Retrospectives I & II
Geddy Lee
Bass guitar, bass pedals, synthesizers, vocals
Alex Lifeson
Electric and acoustic guitars, synthesizers
Neil Peart
Drums, percussion, electronic percussion
John Rutsey
Drums on "Finding My Way"
Compiled by Bas Hartong and Bill Levenson in association with Rush and Anthem Entertainment
Mastered by Bob Ludwig and Brian Lee at Gateway Mastering Studios, Portland, Maine
Art Direction and Design by Hugh Syme
Retrospective 1 Cover Painting by Dan Hudson
Retrospective 2 Cover Painting by Hugh Syme
Retrospective 1: Mercury/Anthem, May 6, 1997
Produced by Rush (14), Rush and Terry Brown (1-13)
Retrospective 2: Mercury/Anthem, June 3, 1997
Produced by Rush & Terry Brown (2,3,6,11,13,14), Rush & Peter Henderson (7,9,12), Rush & Peter Collins (1,4,5,8,10,15)
© 1997 Mercury Records © 1997 Anthem Entertainment
Notes:
- Highest Billboard Chart Position: Neither Charted
- Retrospective I was released May 6, 1997, and on this same day the remasters of the first album through Permanent Waves were issued. Retrospective II was released June 3, 1997, along with the remasters of Moving Pictures through Hold Your Fire. The remasters of the live albums All The World's A Stage, Exit Stage Left and A Show Of Hands were released on July 1, 1997.
- Combined, these were the second North American compilations from Rush's first 12 studio albums from their Mercury years (1974-1987), the first released after the back catalog was digitally remastered (i.e. has superior sound over Chronicles). Gold, a reissue of Retrospectives I and II as one package using the same remastered tracks, was released in 2006 with a reworking of the Retrospectives covers, and the same track listing as the combined Retrospectives disks with the exception of "Something for Nothing" being deleted and "Working Man" being added.
- "I got a little bit involved because I didn't want [Mercury Records] doing what they had done the last time they did a thing like that [Chronicles]. Last time they did it, I thought they did a really shoddy job in terms of the song order...purely chronological, and the artwork was lame. So I got involved myself and made sure the artwork was decent and I made up a setlist of the songs of the two different periods of those retrospectives-I made up the title too (laughs)-...as if it were a live show. So it's a much nicer representation of the material for anyone who does want to get a sampler like that, which I often do as a consumer. If there's a band which I don't really love well enough to buy all of their records...I'd rather really just have the finer points. I don't mind if they put together a nice package of material like that. So, I just tried to make it a little better." - Neil Peart, Rollingstone.com, June 5, 1997
- These collections sold poorly, and did not make the Billboard Top 200. The first volume sold only 5,556 it's first week, and the second only 3,717, in an era when it takes 6,000 to 8,000 the first week to crack the bottom of the Billboard Top 200. Rush would break the Top 200 six years later with a similar compilation, The Spirit Of Radio Greatest Hits, which was supported by a big marketing push and released shortly after the Vapor Trails tour.
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