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I agree with that confidence vs concentration comparison, it's a great point. But that live version of Xanadu gets my "height of their powers" ranking not only because it's a great song, but also because of that concentration, mainly the multi-tasking. Alex and Geddy both playing doublenecks (and not just to show off -- all those necks are serving the song). Both are playing lots of notes on their Taurus pedals (check out 4:50 in the video below -- you don't see him, but Geddy is playing those synth melodies with his foot) Geddy at times is singing, playing bass and playing notes with his feet (6:10 below). Neil uses every piece of percussion in his arsenal, and again, all in service of the song. Watching Alex switch back and forth between guitar necks and making it sound seamless -- that takes a shitload of practice (7:50). It's impressive to hear the boys pull off Natural Science live -- it's a top-10 song for me -- but performance-wise I think Xanadu was on a different level.

Completely agree with you about the lyrics. But I tend to be music-first, so songs with good lyrics and boring music usually to fall away for me.

I finished my list a few weeks ago, but when I say "finished" I mean I had every song in a slot where I thought they should go, figuring I'd be moving some songs around later after further analysis, especially those that I hadn't listened to in a while. Or in the case of a few, listened to only once. Ever. My first listen of those few songs never led to a second one. One thing these lists that you guys have been posting has done is made me go back and listen to some of these forgotten songs, and yeah, a couple of them that were ranked very low got moved up a bit.

This is of course in my top 10 as well. A no-brainer.

Great job on the list. I know I didn't comment much but I was following the whole way.

For me, the height of their power was the ESL concert video version of Xanadu. As far as showcasing what they could do as a trio, it is perfection.

I still like P/G, not sure what a different producer could have done to improve it. I listened to DEW and Afterimage the other day and they still hold up.

Sbarro is pretty awful, for the record. It's shopping mall and airport terminal pizza. Very doughy and bland.

You should be able to fold a slice of pizza. As opposed to eating it out of a bowl with a spoon like in some cities.

I don't think you need to be a musician to provide valuable insight on these songs. You're a fan who's been listening to these songs for years, and knowing what time signature a song is in doesn't matter as much as knowing that the band's unique way of constructing songs makes those songs more interesting than those of Bon Jovi.

Dreamline was the first song I heard from RTB and I liked it a lot, and much like Show Don't Tell from Presto it got my hopes up for the rest of the album.... Yeah, no.

Not sure if you've already touched on this, but doing the last ten one song at a time might be fun. But I'd get it if you stuck with the current formula. Your list compares pretty well to mine. Meaning we generally like and dislike the same types of songs. On the other hand, if TheAccountant posted a list I suspect it would be my list turned upside down.

For me it's Sweet Miracle. Auto skip.

This is one of the few gems from RTB, and I have it a little higher on my list. I've always liked it, but when they played it on one of the recent tours it really came to life.

This is ranked a little too high for me. It gets skipped more often than not.

I like that last five. I have Camera Eye a little higher but I like that you have the other four ranked that high.

I have it way higher than both of you. HYF is one of my least favorite Rush albums but this is a solid tune regardless.

Way too low. It's a nice heavy track, and in the solo Alex abandons the "less is more" approach he started adopting on GUP and lets it rip.

Actually, Totem is more like a pair of fake double-Ds. At first look you're like, not bad, but then you realize there's not much substance there and your attention wanders. (My typos are annoying in that the mistake is not an obviously misspelled word, but a different correctly-spelled word. They're not easy to pick up at first, and then you hit Submit Reply...)

I think I have Fly By Night about there, Wish Them Well is way lower, the other three are higher. Caravan and Clockwork haven't worn out their welcome for me, they're fun listens.

Same. A pretty forgettable rack for me.

ORFie is missed, no doubt. One of the nicest people we've had here.

Pretty good song, I like the solo section. I don't have my list handy but I think I have it ranked a little higher than this.

Another "uptempo low-intensity happy-rocking album closer." Not a bad song but I often hit Stop before it starts.

Disagree, I think the whole song is killer, and it was Rush's last great album closer before we got The Garden. We saw a lot of filler track closers between GUP and CA.