Geddy Lee: My Favorite Headache

 

Geddy Lee: My Favorite Headache

Originally released back in 2000, I'm going to call this re-release a huge missed opportunity. Sound wise, I always thought that this album sounded perfect. In fact, it still sounds perfect, but other than a few things that I seem to notice a bit better here (like the organ during "Window To the World"), I don't really hear any major differences. 

The good here is that there is a booklet included, that actually has the lyrics. When the album was initially released, you had to go to a website for the album to read them. The website is long since gone, so it's nice to have something that you can hold, and look at. There are a couple bonus tracks as well, but they're just two of the album tracks, with Geddy's vocals removed (and I really don't want his vocals removed!). They're a cool little addition, but if only there were a couple other songs they could have used...

The bad here is that there are two other songs that could have been put here. When Geddy released his book last year ("My Effin' Life"), he released two new songs from these sessions: "Gone", and "I Am... You Are". I love these two tracks, and it would have been nice to have a physical release for them. This would have been a great chance to do that. Alex had four new tunes added to his, so I have to wonder why they weren't included here. Such a huge missed opportunity. 

As for adding this one to my collection, it was a no-brainer. Not only is it definitely Rush related, but the two instrumental tracks are cool to have. I'll take anything new to add to the Rush collection. But had "Gone", and "I Am... You Are" been added, this one would have been elevated to a much higher status for me. And I hope that some day, we get those two tracks on an EP, or a single. Something that I can hold in my hands. For now, this one has always been a great album, and I'm not upset that I bought this new version.