Show of Hands [Live, Original recording reissued, Original recording remastered]

Rush | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (July 1, 1997)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Live, Original recording reissued, Original recording remastered
• Label: Island / Mercury
• ASIN: B000001ET1
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (38 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #11,061 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars 3.5 stars. Good live cuts from eighties period Rush, January 14, 2003

By 

Jack Fitzgerald "JFD" (Seattle, WA United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Show of Hands (Audio CD)

The cycle of four studio recordings, followed by a live issue continues with this third live set by Rush, from 1989. Tracks are taken primarily from the Power Windows tour of '86 and Hold Your Fire of '88 and also includes cuts from Signals and Grace Under Pressure.

I like this live set. I think it's a good representation of the eighties period Rush disks, and the performances here bring out some of the energy lacking in the over-produced, sterile-sounding studio versions. "Subdivisions" really comes alive with great guitar and drums, as does "Mystic Rhythms." "Turn the Page" has a positive vibe often missing in rock. I also like the inclusion of "Witch Hunt" here, as well as "Closer to the Heart" with the added instrumental jam by the band. Of the three musicians, I think Alex Lifeson's guitar work shimmers with more energy than the studio versions.

Compared to their other live releases, All The World's a Stage, Exit...Stage Left, and Different Stages, this set still has an over-produced feel to it. Heavy on special effects and augmented things like a recorded version of Aimee Mann's voice on "Time Stand Still" rather than the real thing. When I listen to a live set, I want surprises, not exact recreations of the studio cuts. Yes, there are nuances here, but they are subtle textural things.

Still, this is a group of three guys who, to the best of my knowledge, do not use outside musicians to augment their sound, something a lot of larger bands do for their shows. And, Geddy Lee often plays bass and keyboards at the same time, while singing too!

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A worthy addition to the live canon..., May 14, 2006

By 

S. McCrea "s_mccrea" (Henderson, NV United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Show of Hands (Audio CD)

Rush's tradition of releasing a live album after every fourth studio release continues with "A Show of Hands". Unlike the wretched "Exit Stage Left" which was plauged by terrible recording problems, this albums avoids the problems which make "Exit" nearly unlistenable. Unlike "Exit" and the masterful "All the World's A Stage" which present one live show, "A Show of Hands" presents cuts from different concerts and tours.

As an attempt to show case different tours, it lacks the cohesion and sustained energy that make a "Rush in Rio" and "R30" such triumphs. As an anthology of different shows, the shifts between the different concerts is often jarring.

It's absurd to label this as the "worst" Rush live album--since its clearly far superior to "Exit, Stage Left." (And "Exit's" problems are not performance-related, but as I note above, technical.)

As a matter of personal preference, I like a live album to be of one show, a snapshot, so to speak, of a band's work and spirit at a single moment in time.

For the new Rush fan I would not recommend it. "Different Stages" would be a much better intro to their live work. It showcases their more recent work as well as the pre-"Hemispheres" albums on that fantastic third concert disc.

All of that having been said, "A Show of Hands" should be in every serious Rush fan's collection. It is really completely inaccurate to describe Rush's 80's oeuvre as "the synth period" since the use of synths began with 1976's "2112". The shift is gradual and doesn't support the label the period is too often given.

As a sampling of their live shows in the 80s, it does a good job. To repeat, I would have preferred one show but the anthology approach does provide a more global perspective on one of the most successful concert acts of the last thirty years.

Rush also has has more consecutive gold and platinum albums than any other band--excepting only the Beatles and Rolling Stones (in the that order).

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars OK, but..., September 4, 2001

By 

samuel jessup "Sam_Jessup" (Fresno, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Show of Hands (Audio CD)

Historically, Rush delivers 4 albums and closes each cycle with a live offering. The first live album being "All the world's a stage" in 1976 or so, "Exit.. stage left" was next in 1981 and this one "A show of hands" from 1989. "A show of hands" derives it's title from the song "Turn the page" off of the "Hold your Fire" album.
What is great about their live album cycle is that it effectively captures each Rush era. Unfortunately, Rush music from the 1980's doesn't translate well to a live album this over-produced. The songs and consequently, the live experience, come across as sterile. I went their to concerts during this era and "A show of hands" is not indicative of that experience. I gave it 3 stars because I don't have the heart to give a Rush album less. Frankly, this album was a C-grade effort. From interviews I have read with Geddy Lee in context of their previous live album "Different Stages" (which is infinitely superior), he states that "A show of hands" was inferior to their other albums.
I do disagree with the reviewers that criticize the album for sounding too much like a studio album because if a band cannot reproduce an album live, they aren't as talented as they could be. Rush obviously is amazingly talented but "A show of hands" comes across as fairly lightweight. Buy it if you are completing your catalog.