R40 Live

Last updated

R40 Live
Rush - R40 Live.jpg
Live album by
ReleasedNovember 20, 2015
RecordedJune 17 and 19, 2015
Venue Air Canada Centre, Toronto, Canada
Genre
Length195:57 (CD version)
Label Anthem
Producer Allan Weinrib
Rush chronology
Clockwork Angels Tour
(2013)
R40 Live
(2015)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [1]

R40 Live is the last live audio album release and the last live video release of Canadian prog-rock band Rush, recorded on their high-grossing R40 Live Tour. Both formats were released November 20, 2015. The performances were filmed on June 17 and 19, 2015, at Air Canada Centre, Toronto, Canada. [2] R40 Live is noted for containing the live debut of "Losing It", from the band's record "Signals". During set 1 of all disc formats, Benjamin Mink is featured as the guest violinist (although he plays an electric violin in concert). The album's common description, written by Philip Wilding, states: "The version [of Losing It] on the Signals album was raised ever higher by Ben Mink’s...wonderfully affecting violin part, the recreation of which had always put the song beyond the band’s live set." [3]

Contents

The audio CD album consists of three discs. Disc 1 contains the entire first set, disc 2 contains the second set, and disc 3 contains the encore, and seven bonus tracks.

The video DVD/Blu-ray versions only contains the first three of the seven bonus tracks. It was also the last official live album to feature drummer Neil Peart before his retirement from touring due to health issues in 2015 and his death in 2020.

Best Buy sold two deluxe edition box sets of R40 Live: CD/DVD and CD/Blu-ray. Both of these included an exclusive and limited-edition Starman projector flashlight, that projected a white Starman logo when the button was held. The metal flashlight is black with a gray label that reads "RUSH R40", and features a keychain on the end. These box sets were the only way to get the concert video and CD soundtrack together in a box set. Best Buy also made a promotional video for these deluxe box sets.

It was on this album that "Lakeside Park" was played live again after a (at least) 39-year hiatus, due to Alex Lifeson's interest expressed in doing so.

Track listing

This is the track list for the three audio CDs. Track variations for the video DVD/Blu-ray discs are detailed below.

All tracks are written by Neil Peart, Geddy Lee, and Alex Lifeson except where noted.

Set one (CD 1)
No.TitleLength
1."The World Is...The World Is... [Intro Video]"2:11
2."The Anarchist"7:07
3."Headlong Flight/Drumbastica (drum solo)"8:45
4."Far Cry"5:31
5."The Main Monkey Business"6:07
6."How It Is"4:45
7."Animate"6:15
8."Roll the Bones"6:05
9."Between the Wheels"5:58
10."Losing It" (with Ben Mink)5:55
11."Subdivisions"5:48
Set two (CD 2)
No.TitleLength
1."Tom Sawyer" (Peart, Lee, Lifeson, Pye Dubois)4:59
2."YYZ" (Lee, Peart)4:41
3."The Spirit of Radio"5:03
4."Natural Science"8:31
5."Jacob's Ladder"7:34
6."Cygnus X-1 Book II: Hemispheres: Prelude"4:19
7."Cygnus X-1 Book I: The Voyage: Prologue/The Story So Far (drum solo)/Part III"9:21
8."Closer to the Heart" (Peart, Lee, Lifeson, Peter Talbot)3:07
9."Xanadu"10:39
10."2112: Part I ("Overture")/Part II ("The Temples of Syrinx")/Part IV ("Presentation")/Part VII ("Grand Finale")"12:15
Encore (CD 3, part 1)
No.TitleLength
1."Lakeside Park/Anthem"5:29
2."What You're Doing/Working Man" (Lee, Lifeson)9:35
Bonus (CD 3, part 2)
No.TitleLength
1."One Little Victory"5:47
2."Distant Early Warning"5:24
3."Red Barchetta"7:08
4."Clockwork Angels"7:46
5."The Wreckers"5:39
6."The Camera Eye"10:21
7."Losing It" (with Jonathan Dinklage)6:13

The following info is on the CD bonus performances:

Track 2, "Distant Early Warning", was recorded at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto, Canada on June 17, 2015.

Track 4, “Clockwork Angels”, was recorded in Denver, Colorado on July 11, 2015.

Track 5, "The Wreckers", was recorded in Buffalo, New York on June 10, 2015.

Track 6, "The Camera Eye", was recorded in Kansas City, Missouri on July 9, 2015.

Jonathan Dinklage played the violin part for track 7, "Losing It", which was recorded in Los Angeles on August 1. He performed with the band during their earlier Clockwork Angels Tour, as part of the Clockwork Angels String Ensemble.

DVD/Blu-ray notes

The DVD/Blu-ray discs contain various videos that were used during the show. The following four were used during the beginning, middle, encore, and end of the show chronologically and respectively:

The following is a list of any videos or screen effects used during the songs in the show chronologically:

The following songs contain video footage:

These discs contain only the first three of the seven bonus tracks.

On the top menu page, after waiting for some time, a list of puns and video clips are shown in a sequence on screen.

  1. It starts with showing the R40 logo for a time.
  2. Next, it switches to saying "OUR 40", and shows a picture of the band in it's early years.
  3. After a bit of time, it shows an animated clock ticking with the text "HOUR 40" beside it. The clock has a ticking sound effect, and every time the clock strikes 12, a snippet of "Anthem" is played.
  4. Then, it says "ARF 40" and shows a video of two terrier dogs moving while playing an unknown song.
  5. Finally, the text switches to saying "AAAR 40", and a video of Geddy Lee dressed as a pirate with a fake parrot on his shoulder pops up. Lee opens a creaky ship hatch and says, "Aaar...forty! Eat, Polly! [Polly squawks as he tries to feed her a cracker] Aaar...stupid bird." Afterwards, he closes the hatch.
  6. There is a then a countdown from 9 that stops at 4, where is says "4D" and the screen goes black for 7 more seconds. Afterwards, the menu sequence starts over.

5 and then 6 were the opening clips to "No Country for Old Hens" during the actual show.

The credits feature some R40 art and a special version of "Closer to the Heart".

Personnel

Charts

Audio
Chart (2015)Peak
position
Canadian Albums (Billboard) [4] 30
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100) [5] 54
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100) [6] 49
UK Albums (OCC) [7] 47
US Billboard 200 [8] 24
US Top Hard Rock Albums (Billboard) [9] 1
US Top Rock Albums (Billboard) [10] 1
US Top Tastemaker Albums (Billboard) [11] 2

Certifications

DVD
RegionCertification Certified units/sales
United States (RIAA) [12] Gold50,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

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References

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  2. "Rush is a Band".
  3. "R40 Live". Rush.com. Retrieved April 2, 2024.
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  5. "Dutchcharts.nl – Rush – R40 Live" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 29 November 2021.
  6. "Offiziellecharts.de – Rush – R40 Live" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 29 November 2021.
  7. "Rush | Artist | Official Charts". UK Albums Chart. Retrieved 29 November 2021.
  8. "Rush Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved 29 November 2021.
  9. "Rush Chart History (Top Hard Rock Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved 29 November 2021.
  10. "Rush Chart History (Top Rock Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved 29 November 2021.
  11. "Rush Chart History (Top Tastemaker Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved 29 November 2021.
  12. "American video certifications – Rush – R40 Live". Recording Industry Association of America.