Red Lenses", or "Afterimage"? What about a live track or two that was left off "A Show Of Hands", like the live version of "Time Stand Still" or "Lock And Key"? Actually, in my opinion, Rush should re-release "Exit..", "Grace...", and "A Show of Hands", except this time, have the entire 2 hour shows on each.

I thoroughly enjoyed watching this collection of Rush video clips. The choice of tracks represents a good variety, following the band through a large span of its musical growth and evolving styles (i.e. brands of instruments, dress, appearance and stage presence). The videos from "Moving Pictures" and "Signals" brought me back to my high school days when I first started listening to the band, and I couldn't help but smile at the memories.

I am not an audiophile, but I found the sound to be clean and crisp opverall. It was interesting to watch the video production quality progress with the clips from each subsequent album, although some of the dated video effects can be described as cheesy at best. Still, I guess that's part of the collection's charm -- after all, it is a chronicle of Rush's video history.

I highly recommend this DVD for any true Rush fan. There aren't any spectacular extras here (although the "bonus" tracks are a nice addition), but for Rush, I think it's always been about the music first and foremost, anyway.

I've been a Rush fan for more than twenty years now (already!?), and this collection of videos proves one thing: Rush makes great music. None of the videos are really that good. The music is great, of course.

...My main beef is the quality of the sound. The Trees is basically mono, playing only in the center channel. The two 'hidden' videos have about a 1/2 second of poor sound quality before kicking in. The two extra songs' fadeouts are also clipped. The presentation is basic - there are virtually NO extras on this disc - not even a paper insert with brief bios of the band! Even a flyer listing their discography, song authors (yeah, we know that already) and song lyrics would have sufficed. Sure, the audience buying this disc already can recite the lyrics in their sleep and name which track on which album (and which side of the vinyl!) each song can be found, but it smacks of cheap production values. That bugs me.

The main plus is that unlike the old VHS tapes, this won't wear out or degrade over time. Because I like Rush's music so much, and because the videos won't wear out, it gets three stars. As far as a DVD goes, it's really not worth it unless you're a bigtime fan. ...

RUSH'S Chronicles is a great music video DVD. The only problem with this DVD is that it is missing alot of Rush videos. My favorite video on this disc is "THE BIG MONEY". Overall this DVD would be better if there was more videos.

Tracklist:
Closer To The Heart [Live 1977]
The Trees [Live 1978 or 1979]
Limelight [Studio Version]
Tom Sawyer [Studio Version]
Red Barchetta [E.S.L. Version]
Subdivisons
Distant Early Warning
Red Sector A
The Big Money [edit]
Mystic Rythms
Lock And Key

The Hidden Videos:
The Enemy Within
Afterimage

These are not fancy videos, pretty much just studio shots of the band performing. The later songs have more of an "MTV" flavor. If you are a die-hard Rush fan who loves the old tunes, this is a must have. It also reminds you of how long these guys have been playing.

I have debated purchasing the Rush "Chronicles" DVD for some time, but when I purchased their recent DVD release "Rush in Rio" and found it to be terrific, I decided to take the plunge on this one.

It is fun to watch the videos that I used to watch on MTV and haven't seen in 15+ years. The early videos ("Tom Sawyer", "Limelight") were mostly studio shoots while they really started getting into high-end production with the albums "Signals, "Grace Under Pressure" and "Power Windows". The graphics for "The Big Money" look cheap today, but if I remember correctly, they were cutting edge in 1986. It's very interesting to see the different styles of Lee, Lifeson and Peart over the period encompassed by the DVD.

As others have said, the sound on the DVD leaves much to be desired. There are noticeable cutouts in sound on numerous songs, especially some of the earlier tunes ("Closer to the Heart", "The Trees"). I played the disc in my home entertainment center (with 6 speakers) and in a DVD player merely hooked up to a TV and found the same issues with both. I thought it was just me, but other reviews here seem to illustrate the same issue.

My suggestion would be to buy "Rush in Rio" instead and wait to see if the band will issue a complete video collection with remastered sound in the future.

This DVD compilation is a fine collection of the highwater marks in Rush's video-making history with Mercury Records. Beginning with Closer To the Heart (from 1977) and threading its way through Lock and Key (from 1987), a fan of this amazing trio will find themselves entralled, although in a few instances the videos are cheesy -- Distant Early Warning to name only one -- but you can blame that on the 80's -- everything was pretty cheesy then.
Nice additions that would make a person who already owns the VHS version want to buy it include the "in studio" version of Tom Sawyer (as opposed to the live version from the VHS version) and the bonus videos, Afterimage and The Enemy Within, which were not on the VHS version.
The sound quality is also top notch and the menus are easy to navigate.
However, I do have minor gripes : most fans know that the band have videos for Fly By Night, A Farewell To Kings, and La Villa Strangiato (song featured on the CD version of Chronicles) -- yet they are not available here. Yet Lock and Key (a song not on the CD version) is here. What?
But beyond that, this disc is a must-have for fans. Well worth the money. One can only hope that Atlantic will release a collection of videos from their post-Mercury years (starting with 1989's Presto).

Since this is the only official Rush release on DVD so far, we'll have to take what we can get.

But the sound rather poor. There are noticeable drop-outs throughout many of the older videos, and rarely rises much above VHS quality.

And why, oh why, did they include the edited version of "The Big Money" when the original, longer version would have easily fit on the available disc space? Not that this is the only instance of this unpardonable sin - the Van Halen Video Hits Volume One has TWO edited videos --- "Humans Being" and "Without You".

Had I known about the poor sound quality and edited videos I may have chosen to hold off on purchasing this DVD and wait until a better option came along. Sure, it is great to have some vintage Rush in my DVD library, but the excitement of watching and listening is dampened by the crushed expectations of the DVD-sound format.

Until they release the "Grace Under Pressure" concert or something even more recent on DVD, I guess I'll have to settle for the defective bone they threw us.

Unfortunately, Rush's videos do not compare to their music, as is evident in this collection of songs from their greatest-hits album, "Chronicles". It opens with an almost comical "Closer to the Heart", each band member clad in KKK-like robes (sans hoods). One can get a good look at Geddy Lee's facility on the bass on a few of these tracks, as well as Neil Peart's intensity on the drum set. "Subdivisions" is illustrated well conceptually, but broken at a few points with a very fake Alex Lifeson's backing vocals. "Red Barchetta" shows just how dorky old videos can look nowadays, with a sound wave turning into a car and zooming off in the song's intro. The high point of the video is "Limelight", which is just straight studio recording footage. But it can't make up for the rest of the video. Considering how good Rush's music is, it shouldn't be a surprise that their videos are such a disappointment. For die-hard Rush fans only ...