A Right to Passage

Thanks to The Digital Rush Experience for this page

Media: 1 CD
Time: 55:49
Catalog: Rocks (ROCKS 92050)
Source: Soundboard
Quality: EX
Date: 06-04-79
Location: Geleen, Holland, Pinkpop Festival


Track Listing

A Passage to Bangkok
Xanadu
The Trees
Hemispheres: Part V (The Sphere)
Closer to the Heart
La Villa Strangiato
2112
In the Mood / Drum Solo
Something For Nothing


Comments
and Reviews:

Taken from the Great Rush Bootleg Series:

If there were only room in a cassette rack down, oh, in some deep, dark, dank cellar, for five Rush boots that had the best possible sound quality, the most superior, then the "A Right To Passage" pressing of this show would be one. The sound is truly incredible. This was originally an FM radio boot from Holland, and it saw some generations and even some of the popular boot CDs have bad versions of it (I even own some LPs and CDs of it). However, Rockdreams SARL (the makers of the A Right To Passage boot CDs) seem to have gotten their grubbies on an original tape of that show from the radio vaults or else a digital copy intact from the day it was aired. The sound is superior to all three of Rush’s live albums, and only Oakland ‘92 of the boots I’ll be detailing equals it in clarity and power. Too bad the show is all cut up for broadcast!!!

Taken from the Rush CD BootlegList:

This bootleg was one of the first I saw on LP. Here it's reproduced on CD and apparently not directly from the LP -- there are no "pops" on this recording! This is an excellent earlier show with a wonderful song selection. The sound quality is superb and obviously is a soundboard recording. Everything is sharp and clear. The left channel does cut out slightly during the beginning of "La Villa", but is recovered quickly.  One added bonus is the rendition of "The Sphere" between two songs, it's not listed on any of the packaging and is indexed as part of "Closer to the Heart". Another neat surprise is Neil's drum solo during "In The Mood"-- again, not labeled and entirely unexpected! However, there is a cut between "La Villa" and "2112", cutting off the first couple of minutes of 2112. The song starts in the middle of 'Presentation'. The packaging is pretty non-existent, the cover simulating a wooden crate with a "Rush" stamp on it. There are no pictures of the band, but at least the song titles are all correct. This is a wonderful CD boot to have, if only to hear Alex jam at the beginning of "La Villa"! You won't be disappointed in the sound quality!

Taken from Ron's Rush ROIOReview:

Rush’s famous Pinkpop performance is captured in this show. With the exception of "The Sphere," there’s nothing here that hasn’t been officially released live, but the strength of this performance lies in the fact that it shows the band really stretching their wings in a transitional period between "old" and "new" Rush. Only the last half of 2112 is represented here (did they do the whole thing at this show?), but what is here has some amazing bass lines from Geddy. As with other concerts from this era, the band is really breathing new life into the older songs via keyboards, chimes, souped-up bass lines, etc. An excellent FM broadcast. Everything here sounds just great. The bass end is a bit heavy, but at high volumes,  this one really rocks. The only flaw in this recording is that "Something For Nothing" fades out 2/3 into the song.

Taken from the Rush TradingRegister:

This was the first 'bootleg' I ever 'got', but not in this near flawless CD form.  As a Rush fanatic back in 1979 and with memories of four nights at London's Hammersmith Odeon back in May still at the forefront of my memory it was with absolute delight that I learnt that Rush would be appearing 'live' on Radio 1s Friday Rock Show (hosted by Tommie Vance). This live appearance was to be a recording of Rush's last date on the 1979 Hemispheres tour at the Pink Pop Festival in Holland. Now it was a long time ago, but I seem to remember that the 'show' was broadcast about September 1979.  Anyway, there I was at 10pm on the Friday night in question with my Sony Music Center set-up and ready to go complete with  Memorex C90 in the recorder.  I was not to be disappointed, from the moment the first chords of A Passage To Bangkok thundered through my headphones I was in  heaven, and did not return for 45 minutes.  For days after I listened to that tape over and over, dissecting it bit by bit, I knew it backwards. The extra little drum fill in Xanadu, the ending to Closer to the Heart, the ripping La Villa. In fact, my pleasure was only enhanced when, about a year later the show was re-aired with an extra track Something for Nothing.  Years later, riding my second, (or is it my seventh) wave of enthusiasm for a certain Canadian power trio, I found that this radio broadcast (or more likely one from a different European radio station) was available on CD - and with even more tracks - I had to have it.  Listening to it now brings memories flooding back. The quality is excellent - as it should be. I just wish someone could get hold of the complete show and press it.  Now that would be something special.

Taken from Brent's Bootlegs:

This show is the premiere boot from the Hemispheres tour.  Unfortunately it is not the entire concert. If you want an entire (pieced together at least) show, look into "Cygnus Gold Edition". The bootleg entitled Pinkpop Festival has the exact same setlist and sound quality as this one plus three bonus tracks ... so you might want to get that one instead of this.

Ben's Notes:

The "celebrated" ultimate Rush bootleg (as far as quality goes) This was purportedly lifted off a radio broadcast The quality is excellent! (right up there with Mirrors, Mystic Dreams, and Darkness and Light) One drawback is that this is only part of the performance, if there is another part of this out there BRING IT ON!!! The other drawback is the cuts. Whoever originally edited this has no concept of beginnings and endings of tunes!  Just plain stupid! (or quick work)  The Pink Pop version of this show is of lesser quality mainly because the high end is really loose sounding, possibly something in the transfer to disc or just bad "EQ," But it adds a few bonus tracks. But if you have the choice, get Right of Passage you can't beat the quality!

Nate Hertzog:

Recorded at Pinkpop Festival in Holland, this boot has amazing sound quality.  The boys are really on for this show.  Geddy uses some rather unusual vocal phrasings, and Alex really kicks ass during La Villa.  The only flaw is a splice that cuts out the first parts of 2112 (overture, temples, discovery).

Willem Plaisier:

A lot of people might have noticed that on this recording Alex is playing really superb. Well it is even more amazing when you know that he was playing with a broken finger. I've seen the broadcast of 2 songs and an interview a few days after the show( if I am correctly informed there should be a video of this ) Sadly I have not found a copy of this concert yet but I'll keep looking.

JMHard:

This really sounds great! I know the set list is nothing to get excited about, but the performance and sound quality are both top notch. I highly recommend this show, one of the best single cd Rush shows available. I only wish this was the full show! (June 2001)