Northerner

There are songs by Rush that I’m probably a bit indifferent towards, but I can’t think of any that I actually dislike, or even any that try my patience.

I think the Allmans' first five albums represent the best of southern rock. Gregg had a great soulful voice, and I loved his Hammond playing. I am sorry to hear of his passing.

After Moonflower, it's hit-and-miss for me... Santana is probably my favourite guitarist, and the times I've seen the band perform stand among the best concerts I've been to. Despite being a huge fan I agree about the hit and miss. I think post-Moonflower albums Inner Secrets, Zebop, Shape Shifter and the latest release Santana IV are all very good. But I couldn't get on the bandwagon for Supernatural or the similar releases that followed featuring Santana collaborating with a variety of guest artists. They were very popular releases, I suppose, but I just didn't care for them at all.

The Who – Live At Leeds Eric Clapton & Steve Winwood – Live From Madison Square Gardens Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young – Four Way Street On a different day, I may have switched any of these with Fleetwood Mac – Live at The Boston Tea Party Vol. 1, Strawbs – A Colliection of Antiques & Curios, or Rush – ATWAS.

Interestingly, Counterparts was the album that rejuvenated my enthusiasm for "new" Rush after being underwhelmed by the previous four albums (PW to RtB). For me, it was a return to form.

Rush was my first favourite band in the mid 70s and they held that position for at least a few years until some point after '78 when I first heard Genesis and then started exploring their back catalogue. But Rush has stood the test of time, always a top 3 or top 4 band with me.

As a youth, I used to imagine scenarios where I would randomly encounter my musical heroes whether it be individual members of Rush or someone from any other band I liked. In my imagination, these artists would be receptive to my expressions of appreciation, and maybe even mildly intrigued as I revealed the depth of my familiarity with their work. That was total fantasy, of course. As an adult, I think if I encountered any of my musical heroes out in public, I might take a good long glance at them and soak in that memory, but I wouldn’t acknowledge them or try to chat them up or present myself to them as some superfan. I suspect there are a number of the musicians I like, not just Neil Peart but people like Van Morrison, Steve Howe, Robert Fripp, Bob Dylan and Pete Townshend, who are probably a bit curmudgeonly in person and wouldn't be receptive to me interrupting them, even if it was simply to praise their work.

Most likely it was "Bastille Day." The first time I recall hearing Rush was from a friend who played me ATWAS, and this would have been in '77.

Great 01. Meddle 02. Animals 03. Dark Side of the Moon 04. Saucerful of Secrets 05. Wish You Were Here Good 06. Atom Heart Mother 07. Obscured By Clouds 08. Piper At The Gates Of Dawn OK, Occasionally Uneven 09. The Wall 10. More 11. Division Bell 12. Momentary Lapse of Reason Very Spotty 14. Ummagumma (based on studio content only) 13. Endless River Don't like it 15. The Final Cut

I'm a great fan of Free. Unfortunately, they are generally known for their big hit, and that has overshadowed what I thought were at least a couple of fantastic albums including this one and Highway. As for Rainbow, I certainly like Blackmore in Deep Purple but in Rainbow, that band just didn't do anything for me. Part of it has to do with the fact I never warmed up to RJD's voice. I know he's got a huge following, and some people think he was way better than Ozzy in Sabbath and all that. I'm just not one of them.

I don’t begrudge Neil for wanting to create a distance between himself and his work. Most of us can appreciate the desire to get away from our jobs, even if we love what we do for a living. I live in a small city and work for the local daily newspaper. If I’m out to dinner with my wife, out skiing with my kids or even just grocery shopping, the last thing I want is for someone to come up and engage me in conversation about something they read in the paper. I would never just glare at them in stony silence or be rude, but we all deal with these situations differently. To me, it’s enlightening to know Neil is averse to interacting with fans. I’m OK with that. I’ve shown my love and appreciation for Neil’s work by buying all of Rush’s records. If we ever meet in person, I don’t need him to acknowledge or reciprocate that love.

Even if you included MTaF in this poll, Peace Of Mind would come out on top for me.

1. Ice - Camel 2. Spectral Mornings - Steve Hackett 3. The Sheltering Sky - King Crimson There are others that I think are equally worthy of mention including Song of the Wind by Santana.

Signals would be the runaway choice from the albums listed, though overall I would say Peter Gabriel's fourth album (aka Security) is likely my favourite album from that year. Another contender for me would be Pete Townshend's All The Best Cowboys Have Chinese Eyes.

That's very cool . Did your friends dig the earlier stuff? My 2 best friends in high school and I did that kind of thing with Genesis. Since none of us had any of the 70s albums, we all bought different ones and we'd trade them with each other (I'd put 'em on cassette until I could afford to buy my own copies.) Yes, interestingly enough a couple of them thought the first album was by far the best of the three, and I certainly recall myself on more than one occasion back then suggesting something similar, that the debut was one of their best. I had a close friend who I shared music purchases with as you did with yours - except for us it was the band Traffic because for some reason all of their albums were only available at the time in Toronto or Canada on import, so it was a bit more costly for a couple of young teenagers scraping together their allowance.

Gotta go with Howe, but Hackett and Stevie Ray would definitely be up there as well..

Honestly, there is at least couple of dozen albums that I think are absolutely flawless. I'll limit myself to the first titles that immediately come to mind: Rush – Hemispheres Genesis – Nursery Cryme Traffic – John Barleycorn Must Die Derek and the Dominos – Layla and Other Love Songs Santana – Santana

My friends when I was 13 introduced me to Rush through AFTK and ATWAS. I picked up those two albums and then not long afterwards purchased Archives which at the time I felt was a distinct or major acquisition since none of my friends had any of those early albums. Most of them had 2112, the live album and what was then the new album.

1.Genesis 2.Rush 3.Porcupine Tree/Steven Wilson 4.Yes 5.Strawbs

I believe a lot of people are drawn to bands not just by the music itself but because they feel the image associated with that band or that genre reflects favourably on them. For example, I’ve encountered people over the years who say they only listen to progressive rock. Nothing inherently wrong with that choice but when they expand on that point and suggest it requires patience and intelligence to appreciate progressive rock, it reveals a branding which they clearly like and want to be associated with. I would imagine the friend of the OP has, in a similar way, attached some intangible value to the fact he only listens to music of a certain period.

They’re one of my favourite bands. Of all their albums, I think When The Eagle Flies tends to be most underappreciated but it features one of my favourite songs by them https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k8f7Kl36Vxo

01. Hemispheres 02. A Farewell To Kings 03. 2112 04. Permanent Waves 05. Moving Pictures 06. Caress of Steel 07. Signals 08. Rush 09. Counterparts 10. Fly By Night 11. Grace Under Pressure 12. Snakes And Arrows 13. Vapor Trails 14. Clockwork Angels 15. Roll The Bones 16. Power Windows 17. Hold Your Fire 18. Test For Echo 19. Presto

Same here.

There is no album by Genesis that I actively dislike. Admittedly, I’m a big fan of theirs. The top 9 on this list, I’d say range from fantastic to very good. The bottom 6, I’d say range from good to OK. 01. Nursery Cryme – The Fountain of Salmacis 02. Selling England By The Pound – Firth of Fifth 03. Wind & Wuthering – Blood On The Rooftops 04. The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway – Back In New York City 05. Foxtrot – Supper’s Ready 06. A Trick Of The Tail – Entangled 07, Trespass – Stagnation 08. And Then There Were Three – The Lady Lies 09. Duke – Duchess 10. Genesis – It’s Gonna Get Better 11. Abacab – Abacab 12. Calling All Stations – One Man’s Fool 13. We Can’t Dance – Driving The Last Spike 14. Invisible Touch – Land Of Confusion 15. From Genesis To Revelation – Where The Sour Turns To Sweet

I think of songs like Dead Flowers and You Can’t Always Get What You Want, which I wouldn’t normally list among my favourite Stones songs, unless we’re talking live versions with Mick Taylor.