Stealing Deckiller's Brilliant Idea

[Good,bad,andrush]

I promise I won't stop.

I'll try to post at least one song a day, but if I don't, I'll make up for it. For example, if I didn't post in 3 days, I'll post four songs on the fourth day.

I have really thick skin, so feel free to hate on me. But if you do, please remember that this is only my opinion--you still have your own. I don't mean to hurt anyone, and if I do, please take note that I absolutely love every Rush song, even the worst one.

I'm am trying to do this list by rating what songs are the best--not my favorite. Of course, some biases will fall into place...but I promise I will do my best.

The writing is very informal, at least until we get into songs that are more worth talking about. Remember, this is just for fun.

I am rating the songs on all 18 of their studio albums and the two newest ones from CA. Everything from Rush to S&A and the two new ones. I am excluding Feedback and early singles not on any albums.

The ratings list is from 0-10 by Rush standards. 0=good rock music, 10=rush masterpiece.

Anyway, here we go.

 

 

155. TAKE A FRIEND

.25/10

A hilarious and cheesy song, that still rocks nonetheless. It has a unique little intro, but it's nothing great. The lyrics are laughable, and the way their song are only unique, not amazing. The instrumentation is decent for Rush's standards, and there is nothing complex about this song. Basswork is unnoticeable, and drumming is nothing remarkable. That's really all there is to say about this song.

 

154. NEED SOME LOVE

.25/10

A Led Zeppelin wannabe; this song has lyrics that are remarkable. Remarkably silly, compared to future Rush songs about love. The musicians in this song may as well be Jimmy, John Paul, and John. This short song was probably really neat in the early seventies, mainly because it fit in with all other songs in this genre. It's a song that enjoyable to listen to, but there's not much else. Crying for love while playing Zeppelinesque music is always fun to do, but we'll come to learn that Rush is way above that. (Not bashing Led Zep, they're great in a completely different way.)

Edited December 15, 2010 by Good,bad,andrush

[Good,bad,andrush]

153.DOG YEARS

.5/10

The complex melodies here and basswork are not enough to salvage the horribly cheesy lyrics. At least the rockin' (yet tacky) guitar riff fits the tacky lyrics. The drumming is actually very remarkable; one of Neil's best in my opinion. But it is unfortunate that it don't necessarily fit the song. Alex doesn't do much here except produce a rather inappropiate guitar sound (or appropriate if they were actually going for the cheesiness). There is no excellent instrumental part in this song, and Alex's solo goes by completely unnoticed. It's hardly even a solo, he just shreds with no goal in mind towards the end.

 

The "Tortoise from Galapagos" part was a nice melody and impressive basswork, with a rather dreamy guitar line, but the lyrics just ruin the potential.

 

The chorus and the opening two lines are equally cheesy. I bet the song would be better if Geddy didn't have to chant Dog Years so often. It sound like a Disney movie on the Disney channel.

 

I understand what the lyrics are about, but the metaphor and the way it's done is just not acceptable, at least for Rush. I don't think any musician would be able to put harmonious and complex rhythms to a song with lyrics like these. It's not so much the lyrics that I'm degrading, it's just that the execution is something that shouldn't have been done.

 

I will point out that this song has a killer drum fill, and the allusion to the Signals cover is neat, but that's really all the song has going for it.

[Good,bad,andrush]

152. FACE UP

.5/10

This song starts with a trippy guitar rhythm and excellent drumming, but then that odd synth thing comes in. And when Geddy begins singing, the song becomes automatically cheesy. That continues synth thing isn't all that bad; it is rather trippy and somewhat catchy, and it does blend into the song quite well, but this song suffers from the same Dog Years syndrome--the way the lyrics match the music is simply a "no."

 

Similar to Dog Years, this song can do without the "Face up" in the chorus. It is completely unneccessary. The "you get all squeezed up inside" part is pretty neat; if the song went in this direction, it would secure a higher rank. But it didn't go in this direction.

 

There's a smoking solo by Lerxst...but it last three seconds. Had he continued, I think he would've been able to do something vicious and unique.

 

The message in the lyrics is nice, but it seems kind of odd for Rush to be doing that. The way the lyrics are written though--that's a different story, and it isn't so nice. The drumming is pretty neat here, but that's about all there is to it.

[Tony R]

Please stop.

 

[slappa_da_bass]

QUOTE (Tony R @ Dec 15 2010, 03:05 PM)

Please stop.

But he already promised.....

[barchetta90480]

... and Face Up is one of the BETTER songs on Roll the Bones ...

... which says more about Roll the bones than it does about Face Up, I'm afraid.

 

[Good,bad,andrush]

151.BEST I CAN

.75/10

After being blown away by Anthem, you're treated to some nice drum fill intro, and then you're taken back to the debut album. While this song is probably above a decent rock n' roll song, and it's probably harder to play than most other popular rock songs, it suffers from the "basic" syndrome. It would be at home on the debut album.

 

Because Fly By Night is the first album recorded with Pratt, it symbolizes the changes that would soon come. This album is a crucial album because it contains a little bit of what they would end up writing, and it shows them moving away from their influences and toward becoming their own band.

 

It has a rocking riff, it has nice drumming (both Rutsey's and Peart's drumming are remarkable), and a nice little bassline. But it's just too basic. It's forgettable when compared to later Rush classics. There's nothing to it really, and it's incredibly outdated now.

[Good,bad,andrush]

150.I THINK I'M GOING BALD

.75/10

A catchy song with upbeat rhythms. It's got tacky but funny and somewhat intriguing lyrics, i.e. "once we would take water, but now it must be wine." But it still suffers from that basic rock syndrome, and that's sad. You would think that by now, they had gotten rid of basic rock music, but apparently they hadn't.

 

There's a catchy drum beat, but the bass is unnoticeable, and the guitar is just a heavier version of the riff from In The Mood. The weird noise at the beginning is completely irrelevant, and for that it loses point. Geddy's vocals are...interesting. Especially the way he says, "my way!"

 

Alex has a nice Jimmy Paige solo going there, and that's all there is to this song. This song is better to listen to if you don't expect it to be serious.

[tkdryan]

yes, i want to see where Marathon, Limelight, Cut to the Chase, and Half the World ranks, keep going dude,,,,

[Good,bad,andrush]

149.RIVENDELL

.75/10

All this song has is a nice acoustic melody and sweet fantasy lyrics. That's really it. I like that it foreshadowed the future fantasy songs they would come to write, but they did that in another, much better song on the same album.

 

Lyrically, it's like your regular fantasy poem, although it is more specifically referencing TLotR. No lyrics stand out; they just work together as a whole to paint a picture of a beautiful elfin land. The guitar does the same, but it is far to bland to be anything superb.

 

It'd be nice if there was some percussion on this song, or if it had a nice Lerxst solo...but it doesn't really.

 

 

[Tony R]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v619/reedlover/gifs/lip_quiver.gif

[Lamelight]

Great - finally somebody's going to do it! I'm also very interested to know what is your top 10 of Rush songs... Or actually top 50

[Good,bad,andrush]

148.IN THE MOOD

1/10

A straightforward dirty rock song. I like it's honesty, and that's about it. It has a nice catchy riff, and Alex does a hard to hear triplet during the chorus that sounds great if you can hear it. The drums unfortunately are unremarkable, except for I guess cowbell. The bass isn't doing anything too unique either.

 

But this song suffers mainly because it's a Zeppelin wannabe, and it has very poorly written lyrics. Completely horrific for Rush to write about that; I'm so glad Neil took over lyrics, or else we'd probably still have some of these similar songs...egh...

 

Anyway, this unremarkable song gets boring after listening to it over time, and there's nothing else to it.

[Derxst]

Nails on a chalkboard

[Good,bad,andrush]

147.YOU BET YOUR LIFE

1/10

Just another song we can disregard. The music in this song is really average for Rush, and it seems rather uninspired. The horrible production doesn't really help either; it just makes the music seem like background noise at a child's party. And whoever is singing the "The odds get even" part does not sound like a member of Rush. This part also suffers from the same thing Face Up and Dog Years do, the repeated chanting of cheesy lyrics.

 

Alex's guitar tones are decent here, and would sound nicer if they were perhaps placed elsewhere. His solo is actually pretty good, but it could have been longer, or the music should fit it better. The drumming is too basic for Neil, and the way the song fades away is just a failure.

 

The middle section is really fun to sing along to, and it reminds me a whole bunch of Billy Joel's "We Didn't Start The Fire." But let's just say Billy does it better in this scenario.

 

Lyrically, the song is decent. That same middle section is probably the highlight of the song, in terms of lyrics, because of the various contradicting types of persons...but it's just a list really; they're not tied together in a provocative way.

 

 

 

146.WHAT YOU'RE DOING

1.25/10

Killer riff. I love Heartbreaker...oops did I say that?

Yeah, this song sounds a little too much like Zep's Heartbreaker, only faster. Rutsey does a very good job on this track, I think, as does Alex, even if he sounds like Jimmy x 10. Really nice solo here.

 

And that's it, for What You're Doing.

[That One Guy]

Kudos to taking the idea. May your list have be more complete than Deckillers!

[Mr. Not]

QUOTE (Tony R @ Dec 15 2010, 12:05 PM)

Please stop.

[ColdFireYYZ]

I don't agree with anything you posted so far , but keep going! I like seeing how other Rush fans rank songs and how different everyones' opinions are.

[Good,bad,andrush]

145.SECOND NATURE

1.5/10

This sounds like a song that would roll in the credits at the end of cheesy sports movie. Lyrically, it's not too strong either. It has a decent thesis, but nothing that's particularly moving. Don't get me wrong; the lyrics are powerful, but when compared to other similar Rush lyrics...these are just meh.

 

I think Rush is above that cheesy keyboard intro, even though it may sound nice. But a lot of songs on HyF suffer from this casio keyboard sound. Throughout the song, nothing remarkable happens, and it seems to drag on a little too long.

 

One lyric that stands out in particularly though, "We fight the fires...while we're feeding the flames." It's a somewhat hackneyed concept, but at the same time, it's a pretty powerful lyric.

[slappa_da_bass]

How is Second Nature worse than At The Speed of Love??? Okay, I'm giving up now.

[Silas Lang]

I take it you're not much of a fan of '70s heavy rock. Rush is one of the absolute finest of that style. And NO WAY are Take A Friend, Need Some Love, Best I Can, I Think I'm Going Bald and especially What You're Doing among their ten worst tracks.

[wrekinboy]

QUOTE (Good @ bad,andrush,Dec 16 2010, 03:49 AM)

150.I THINK I'M GOING BALD .75/10 A catchy song with upbeat rhythms. It's got tacky but funny and somewhat intriguing lyrics, i.e. "once we would take water, but now it must be wine." But it still suffers from that basic rock syndrome, and that's sad. You would think that by now, they had gotten rid of basic rock music, but apparently they hadn't. There's a catchy drum beat, but the bass is unnoticeable, and the guitar is just a heavier version of the riff from In The Mood. The weird noise at the beginning is completely irrelevant, and for that it loses point. Geddy's vocals are...interesting. Especially the way he says, "my way!" Alex has a nice Jimmy Paige solo going there, and that's all there is to this song. This song is better to listen to if you don't expect it to be serious.

 

 

There are several reasons why you should go no further with this;

 

-taking the idea and copying it so closely is just not right; an 'epic fail' in modern parlance

-once somebody has done it then it should be left, otherwise we'll have countless attempts at all 155

-you are a little on the young side to be making such judgemental statements on the music and especially the lyrics; having an opinion at any age is fine, but you should watch how you deliver it

-a lot is already plain wrong (e.g. the water/wine lyric above is neither tacky or funny - it makes perfect sense in the context of a song about advancing age)

-if you are not even going to spell correctly the names of rock legends.....

[GeddysMullet]

I think it's laughable that people get so uptight about this. I mean, come on, it's just some opinion on a forum. Stay out of the thread if it twists your knickers this much!

[J2112YYZ]

You were doing good until you put Second Nature so low.

[wrekinboy]

QUOTE (GeddysMullet @ Dec 17 2010, 03:06 PM)

I think it's laughable that people get so uptight about this.  I mean, come on, it's just some opinion on a forum.  Stay out of the thread if it twists your knickers this much!

 

Indeed it is just a forum for opinions - so why do I have to stay out of it?

 

Not that my knickers are twisted - in fact I am sitting here as calm as a very calm thing - but even if they were why can't I express my knicker-twistedness?