I am very conflicted about this best of set...

I have been a big fan of Rush, and I like work from all of their musical periods, and this compilation does a very good job of documenting the long history of an extremely competent and prolific band. Rush has so many good songs, it is very hard to make a definitive best of set for them, though this does make a good attempt. I believe that if you are a fan of their radio hits, but not a fan of most of their songs, you should go with the single disc set The Spirit of Radio (despite the fact that it isn't endorsed by the band, because someone who would only like such a limited collection of songs cannot be a real fan).

But if you are really enjoying what you hear, and don't want to shell out for their entire catalog, you should start by getting Different Stages, which is a wonderful live document and a "greatest hits live" type deal. And get this. And get Moving Pictures. And get Power Windows. And get Test For Echo. And get Vapor Trails. And get Feedback (maybe). and oh my god, there is so much good material by this band! man, I envy you, you have so much to look forward to! if you like this band, getting in to their catalog is extremely fun and exciting. Good Luck! Overall, you should get this but don't make it your only purchase, you'll be missing a lot!

OK starter to Rush when Retrospective is slightly better

Rush's first retrospective entitled Chronicles was released in September of 1990.

Rush is, without question, one of the greatest rock and roll acts of all time and Canada's most successful rock band ever. With Geddy Lee's unique high-pitch vocals and bass guitar work, Alex Lifeson's lightning guitar lines and Neil Peart's lyrics and complicated drum strokes, the trio has won over audiences worldwide with many albums that combined elements of hard rock and progressive rock with other styles.

This was the band's first best of and to date best selling retrospective album at 2 million copies sold here in the US although some fans opted for the Retrospectives 1(1974-80) and 2(1981-87)released in 1997 as a great overview to Rush's career. Like the Retrospectives, you get classics like Finding My Way, Fly By Night, Anthem, Bastille Day, 2112, Closer To The Heart, The Trees, La Villa Strangiato, Freewill, The Spirit of Radio, Tom Sawyer, Red Barchetta, Limelight, Subdivisions, New World Man, Distant Early Warning, Red Sector A, The Big Money, Force Ten and Time Stand Still.

However, Chronicles features some tracks not on the Retrospective discs in 1997 like Working Man, Lakeside Park, A Farewell to Kings, Manhattan Project, Mystic Rhythms(live) and Show Don't Tell whereas the Retrospectives include By-tor and the Snow Dog, Something For Nothing, Xanadu, The Analog Kid, The Body Electric, Marathon, the studio version of Mystic Rhythms and Mission instead of the four aforementioned tracks.

Chronicles featured live material as well. Rush has released five live albums between 1974 and now, and this compilation features live versions of What You're Doing and A Passage to Bangkok which were left off of the original CD issues of All the World's a Stage and Exit...Stage Left which were eventually reinstated on the remastered versions of those albums when re-released in 1997.

Strangely, the band were not involved with this best of and Neil Peart has gone on record stating that Chronicles was awful and the artwork stunk and the sound of the songs on this CD compared to the Retrospectives is primitive.

The music gets five stars but compared to the Retrospectives, this is a pointless collection but if you want to buy Chronicles, go ahead but the two Retrospectives combined are much cheaper!

Rush's definitive collection - Everything you need and more

Any Rush fan can say that they heard it all, from 1974's self-titled album to 1989's Presto. They might be wrong, though. This collection, compiled in 1990, documents Rush's extensive array of fabulous music of numerous genres, which proves that Rush is nothing more than extraordinary.



The collection features 2 discs of 14 songs each, totaling 28 tracks of pure Rush, with well-known hits such as "2112", "Tom Sawyer", and "New World Man", along with other essentials such as "Working Man", "Red Sector A", and "Show Don't Tell". Not only that, three live tracks are featured, which are "What You're Doing", "A Passage To Bangkok", and "Mystic Rhythms", each are taken from each live Rush album throughout their 30-year history.



All in all, this worthwhile collection is for any Rush fan that wants a true collection of the best from one of the finest bands that this world has ever seen. A fantastic find. Get it!