Chronicles

Released in 1990, Chronicles is a thoughtfully chosen primer of the band’s first 15 years together. The songs are sequenced chronologically with the studio releases in which they originally appeared, and they are apparently democratically chosen according to their popularity in terms mainstream radio airplay. It wouldn’t be far off to describe this collection as an example of “the spirit of radio… ” Even down to where Moving Pictures, the Canadian power-prog trio’s biggest selling, and most fan cherished album gets three consecutive cuts while the rest get only two, with the exception of the relatively poor selling (for Rush) Presto which gets a single measly cut to finish out the two CD collection. Personally, I can think of two other songs from Presto that I would include for artistic reasons, if not commercial ones, slightly ironic for a band that is known for writing rock anthem’s about artistic integrity… I guess they had to give one up for the suits. Roll the dog a bone…
In case you’re wondering, the other two Presto songs I like for a greatest hits compilation are The Pass, and the title track: Presto.
It’s more than a little impressive that after 35 years of recording and performing together as a band one can easily put together a fresh greatest hits compilation that spans their entire illustrious career, right up through their just released single, Caravan, (which happens to be charting quite well) without even giving it a thought.