Working Man (7:12)
Fly By Night (3:21)
2112 Overture/Temples of Syrinx (6:48)
Closer To The Heart (2:54)
The Trees (4:41)
The Spirit Of Radio (4:57)
Freewill (5:23)
Limelight (4:22)
Tom Sawyer (4:37)
Red Barchetta (6:10)
New World Man (3:42)
Subdivisions (5:35)
Distant Early Warning (5:59)
The Big Money (5:35)
Force Ten (4:34)
Time Stand Still (5:10)
* What You're Doing (live) (5:41)
* A Passage To Bangkok (live) (3:47)
* Japanese edition only
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 "Working Man"
Produced by RUSH (1), RUSH & Terry Brown (2-12), RUSH & Peter Henderson (13), RUSH & Peter Collins (14-16)
Additional Musicians:
Aimee Mann - Vocals (Track 17)
Compilation Produced by Mike Ragogna
Digitally Remastered by Bob Ludwig and Brian Lee at Gateway Mastering Studios - Portland, ME
Assembled by Ellen Fitton at Universal Mastering Sudios East - Edison, NJ
A&E Assistance - David Richman and Jeremy Holliday
Art Direction and Design - Hugh Syme
Band Photography 'then' - Fin Costello
Band Photography 'now' - Andrew MacNaughtan
Production Coordination - Monique McGuffin
UMe thanks Ray Danniels, Pegi Cecconi & Bill Levenson
© 2003 Mercury Records © 2003 Anthem Entertainment
Notes
- Mercury, February 11, 2003
- Highest Billboard Chart Position: 62 - Certified Gold by RIAA: November 8, 2006
- The third North American compilation from Rush's first 12 studio albums from their Mercury years (1974-1987), this single cd compilation is analagous to a condensed version of the previously released Chronicles (1990), as all songs on this collection are also found Chroncles, and both collections run in chronological order. In fact, all songs on this collection are also found on both of the 2cd compilations Chronicles (1990) and the subsequently released Gold (2006). While the 2cd compilations showcase at least two songs from the original studio albums, this single disk compilation has room for an average of only one song per album. Unfortunately, although three songs were included from Moving Pictures, and two each from Permanent Waves, Signals and Hold Your Fire, there are no songs from Caress of Steel.
- The Japanese edition includes a two track bonus disk featuring "A Passage To Bangkok" from Exit Stage Left and "What You're Doing" from All The Worlds A Stage, the two live tracks which were omitted from the original cd releases of those albums which were also included on Chronicles.
The first 100,000 copies included a bonus DVD sampler of the Chronicles DVD collection, containing videos of "Tom Sawyer", "Closer to the Heart", "Subdivisions", "The Big Money" and "Mystic Rhythms", plus lyrics to all the songs on the album.- Unlike the two previous Retrospectives collections, which did not make the Billboard Top 200, this compilation fared better as it was supported by a marketing push and released shortly after the Vapor Trails tour. Selling 28,538 in it's first week, this compilation entered the charts at #62 and stayed in the Top 200 for seven weeks before dropping off (62, 81, 101, 117, 136, 183, 198). Following the release of Clockwork Angels nine years later, this compilation re-entered the Billboard Top 200 at #161 for the week of June 9, 2012.
In Their Own Words
"...part of a contractual thing with Paul Egram with Mercury Records from our previous deal with them, which expired in 1990. So they have the rights to do a number of greatest hits or packaged records." - Alex Lifeson, AT&T Celebrity Chat, February 10, 2003
"We did not have a lot of input in this. This was mostly a record company project. Our opinions were made known and they were very cooperative about doing good packaging for us." - Geddy Lee, USAToday.com chat, February 5, 2003
Smartphone Wallpaper
Our RUSH smartphone wallpapers have been modified for a 9:19.5 aspect ratio to fit "most" Smartphones.
This is a collection of transcripts of magazine and newspaper articles and other media related to this release or coinciding with the time frame surrounding it. This is an ongoing work in progress; feel free to email any suggested additions.