What's your least favourite studio album?

[Finbar]

Depending on your feelings of all the albums you own as a whole, the answer is either the album you enjoy the least, or the album you dislike the most.

[Presto-digitation]

Rush, because it's the least inspiring musically and lyrically, and just overall...worst. Band in serious need of an identity.

 

My bottom three are the first three...and then four would be Power Windows. But I listed to PW a lot still, but almost never to the first three.

[Presto-digitation]

THIS is my favorite poll.

 

But who's Finbar?

[Finbar]

QUOTE (Presto-digitation @ Jan 4 2007, 11:01 PM)

THIS is my favorite poll. But who's Finbar?

Me.... that's my name.

[Presto-digitation]

Hey..for five minutes it's unanimous. I ROCK...!

[Presto-digitation]

QUOTE (Finbar @ Jan 4 2007, 11:05 PM)

QUOTE (Presto-digitation @ Jan 4 2007, 11:01 PM) THIS is my favorite poll. But who's Finbar? Me.... that's my name. I was joking...lol

[Finbar]

QUOTE (Presto-digitation @ Jan 4 2007, 11:05 PM)

QUOTE (Finbar @ Jan 4 2007, 11:05 PM) QUOTE (Presto-digitation @ Jan 4 2007, 11:01 PM) THIS is my favorite poll. But who's Finbar? Me.... that's my name. I was joking...lol O OK I'm gonna be president one day, so you better watch it!

[Kudzu]

Caress of Steel. I don't like it at all. Counterparts and Rush have a couple of good tracks and Power Windows is listenable, but Caress of Steel is too wild and loud to make good background music and it has no real highlights for me (although listening to "Bastille Day" while reading A Tale of Two Cities definitely has its merits; that's just about all, though).

[treeduck]

Rush: it's an embryonic Rush that features on this album, not fully formed. Geddy looks weird on the cover too, he doesn't even look like Geddy on there!!

 

The album is ok it's just that the band went on to produce better and more sophisticated music.

 

I listen to less than any other Rush album, I love the logo though and I think the pink looks better than the red would have done...

[Finbar]

Presto for me.

[spirit of radio]

Who's Finbar ?

[Roddy]

Test 4 Echo by a long long long way. Boring, pedestrian rubbish. Sounds like a tired band badly in need of energy and inspiration. Running on auto pilot. 2nd worst: Counterparts. By the time I'd listened seriously to T4E, I was starting to believe my all time favourite band was finally in decline, creatively. Becoming crusty old men getting by on a good name, like SO many of their contemporaries (not gunna name names in this section). Thanks sweet Jesus for VT. It brought Rush back from the dead with a roar and a burst of energy that was severely needed.

Not a massive fan of the debut, but at least it had energy. Had more of that commodity in it's first 8 bars than all of T4E.....

Everything else is astounding musical genius.

[Ancient Ways]

Presto. VT has a lot of detractors due to the sound quality. I can overlook the sound quality due to good songs and good performances buried in the mix. I can't overlook the uninspired and disinterested sounding performances on Presto. They sound bored and seem to be going through the motions.

[Room 34]

I went with Presto.

 

I'm sure I'm not alone in thinking the band peaked creatively with Moving Pictures. Basically I think they were finding their sound over the first 4 studio albums, then the next 4 are the big classics. I think Signals and Grace Under Pressure are worthy of the 4 that preceded them, but from Power Windows onward, there are only 2 albums that I think are up to par with their earlier work: Counterparts and Vapor Trails.

 

So, what we're left with is a batch of the band's most mediocre work: Power Windows, Hold Your Fire, Presto, Roll the Bones, and Test for Echo. I think they were on a downward trend after Moving Pictures, and Presto is simply where they bottomed out. RtB and T4E are better than Presto, but not by much.

 

I think it's probably easiest for me to just rank the albums after all of this blah-blah-blah. And I would say this is my best effort to be objective, not reflecting (entirely) my personal taste. (Because Moving Pictures is not actually my "favorite" Rush album.)

 

So then, here are my rankings of their 17 "original" (i.e. omitting Feedback) studio albums:

 

1. Moving Pictures

2. Signals

3. Permanent Waves

4. Hemispheres

5. Grace Under Pressure

6. A Farewell to Kings

7. Counterparts

8. Vapor Trails

9. Power Windows

10. Caress of Steel

11. 2112

12. Fly by Night

13. Hold Your Fire

14. Roll the Bones

15. Rush

16. Test for Echo

17. Presto

 

Another thing I should probably note: I don't presently own any of the bottom 5 on this list (I do presently own the top 12, in some form or another), so I'm relying on my memory of them before I sold them... sometimes going back as far as the early '90s. So they probably all warrant another listen (beyond the 30-second clips on iTunes, which I've sporadically checked out).

[Kudzu]

Well, if we're ranking them...

 

1. Moving Pictures

2. Signals

3. Grace Under Pressure

4. Presto

5. Permanent Waves

6. A Farewell to Kings

7. Hemispheres

8. Test for Echo

9. 2112

10. Hold Your Fire

11. Roll the Bones

12. Vapor Trails

13. Fly by Night

14. Rush

15. Power Windows

16. Counterparts

17. Caress of Steel

[RUSHHEAD666]

Test For Echo for sure.

 

 

Neil changed his drumming style and hearing Geddy sing "Net Boy Net Girl" is totally lame.

 

Dog Years?

 

Lyrically Neil's worst album.

 

 

Caved in Cop Cars

 

Totem lyrics

 

 

Half the World over and over and over again?

 

 

It's my turn to drive.

 

 

Time to drive the Red Barchetta right into a brick wall.

[treeduck]

QUOTE (RUSHHEAD666 @ Jan 5 2007, 12:18 AM)

Test For Echo for sure. Neil changed his drumming style and hearing Geddy sing "Net Boy Net Girl" is totally lame. Dog Years? Lyrically Neil's worst album. Caved in Cop Cars Totem lyrics Half the World over and over and over again? It's my turn to drive. Time to drive the Red Barchetta right into a brick wall.

The drumming is fantastic on that album mate not to mention the drum sound, it really sounds full and resonate, especially the snare which was weak on Roll the Bones and Presto. It's like he's playing in your living room...

 

There's a few songs on T4E that still have me scratching my head now and then but overall it's grown on me after not really liking it for a few years and 8/11 tracks I really enjoy...

[goose]

Hold Your Fire, for me. Just don't like the direction the band took. It appears Kudzu & I are worlds apart as to what we like of RUSH, as CofS is at the top of my list. Oh, well...

 

[ReRushed]

Presto. I listen to it the least. In fact, I never made it all the way through.

[Kudzu]

QUOTE (ReRushed @ Jan 4 2007, 11:08 PM)

Presto. I listen to it the least. In fact, I never made it all the way through.

Oh, please do.

[BaldiePete]

RtB - a good first song then its rapidy downhill from there on. Bland corporate pap-rock.

[Finbar]

QUOTE (goose @ Jan 5 2007, 12:57 AM)

Hold Your Fire, for me. Just don't like the direction the band took. It appears Kudzu & I are worlds apart as to what we like of RUSH, as CofS is at the top of my list. Oh, well...

For what it's worth, I think Caress of Steel is a jagged, demonic masterpiece.

[Finbar]

QUOTE (ReRushed @ Jan 5 2007, 01:08 AM)

Presto. I listen to it the least. In fact, I never made it all the way through.

Yeah! See, that's the thing... The four Rush albums I really hate are Presto, Roll the Bones (until recently that is. Now I really dig it, and I'm actually listening to Roll the Bones right now!) Counterparts and Test for Echo. Of the four of them, despite my hate for them, I've never had any trouble getting through the whole things except for Presto.

So... there ya go!

 

Now I'm glad I voted for Presto over Counterparts and Test for Echo. I wasn't sure which to choose, but something told me to vote for Presto, and now I'm glad I did. Thanks for helping me put my finger on it, bud!

[Kudzu]

QUOTE (Finbar @ Jan 5 2007, 12:16 AM)

QUOTE (ReRushed @ Jan 5 2007, 01:08 AM) Presto.  I listen to it the least.  In fact, I never made it all the way through. Yeah! See, that's the thing... The four Rush albums I really hate are Presto, Roll the Bones (until recently that is. Now I really dig it, and I'm actually listening to Roll the Bones right now!) Counterparts and Test for Echo. Of the four of them, despite my hate for them, I've never had any trouble getting through the whole things except for Presto. So... there ya go!   Now I'm glad I voted for Presto over Counterparts and Test for Echo. I wasn't sure which to choose, but something told me to vote for Presto, and now I'm glad I did. Thanks for helping me put my finger on it, bud! You need to listen to "Show Don't Tell", "The Pass", and "Available Light".

[treeduck]

QUOTE (Kudzu @ Jan 5 2007, 02:19 AM)

QUOTE (Finbar @ Jan 5 2007, 12:16 AM) QUOTE (ReRushed @ Jan 5 2007, 01:08 AM) Presto.  I listen to it the least.  In fact, I never made it all the way through. Yeah! See, that's the thing... The four Rush albums I really hate are Presto, Roll the Bones (until recently that is. Now I really dig it, and I'm actually listening to Roll the Bones right now!) Counterparts and Test for Echo. Of the four of them, despite my hate for them, I've never had any trouble getting through the whole things except for Presto. So... there ya go!   Now I'm glad I voted for Presto over Counterparts and Test for Echo. I wasn't sure which to choose, but something told me to vote for Presto, and now I'm glad I did. Thanks for helping me put my finger on it, bud! You need to listen to "Show Don't Tell", "The Pass", and "Available Light". The vote's not going your way at the moment Kudzu...