A Show Of Hands (1989)
1.Intro
2.The Big Money
3.Subdivisions
4.Marathon
5.Turn the Page
6.Manhattan Project
7.Mission
8.Distant Early Warning
9.Mystic Rhythms
10.Witch Hunt
11.The Rhythm Method
12.Force Ten
13.Time Stand Still
14.Red Sector A
15.Closer to the Heart
By this point, one might have suspected that Rush were sticking rather dutifully to a blueprint. Their first two live albums appeared after every fourth studio effort — so why not make it a tradition? It made good sense. The band had amassed a staggering repertoire by now, and while they never quite cracked the top of any major chart (even in their native Canada), their live shows remained the stuff of legend. Devoted fans eagerly awaited these sonic snapshots of the tours, and A Show of Hands arrived right on schedule.
Yet, curiously, this is where the advantages of the compact disc format began to work against the band. The typical live Rush release was a double album — a sprawling affair capturing the full expanse of their performances. But A Show of Hands, while nearly maxing out the 75-minute CD runtime, still feels oddly abbreviated when spread across two sides of vinyl. A double CD was technically feasible, but at the time would have cost a small fortune. The result? A single disc, packed tight, yet haunted by conspicuous omissions. Even Neil Peart’s vaunted drum solo is trimmed.
As a document of their recent material, the album leans heavily on the last three studio releases. This may not seem unusual today, but in 1988, it felt risky. Tracks like Subdivisions and The Big Money are now fan favourites, but back then, they were hardly anthems. There’s little here for the casual fan to latch onto. And while the faithful knew that earlier classics were immortalised on All the World's a Stage and Exit…Stage Left, a first-time listener might be forgiven for wondering where the “greatest hits” had gone.
Retrospectively, then, A Show of Hands occupies an odd place in the band’s discography. A product of its time — technically proficient, musically dense, and curiously short on emotional punch. The exception is Closer to the Heart, which had appeared on the previous live album, but is included here in a reimagined form that had become a staple of the late-80s tour.
Sound-wise, it straddles the line between the gritty spontaneity of All the World's a Stage and the slick precision of Exit…Stage Left. A balance, yes, but some would say too polished for a live record. And then, of course, there’s the ever-present spectre of overdubbing — that live-record bugbear. Usually, it’s much ado about nothing, and this case is no exception. With Rush in their synthesizer-heavy period, some amount of studio touch-up was practically necessary just to ensure fidelity between what was played and what was heard.
A decade later, both fans and critics began to reassess this period of the band’s career. The keyboard era — once seen as a bold evolution — was now regarded by many as an overindulgent detour. A Show of Hands became a kind of time capsule for this divisive chapter. But as with all things musical, the pendulum swung again. By the late 2000s, the synth-heavy tracks were back in favour. Songs like Mission, Red Sector A, and Time Stand Still began showing up on setlists again, to thunderous applause. (One can verify this with a simple glance at the band’s tour history between 2008 and 2013.)
As a nice footnote, the band also released a concert video — also titled A Show of Hands — filmed in Birmingham, England, from the same tour. While the setlist largely overlaps, there are enough differences in the performances to make it a worthwhile companion. Owning both formats gives listeners something close to the complete 1988 live experience.
In the end, A Show of Hands is perhaps less a definitive live album and more a snapshot — a precise, polished record of a band neck-deep in experimentation and electronic flourishes. It may not be essential, but it is undeniably Rush. And, as ever, they remained several steps ahead of the game.
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