Rating: 
Summary: This is what fans of Rush have been waiting for.
Review: I just purchased the "Rush in Rio" DVD earlier today, and I must say it more than meets my expectations. You can always expect the highest quality where Rush is concerned, from their musical performance, which is second to none, to the quality of the material products they release. Many fans have been waiting for this DVD since the "Different Stages" live cd was released a few years back. The music on "Rush in Rio" covers Rush's thirty year career well, from their initial success in the 70's with songs such as "2112," and "The Trees," through the 80's with "The Big Money" and "Distant Early Warning," and continuing through the 90's and today with "Roll the Bones," "Resist" and "One Little Victory." The running order of the songs work, and the DVD flows well. "Rush in Rio" also offers some cool extras that gives fans an opportunity to see the band behind the scenes for the first time. I strongly recommend this DVD, and it's counterpart CD, to any Rush fan, or anybody else for that matter who enjoys little about the current music scene. If your interested in hearing something different, that is very Rock, but unlike any other Rock music you will hear, give it a try, you won't be dissapointed!
Rating:
Summary: Amazing and passionate document of a great show!
Review: What a set-up! A major band, playing in a foreign land to a throng of rabid fans they were not aware they had. To boot, the performance was the last show of a long tour, the only chance to be caught for posterity, and due to weather and equipment delays, performed without benefit of a sound check. Totally powerful to watch these Brazilians unbridled joy in seeing a band they probably believed they would never have the opportunity to see live. See if that doesn't strike a emotional chord for you. We can take so much for granted. Equally cool is seeing the bands reaction to this huge response and the synergistic performance that follows. Amazing set list with some of the bands most challenging compositions ie: Natural Science, La Villa Strangiato, By-Tor AND Cygnus along with much of Vapour Trails as well as the expected chestnuts from throughout their long career. A bit of a historical footnote, when All the Worlds a Stage was released in 1976, people complained of audio quality, the same with Exit Stage Left in 1981!, A Show of Hands in 1988! as well as Different Stages in 1997!. The complaints ranged from too raw to too clean etc! You remember, eh !? Plus ca change, plus c'est la meme chose..... ! You can never please all the people it seems and the truth is Rush was always a different animal live compared to the studio recordings. To my ears the sound is crisp, balanced and true. I can hear every note and beat play by Ged, Alex and Neal. The sound was mixed by longtime Rush man James "Jimbo" Barton and overseen by Alex Lifeson so you can bet it's pretty close to how the band wants you to hear it. Are you enjoying the software or stressed over hardware? The passion of this long and inspired performance far outweighs any sonic shortcomings. Let's hope it won't be another five years before the next tour. For most fans, I think this will be a joyful and well loved purchase, especially for you Brazilians of row one in Rio, 2002 !
Rating: 
Summary: Sadly, the comments about the audio are true
Review: I first saw this concert at the theater screening on October 21st in San Diego. What I noticed immediately was that the audio was muddy and the drums were hard to hear. I thought that the problem was either related to the theater sound system or the concert mix. Unfortunately after listening to the DVD, I confirmed it was the latter.In the liner notes, Neil mentions the "primitive recording truck" they used to record the concert was making their recording engineer nervous. Neil explains that they waited to the last minute to decide to record the show, which I assume explains why they had sub-par recording equipment. If this was the case, it is extremely unfortunate as this may be the last live Rush recording. The most noticeable audio problem is the fluctuation in the audio level on the 5.1 mix. On some songs the guitar, drums, or the entire band will get softer and louder as if someone was fiddling around with the volume knob. The crowd noise in the rear speakers goes from very loud (drowning out the band) to non-existent. You also hear the volume of the band's reverb in the rear speakers fluctuate drastically. The vocals and drums are very subdued. The vocals are heard in the left and right speakers with the general mix, but they are also localized in the center speaker (similar to the Metallica S&M DVD 5.1 mix), except that the level coming through the center speaker is very low. I turned my center channel up all the way and still could not hear the vocals well. Except for the drum solo, the drums are hard to hear. This is especially sad considering Neil is arguably the best drummer alive. I should note that the stereo mix is not as bad as the 5.1 mix. For this reason, I only listen to the DVD in stereo mode, which ironically is the default for this disc (perhaps they did this knowing the 5.1 mix was not good). The good things about this DVD are the number of songs (28), the band's superb performance, the documentary, and the multi-angle songs. Everything about the packaging and contents of the DVD says "Quality". It is very unfortunate that the audio (the most important component) does not live up to that image. Maybe someday, they will re-release a new mix of this concert. Rush should hire the audio engineers who mixed AC/DC Live or Roger Waters In the Flesh--two exceptional live recordings. Rush and the fans deserve no less.
Rating:
Summary: How do you say AWESOME in Portuguese
Review: What an incredible show! The guys rarely look so animated on stage. We can thak those loyal die-hard fans in Rio for that. The guitar and the bass are strong, and easy to follow in the mix. The drums and vocals could be upped just a hair, but that's a small complaint. One major complaint I do have is the thanking of PerfectWerks in the credits. The PerfectWerks organization has done little to embody the true spirit of Rush. Instead, they have successfully divided the entire Rush Internet Community over petty differences.
Rating:
Summary: Sounds good on my tv
Review: I read the negative reviews and decided to take a chance. I bought the DVD and am not disappointed. The audio problem everyone is complaining about seems to be on Tom Sawyer, but that's it! Sure, there is crowd noise (a little more than I'm used to), but it's a concert for God's sake! There is supposed to be crowd noise. I saw Rush on their VT Tour at the Staple Center, and I thought it was the best show I've ever been to (besides Primus that is). This DVD is a great souviner and I would reccomend this to any Rush fan. I'm real picky on audio. I may not have perfect eyesight, but I have great hearing, and this DVD does not make me want to return it. I've seen a lot of concert DVD's (AC/DC, B'jork, Pat Methany) and this is as good as any of those. I don't have a fancy surround sound, or a HDTV or anything like that. I have a 32" JVC tv that was purchased about two years ago and it looks and sounds great. Sorry if this review seems all jumbled, but I'm writing it while watching Rush in Rio for the second time! So, in a nutshell: Video 4/5 (a little too many fast cuts) Sound 4/5 (the crowd is noisy, but can you blame them!?!?! Just buy it!!!!!
Rating:
Summary: what's wrong with everyone?
Review: First off - I've followed Rush since 2112 and seen every show since MP.
If you have a problem with the audio- get over it! It's a concert, not a studio album (listen to Earthbound by King Crimson for pure live energy with no mixdown). Name the last concert you attended that had 5.1 surround sound.
Granted, the video shows way too many crowd scenes, not enough of the overall stage show including the video screens, and way way way too many fast edits. The problem is trying to video a three-ring circus - it's nearly impossible. They should have multiple "angles", each angle focused on a particular musician and an overall stage angle with far fewer crowd shots.
This rates a 5++ for performance, a 4 for audio and a 2 for video. BTW - the Vapor Trails show at the Gorge Amphitheater ROCKED!!!!!
Rating:
Summary: RIGHT ON PEETEY C!!!
Review: NICE REVIEW PEETEY C!! (FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO HAVEN'T READ IT, CHECK IT OUT..) THE REAL RUSH FANS ARE IN RIO!!! THOSE PEOPLE AREN'T STANDING THERE IN THE 5TH ROW, ARMS FOLDED, TOO "COOL" TO LET THE MUSIC TOUCH THEIR SOUL. SCREW YOU PEOPLE. RUSH IS AMAZING.
I'M SICK OF READING ABOUT THESE SOUND TECH KNOW-IT-ALLS COMPLAIN ABOUT THIS DVD. GET REAL FOLKS. THERE'S REALLY NOT ANOTHER BAND OUT THERE WHO CAN TOUCH THESE GUYS MUSICALLY. THEY'VE GAINED THEIR HARDCORE POPULARITY OVER THE YEARS DUE TO THEIR MUSICAL CHOPS, AND IT'S NEVER BEEN MORE APPARENT THAN ON THIS DVD.
I LIVE IN HAWAII.. WE WEREN'T LUCKY ENOUGH TO SEE THE VAPOR TRAILS SHOW LAST YEAR, SO ALL OF YOU COMPLAINERS NEED TO REALIZE HOW LUCKY YOU WERE TO EXPERIENCE THIS AMAZING SHOW.
Rating: 
Summary: Great band, great concert, awful DVD
Review: I have never written a DVD review before but I just had to on this one. First off, Amazon technical information says the disc is in anamorphic widescreen, wrong! Amazon also says the disc has DTS Surround, wrong! I have been waiting for this disc for almost three months and I can't put in words how disappointed I was with both the audio and video quality. The surround track is almost unlistenable, mushy loud bass and to much crowd noise. I missed a whole guitar solo with all the noise! Just so you know I'm listening on a very high end system, Linn, Lexicon, Runco etc. I have over 400 DVD's and this is in the bottom ten for technical merit and top ten for performance. Buyer beware!
Rating: 
Summary: Why bother!!!!
Review: I just finished listening to three songs on this dvd and my ears can't take anymore! The guy who did the 5.1 mix for this concert should be shot with a ball of his own ****!
Listen to Toto, Moody Blues, Roger Waters and ELO to see and hear what a good mix sounds like. A TOTAL RIP AND A WASTE OF GOOD MONEY. This great band deserved better!
Rating:
Summary: Rush fans deserve better audio and video editing than this
Review: Okay... I Love Rush - I've seen them in concert almost a dozen times since the mid-80's, and I own pretty much everything they've sold commercially. However, they deserve (or should I say, their fans deserve) a better product than I saw and heard on this DVD in my living room last night. First, THE GOOD
1) It is nice to have a Rush Concert DVD!
2) I loved most of the documentary - it was nice to actually see and hear Neil!
3) The 3 Multi-angle songs were very cool - mostly because I actually got to see 3 songs cleanly with no interference from the insane video editor. Second, THE BAD (Video Editing)
1) Who edited this? There were FAR, FAR, too many quick edits on many of the songs. Quick edits in videos are just fine, but in a concert setting it's nice to be able to look at one musician for at least a few seconds before the next cut. For example, there is one shot where Neil throws his drumstick into the air, and the editor cut to another scene before Neil caught it. Huh?!
2) Editing, part two - There are FAR, FAR too many close-up shots of fans in the crowd while the guys are playing!! I counted as many as 6 cut-aways during each song for many of the early songs on the DVD.
When I'm at a Rush concert I watch the band! Is it too much to ask the DVD to do the same?!? Show the band!!! I don't want to see multiple close-ups of fans in the front row screaming and mugging into the camera!! I would rather see the awesome musicians I paid to see! I found this very distracting. There's nothing wrong with the occasional pan of the crowd to show the crowd energy, but 6 cut-aways per song?!?!? bleah!! Third - The REALLY BAD (the sound mix)
What went wrong with the sound mix on this DVD?!? It sounds HORRIBLE! Extremely muddy and over-loud bass, and because of the subwoofer mix it's impossible to listen to it loud. (Alex is listed as the Music Supervisor... sorry for the criticism, Alex). My home theater system has performed wonderfully for years at its current settings, but I had to listen to this on the 2-channel Stereo setting to be able to enjoy the sound at all. With the DVD Audio set to 5.1, the sound was extremely bass-heavy and muddy. I gave this 4 stars instead of 3 because, after all, it IS Rush.
On the documentary, and in Neil's liner notes, the band seemed to be making up-front excuses about the quality of the raw footage of the concert ("it rained all day, all the equipment was very late, no sound check, no video check" etc.) I won't second guess them, but I just can't see how these are totally valid. For example, the multi-angle songs have video that looks just fine! And as for the sound mixing - maybe they should hire the people that mixed Fleetwood Mac's "The Dance" DVD to do a re-mix and let us early-buyers trade for new DVD's with the new mix. If I had seen this DVD on a friend's home theater system before I bought it, I'm not sure I would go buy it for myself. I PROBABLY would , but I also might hold out to see if they release a better audio mix later.
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