Exit... Stage Left (live album)
by Rush

Exit... Stage Left by Rush
(Live album)
Year: 1981
Overall rank: 5,980th   
Average Rating: 
79/100 (from 109 votes)
     
Accolades:
Award Top albums of 1981 (106th)
Award Top albums of the 1980s (882nd)
Award Best albums of all time (5,980th)

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Rush bestography

Exit... Stage Left is ranked 15th best out of 38 albums by Rush on BestEverAlbums.com.

The best album by Rush is Moving Pictures which is ranked number 164 in the list of all-time albums with a total rank score of 8,924.

Rush album bestography « Higher ranked (5,883rd)
Presto
This album (5,980th)
Exit... Stage Left
Lower ranked (5,982nd) »
Hold Your Fire

(N.B. Bestographies include all albums by an artist (and their variations), but do not include albums ranked outside the top 100,000).

Upcoming concerts

Dec
12
Fri
17:00
RUSH, KISS, Pink Floyd Tributes - Spirit Under The Stars at Garden Amp
Garden Amphitheatre, Garden Grove, United States. United States
Tickets from Ticketmaster Get tickets
 
Dec
13
Sat
20:00
Crown Watts performs Rush
Madison Theater (730), Covington, United States. United States
Tickets from Ticketmaster Get tickets
 
Jan
10
Sat
19:00
RUSH EXPERIENCE
District 142, Wyandotte, United States. United States
Tickets from Ticketmaster Get tickets
 
Discover more upcoming concerts

Listen to Exit... Stage Left on YouTube

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Exit... Stage Left track list

   The tracks on this album have an average rating of 81 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).

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Track
Rating/Comments
1.
Average Rating: 81 (15 votes)Comments: View 1
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2.
Average Rating: 83 (13 votes)Comments: View 1
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3.
Average Rating: 83 (13 votes)Comments: View 1
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4.
Average Rating: 74 (12 votes)Comments: View 0
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5.
Average Rating: 82 (12 votes)Comments: View 2
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7.
Average Rating: 83 (13 votes)Comments: View 1
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8.
Average Rating: 79 (12 votes)Comments: View 0
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9.
Average Rating: 81 (12 votes)Comments: View 0
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10.
Track pick (850 - 15 votes)
Average Rating: 85 (15 votes)Comments: View 1
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11.
Average Rating: 81 (12 votes)Comments: View 0
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12.
Average Rating: 82 (13 votes)Comments: View 1
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13.
Average Rating: 85 (19 votes)Comments: View 1
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Track pick (1000 - 100 votes) Top-rated track as rated by BestEverAlbums.com members.

Exit... Stage Left rankings

Rankings summary
Overall rank: 5,980th | 1980s rank: 882nd | 1981 rank: 106th

Exit... Stage Left collection

Exit... Stage Left ratings

Average Rating: 
79/100 (from 109 votes)
   Help Average Rating = (n ÷ (n + m)) × av + (m ÷ (n + m)) × AV
where:
av = trimmed mean average rating an item has currently received.
n = number of ratings an item has currently received.
m = minimum number of ratings required for an item to appear in a 'top-rated' chart (currently 10).
AV = the site mean average rating.

Showing latest 5 ratings for this album. | Show all 109 ratings for this album.

Sort by
RatingDate updatedMemberAlbum ratingsAvg. album rating
 
70/100
 !
10/22/2025 22:51 EyeKanFly   8,09265/100
 
90/100
 !
08/24/2025 07:56 nextorgd   1,12184/100
 
85/100
 !
06/27/2025 04:37 brent13   1,62271/100
 
70/100
 !
03/23/2025 10:10 Tamthebam   22,82969/100
 
5/100
 !
03/23/2024 09:15 TradeShark   75447/100

Rating metrics: Help Outliers can be removed when calculating a mean average to dampen the effects of ratings outside the normal distribution. This figure is provided as the trimmed mean. A high standard deviation can be legitimate, but can sometimes indicate 'gaming' is occurring. Consider a simplified example* of an item receiving ratings of 100, 50, & 0. The mean average rating would be 50. However, ratings of 55, 50 & 45 could also result in the same average. The second average might be more trusted because there is more consensus around a particular rating (a lower deviation).
(*In practice, some albums can have several thousand ratings)

This album is rated in the top 2% of all albums on BestEverAlbums.com. This album has a Bayesian average rating of 79.1/100, a mean average of 77.8/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 79.8/100. The standard deviation for this album is 18.4.

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Exit... Stage Left favourites

Showing all 16 members who have added this album as a favourite

Exit... Stage Left comments

Showing all 4 comments |
Most Helpful First | Newest First | Positive Sentiment First | Longest Comments First
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Rating:  
45/100
From 05/13/2022 15:15 | #285295
A mixed bag of a live album. All the big hitters are there but there's a few duff tracks that made the cut.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
80/100
From 11/03/2018 16:04 | #223781
The usual great musicianship from Rush, but I wouldn't be too bothered if I never heard most of this album again.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
85/100
From 12/14/2016 22:34 | #180169
This is a great live album, but mostly because it's Rush. The mix is so clean, it sounds very much like the studio tracks and therefore fails to capture the energy of a Rush concert. The songs are great, the playing great, etc, but the final result feels a little flat. Rush didn't like their first live album because it was too raw, but they swung the pendulum a little too far in cleaning this one up.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +3 votes (3 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From 04/28/2014 05:26 | #110230
Ok. I’ll just blurt it out right from the start. Street cred be damned…

Rush is one of greatest live experiences in rock history!

Rush injected fun and wonderment into the often ponderous and pretentious prog rock genre. Like an adolescent with ADHD, they sounded excited by everything - mythology, history, politics, radios, cars, and most famously, American literature. Most of all though, they were excited by the potential of music, and their songs percolate with a hyperactive anything-is-possible idealism. In concert, Rush were like that ADHD kid on Ritalin - possessing a clarity and focus that was often missing from their studio albums. And this slab catches them kicking out the jams at their creative peak. One million Rush fans can’t be wrong.

Long live youthful exuberance!

WARNING: All criticisms of the over-production and lack of punch to this record are COMPLETELY warranted. All the World’s a Stage has a much better “live” sound, but it’s marred by half the songs sounding like second tier Faces/Led Zeppelin tracks.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +4 votes (4 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
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Best Albums of 1981
1. Moving Pictures by Rush
2. Computerwelt by Kraftwerk
3. Discipline by King Crimson
4. Juju by Siouxsie And The Banshees
5. My Life In The Bush Of Ghosts by Brian Eno & David Byrne
6. Time by Electric Light Orchestra
7. Faith by The Cure
8. Dare by The Human League
9. Damaged by Black Flag
10. Deceit by This Heat
11. Youth Of America by Wipers
12. Tattoo You by The Rolling Stones
13. Fire Of Love by The Gun Club
14. Ghost In The Machine by The Police
15. The Ascension by Glenn Branca
16. Heaven Up Here by Echo & The Bunnymen
17. Face Value by Phil Collins
18. Killers by Iron Maiden
19. Movement by New Order
20. Nightclubbing by Grace Jones
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