Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #10395 in DVD
• Released on: 2006-07-24
• Rating: Exempt
• Format: PAL
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 4
• Dimensions: 1.00 pounds

Amazon.co.uk Review
While Pink Floyd's widely popular Pulse ranks as one of the bestselling DVDs of 2006, Rush: Replay x 3 is a similarly praiseworthy treasure-trove that's geared more for long-time Rush fans with a working knowledge of the band's evolution. New fans and late-blooming converts are just as likely to enjoy this three-concert package (compiled from previously available VHS releases from the 1980s), but it's the die-hard devotees of Canada's premiere prog-rock power trio who'll get the most from this epic-scale, remastered DVD package. Particularly welcome here are the miniature reproductions of the official programs from each of the tours featured here: "Exit Stage Left" (1981), "Grace Under Pressure" (1984) and "A Show of Hands" (1987-88). With tour-diary notes by the band's illustrious percussionist and co-founder Neil Peart, and often humorous personnel profiles and equipment list by Peart, guitarist Alex Lifeson, and bassist/synth player and vocalist Geddy Lee, these handy booklets offer both tour-related nostalgia and successive glimpses into the band's creative process. Lavishly illustrated, they're also fascinating as visual records of the band's on-stage look, album designs, and related materials.

As presented here (as opposed to earlier releases on VHS and laserdisc), the concerts are intended to complement the same live recordings (with some variations in playlists) that were previously released on CD, and the "Grace Under Pressure" CD, included here as a special-bonus fourth disc, is an all-new release exclusive to this package. If you own them all (and what self-respecting Rush fan wouldn't?), you'll have a near-complete collection of these pivotal performances. Both "Exit" (recorded at The Forum in Montreal, Quebec) and "Grace" (Maple Leaf Gardens, Toronto) have been re-edited to an even hour apiece, while "A Show of Hands" (National Exhibition Centre, Birmingham, England) clocks in at 90 minutes. While they lack the visual splendor of Pulse, each concert offers an equal serving of highlights, notably "The Trees" and "Xanadu" (on "Exit"), "The Spirit of Radio" and the muscular medley of "YYZ/The Temples of Syrinx/Tom Sawyer/Vital Signs" (on "Grace"); and the stunning Alex Lifeson showcase "La Villa Strangiato" (on "A Show of Gands"). The latter also includes an obligatory and always-impressive Neil Peart drum solo (on "The Rhythm Method"), and while the original video source results in occasionally murkey image quality (as also happened with "Grace Under Pressure" director David Mallet on Pulse), there's no doubt that the 5.1-channel Dolby Digital remastering (supervised by Lifeson and Mike Fraser) represents a substantial improvement in overall sound, especially for those with DTS decoders. For those who think a little Rush goes a long way, Replay x 3 will probably qualify as overkill, but true fans will be ecstatic despite the absence of certain previously available material or any backstage features that would allow a more intimate glimpse of prog-rock's most enduring practitioners. What's not here is regrettable; what is here is fantastic. --Jeff Shannon

Synopsis
Contains 12 songs previously unreleased on DVD plus live performances of a selection of Rush's hits.

Customer Reviews

Finally - some classics available on DVD.
I've been waiting for a decent DVD of "Show of Hands" since my old CDV player (remember them?) died, rendering my original 12" gold CDV copy useless.
This package is superb, and a real bargain too. Yes the source material is showing its age, and there are some dodgy 80s sounds (and haircuts!) to contend with, but there is so much to enjoy on these discs that all I can say is thank you Rush for putting this out!
No Rush fan should be without it.

Remember a time when environmentalism was popular
Before 54-40, before Sloan, before the Tragically Hip, slightly after Bachman-Turner Overdrive, there was Rush. Like Midnight Oil is to Australia, so is Rush to Canada; they've peeked out into other markets with varying degrees of success, but they'll always get the most recognition at home. I mean, who else has both appeared on a Bob & Doug McKenzie album and received the Order Of Canada? Nevertheless, with each passing year, as the classics work their way into the history books, they also work their way out of active consciousness. I don't know anyone my age who is into Rush and many have never even heard of them. As such, this unique set should serve as an eye-opener for you liberal boomers out there. It's time to turn on the next generation to these hall-of-famers.
For your consideration and the justified reinvigoration of the Rush legacy, the RIAA financiers at Universal have pooled together their first three seminal concert videos (two of which originally went gold) and an exclusive soundtrack to Grace Under Pressure. The first two shows were in front of highly spirited home audiences but the teeming arena crowd at Birmingham's A Show Of Hands shows their influence abroad was felt just as deep. Though some of Rush's best work was released in the late seventies, their synth-rock sound was ready made for the eighties and lord knows that age needed Neil Peart's political lyricism, inoffensive as it may be but nevertheless more than Phil Collins would ever do. Spanning from 1981 to 1988, this is the DVD set to pull out the next time someone says there was no good music in the decade of greed... at least in Canada. And, man, can you not get any more Canadian than SCTV's Joe Flaherty introducing "The Weapon" on Grace, which goes overboard eighties when he tells the audience to put their 3-D glasses on. C'mon and feel the Rush, dude. Remember a time when environmentalism was popular.

A great RUSH historical snapshot
It's good to watch these again. A set of three great concerts taken from 1981, 84 and 88. Some interesting footage and not for just die hard fans. (The thing that all the die hard fans want is a full show from 1981).
Ah well.....
The first concert in 1981 is probably labelled as the most popular, filmed in Montreal on the Moving Pictures tour. Its most annoying feature is the talking they do in between the songs - for me it spoils it a bit. The second is in Canada again on New years Eve 1984 during the Grace under Pressure tour - and they look typically 80's in this one. That last is on the Hold Your Fire tour in 1988 in Birmingham NEC (I was there!!) and is a longer 90 min concert and with good filming.
There is a fair selection of songs on them all with a few repeated (inevitably as these were three separate releases originally).
But all in all with songs spanning 1974 - 1987, this is fantastic value for money, especially now it is even cheaper than when first released.
Whether you are wanting an intro to RUSH or you love 'em, just buy this. Heck, even if fall in somewhere between and just like the odd Rush song, just buy it anyway - you will like it. :-)