winter17

There are many times when I wish I was born in a different time period, and this is one of those. Because of my age, I would have only been able to attend a few tours, starting with the Vapor Trails Tour. I probably wouldn't even have vivid memories of any of them until at least Snakes and Arrows. I wish I would've been able to attend Rush concerts from every tour, following them as they progressed and not as they were winding down. Since about 2012, Rush has been about 95% of what I listen to (even more so now), but when I saw them for R40 I unfortunately only knew about half of the setlist. Ever since R40, I have completely engulfed myself in Rush, and I could recognize and sing along to just about everything. And perhaps that is the biggest reason I'm disappointed that they are done touring, because I will never see a show where I know all of the songs live.

Yes! That's happened many times with me. Most recently with Ghost Rider

What is the best live song(s) you've heard in person, or best performance? Since I've only been to four concerts, I have limited choices. I'd say: The Garden from CA Tour Working Man from TM Tour Set 2 and Encore from R40

Time Stand Still A world of difference A world so out of touch

Losing It with Jonathan Dinklage Xanadu 2112 The Garden from the CA Tour Natural Science Limelight Working Man from Time Machine La Villa Strangiato The Wreckers Ghost Rider

Most Overrated: What a tough choice. A year ago, I would've said a song from their earlier albums since I didn't know even half of all Rush songs then. But now, after "discovering" every Rush song and listening to all eras a significant amount, I have a newfound appreciation for their Rush-2112 songs. So, I'm going to have to go with "Distant Early Warning." The song is good, don't get me wrong, but it never really grabbed my attention like some of their other songs. Most Underrated: Once again, and incredibly tough choice. I'm going to say "Losing It," even though that's a very controversial choice. Even though there is a featured part not played by Geddy, Alex, or Neil, once you get over that an appreciate the music for the music, it truly is an amazing piece. The way all of the parts work together to create an atmosphere of slight sadness is incredible, and the lyrics are one of the best illustrations of Neil's writing abilities. The violin solo gives me chills every time, especially when Jonathan Dinklage played it live. The only thing I don't like about the song is the fade out, since there is such a climactic build to the final lines, and then a very anticlimactic fade.

Digital Man The sun is still a rumor And the night is still a threat

How'd you like to nurture my garden?

I agree that the bones of the story were good. There was so much that could have been done with this character and the story but it was dropped in favor of juvenilistic drivel. The book seemed really hurriedly written with very little thought given to fleshing out the story. I'm not sure Anderson can write at a more mature level. I was extremely disappointed with the book. Maybe when my son is 12 I will let him read it, since that's the age it is written to. Just have him read Candide. There are no new story ideas out there but this was just a pitiful excuse for a book. Candide? ;) Yes, Neil and Kevin ripped off Candide. I think he gives credit to Candide in the afterword.

Lotus Land is my personal favorite Rush cover band.

Is Owen's journey a reflection of Neil's life? Neil gets restless with suburban life, Owen wants to explore the outside world Neil is thrilled about touring and recording with Rush, Owen is excited and overwhelmed by what he finds Neil settles in by about 2112, Owen settles in with the Carnies Later on, Neil isn't nearly as excited about touring (his halo effect of a musician's life), Owen finds that Francesca isn't everything he expected. Neil's life is blown up by the passing of his wife and daughter, Owen is ultimately disturbed by the Wreckers, as a culmination of many terrible surprises In the end, Neil is content with Rush and wouldn't change anything, but wouldn't necessarily want to start up again (different from living it again), while Owen wouldn't change a thing about his journey but wants to stay settled down in his garden What do you think? Even if it wasn't intentional, perhaps it was a subconscious way for Neil to come up with the storyline?

I don't know if it's just me, but I had always heard that Middletown Dreams was similar to Subdivisions in the sense that it was a critique of suburban life. After listening to the song, I never understood what the relation was, what the lyrics were trying to say, even though it was one of my favorite songs. It was only in the past week or so that I truly realized what it all meant; the worker getting restless at his monotonous job, the boy who's natural talents are stifled, and the mother who would have been a pop star but is instead left to dream about it. This, I believe, is one of Neil's strongest lyrical moments.

I, by no means, hate side 2 of 2112. In fact, The Twilight Zone and Tears consistently rank in my top 30 Rush songs, along with Something For Nothing and A Passage to Bangkok. However, what I'm saying is that Circumstances, The Trees, and La Villa Strangiato, in my opinion, are better than the side 2 2112 songs. Honestly, I don't know that I've ever called a Rush song bad. That includes Tai Shan, Dog Years, and even BU2B2, if that counts. In fact, I listen to all of them and enjoy all of them. And, like many others have said, my favorite album/song changes with the day. It just comes down to the fact that all of the songs on Hemispheres are fan favorites among most fans, whereas on most other albums there's at least one song that some fans may consider "bad" or "not as good." There are examples of "that" song from each album. Rush - Take a Friend. Alright music, lyrics are painful at times. Fly By Night - Rivendell. Once again, I love the song, it's just not nearly as interesting to the majority of fans, from what I can tell. Caress of Steel - I Think I'm Going Bald. Same as Take a Friend. 2112 - Tears. Same as Rivendell. A Farewell to Kings - Madrigal. Same as Rivendell. Hemispheres - none. Permanent Waves - Different Strings. I love the song, and by the standards of best overall song quality, this album would be second. But Different Strings is the only thing that makes me hesitate. Moving Pictures - Vital Signs. It's a good song, just doesn't match up to Circumstances or The Trees in my opinion. Signals - I'd say Losing It. I love the song, and it is usually in my top 5 Rush songs. But that's mainly because of the lyrics, so it doesn't quite equate to Hemispheres. Grace Under Pressure - Red Lenses. It never kept my interest. Power Windows - Big Money. Seems really repetitive to me. Hold Your Fire - Tai Shan. Just weird. Presto - Scars. Too many effects and synths. Roll the Bones - Neurotica. Like Red Lenses, never caught my interest. Counterparts - Alien Shore. The vocals never seemed quite up to par with most over vocals. Test For Echo - Dog Years. The lyrics give a great metaphor, but aren't graceful if that makes sense. Vapor Trails - Peaceable Kingdom. The vocals seemed crowded, like there is too much going on. Snakes and Arrows - Bravest Face. The melody and guitar seem forced. Clockwork Angels - BU2B2, for obvious reasons. Once again, I like every Rush song, because each offers something another cannot. But in terms of complexity, musicianship, collaboration between all of the parts, and listenability, Hemispheres seems to take the cake. Please don't turn this into a "worst song from each album" thread, I just figured since I created the thread, I'd offer my defense.

To anyone who uses Spotify, as I do, have you ever created Rush-specific playlists? All but one of mine are Rush specific, but have you ever ranked them? I have: Top 132 Rush Songs (the songs I know just about word for word) New Rush (the songs I'm still learning) Top 13 Live Rush Songs (there are repeats, and it is very much so in progress) Best Song from Each Album What about you? Please give your Spotify username so we can see them as well. My username is ericmichael1116

No, this is not a poll. Here's the full question: is Hemispheres the best Rush album, just going off of total individual sound quality? For example, I think we can all agree 2112 was a great album, but Tears, Lessons, and The Twilight Zone aren't top tier Rush songs. However, with Hemispheres, it's just about unanimous that Cygnus X-1: Book 2, La Villa Strangiato, The Trees, and Circumstances all fit into that top tier. So on that basis, what do you think?

Slow Friday so I get to over think this. I'll swap La Villa for The Trees and TMMB for The Larger Bowl. Power Windows I always found to be a solid album. Hold Your Fire was ok, but still had good "ride your bike to a friend's house in the summer" tracks, like Time Stand Still, Lock and Key, and Mission.

Rush: Working Man Fly By Night: Beneath, Between, and Behind Caress of Steel: Lakeside Park 2112: 2112 A Farewell to Kings: Xanadu Hemispheres: La Villa Strangiato Permanent Waves: Natural Science Moving Pictures: Limelight Signals: Losing It Grace Under Pressure: Between the Wheels Power Windows: Marathon Hold Your Fire: Lock and Key Presto: The Pass Roll the Bones: Roll the Bones Counterparts: Nobody's Hero Test for Echo: Driven Vapor Trails: Earthshine Snakes and Arrows: Armor and Sword Clockwork Angels: The Garden For a nearly complete list of my full rankings of all Rush songs, go to Spotify, search for the user ericmichael1116, and find the Playlist that says Top (number) Rush songs (the number changes as I add songs).

IN THIS ORDER Circumstances, as from S&A Tour Between the Wheels Marathon Losing It, with Jonathan Dinklage In the Mood Natural Science Limelight Xanadu Hemispheres, full song ENCORE: 2112, full song, and Working Man, as from the Time Machine tour

A lot of stuff off of Power Windows: Middletown Dreams Mystic Rhythms Marathon Also Between the Wheels, The Weapon, Armor and Sword, Resist, Bravado, Circumstances, Cygnus X-1 Book 1, and a plethora of others

From Far Cry "F***ing with strangers and speaking in tongue"

Losing It, Between the Wheels, Circumstances, The Garden, Rush song x, Rush song y, just about any Rush song honestly.

I forgot to mention Xanadu from Exit Stage Left.

1) The Fountain Of Lamneth (YYZumbi) 2) The Anarchist (Cyclonus X-1) 3) Spirit Of The Radio(Surrender74) 4) Cygnus X1 Book I (Lucas) 5) La Villa Strangiato (rushfreak101) 6) Cinderella Man (treeduck) 7) Freewill (JohnRogers) 8) Natural Science (a rocket that ignites itself) 9) Xanadu (Brucey) 10) 2112 (Airship2112) 11) Cygnus X-1 Book ll: Hemispheres (Gabrielgil513) 12) Emotion Detector (Cyclonus X-1) 13) The Camera Eye (g under p) 14) Jacob's Ladder (bean-tor) 15) The Trees (Disembodied Spirit) 16) Tom Sawyer(Surrender74) 17) The Necromancer (Lucas) 18) A Farewell to Kings (treeduck) 19) Limelight (a rocket that ignites itself) 20) Closer to the heart (Airship2112) 21) Cut To The Chase (GeddyLeeGenes) 22) Armor and Sword (wdd200) 23) Territories (KW84) 24) Red Sector A (YYZumbi) 25) Headlong Flight (g under p) 26) Animate (Cyclonus X-1) 27) Working Man(Surrender74) 28) Circumstances (Gabrielgil513) 29) Red Barchetta (treeduck) 30) Bytor and the Snow dog (Airship2112) 31) The Garden (Brucey) 32) Garden Road ( Lucas ) 33) Here Again (Union) 34) Anthem (rushfreak101 35) One Little Victory (Wil1972) 36) Dreamline (a rocket that ignites itself) 37) Earthshine (g under p) 38) The Big Money(Surrender74) 39) You Can't Fight It (ReRushed) 40) YYZ (treeduck) 41 Roll the Bones (DirkPrattLerxst) 42) In The End (rushfreak101) 43) A Passage To Bangkok (Lucas) 44) Red Lenses (Union) 45) Losing It (Disembodied Spirit) 46) What You're Doing (gabrielgil513) 47) Beneath, Between & Behind (TexMike) 48) Distant Early Warning(Surrender74) 49) Ceiling Unlimited (Wil1972) 50) Fly By Night (treeduck) 51) Subdivisions (a rocket that ignites itself) 52) Cold Fire (DirkPrattLerxst) 53) Bastille Day ( Lucas ) 54) The Enemy Within (KW84) 55) Prime Mover (rhyv) 56) Middletown Dreams (wdd2000) 57) Secret Touch (YYZumbi) 58) Out of the Cradle (Union) 59) Digital Man (wdd2000) 60) Kid Gloves (treeduck) 61) Between The Wheels (g under p) 62) Between Sun and Moon (Gabrielgil513) 63) Something For Nothing ( Lucas ) 64) The Pass (a rocket that ignites itself) 65) The Twilight Zone (rushfreak101) 66) Mystic Rhythms(Surrender74) 67) Lock and Key (DirkPrattLerxst) 68) Leave That Thing Alone (Cyclonus X-1) 69) Witch Hunt (treeduck) 70) Afterimage (g under p) 71) Carnies (Wil1972) 72) Open Secrets (Brucey) 73) The Analog Kid (TexMike) 74) Lakeside Park ( Lucas ) 75) Mission (a rocket that ignites itself) 76) Driven (Gabrielgil513 77) Double Agent (Leave my thing Alone) 78) Different Strings (Rushfreak101) 79) Entre Nous (treeduck) 80) The Color of Right (Cyclonus X-1) 81) Time and Motion (DirkPrattLerxst) 82) Time Stand Still(Surrender74) 83) The Body Electric (g under p) 84) Vapor Trail (Wil1972) 85) Caravan (Bruce) 86) The Weapon (ericimichael1116)

I've seen so many threads where Geddy's worst moments are talked about. How about his best? This is fairly straightforward. I mean both on an album or live. In no particular order: Losing It Middletown Dreams, the first verse or so The last chorus of Between the Wheels, live Circumstances from the Snakes tour What are your choices?

Grace Under Pressure P/G Oh ok. Thanks