Mosher

It's almost weird to me that Natural Science isn't a universal top ten, but you have it 11th so I can't complain. I have Vital Signs 13th, so we almost have it in the same spot. 2 fantastic songs done justice. Great picks.

Show Don't Tell is a song I never connected with. I remember the excitement when the radio station was going to play that new release from Rush, and the disappointment. In retrospect it's an okay song, but I find it structurally awkward. That album improves as it goes- Chain Lightning I absolutely love. Available Light has risen over the years. It bored me initially, but now I appreciate the beautiful musicianship in that song. Dreamline was great the second it dropped and it still is. That album weakens as it plays on. Animate hooked me immediately. It's never been a favorite, but I have always thought it was a very good song. Resist doesn't do for me what it does for so many others. It's a fine interlude with a nice sentiment, but I have it nowhere near this high. These, to me, are all tracks that should be far lower (Dreamline maybe excepted), because there are so many better songs available. I do believe, once again, you've again hit a song I have re-evaluated positively over the years in Available Light. It might be higher next time I do this.

Both are great songs. I love the playful guitar duel in By-Tor. It's not a serious song, and it doesn't try to be. It's just fun. No big message, just an excuse to play their minds out. The Necromancer has some of Alex's best work. And for that reason it rises to heights it probably doesn't deserve. The spoken word parts offer diminished returns after several listens. But it's a fun romp retelling LOTR through the lens of Torontonians (men of Willowdale). Again, not serious and no big message. These are fun songs that I'm happy to see up here.

I agree that Neil wasn't the writer he thought he was. I guess I felt inundated with those simple songs on the radio, so anyone saying something else had huge appeal. And credit where it's due- the purpose of Working man was to generate pure fire. They did that!

YES! Love for The Fountain. I had it 16th, myself. Does it drag during Panacea? Oh yes it does. But other than that, I have always loved this song. Working Man successfully showed us the talent Alex and Geddy had, and if they had moved forward with John and only did hard rock I'd still like them. It's easily the best song off the first album. But the lyrics are bad, and just filler to allow for maximum sonic workout. So it ranks really high for me- much higher than any other first album songs, but it's a first album song. So to me this is way too high.

I love Clockwork Angels, and I have it near the top of all Rush albums. They hit the same theme as the Fountain, but they were so much more skilled by the time of Clockwork. And frankly they'd actually lived a good chunk of their lives by that point. The Garden for your purpose is an astute pick, and I can't argue with it considering your reasoning. For me there are many better songs off Clockwork, and I have the Anarchist in my top 5. But you're giving appropriate justice to a great album so I'm fine with this. I have it much lower, it doesn't hit me emotionally the way it hits so many here, but it is a beautiful song.

Armor and Sword is good as Snakes goes, but there are dozens of better Rush songs in my opinion. Nocturne, in the other hand, has climbed and climbed for me. It certainly isn't up in this range, but who knows what may come. I really continue to like this one more all the time.

In the End is a fantastic song and I love seeing it this high. A Passage to Bangkok has a killer riff that anyone would love. But it's also just a song about traveling far and wide just to get high. So thematically it just isn't a top tier song for me as Rush goes. But it sounds great, and it's written very well considering how simple the subject is. I do like this song a lot. Here Again is a great song by that hard rockin' band called Rush that was around before the band I love was formed. (That's simply how I see that first album. I almost wouldn't even file those songs into a list.) But whatever I'd like to tell myself, it really is Rush. Less complex musically, less adept lyrically, but the songs are still played by preeminent musicians and they sound great. For another band it would rank high. For Rush? On the list I just made it's bottom five. On another day it might rise to the better half of the bottom 20. And to anyone who thinks my opinion matters- remember that I'm the guy who loves Anagram. So you already know I have poor taste. :)

I love all of these songs. And clearly, so do you. I have Kid Gloves highest of these- 5th overall in fact. While my rankings do fluctuate, it's always top ten for sure. I currently have Digital Man next highest of these. At one time Mystic was highest of all four, but that was a long time ago. It's lowest now. Probably my own fault for overplaying it when I was young. Of the four, Digital Man and Middletown Dreams benefit most from time served, they've climbed very high over the years. Kid Gloves has always been very high- it's changed the least over time.

I actually did a disservice to Second Nature. It's in my bottom 10, and of course my rankings change daily anyway, but I like it better than several songs I have below it. It probably should be 10-15 spots higher. That's nowhere near where you have it, but it's not as bad as I implied. I'm mostly using that song because I know it's essentially dead last for our list-interested moderator. Open Secrets also is no favorite of mine. However those other songs I like a lot. Subdivisions was the first Rush song (I think, anyway) that I memorized. Maybe it was Closer to the Heart, but still. Important song and my favorite at one time in my life. We're getting into the top tier now, looking forward to it!

I am enjoying your lists. I have zero interest in you changing your list to fit anyone else. If your list was like mine I wouldn't be reading it at all, there's be no point. I enjoy the different perspective. I comment primarily because I want you to keep posting, and not many people are commenting. I'm commenting with my honest opinion because anything else would be pointless. Anytime I say you're "too low" or "too high"- that's hyperbole. There can be no objective ranking so there can be no "too low or too high". My comments on Bu2B2, much earlier in this thread, specifically mention that I suspect you are combining it with another song. I'm just surprised you didn't reduce your list to 164 after combing them.

I like Bravado better than the Pass. I do like them both, but I have neither no where near this high. As Rush very very rarely ever curses, the use of 'Christ' in the Pass is the best part of that song. Another band it wouldn't be as effective, but for Rush the gravity really is felt in full force. So emotionally it has a resonant impact. Both songs make their emotional appeal work well, but neither are musically what I want from Rush. Great songs, but on my Rush list not top 50 material

Two very good songs and one bottom 20 song. Out of the Cradle is annoying. The other two are in the 60-90 range. Which means I like them a lot. Carve used to be even higher.

Two songs that should be far behind so many now discarded. I like Nobody's Hero much more, it was an immediate favorite when released. It's fallen quite a bit for me, though.

Now we're getting to the songs that unfairly reduced better songs to ashes. Although I will confess that I love Color of Right, it has grown on me phenomenally, Half the World is just not good as Rush goes. And regardless, neither are anywhere near this good. But I remain happy to see some love for Color of Right

I agree lyrically for sure. He's on fire and sadly tragedy was likely why. I'm sure that's why over the years the parts that irritate have lessened

How It Is is one of the songs I always loved off Vapor Trails (Along with Earthshine). Sweet Miracle irritates me like many of the Vapor Trail songs. On the whole I like the music on that album. But Geddy just bugs me with his style choice

I think that's why GD has dropped for me over the years. As a teen I was really into the bells and whistles of synth flairs that were all over the place, at least when used well. Rush used them very well. But they age. After a while instead of adding that cool bit of surprise to the song, they increasingly take me out of the song. Like when a too-well known celebrity has a cameo in a tv show that requires immersion, or when you can see the mic boom above the actor. It takes you out of the immersion. Grand Designs is still great, but Alex was right about needing to get those guitars back in front.

Grand Designs was at one time my favorite off PoW. It's still high up, but your ranking does it justice. Afterimage is a song that took awhile to hit me right, but I really like it a lot now. So I'm happy with these ratings.

I like the Wreckers, I love that whole album. But I agree with Goose's favorites, especially Carnies and the Anarchist. Top 20 songs for me

Secret Touch is a bottom 25 song for me. I just don't like the vocal approach on so many Vapor and Snake songs. Some I always liked, several I've grown to appreciate, but not Secret Touch, at least not yet. I'm looking forward to the top 50, just around the corner!

Two great songs, and I'm fine with the rankings on both here. Neither are top 20, but both are always a welcome listen. As to the likes, rest assured that anyone still commenting is reading and enjoying, so that's all the proof that's really necessary. I like these lists, and I'd love to see more people doing them. Not everyone is into lists. My long term hope is that there will be enough lists to do a grand synthesis of the various lists into a 'group average'. Please keep it up!

Two perfect instrumentals. I like La Villa more, it's so lyrical for having no lyrics. I don't remember exactly where I had them, but I'm guessing La Villa was a lot higher and YYZ lower. They may be perfect instrumentals, but they're still instrumentals. Perfect songs with lyrics will always be higher. Imperfect but very good songs with lyrics will be, too.

I have been commenting on Derek's unusually low raking for some stellar songs whilst leaving songs like Second Nature alone. And I stand by that. But I, too, have my own strange view of the Rush catalog. For me, Red Barchetta is the weakest song on Moving Pictures and only of middling quality. I actually have over 100 songs ahead of it. So I cannot complain about this. I am fine with all of these last three.

Grouping these for songs makes sense thematically, but it does a disservice to 3 great songs by attaching the anchor of Freeze to them. I could never do that I love a lot of difficult, inaccessible, complicated music. I admire the attempt with Freeze. I do not like Freeze. The other three, separate or grouped, should all be much higher. Second Nature it is!!!