Retrospective, Vol. 2 (1981-1987)

Rush

Product Details

• Audio CD (June 3, 1997)
• Original Release Date: June 3, 1997
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Island / Mercury
• ASIN: B000001EVD
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (35 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #100,316 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Depending on your perspective, Rush's 1980s work either shows growth and maturity, or it lacks the grand craftsmanship, sheer force, and virtuosity of their peak efforts. In the early '80s, Geddy Lee began adding keyboards and synthesizers to the trio's progressive power sound and the results were rewarding: "Tom Sawyer," "Red Barchetta," "New World Man," "Subdivisions," and "Analog Kid" retain much of the magic. However, the departure of producer Terry Brown and the gaining prominence of the keyboards precipitated a noticeable decline from which the band never fully recovered. Despite some notable achievements on this volume, the 1970s companion volume truly captures Rush at its pinnacle. In fact, many of the group's '70s studio albums are stronger as a whole than this greatest-hits collection. -- Marc Greilsamer

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Not an exceptional album, but a decent sampler, August 13, 1999

By A Customer

Basically this album doesn't make much sense, because Rush were an album-oriented band and this claims to be a sort of "Greatest hits"-collection. "Retrospective II" contains ever three tracks from their 80's-album from "Moving Pictures" to "Hold your Fire". Some of the tracks chosen from "Grace.." and "Power Windows" are definetely not the best ones on these albums! Nevertheless, this odd compilation provides a good overview of the band's best-known work in the 80's. But if you are really interested in Rush-and after having heard this album you certainly will!-you'll have to buy the original albums as well.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great for the casual Rush fan; die-hards need not apply., August 12, 2001

By	"mh53465" (Kansas City, Missouri United States) - See all my reviews

Retrospective II, along with its predecessor disc, are both adequate introductions to Rush for any curious or casual fan. But for die-hard fans, such as myself, this is merely a waste of money if you already own the albums (which is really the true context the music must be heard). I do happen to own this disc, but I only listen to it if I do not want to change CD's in my car or at home. In that respect, it is a collection that satisfies me, somewhat. That is because the best songs are not represented here (of course, that is only my opinion). The 15 tracks here are equally divided between the five studio albums released from '81 to '87 (Moving Pictures, Signals, Grace Under Pressure, Power Windows, and Hold Your Fire). Due to this balance of division, worthwhile tracks from strong albums (Moving Pictures, especially) are omitted for the purpose of giving preference to ones from weaker efforts (Hold Your Fire, and Power Windows {to a lesser degree}). To get into the specifics of this, "Vital Signs" or "YYZ" from MP would have been a great addition here, along with possibly "Digital Man" from Signals. Of course, to do such a thing would have meant dropping a couple of other songs, which in my opinion should have been "Mission" from HYF and probably "Marathon" from PW. Don't get me wrong, these are both very good tracks, but not better than the aforementioned songs from Pictures or Signals. From GUP, "The Enemy Within" or even "Afterimage" (one of the most underrated, and impassioned Rush songs ever) could have been here instead of "The Body Electric", which pales in comparison to those two tracks. A case can even be made for "Manhattan Project" from Power Windows, as it is one of the three best tracks from that album. Which brings me to a point: The music of Rush is not really meant to be dissected into fractions of "wholes" (albums) to make new "wholes" (best of collections), but is best experienced in the context of the album. Unless you are quite stingy and do not want to shell out the money for the individual albums represented here. Which the casual fan for which Retrospective II is designed may just do anyway after buying this disc.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great arena-rock era Greatest Hits, June 3, 2001

By	punkviper (Pittsburgh, PA USA) - See all my reviews

Originally meant to be the replacement for the second disc of Chronicles, Retrospective II is a welcome acquisition for fans of Rush's eighties material. Rush, like Judas Priest and other rock bands of the era, have a sort of split career, where some people prefer their earlier Zeppelin-esque material, and others prefer the more user-friendly "popular" stuff. I happen to find this Retrospective II disc a lot more appealing than the first, as most of the radio hits and real hard-rock classics are found here.

As for this one attempting to replace the 2nd Chronicles disc, the track selection is very telling: it loses only Passage To Bangkok, Manhattan Project, and Show Don't Tell, in favor of The Analog Kid, Marathon, The Body Electric, and Mission. It shows that Chronicles was a tough set to beat, as it is still in print today and remains a very popular "complete" overview of Rush's career (at least from '74 to '87.)

So, if you want to have a "complete" overview you can choose between both Retrospective volumes, or the Chronicles 2-disc set. Or, if you just want the Rush that most people know and love, this disc will more than satisfy you.