Chronicles Easton PA

Chronicles

Rush

Mercury Records, 1991

REVIEW BY: Christopher Thelen

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED: 05/10/2003

In an age where even the most pathetic band or artist can get a"greatest hits" compilation moments after reaching the top of thecharts (and subsequently flaming out), it's almost unbelievablethat the Canadian hard-rock trio Rush didn't get a best-of untilthey changed labels from Mercury to Atlantic in 1989. Of course,now you can't turn a corner without being offered some newvariation of a Rush best-of collection, but Chronicles was indeed the first, and in some ways, the best,of the batch.

Now, anyone who has followed Geddy Lee and company for anylength of time will undoubtedly find holes with any compilation -even this two-disc set. But if you take an objective look at Chronicles, you'll find that every one of Rush's 15 albumsto that point get fair play -- including all three live albums,which get one selection each.

Whoever decided on the selection and running order of this setdid two smart things right off of the bat. The first was keepingthings running in chronological order - at least, in terms of theorder in which the albums were released. By doing this, not only isthe listener given a comfort zone to take it all in, they're alsoallowed a fair opportunity to hear how Rush grew from the openingguitar lines of "Finding My Way" to such complicated masterpiecesas "The Big Money" and "Manhattan Project." In a way, it's likelistening to a time capsule; each song is a particular itemcarefully placed inside.

The second smart thing - and, believe me, I'd love to know howthey pulled this off - was to include "Show Don't Tell," a songfrom Rush's then-upcoming album Presto. Amazing… not only were they able to put thefirst single from the new album on this set, but they were able todo it when the disc was being released on a competitor's label. Whocares if "Show Don't Tell" wasn't one of Rush's strongest songsfrom around that time?