Rush Compact Disc-ography: All The World’s A Stage
(Part of the Rush Collector Resources)
© Dave Weller, 2004 - last updated 1st February
In a little over 2 years, since Neil Peart joined the band in July 1974, Rush had released three studio albums (in addition to their eponymously titled debut album recorded with previous drummer John Rutsey) and toured the length and breadth of North America performing hundreds of shows. In the west coast and mid-west they had got to headliner status and could sell out venues with audience capacities up to 7,000. On the east coast though it was a different story, and they had yet to really break through, often appearing as the opening act of three-act shows. Their most recent album “2112” had been written against the backdrop of a disappointing third album. “Caress Of Steel”. But rather than revert back to the harder side of their earlier albums they continued down a more progressive path, both musically and lyrically, dedicating the first side of the new LP to a conceptual piece heavily influenced by the novel “Anthem” by Russian émigré author Ayn Rand. Set in the year “2112” the first side of the new LP was a musical tour de force and the band felt that it represented the culmination of their artistic efforts and musical development. The recording process had been hard though and the non-stop touring was taking its toll. The prospect of a live album was attractive – it would give the band a chance for a break, but also meet the demands of their record company for a compilation record to help establish the band commercially and build on the 300,000 plus sales of “2112” to date.
So, two dates were booked at Toronto’s Massey Hall, with a third added due to huge demand for tickets. By the time of the shows on June 11th, 12th and 13th all three dates had been sold out, establishing new attendance records for the venue. Each night’s show was taped but it was the recording from the third night that was used for most of the album. The band spent nearly a month mixing the tapes to create the album, and three different mixes were produced before they could finally settle on a version that faithfully captured the essence of the show without sounding too raw. Nevertheless, “All The World’s A Stage” is a remarkably aggressive recording but one that is full of passion. At this stage in their career, although a headline act, there was little room for the band to experiment in their shows and so the set list seldom included the more acoustic ‘production pieces’ that appeared on their albums. The track listing of the album pretty much follows the running order for their headlining “2112” tour shows with the exception of some changes to allow the show to fit evenly onto the LP. (Usually “Lakeside Park” and “2112” were played earlier on in the show, after “Anthem”).
All four of the studio albums are represented on “All The World’s A Stage”, but it is much more than just a sampler of the band’s work up to that time. In an interview in Circus magazine Neil Peart says, “When we play a piece live, we add all our little quirks to it. It grows; our older material shows a remarkable progression. Some of the old songs have developed until they’re superior to the originals. This gives us a chance to bring them up to date. We always felt there was something happening live that didn’t come across on record. Now we have the opportunity to capture the essence of the band”. The standout track on the album is undoubtedly “2112” albeit minus the ‘Oracle: The Dream’ section which was never played live. Other highlights include “By-Tor And The Snow Dog” and “Working Man/Finding My Way”.
“All The World’s A Stage” was released in North America in September 1976 as a double album packaged in a lavish tri-fold sleeve. Neil Peart originally resisted the idea of double album; “I personally was in favour of a single live album, not a two record set, but the argument was put forward, seeing as how our gigs last for one-and-a-half hours – ‘If it’s good enough to play live, why not put it on record?’ There was no answer to that so I acquiesced. In retrospect, I’m glad we did it, I don’t find it oppressive being a double, and I love the packaging. I would be very happy to own an album of that type if I was a man-on-the-street, and I guess that’s what counts.”
Clearly the ‘man-on-the-street’ was indeed happy to own such an album, as it quickly became the fastest selling release by Rush to date. By the end of 1976 nearly 400,000 copies had been sold in the US; the album had peaked at number 40 on the Billboard chart and at number 45 on the Record World chart. “All The World’s A Stage” was finally certified gold, for sales of 500,000 copies, in November 1977, and platinum, for 1 million sales, in March 1981. In Canada, it was certified gold in December 1976 becoming the first ever domestically produced double album and live album to do so, and platinum, for sales of 100,000 in August 1978. The success on the album charts wasn’t quite matched on the singles charts. “Fly By Night/In The Mood”, with “Something For Nothing” on the flip side, was released as a single by Mercury in December 1976. It peaked at number 88, spending 4 weeks in total on the Billboard singles chart. The catalogue number was 73873 in the US and M-73873 in Canada.
The success of the album and the subsequent North American tour that followed was all the more remarkable given the continued difficulty Rush had in getting their music played on radio stations. This frustration resulted in Mercury Records issuing a promotional sampler that featured tracks from the band’s three previous studio albums, called, “Everything Your Listener’s Ever Wanted To Hear By Rush… But You Were Afraid To Play”, in January 1977. The catalogue number was MK-32. Alongside radio airplay, the other way for a record company to get a band noticed was through the popular music press. In the UK one journalist in particular, Geoff Barton, had championed Rush in the pages of Sounds magazine. His rave review of “All The World’s A Stage” in November 1976 concluded that “Rush are probably the best undiscovered band in Britain at the moment. I strongly recommend you to check them out. Now”. At that point Phonogram in the UK were promoting specially imported copies of the album but in March 1977 they gave it a full release. The sales were not quite as impressive as North America, and it wasn’t until June 1982 that it was certified Silver for sales of 60,000 copies. However, it was clear to Rush that there was a loyal and growing fan base in Europe and so in the Summer of 1977 they played a two week tour with six nights in the UK and a show in Sweden. Immediately after the tour they headed off to Rockfield Studios in Wales to record what would become their next album, “A Farewell To Kings”.
The first release of “All The World’s A Stage” on CD was in June 1987, in North America and Europe. Unfortunately no attempt was made to reproduce the packaging of the initial vinyl release and the encore, “What You’re Doing”, was dropped so that the album could be released on a single CD. The first Japanese CD release was in 1991 and this saw the inner photo spread from the original album reproduced in the centre of the accompanying booklet. Finally, the advance of CD technology mean that “What You’re Doing” was re-instated with the ‘Rush Remasters’ release in 1997, along with an insert that was faithful to the vinyl original.
All The World’s A Stage - Albums
All The World’s A Stage
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Tracks: Bastille Day, Anthem, Fly By Night/In The Mood, Something For Nothing, Lakeside Park, 2112 (Overture/The Temples of Syrinx/Presentation/Soliloquy/Grand Finale), By-Tor And The Snow Dog, In The End, Working Man/Finding My Way/Drum Solo, What You’re Doing* CD, Anthem, ANC-2-1005, ?, Canada CD, Anthem, WAGK-1005, ?, Canada CD, Anthem, AND-1005, ?, Canada - disc has ANMD-1005 or ANBD-1005 CD, Anthem, ANMD-1089, July 1997, Canada – Rush Remasters series CD, Mercury, 822 552-2, June 1987, US CD, Mercury, 314 534 627-2, July 1997, US – Rush Remasters series CD, Mercury, D-120111, ?, US – Rush Remasters series, BMG mail order CD, Mercury, P2-34627, ?, US – Rush Remasters series, CRC mail order CD, Mercury, 822 552-2, ?, Brazil CD, Mercury, 534 627-2, ?, Brazil – Rush Remasters series CD, Mercury, 534 627-2, ?, Argentina – Rush Remasters series CD, Mercury, 822 552-2, June 1987, Germany CD, Mercury, 534 627-2, July 1997, Germany – Rush Remasters series CD, Mercury, 822 552-2, ?, France - Disc 'Made in France, inserts 'Printed in Germany' CD, Atlantic, AMCY-318, 1991, Japan Notes: The track “What You’re Doing” does not appear on the original CDs due to space limitations. Due to advances in CD technology it was included in the ‘Rush Remasters’ releases. The original US versions of the CD have been released in a variety of subtly different formats, some of which were housed in a blister pack with long insert:
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Sources
The following articles and books were consulted during the preparation for this feature.
[1] Mercury Records press release for “All The World’s A Stage” 1976
[2] ‘Rush Rushes Into US Prominence’ by Steve Arnig in Billboard 28th August 1976
[3] ‘Rush: A New Live Album’ in Circus 13th September 1976
[4] Review of “All The World’s A Stage” in Record World 9th October 1976
[5] ‘Rush Release: Canada’s Power Trio Is Switched On Live’ by Anastasia Pantsios in Circus 25th November 1976
[6] Review of “All The World’s A Stage” by Geoff Barton in Sounds 27th November 1976
[7] Review of “All The World’s A Stage” by David Brown in Record Mirror 4th December 1976
[8] Canada report by Robert Charles-Dunne in Record World 11th December 1976
[9] ‘How To Click Without Air Play’ by Charles Schreger in Variety 22nd December 1976
[10] ‘A Solid Gold Rush’ by Machine Rock in Cheap Thrills January 1977
[11] Review of “Fly By Night/In The Mood” single in Billboard 15th January 1977
[12] ‘Caress of Steel’ by Geoff Barton in Sounds 5th February 1977
[13] ‘A Canadian Rush: The Metal Marvels That Took The Rock World By Surprise’ by Debra Frost in Circus 14th February 1977
[14] Review of “All The World’s A Stage” by Max Bell in N.M.E. 26th February 1977
[15] ‘Rush & Foghat: Two Top Live acts team Up For One Night Of Electrified Pleasure’ by Richard Hogan in Circus 17th March 1977
[16] ‘The Rush Conquests’ by Russell Shaw in Circus 12th May 1977
[17] ‘Rush To Judgement’ by Darcy Diamond in Creem June 1977
[18] ‘Rush judgement’ by Geoff Barton in Sounds 16th July 1977
[19] Visions: The Official Biography by Bill Banasiewicz
[20] Rush by Brian Harrigan
[21] Success Under Pressure by Steve Gett
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