Customer Reviews

Working Men

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This disc contains excellent performances already available on other DVDs. The one exception is the "One Little Victory" clip from the 'R30' show, which has recently been made available in its entirety. I'm not certain why the band decided to release this disc, other than to promote their complete concert DVDs. However, if you don't want to buy those individually, 'Working Men' has plenty to offer. If you're a casual fan, go ahead and check it out. If you're more hardcore, on the other hand, you might want to pass it over.

Rush is well-known as one of the best live acts from the last four decades and, even more impressive, one of the very few that has lost little with age. In the quarter century between their early 1970s debut and their late 1990s hiatus, Rush released four live albums and about as many videos. All were high quality and served an important purpose, as they roughly coincided with the end of an era in the band's ongoing experimentation and growth and the beginning of another. They were a useful summary and an intriguing harbinger, especially since, unlike many acts, Rush always plays many of its latest songs, letting one truly get a feel for recent work.

This has unfortunately changed greatly since their early 2000s reformation. The first live release after this (Rush in Rio, album and video) followed a single studio album - Vapor Trails. This was unexpected but really a pleasant surprise, since many fans feared Rush would never return, and it was good to have a document of their return even if relatively little new material was featured and there was significant repetition of past live albums. However, this was quickly followed by R30, a video with a CD of the songs. Most fans were glad to have a souvenir of Rush's thirtieth anniversary tour, and the band made sure to include songs not normally played. Even so, the only studio album between it and Vapor Trails was the covers EP Feedback. It seemed fans were being milked a bit hard, but the few who seemed to notice let it go. Given all this, few were surprised when the next studio album (Snakes and Arrows) was quickly followed by Snakes and Arrows Live on album and video. This truly seemed almost too much. Many new songs were featured as well as some unearthed oldies, but there was still much repetition, and the live onslaught seemed never-ending. Even some long-time fans were beginning to question the wisdom of such releases, but the vast majority seemed generally glad if slightly piqued.

Another such release in quick succession would be inarguably going too far, and Working Men does just that. Not even another "new" live set, it simply samples from the prior three. It is ostensibly a "Best Of" from them, picking Rush's best-known works and a few recent songs - essentially a "Greatest Hits Live." There are several problems with this aside from the obvious. First, several of these songs were on all three recent live albums, and many were even on previous ones. This is particularly exasperating since they change very little from show to show. Putting them out yet again is simply unnecessary - nay, overkill. Also, anyone who has been to a Rush show - or even heard or seen one of the recent live releases - knows that it is something very different from a greatest hits set with a few new songs.

Some may say this is nitpicking, because Working Men clearly is aimed at casuals, not hard-cores. The only thing thrown in to entice the latter is a "new" version of "One Little Victory," which has already been released in several nearly identical live versions. This is a cheap ploy to take advantage of long-time fans and should be resented. We could have at least gotten some interesting new liner notes or something similarly trifling, but even this was denied. Fans will likely be more interested in the notable new cover by long-time Rush cover artist Hugh Syme than anything, but this hardly makes the set worthwhile. As for casuals, this is a poor set even for them. Not only is it unrepresentative of Rush shows and live releases, but the compilers somehow failed to even choose the best versions. There are probably a few people out there who want a "Rush Greatest Hits Live" set, but this does not serve them well. Many will of course say Rush's best days are behind them, however great they remain, and that limiting selection to recent live works inevitably excludes the best versions. Perhaps; but bad choices were made even on this small scale. A better set could easily have been made, and nearly any fan would have made superior choices. I suppose it is possible that some casuals looking to get into live Rush will appreciate Working Men and that it may possibly lead them to check out full-length live releases. However, any of those are so far above this that one would be much better off paying the slight difference.

However, it is hard-cores who should truly be aghast. They should feel nothing less than insulted. It is widely-known that Rush fans are some of the most loyal, more than willing to buy anything and everything put out under the band's name. Record executives know this well and have been milking it extraordinarily hard in recent years, but this is just too much. Working Men is nothing less than a compilation of compilations; worse yet, it is not even a good one. I sincerely hope that fans will not fall for this shoddy release and that the boycott teaches cynical executives to avoid such shoddy releases. We can only hope Rush had nothing to do with this; fans have supported them long and loyally and deserve better. This is one of the most ridiculous anthologies ever and hopefully will not be repeated.

MY GRANDSON IS 13, LOVES RUSH MUSIC...ESPECIALLY THE DRUMMER. IT WAS A CHRISTMAS GIFT AND MUCH APPRECIATED AND ENJOYED BY MY GRANDSON. THE WHOLE FAMILY WATCHED THE CD TOGETHER AND ENJOYED EVERY MOMENT. AGE GROUP WAS 13 TO 80!

I bought this as a Christmas gift for my wife, who is the big rush fan in the household, while I am a more casual fan.
As expected, the sound quality and the boys' performances on the DVD were incredible.
Before I went back and read some reviews, just watching it, I quickly recognized this was a compilation of different performances, something that may be alright with someone who wants to hear all their hits, with no continuity in performance being a concern.
This DVD would probably be a good choice for someone who only has one or two of their albums at most, but my wife has all of their releases, and she enjoyed this quite a lot, but I could easily see that she would have preferred a complete performance, so that is what she will get next, this time for her birthday.
She has seen the band in concert several times, while I have not seen them at all, but I was impressed with just how good they were live, especially given that they are only three guys.
Fortunately, there are several other DVDs out there, and it looks as if the next will be "Rush - Beyond The Lighted Stage" a double DVD of them in their earlier days.

Ok, if ur a hardcore Rush fan it's hard to get excited over this because its a collection of songs from other Rush dvds but this actually makes a perfect gift for any Rush newcomer or music lover who has never seen them live. Footage/performances/song selections are great and it's gives the viewer a great sample of all the new Rush dvds ( Rush in Ri0, R30, and Snakes and Arrows) and what Rush is all about live.Buy it and give it to a friend - U'll definetly convert new fans with this.

This is the new RUSH dvd working men,this is a gift to the fans who may not have seen all of RUSH's dvd's This is a series of live performances from the live dvd RUSH in RIO as well as RUSH30 and some recorded footage from the snakes and arrow's tour with previously unrealesed track, And RUSH are in rare form here with over 3 decades of material these working men AMAZE, just one question,got Peart?

A big fan, I have listened to RUSH for over 30 years and have seen them 2 times in concert. Each time it just gets better and better. This DVD is such a cool collection of many of the classic songs but also some of the newer offerings such as "One Little Victory." (OMG-what a great song! Neil is -as usual-OUTSTANDING!) It is so neat to be able to watch the boys do their thing, over and over to my extreme pleasure ad infinitum.

Go Rush! I'm glad that they decided to re-form and keep the spirit alive. Been a fan for decades

Yeah I like Rush I like everything about them. This DVD has good quality good sound but how many times can you play the same songs over. Talent in this band is unmatched but the key to me is variety. They have a variety of DVD's out all of them some variation of songs you don't hear to often I recommend them first unless your a basic fan, then this is the DVD for you.

This is a pretty good collection of some of the major hits from Rush. One major negative is that it does not offer DTS as an audio option. For about the same money you could probably buy one of the other live concerts that contains A LOT more music and is DTS capable.