All the World's a Stage (album)

All the World's a Stage
Live album by Rush
Released	September 29, 1976
Recorded	June 11–13, 1976
Genre	Heavy metal, hard rock, progressive rock
Length	1:19:32
Label	Anthem (Canada), Mercury
Producer	Rush, Terry Brown
Rush chronology
2112 (1976) All The World's a Stage (1976) A Farewell to Kings (1977)

All the World's a Stage is a double live album by Canadian rock band Rush, released in 1976. The album was recorded at Massey Hall in Toronto on June 11 through 13 during their 2112 tour. Similar to a lyric in the track "Limelight" from 1981's album Moving Pictures, the title of this album alludes to William Shakespeare's play As You Like It.

According to the liner notes, this live album (Rush's first) marks the end of the "first chapter of Rush," and would mark the start of a trend of releasing a live album after four studio albums. That trend was broken in the 2000s when the band would release a studio album then a live album from the ensuing tour. Songs like "Bastille Day" and "Anthem" are similar to their studio versions with the addition of Neil Peart's drum solo during "Working Man".

All the World's a Stage would be Rush's first US Top 40 charting album and would go gold, alongside A Farewell to Kings and 2112 on November 16, 1977. It was certified platinum in the US 1981 after the release of Moving Pictures. In Canada, gold certification came on December 1, 1976; platinum on August 1, 1978.

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Rolling Stone	link
Allmusic	link

Track listing

All songs written by Alex Lifeson, Geddy Lee and Neil Peart, except where noted.

1. "Bastille Day" – 4:57
2. "Anthem" – 4:56
3. "Fly by Night/In the Mood" (Lee, Peart)/(Lee) – 5:03
4. "Something for Nothing" (Lee, Peart) – 4:02
5. "Lakeside Park" – 5:04
6. "2112" – Total Time: 15:45
   • "I. Overture" – 4:16
   • "II. The Temples of Syrinx" – 2:12
   • "III. Presentation" (Lifeson, Peart) – 4:27
   • "IV. Soliloquy" – 2:22
   • "V. Grand Finale" – 2:28
7. "By-Tor & the Snow Dog" – 11:57
   • I. At the Tobes of Hades
   • II. Across the Styx
   • III. Of the Battle
     • 1. Challenge and Defiance
     • 2. 7/4 War Furor
     • 3. Aftermath
     • 4. Hymn of Triumph
   • IV. Epilogue
8. "In the End" (Lifeson, Lee) – 7:13
9. "Working Man/Finding My Way" (Lifeson, Lee)/(Lifeson, Lee) – 14:56
10. "What You're Doing" (Lifeson, Lee) – 5:39

This performance of "2112" omits the "Discovery" and "Oracle: The Dream" sections of the studio recording. The final 32 seconds of "Discovery" are played as a lead-in to "Presentation," but the liner notes do not indicate this. Rush would not perform the entire suite live until the 1996-97 Test for Echo Tour, as documented on the live album Different Stages.

The medley on track 9 is marked as above on the album but runs as follows: "Working Man (first half)/Finding My Way/Working Man (second half)/Drum Solo" before jamming out the end of the medley.

Songs with "/" in the title indicate song medleys. Following along at the end of the last song the album closes with a bit of post-show chatter among the band members and the sound of a slamming of a door as they leave the venue.

Personnel

• Geddy Lee - bass guitar, vocals
• Alex Lifeson - guitar
• Neil Peart - percussion

• Terry Brown — engineer
• Hugh Syme — design
• George Graves — mastering on original album
• Bob Ludwig — remastering

Remaster details

A remaster was issued in 1997.

• The tray has a picture of the star with man painting (mirroring the cover art of Retrospective I) with "The Rush Remasters" printed in all capital letters just to the left. All remasters from Rush through Permanent Waves are like this.
• The original CD left off "What You're Doing". This was due to time constraints (CDs could only hold 75 minutes at the time), but by the time the remasters came out, CDs could hold up to 80 minutes of music. "What You're Doing" was thus re-inserted, along with the post-show chatter and door closing. Before the remastered version was released, the same live version of "What You're Doing" was released on the compilation Chronicles in 1990.
• The album's original triple gatefold with concert pictures was reinstated on the remaster.

Charts

Album

Year	Chart	Position
1976	Billboard Pop Albums	40

Singles

Fly by Night/In the Mood/"Something for Nothing"(US 7" promo)