All the World's a Stage

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, 12, and 13, 1976, during the band's breakthrough 2112 tour. The title of the album alludes to William Shakespeare's play As You Like It, and would again be referenced by Rush in the 1981 song "Limelight". Content According to lead vocalist and bassist Geddy Lee, the release of a live album in late 1976 "was definitely something we used to buy us more time" as Rush worked on the studio follow-up to their commercial breakthrough album 2112, released earlier that same year. This album captures the entire setlist that was regularly performed during headlining shows of the 2112 tour. However, due to technological limits of approximately 20 minutes per side on vinyl, the positions of "Lakeside Park" and "2112" were swapped with "Fly By Night / In The Mood" and "Something For Nothing". Due to stage time constraints during the 2112 tour of 1976, this performance of the song "2112" omits the "Discovery" and "Oracle: The Dream" sections of the studio recording. Although the final 32 seconds of "Discovery" are played as a lead-in to "Presentation", the liner notes and track listing do not indicate this. While the entirety of "Discovery" would be performed during the A Farewell To Kings tour of 1977-78 and Hemispheres tour of 1978–79, Rush would not perform the entire suite live until the Test for Echo tour of 1996–97, as documented on the live album Different Stages.