A Show of Hands

A Show of Hands is a live album by the Canadian rock band Rush, released in 1989. The band released a video of the same name, originally on VHS and LaserDisc, the same year. A DVD version was released as part of a box set in 2006, and as an individual DVD in 2007. In 2015 it was reissued after being remastered by Sean Magee at Abbey Road Studios following a direct approach by Rush to remaster their entire back catalogue.[5]

This article is about the Rush album. For the TV shorts, see A Show of Hands (TV series). For other uses, see Show of hands.

A Show of Hands
Live album by
Rush
ReleasedJanuary 9, 1989 (1989-01-09)
Recorded1986, 1988
GenreProgressive rock, hard rock
Length74:22
LabelAnthem
ProducerRush
Rush chronology
Hold Your Fire
(1987)		 A Show of Hands
(1989)		 Presto
(1989)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music[2]
Kerrang![3]
Rolling Stone[4]

Recording

The majority of the performances on this album were from the 1988 Hold Your Fire tour, recorded in the American cities of New Orleans, Phoenix, and San Diego, and the British city of Birmingham. "Mystic Rhythms" and "Witch Hunt" were recorded in East Rutherford, New Jersey, during the 1986 Power Windows tour.[6] The opening track "Intro" features The Three Stooges theme playing in the background; the band used this music to open many of their concerts during the 1980s.

With the exception of "Closer to the Heart", the tracklist focuses almost entirely on the band's material from the 1980s, and is Rush's only live record to feature no performances of songs released before 1977. Unlike All the World's a Stage and Exit...Stage Left, this album does not have any songs that had to be omitted for single CD release. The first two were released prior to the introduction of compact discs and were double album sets, whilst this album was initially released on CD so time restrictions were already taken into account.

Video release

The video was filmed at the first of two Birmingham (UK) shows which took place on April 23–24, 1988 at the city's NEC Arena - one of the sources of the live album. The song order and selection of the video are different from the live album.

Singles
  • "Closer to the Heart" / "Witch Hunt" (7")
  • "Mission" (12" promo)
  • "Marathon" (12"/CD promo)

Track listing

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

Side one
No.TitleLocationLength
1."Introduction" 0:53
2."The Big Money"Birmingham, UK5:59
3."Subdivisions"Birmingham, UK5:22
4."Marathon"Birmingham, UK6:39
Side two
No.TitleLocationLength
1."Turn the Page"New Orleans, LA4:41
2."Manhattan Project"Phoenix, AZ5:18
3."Mission"San Diego, CA5:46
Side three
No.TitleWriter(s)LocationLength
1."Distant Early Warning" Birmingham, UK5:15
2."Mystic Rhythms" Meadowlands, NJ5:32
3."Witch Hunt" Meadowlands, NJ4:00
4."The Rhythm Method"PeartBirmingham, UK4:37
  • Track 4 features a drum solo.
Side four
No.TitleWriter(s)LocationLength
1."Force Ten"Lifeson, Lee, Peart, Pye DuboisPhoenix, AZ4:55
2."Time Stand Still" Birmingham, UK5:13
3."Red Sector A" Birmingham, UK5:18
4."Closer to the Heart"Lifeson, Lee, Peart, Peter TalbotBirmingham, UK4:54

Personnel
  • Geddy Lee – bass guitar, synthesizers, vocals
  • Alex Lifeson – electric and acoustic guitars, synthesizers, backing vocals
  • Neil Peart – drums, percussion

Charts
Chart (1989) Peak
position
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[7] 38
Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)[8] 7
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[9] 35
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[10] 28
UK Albums (OCC)[11] 12
US Billboard 200[12] 21

Certifications
Region CertificationCertified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada)[13] Platinum 100,000^
United States (RIAA)[14] Gold 500,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

Remaster details

A Show of Hands was remastered in 2011 by Andy VanDette for the "Sector" box sets, which re-released all of Rush's Mercury-era albums. A Show Of Hands is included in the Sector 3 set.[15]

References
  1. Prato, Greg. "A Show of Hands - Rush". AllMusic. Archived from the original on October 20, 2013. Retrieved October 15, 2011.
  2. Larkin, Colin (2007). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (4th ed.). Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0195313734.
  3. Hotten, Jon (January 14, 1989). "Rush: 'A Show of Hands'". Kerrang!. Vol. 221. London, UK: Spotlight Publications Ltd. p. 21.
  4. Azerrad, Michael (April 20, 1989). "A Show of Hands". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on February 28, 2014. Retrieved January 10, 2015.
  5. "Abbey Road - Engineers - Sean Magee". Archived from the original on December 14, 2020. Retrieved December 14, 2020.
  6. ""'A Show of Hands' by Neil Peart" - Backstage Club Newsletter, September 1988". Archived from the original on May 11, 2016. Retrieved January 11, 2017.
  7. "Dutchcharts.nl – Rush – A Show of Hands" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved July 3, 2020.
  8. Pennanen, Timo (2021). "Rush". Sisältää hitin - 2. laitos Levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla 1.1.1960–30.6.2021 (PDF). Helsinki: Kustannusosakeyhtiö Otava. p. 221. Retrieved May 17, 2022.
  9. "Offiziellecharts.de – Rush – A Show of Hands" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved July 3, 2020.
  10. "Swedishcharts.com – Rush – A Show of Hands". Hung Medien. Retrieved July 3, 2020.
  11. "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved July 3, 2020.
  12. "Rush Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved July 3, 2020.
  13. "Canadian album certifications – Rush – A Show of Hands". Music Canada.
  14. "American album certifications – Rush – A Show of Hands". Recording Industry Association of America.
  15. "Andy VanDette on Remastering 15 Rush Albums | the Masterdisk Record". Archived from the original on August 23, 2014. Retrieved May 18, 2012.
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