Modern_Day_Warrior

I actually think that Permanent Waves and Moving Pictures belong in their own "mini-era" of sorts. The songs include elements of the prog era, such as more complicated arrangements and longer songs, but also elements of the synth era such as prominent usage of Minimoogs and Mellotrons as well as some shorter songs.

Dire Straits

Open Secrets

Whoops! Typo! The Necromancer

The Necromaner

Tom Sawyer for me. Don't get me wrong, Tom Sawyer is nowhere near my favorite Rush song (not even Top 10), but for the songs that begin with T, I have to pick it, with The Trees coming in a close second.

I'll do one each for some of my favorite bands. Rush comes first. Hm.......... It's really hard to decide, but I think it comes down to either Fly By Night or La Villa Strangiato. I'll have to Fly By Night, just because it is so nostalgic, how the chords are slightly out of tune to give it a cool edge. Led Zeppelin, also a hard one, but I think it would have to go to Since I've Been Loving You. Although Stairway has the classic intro, I have to go with this because it is so smooth and sublime, until it builds up to the main song. The Who!!!!! This is a really hard one! There are soooooo many. Here is a short list: Baba O'Riley, Who Are You, Eminence Front, Won't Get Fooled Again, Pinball Wizard, Love Reign O'er Me, and My Generation. But out of all of those it comes down to just two: Baba O'Riley and Love Reign O'er Me. Baba is just incredible, and those opening synths are the sound of freedom. But I do have to applaud Love's use of classical piano. I just have to pick Baba, though, just amazing. Jimi Hendrix! All Along The Watchtower and Machine Gun come to mind. Machine Gun is the best for Jimi, because of how awesome and iconic it is. And finally, the best band for intros (in my opinion), Pink Floyd. There are so many it would take another post to list them all. Here is a compiled list: Astronomy Domine, One Of These Days, Echoes, Time, Great Gig, Shine On, Wish You Were Here, Dogs, Pigs, Sheep, and many, many more. Out of all of these I can reduce it to five: One Of These Days, Echoes, Shine On, Wish You Were Here, and Sheep. OoTD is really awesome, with the reverse cymbals and bass, Echoes is a master of buildup, as well as Shine On, and WYWH has a great guitar solo, and Sheep is keyboard wizardry. Overall, though, the grand prize goes to Echoes, for best intro by Pink Floyd, and best intro OF ALL TIME. I love how it just starts out with the single high noise, and it slowly builds up to the wonderful first line, "Overhead the albatross, hangs motionless upon the air, and deep beneath the rolling waves, in labyrinths of coral caves." Thanks to anyone who read this whole post!!!

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And that's not just my bias towards Zeppelin over some sh*t band called Spirit, it also just doesn't make sense. In the song Taurus, the supposed inspiration for Stairway To Heaven comes in around 30 seconds into the song. It is similar, but it does have its differences. Taurus goes downwards, whilst Stairway goes up. Also, if Led Zep copied my song, I would be happy! And it also happened 40 years ago! Why are they just taking it to court now!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Caress of Steel is Rush's most underrated album, and I don't think there is a "worst" or "bad" song on it. But if I had to pick my least favorite, I would definitely pick I Think I'm Going Bald. I still love the song, though, it's just that the other songs on the album are better. The song itself just doesn't have the hopeful spirit of the rest of the album. And in case it wasn't obvious enough.......................... the lyrics are stupid.

I'd have to go with La Villa. Overall, the combination of the cymbal patterns, time signature changes, and length, it makes it the grand beast of Neil's drumming to attempt to conquer. The parts near the beginning are difficult, and the guitar solo isn't too bad, but once you get into that jazz stuff near the middle, it's impossible. Also, for a lot of the song, you are playing pretty fast, and you have to hold that up for 10 minutes. And counting is nearly impossible because of the time signature changes. Freewill is another really hard one, but the overall musicianship and variety in La Villa puts it at top for me. I would say the hardest drumming album is probably Hemispheres. The Hemispheres side is one of his hardest, and Circumstances and The Trees are both pretty difficult. Then, of course, La Villa. Jacob's Ladder is also pretty hard because of some weird snare stuff that he does sometimes. Tom Sawyer is the most overrated difficulty wise. It is honestly just an exercise in stamina, because the patterns themselves aren't too difficult, but you have to keep up that straight sixteenth-note beat for almost the whole song. Otherwise, the famously difficult Tom Sawyer isn't that bad.

Alex Lifeson v Eddie Van Halen? That's a no brainer. I would definitely choose Alex! Alex is extremely versatile; he can play a ripping riff with a ton of overdrive and then play a fluid, dynamic solo that flows and cries with emotion. Eddie Van Halen just plays really damn fast. I think the best example of Alex's guitar skill is La Villa Strangiato. It starts with a little acoustic guitar solo, before changing to a dreamy section with keyboards and glockenspiel. After that, an epic guitar riff comes in, followed by his best solo, the one in A Lerxst In Wonderland. It is so amazing, and it just screams with emotion. After that comes Monsters!, which was a good riff, then some jazz fusion stuff, and a cool blues section, before returning to the main theme/riff. An incredible show of guitar skill: and he holds it up for 10 minutes! Overall, however, I would have to say the best guitarist of all time is Jimi Hendrix. He was soooooo innovative! Every guitarist after Jimi shows some bit of him in them. I was quite angry that Brian May, of all people, won against Jimi. I mean, sure, May is good and all, but he isn't Hendrix. Another thing I was surprised about was how high Alex got. On most other voted lists he comes in at somewhere in the low 60's.

Wow! Tough question! Fly By Night and Caress of Steel are both in my Top 5 Rush Albums, and are both from the same time in Rush's career. They are quite similar in many ways. But.... I had to choose Caress of Steel for the following reasons. First of all, it has a lot more "progressive-ness" than Fly By Night. Although Fly By Night started the trend with By-Tor And The Snow Dog, Carress of Steel turned it up to 11 with The Necromancer and The Fountain of Lamneth. Second of all, Caress of Steel has more of a groove to it than Fly By Night. There are many other reasons, but don't forget that I still LOOOOOVE Fly By Night, I just LOOOOOOVE Caress of Steel a tiny bit more. Both albums are rated 10 out of 10.

Hemispheres being my favorite Rush album, this was an easy choice. I love Hemispheres and I think that it is the pinnacle of Rush. It was the final of their insane prog-rock albums, and it is also their best. Permanent Waves is sort of an oddball as a Rush album, as it combined the prog rock (songs like Jacob's Ladder and Natural Science) with the tighter, shorter arrangements (The Spirit Of Radio, Freewill, Entre Nous). I like the songs on it, but it just can't compare to the mighty majesty of Hemispheres.

I mean, really, come on people, Geddy is the best bass player of all time, none of the albums are really that underrated. However, if I could just choose one, it would definitely be Hold Your Fire. The bass work on that is top notch.

I chose Closer To The Heart, as it is my favorite Rush song of all time. I've always thought that it just encapsulates Rush, even though it is only 3 minutes long. New World Man is one my least favorite Rush songs. It just bores me, and the keyboards are really cheesy.

At this moment, I choose Subdivisions. But at any other time, I might choose TSOR, or I still might choose Subdivisions. I love both of these songs, and it is always a back and forth battle between them for me, but Subdivisions came in first.

This was so gosh-darned close. I mean, come on, both albums are excellent. But.... Seeing as Hemispheres is my favorite album by my favorite band, and Quadrophenia is my third favorite album by The Who (only Tommy and Who's Next could top it), I had to choose Hemispheres.

I will say that it is an okay album. I like some of the songs on it, and it is fun to listen to, but it doesn't hold up to the epic monstrosities of 2112 and Hemispheres, or the tightness of Moving Pictures.

By all means, Xanadu is an excellent song, and definitely in my Top 10, but my favorite is Closer To The Heart, and the runner-ups are La Villa Strangiato and 2112, and those have their own runner-ups, soooooo yeah.... I don't think Xanadu is my favorite. And also, if you're looking for the "defining moment," 2112 is definitely the one. Everything about the band is expressed in 20 short minutes.

I had to go with Rush In Rio for this one. When I was deciding, the first choice I knocked out was A Show Of Hands, simply because it is almost all 80's Rush, and I am a much bigger fan of the 70's stuff. I knocked out Different Stages after that, just because for some reason I've never liked it much. Next I knocked out Exit Stage Left. I know, I know, that's surprising and all, seeing as it is one of their more popular live albums, but compared to the two that would be left after that, it doesn't stand a chance. That left me with All The World's a Stage and Rush In Rio. This was really close, and don't get me wrong, I LOVE ATWAS, but Rush In Rio came in first. I love Rush In Rio for many reasons. The setlist was excellent, covering a good bit of their music, the bass tone was bloody amazing, the crowd was great, and I love how you can hear them singing along in YYZ. Also, Alex Lifeson's monologue thing in La Villa Strangiato is absolutely hilarious. Rock On! \m/ (^_^) \m/