Rush aren't the kind of band to have casual fans, which makes "Working Men", in the catalogue of Rush releases, a little bit of an oddity. Their devoted following are the kind of band that will go out and buy everything Rush put out.

That makes "Working Men" a little redundant - a 'best of' live compilation, culled from the last three live albums, with one unreleased live track included. Culled from live from recordings across the last three tours, It showcases Rush in their recent, stadium power trio era rather than their progressive rock finesse. Though containing many of their most popular songs [such as "Spirit Of Radio" and "Tom Sawyer"], the set list here neither represents the breadth or depth of a real live show, which often extend to three hours.

Similarly the songs are chopped and changed from their places in the original set lists - so track two is the first full song of the night, then track three here is from the start of the encore, then zip back to song four of the gig - and all, with one solitary exception - have already been released on their respective albums and DVD couterparts.

It makes it a piecemeal and uneven experience to a fan, and oddly disconcerting to someone new. With the large amount of bonus live material on the DVDs from these tours - The entire O! Atlanta! four song segment of the Snakes And Arrows Live DVD in particular, which was not included on the audio release. Similarly, I could mention the excised songs from the R30 gig, not to mention the bonus material from the R30 DVD - there was a significant opportunity to make this package much more worthwhile by including a large number of tracks not on CD before.

Tracks such as "Red Sector A" from R30, for example. This is especially the case as the last two compilations ("Retrospective 3" and this disc) seem to contain just one otherwise unheard song on each, which seems like milking it.

Much as you may love Rush - and the music here is clear, precise, superb stadium rock of the finest order, this inconsistent package does the band little favours.A little more thought would have made it far better value, and could have packed it full of material you don't already own on one of the last three live CDs ; material highlighted above, material such as the planned expanded full version of R30 - which in all fairness, should never have been cut down anyway, or maybe even an unreleased drum solo (there are plenty from Rush gigs on the drummers instructional videos! ).

Similarly, given the large amount of songs from the Mercury era snuck away on Bsides, compiling those together would have served a better purpose for the avid fan who can't find an obscure 12" from 1981 too, or a CD released exclusively for an American supermarket (Such as the Rush Replay3 package Bonus CD).

I certainly hope that the forthcoming expanded version of R30 or the DVD version of Working Men more accurately represent the band live, and offer better value. All in all, great music - but overall, a missed opportunity for the fans, who may well feel shortchanged. 

Rush - A great band, but sadly, poorly represented here in what seems to be a ill thought out package. For completists only.

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