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All 156 songs, ranked and reviewed by Deckiller


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QUOTE (SlackJaw Gazer @ Apr 19 2012, 03:54 PM)
This list is a fail of epic proportions. Available light in the top 20? Losing It at 22? And I havent even read the rest of the thread...

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Old Rush good, Post-MP bad, New Rush worse, right?

 

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19. "The Pass"

 

This is a beautiful song - I think most of us can agree on that. The choruses are full of emotion, and Geddy's delivery of the line, "Christ, what have you done?", packs a punch without being over the top. I also love that simple, popping bassline that plays a bit of "call and answer" with Alex's guitar bursts during the verses. It's not a technically complex piece, at least to my ears, but it just fits the rather dark and tragic nature of this song. Sythesizers are used very tastefully in this song, serving to accentuate or differentiate certain passages and melodies; one notable example is in the second verse.

 

As good as the verses are, what really makes this song stand out are the choruses and...yes, I am going to say this...the production job by Rupert Hine. But more on the production later - I want to gush about the choruses first! They are bursting at the seams with the raw energy of desperation and, ultimately, despair and confusion. Every time I hear the choruses, I almost get a little misty. This song was pretty personal to me, as I had a friend who was feeling suicidal around the time that I first listened to Presto. And Rush feel attached to this song as well; they've said point-blank that it's "one of [their] very favorites". I've seen Neil show some real emotion when playing the final chorus - one that packs a greater punch after Lifeson's brief solo and Geddy's "Christ" line. In a lot of ways, that's the true test of a song's emotional worth: does the chorus feel more satisfying after the bridge? In this song, it sure as hell does - Geddy's delivery of the "Christ" line turns the song upside down. We failed to convince the person; s/he did the deed. And now we look back in that last chorus and reflect at what happened, with the chorus serving as the message that we wanted to tell the person...but couldn't or didn't?! Makes you wonder! Powerful stuff.

 

This song is a good example of tasteful balance, and - as I've said in previous postings - that's Rupert Hine's strength as a Rush producer. His Rush productions may seem a little flat, but they're well mixed and all the instruments are balanced. This song and "Available Light" are not "loud" or booming from an instrumental angle - they get their emotional punch from the lyrics, the singing, and the interplay of the instruments. This is in stark contrast to "Face Up" or "Superconductor", two songs that lack the deep and rich instrumental 'punch' they desperately need.

Edited by Deckiller
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QUOTE (Deckiller @ Apr 19 2012, 07:07 PM)
19. "The Pass"

This is a beautiful song - I think most of us can agree on that. The choruses are full of emotion, and Geddy's delivery of the line, "Christ, what have you done?", packs a punch without being over the top. I also love that simple, popping bassline that plays a bit of "call and answer" with Alex's guitar bursts during the verses. It's not a technically complex piece, at least to my ears, but it just fits the rather dark and tragic nature of this song. Sythesizers are used very tastefully in this song, serving to accentuate or differentiate certain passages and melodies; one notable example is in the second verse.

As good as the verses are, what really makes this song stand out are the choruses and...yes, I am going to say this...the production job by Rupert Hine. But more on the production later - I want to gush about the choruses first! They are bursting at the seams with the raw energy of desperation and, ultimately, despair and confusion. Every time I hear the choruses, I almost get a little misty. This song was pretty personal to me, as I had a friend who was feeling suicidal around the time that I first listened to Presto. And Rush feel attached to this song as well; they've said point-blank that it's "one of [their] very favorites". I've seen Neil show some real emotion when playing the final chorus - one that packs a greater punch after Lifeson's brief solo and Geddy's "Christ" line. In a lot of ways, that's the true test of a song's emotional worth: does the chorus feel more satisfying after the bridge? In this song, it sure as hell does - Geddy's delivery of the "Christ" line turns the song upside down. We failed to convince the person; s/he did the deed. And now we look back in that last chorus and reflect at what happened, with the chorus serving as the message that we wanted to tell the person...but couldn't or didn't?! Makes you wonder! Powerful stuff.

This song is a good example of tasteful balance, and - as I've said in previous postings - that's Rupert Hine's strength as a Rush producer. His Rush productions may seem a little flat, but they're well mixed and all the instruments are balanced. This song and "Available Light" are not "loud" or booming from an instrumental angle - they get their emotional punch from the lyrics, the singing, and the interplay of the instruments. And that's why these songs benefit from Hine's work and are not hindered by it (e.g. "Face Up" or "Superconductor", two songs that lack the deep and rich instrumental 'punch' they desperately need).

goodpost.gif 1022.gif Love seeing' Presto songs getting the respect they deserve! 1022.gif

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Thanks for all the feedback, guys - both positive and negative. As for Presto, granted...I started off this thread with some criticism hurled in the direction of Presto/RtB, but I'll be coming full circle in this top 20 by giving those albums credit where credit is certainly due in my eyes biggrin.gif

 

But we're all different, and that's what makes Rush so awesome. It's not like ranking the episodes of Lost, where there's a pretty unanimous consensus on where most of the episodes stand. One Rush fan's favorite song could be another fan's least favorite!

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QUOTE (Tommy Sawyer @ Apr 19 2012, 06:10 PM)
QUOTE (Deckiller @ Apr 19 2012, 07:07 PM)
19. "The Pass"

This is a beautiful song - I think most of us can agree on that. The choruses are full of emotion, and Geddy's delivery of the line, "Christ, what have you done?", packs a punch without being over the top. I also love that simple, popping bassline that plays a bit of "call and answer" with Alex's guitar bursts during the verses. It's not a technically complex piece, at least to my ears, but it just fits the rather dark and tragic nature of this song. Sythesizers are used very tastefully in this song, serving to accentuate or differentiate certain passages and melodies; one notable example is in the second verse.

As good as the verses are, what really makes this song stand out are the choruses and...yes, I am going to say this...the production job by Rupert Hine. But more on the production later - I want to gush about the choruses first! They are bursting at the seams with the raw energy of desperation and, ultimately, despair and confusion. Every time I hear the choruses, I almost get a little misty. This song was pretty personal to me, as I had a friend who was feeling suicidal around the time that I first listened to Presto. And Rush feel attached to this song as well; they've said point-blank that it's "one of [their] very favorites". I've seen Neil show some real emotion when playing the final chorus - one that packs a greater punch after Lifeson's brief solo and Geddy's "Christ" line. In a lot of ways, that's the true test of a song's emotional worth: does the chorus feel more satisfying after the bridge? In this song, it sure as hell does - Geddy's delivery of the "Christ" line turns the song upside down. We failed to convince the person; s/he did the deed. And now we look back in that last chorus and reflect at what happened, with the chorus serving as the message that we wanted to tell the person...but couldn't or didn't?! Makes you wonder! Powerful stuff.

This song is a good example of tasteful balance, and - as I've said in previous postings - that's Rupert Hine's strength as a Rush producer. His Rush productions may seem a little flat, but they're well mixed and all the instruments are balanced. This song and "Available Light" are not "loud" or booming from an instrumental angle - they get their emotional punch from the lyrics, the singing, and the interplay of the instruments. And that's why these songs benefit from Hine's work and are not hindered by it (e.g. "Face Up" or "Superconductor", two songs that lack the deep and rich instrumental 'punch' they desperately need).

goodpost.gif 1022.gif Love seeing' Presto songs getting the respect they deserve! 1022.gif

yes.gif

 

Totally with you guys on this!

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QUOTE (Deckiller @ Apr 19 2012, 06:15 PM)
Thanks for all the feedback, guys - both positive and negative. As for Presto, granted...I started off this thread with some criticism hurled in the direction of Presto/RtB, but I'll be coming full circle in this top 20 by giving those albums credit where credit is certainly due in my eyes biggrin.gif

But we're all different, and that's what makes Rush so awesome. It's not like ranking the episodes of Lost, where there's a pretty unanimous consensus on where most of the episodes stand. One Rush fan's favorite song could be another fan's least favorite!

Again, totally agree. I have said the (almost) same words myself. Keep them reviews coming!!

 

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18. "Emotion Detector"

 

This is going to be a long write-up, and most of it will be tangential to this song. I've had a lot of built-up things to say. Sorry if it seems disorganized; I'm going to leave it as raw as I can.

 

This song is bloody fantastic.

 

I can't say enough about the synths in this song. This is synth work at its finest. THIS is where all those years of experimenting paid dividends. The keyboards in this song are just so beautiful, ethereal, and powerful. They paint a vivid landscape of a futuristic city built in the frontier that may seem cold and distant as you approach it at night, but then the sun rises and you see that everything in front of you is personalized. It's not quite as uniform as we would expect - there are variations in architecture and the interiors are still pretty damn personalized! It's a landscape that serves as the antithesis of the suburbs in "Subdivisions". For the future, it's very...human.

 

Power Windows in general sounds like it could be the soundtrack of a tasteful, character-driven scifi series. It's cold and futuristic, but at the same time full of the "goodness of humanity": care, pride, optimism. Rush can be very effective when they take the role of disciplined, gentle giants.

 

This song - and this album, really - could also be the soundtrack to an alternate version of 2112's world, where music and culture won out but technology continued to flourish.

 

The beautiful synths resonate with us...they are a celebration of our uniqueness as individuals, and how our identities and our ability to forge our identities gives us something to live for. If we're all the same, then we lose our individuality and our will to live. We will self destruct if we lose our identities as people, and we will become mindless husks like the ones seen in Mass Effect. And if we're all like that...well, then the world will turn into that which is seen in 2112.

 

We humans can still flourish in the future, even if things become more sterile as a consequence of technology. There's nothing wrong with a realistic vision of the future that is still optimistic. And that's one of the things Rush are the best at conveying: realistic optimism. You hear it in their lyrics, in their careful use of major chords, and in their interviews.

 

The melodies are beautiful, as are the synths. Granted, Lifeson took a backseat in this period and Neil emphasized timbre over technique, but the songs are timeless and crafted from the heart. They NEVER lost that ability; they just changed their sound and emphasis over the years. I mean, come on: instruments are a vehicle for music. If you're about to reunite with your long lost wife, who cares if she comes home on a plane or a train? It doesn't matter to me - as long as the instruments are played well, sound good, feel good, and blend together nicely with the melodies. And by god, the synths certainly helped Geddy construct some beautiful melodies - at Alex's expense, sadly.

 

And I'm going to be honest here: the synths may have reduced Alex's role, but they sure as hell helped elevate his soloing. On this song in particular, he didn't have much room to work in the verses and choruses, so he compensated by unleashing what might be his best solo (or close to it). I envision it as a powerful beast being caged up, its owner waiting for the right moment to unleash it upon the crowd. Every note of the guitar solo is brilliant. Should we, the audience, use the solo and the song as an...emotion detector for Alex during this time period? Could the solo be conveying his frustrations about being so...restricted?

 

It's understandable why they couldn't sustain this period. Alex is an important creative force in the band, and most of their best material is written with him at the helm with the other two boys. I just feel that the "synth era experiment" paid dividends for Rush for a period of time, with one of those dividends being this gem.

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Wow! Impressive.

Here are the songs jockeying for a shot at #1:

 

(in alphabetical order)

 

2112

Cygnus X-1 Book II

Different Strings

Freewill

Ghost of a Chance

La Villa Strangiato

Limelight

Lock and Key

Marathon

Mystic Rhythms

Natural Science

Subdivisions

The Spirit of Radio

Tom Sawyer

Working Man

Xanadu

YYZ

Edited by Animate
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QUOTE (Deckiller @ Apr 19 2012, 07:08 PM)
All great songs, for sure!

Just to clarify a few things: I truly believe that we must live together or we will die alone. But we all need an identity as well. That's what makes us human.

That is a beautiful sentiment. It does take courage to come on here and give strong opinions on a subject that people feel very passionate about.

 

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I also just realized that there's some real irony in the way I envision the music of Power Windows when compared to the actual lyrical content. That's another great thing about Rush: the music doesn't necessarily have to complement or match the lyrics.

 

Edited by Deckiller
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QUOTE (Animate @ Apr 19 2012, 07:04 PM)
Wow!  Impressive.
Here are the songs jockeying for a shot at #1:

(in alphabetical order)

2112
Cygnus X-1 Book II
Different Strings
Freewill
Ghost of a Chance
La Villa Strangiato
Limelight
Lock and Key
Marathon
Mystic Rhythms
Natural Science
Subdivisions
The Spirit of Radio
Tom Sawyer
Working Man
Xanadu
YYZ

God, I freakin' love all those songs! wub.gif wub.gif

 

I could never choose favorites from that bunch. no.gif You have a formidable task ahead of you, OP.

Edited by CrossedSignals
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QUOTE (barchetta90480 @ Apr 24 2012, 03:55 AM)
Apart from the fact that the eight best Rush songs are - from bottom to top - Red Lenses, Kid Gloves, Between the Wheels, Body Electric, Afterimage, Enemy Within, Red Sector A and Distant Early Warning (Have I already mentioned that I have quite a soft spot for GUP in this forum?)

I love GUP too! wub.gif Every song is amazing! One of my favorite albums by any artist period.

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QUOTE (Animate @ Apr 19 2012, 07:04 PM)
Wow! Impressive.
Here are the songs jockeying for a shot at #1:

(in alphabetical order)

2112
Cygnus X-1 Book II
Different Strings
Freewill
Ghost of a Chance
La Villa Strangiato
Limelight
Lock and Key
Marathon
Mystic Rhythms
Natural Science
Subdivisions
The Spirit of Radio
Tom Sawyer
Working Man
Xanadu
YYZ

These songs are all great sans Ghost of a Chance. Been reading this thread for a couple hours and you had me livid a few times Deckiller but overall this is shaping up to be an agreeable list when it comes to mine! I'm glad someone likes the synth era as much as I do. 1022.gif

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QUOTE (Deckiller @ Apr 19 2012, 07:03 PM)
18. "Emotion Detector"

This is going to be a long write-up, and most of it will be tangential to this song. I've had a lot of built-up things to say. Sorry if it seems disorganized; I'm going to leave it as raw as I can.

This song is bloody fantastic.

I can't say enough about the synths in this song. This is synth work at its finest. THIS is where all those years of experimenting paid dividends. The keyboards in this song are just so beautiful, ethereal, and powerful. They paint a vivid landscape of a futuristic city built in the frontier that may seem cold and distant as you approach it at night, but then the sun rises and you see that everything in front of you is personalized. It's not quite as uniform as we would expect - there are variations in architecture and the interiors are still pretty damn personalized! It's a landscape that serves as the antithesis of the suburbs in "Subdivisions". For the future, it's very...human.

Power Windows in general sounds like it could be the soundtrack of a tasteful, character-driven scifi series. It's cold and futuristic, but at the same time full of the "goodness of humanity": care, pride, optimism. Rush can be very effective when they take the role of disciplined, gentle giants.

This song - and this album, really - could also be the soundtrack to an alternate version of 2112's world, where music and culture won out but technology continued to flourish.

The beautiful synths resonate with us...they are a celebration of our uniqueness as individuals, and how our identities and our ability to forge our identities gives us something to live for. If we're all the same, then we lose our individuality and our will to live. We will self destruct if we lose our identities as people, and we will become mindless husks like the ones seen in Mass Effect. And if we're all like that...well, then the world will turn into that which is seen in 2112.

We humans can still flourish in the future, even if things become more sterile as a consequence of technology. There's nothing wrong with a realistic vision of the future that is still optimistic. And that's one of the things Rush are the best at conveying: realistic optimism. You hear it in their lyrics, in their careful use of major chords, and in their interviews.

The melodies are beautiful, as are the synths. Granted, Lifeson took a backseat in this period and Neil emphasized timbre over technique, but the songs are timeless and crafted from the heart. They NEVER lost that ability; they just changed their sound and emphasis over the years. I mean, come on: instruments are a vehicle for music. If you're about to reunite with your long lost wife, who cares if she comes home on a plane or a train? It doesn't matter to me - as long as the instruments are played well, sound good, feel good, and blend together nicely with the melodies. And by god, the synths certainly helped Geddy construct some beautiful melodies - at Alex's expense, sadly.

And I'm going to be honest here: the synths may have reduced Alex's role, but they sure as hell helped elevate his soloing. On this song in particular, he didn't have much room to work in the verses and choruses, so he compensated by unleashing what might be his best solo (or close to it). I envision it as a powerful beast being caged up, its owner waiting for the right moment to unleash it upon the crowd. Every note of the guitar solo is brilliant. Should we, the audience, use the solo and the song as an...emotion detector for Alex during this time period? Could the solo be conveying his frustrations about being so...restricted?

It's understandable why they couldn't sustain this period. Alex is an important creative force in the band, and most of their best material is written with him at the helm with the other two boys. I just feel that the "synth era experiment" paid dividends for Rush for a period of time, with one of those dividends being this gem.

The fact that this song broke into the top 20 was justified enough for me to finally create an account here, after lurking on this topic since its inception.

 

Personally, this song is heavily underrated in my opinion, and this breaking the top 20 on this whole list (which is very impressive by the way) deserves the respect it didn't get before, among other songs. I personally love this song the best, and the whole Power Windows album. I completely understand why other people disliked this album, but one thing is for certain, Power Windows is the pinnacle of everything on what they can do, and then some.... well, at least in my opinion anyway.

 

Please, continue hammering away! biggrin.gif

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Some changes I plan on making when I do the revised rankings:

 

1. Flipping "Caravan" and "Armor and Sword"; Caravan is easily their best song since 1991, IMO.

 

2. Adding the Clockwork Angels songs. As it stands, Headlong Flight is probably around 70 or so.

 

3. Raising Lakeside Park about 30-40 spots. It's actually quite melodic and the guitar solo is VERY well done.

 

4. Raising You Can't Fight it, Take a Friend, and What You're Doing a few spots (about five to ten). None of these are as terrible as Dog Years, You Bet Your Life, Madrigal, and I Think I'm Going Bald. ohmy.gif

Edited by Deckiller
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QUOTE (Deckiller @ May 12 2012, 02:59 PM)
Some changes I plan on making when I do the revised rankings:

1. Flipping "Caravan" and "Armor and Sword"; Caravan is easily their best song since 1991, IMO.

2. Adding the Clockwork Angels songs. As it stands, Headlong Flight is probably around 70 or so.

3. Raising Lakeside Park about 30-40 spots. It's actually quite melodic and the guitar solo is VERY well done.

4. Raising You Can't Fight it, Take a Friend, and What You're Doing a few spots (about five to ten). None of these are as terrible as Dog Years, You Bet Your Life, Madrigal, and I Think I'm Going Bald. ohmy.gif

It would seem you have seen the light. trink39.gif

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17 days until Clockwork Angels. 17 songs to go!

 

(I...meant to do that. Seriously!)

 

17. "Different Strings"

 

This is a very unique song - it sounds so abnormal and awkward at times, yet it is still packed with feeling. The verses are pretty different, but it's the chorus that really stands out - even though the two sections flow into each other like a river. The song feels kinda sad and melancholy, but it's still beautiful.

 

There are two extremely notable parts of this song, I think: the first is the use of piano. Honestly, I think piano has been severely underused in Rush's catalog; but when they do use it, it's used extremely well (see "Second Nature" among others).

 

The second is the coda. Instead of ending with a refrain etc etc, the song tails off with an extended, blusey guitar solo. It's not one of Lifeson's most memorable or technical solos, but it fits the song like a glove and sets up the calm opening of "Natural Science" perfectly.

 

The melodies in this song are great, I must add. I can't really comment too much on the rhythm section, as this is a song first and foremost: not a display of chops. They serve the song really well, and prove here that they can hold back when needed. And a very interesting little song it is.

 

If you're looking for a good cover, check out Dream Theater's version. On the whole, I think this song is one of Geddy's best vocal and keyboard/piano performances. It's haunting, it's sad, but also beautiful. Kind of like a certain song off Roll the Bones that hasn't been mentioned in the rankings yet...

Edited by Deckiller
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QUOTE (GeddyLeeRoth @ Feb 25 2011, 12:09 AM)
QUOTE (kookaluka @ Feb 24 2011, 09:30 PM)
This has been an agonizing wait..........

Clockwork Angels will be out before this list is through, then he will have to start from scratch. 2014 is the magic number here folks.

LOL.gif

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