mattroland76

1) Moving Pictures (while I don't listen to it much, I simply cannot justify giving it anything less than 1st place)

2) Signals

3) Grace Under Pressure

4) Power Windows

5) Permanent Waves

Alex's guitar solo on the outro to "Mission" :codger:

I think its also important to define what we mean by "Synth Era," as Rush began using synthesizers as far back as 2112. Consider Hemispheres, Permanent Waves and Moving Pictures-3 albums that rank very highly for most Rush fans, including ones that loath the albums after MP. Every single track on each of those albums incorporates synth-and yet you never hear any complaints about this!!! Signals and Grace Under Pressure do indeed increase the presence of the synthesizer to next level, but both still have a very strong guitar based foundation to most of the songs. These were transitional albums INTO the "synth period." The apex of this new period is represented by Power Windows and Hold Your Fire, albums where for the first time the guitar provides more of a complimentary/textural role (and of course solos) to the rest of the instrumentation. Presto and Role the Bones are transitional albums OUT of the synth period-they represent a return to more of the balance you had on Signals and Grace Under Pressure. Its with Counterparts that a new era begins, where synthesizers are massively reduced (and on Vapor Trails entirely eliminated!) to providing a mostly minimal textural role for the songs, arguably on a level that is even more limited than the albums that preceded Signals. Anyway, I obviously have a bit to say about this lol. My theory is that many (not all) of the fans who bemoan the "synth period" are actually not objecting to the presence of the synths, but the TYPE of synthesizers that are being used (the digital synths of the mid to late 80s, which have a sound that is very different from the older analog synths of the 70s/early 80s).

It ended too soon.

 

It did indeed. I'm totally onboard with Rush continually updating their sound, but synthesizers should always have a place-not too overpowering, but not too minimal either (Grace Under Pressure had a good balance between the guitars and synths).

1) Subdivisions

2) Analog Kid

3) By Tor and the Snow Dog

4) Digital Man

5) The Weapon

6) New World Man

7) Losing It

8) Countdown

 

Rush: 0 :boo hiss:

Fly by Night: 1 :zzz:

Signals: 8 :ebert:

Neurotica-"You just don't get it, baby don't you ask yourself why?" Rush using "BABY" in their lyrics-UGH!!! :boo hiss: :tsk:

Well, the rap section of "Roll the Bones" is all-time cringey.

 

Good call. I think it would have been much better if it was an instrumental section instead-like some kind of funky call-and-response interplay between the guitar, bass and drums.

1) Moving Pictures (I don't listen to it much, but there's no way I can justify putting it any lower)

2) Signals

3) Grace Under Pressure

4) Power Windows

5) Permanent Waves

6) Hemispheres

7) Hold Your Fire

8) Presto (the most underrated of their entire catalogue! :codger:)

9) A Farewell to Kings

10) Counterparts

11) Roll The Bones

12) Clockwork Angels

13) Fly By Night (IMHO, this is their de facto debut)

14) 2112 (yeah, sorry but....its very overrated :finbar: )

15) Test for Echo

16) Snakes and Arrows

17) Vapor Trails (a handful of good songs ruined by audio compression and lame production decisions, such as no keyboards and no guitar solos (!))

18) Caress of Steel

19) Rush

Animate

Chain Lightning

The Pass

War Paint

Scars

Alien Shore

The Speed of Love

Anagram

Leave That Thing Alone

Hand Over First

Available Light

 

Presto, 7-4 :codger:

Grace Under Pressure, but only by a hair! All three albums are easily in my top 5 :codger:

Xanadu

The Trees

Spirit of Radio

Natural Science

Limelight

YYZ

Subdivisions

Afterimage

Between the Wheels

Marathon

Manhattan Project

Emotion Detector

Force Ten

Time Stand Still

Mission

Turn the Page

The Pass

The Analog Kid

The Weapon

The Enemy Within

"Mission" is the first one that comes to mind for me.

The Big Money

Afterimage

Manhattan Project

Marathon

The Body Electric

Kid Gloves

Emotion Detector

Between the Wheels

 

4/4 tie! Not surprising, considering these two albums are easily in my top 5. VERY difficult choosing between The Big Money and Distant Early Warning! :codger:

Signals is really the apex of his synth work, especially on "Subdivisions" and "Countdown."

I'm not sure what qualifies as "synth-based," but 2112 was the first album to feature a synthesizer (the intro to the title track is played on an ARP Odyssey). Also, starting with A Farewell to Kings (and lasting for most of the remainder of their career) the Moog Taurus bass pedals were used extensively, both in studio and live. This pedal-based synthesizer was used not only for its native sounds but most significantly as an interface to play the key-based synths (like the Minimoog and Oberheim).

It ended with Counterparts, where the synths were severely minimized compared to previous releases. Power Windows and Hold Your Fire were the apex of the synth period, while Presto and Roll The Bones were transitional albums.

Signals, across the board. 8 to 0.

Was it not even played on the "Power Windows" tour? If so, that's unfortunate, considering what a beautiful song it is.

Quite simply, its because of the rap section. I admit, it is cringeworthy. It's unfortunate too, because otherwise its a very solid track, one of the best on the album. I think the song would have been much stronger without the rap section; instead, replace it with some funky instrumental interaction among Geddy, Alex and Neil.

For me, Hold Your Fire wins 10-0.

For me, its "Spirit of Radio," "Subdivisions" and "Force Ten." :codger:

For me, its "Between the Wheels," but with "Natural Science" in a very close 2nd. :codger:

It was also my first Rush album and to this day I still love it, easily in my top 10 fav Rush releases. I could never understand the hate for this one. The musicianship is top notch, the lyrics are some of Peart's all time best, and there is an excellent balance between the guitars and synths (something that was a bit lacking with the previous two releases). And as far as the production is concerned, I'll take the "thin" sound of Presto over the unbearable audio compression of Vapor Trails any day. :madra:

Its nowhere even close to bad, and Rush DOES have a couple of really bad albums. The lyrics are among Neil's all time best, and the musicianship is just outrageous. I can somewhat sympathize with those who don't like the production values of this period, and "Tai Shan" does admittedly have its cringeworthy moments. Other than that, it is an extremely good album, easily in my top 10 favorite Rush releases.

Imo most 70's n 2000's Rush is rubbish to me (Minus some of Hemispheres, some of 2112, all of AFTK, n some of CA)

 

Hard Rock is not really my thing anymore n it just sounds bleh in my ears no offense.

 

I more or less agree. The first 4 albums and the last 4 albums just don't do it for me. On the other hand, everything they released from 1980-89 is superb.

As a recording unit, they only existed from 1976 to 1993.

For me.

 

Sounds about right. I do also enjoy listening to AFTK and Hemispheres. On the other hand, RTB is a bit too hit and miss. Counterparts is only a little better in the writing, but the production is unquestionably fantastic.