Rate the Rush discography from the album Presto to Clockwork Angels(1989-2012)

[Verena]

As most votes here: four stars.

[toddlimelight]

I only rate them 2.75 stars. Their 2 worst albums are in this era: Presto & Test For Echo. The middle of the pack consist of Snakes and Arrows (kinda boring), Roll The Bones (like Bravado and Dreamline), and Vapor Trails.....and the best remaining two are Counterparts (Between Sun and Moon, Animate, Stick it Out, Leave That Thing Alone are best tracks), and Clockwork Angels.

 

Their best period was '76-'82, and their absolute best period of brilliance was '77-'81. I rate 2112 to Signals 5 stars, and AFTK to Moving Pictures 10 stars.

[jnoble]

This era needs its own scale. It can't compare favorably to the 70's/early 80's output at all, which I'd put at mostly at 10 stars. So that being said, I'd rate them thusly:

 

TFE - 4.1

RTB's - 4

SA's - 3.5

CA's - 3

CP's - 3

VT's - 2.2

Presto - 2

Feedback - 1

Is this on the 5 star scale?

 

No. The 10.

 

 

Lofl

I think she was too lenient on Snakes & Bones ;)

 

I think they lost something really critical after Neils tragedy and the big break they had. The creative spark was never again as bright.

That's so hard to say. I can't even argue either way. Maybe it was a result of Neil's tragedy? Maybe they just got older and everything that followed was due to aging and having those kinds of eyes? Maybe it was a combination of both? Maybe they never lost it but WE got older and expected the same things from them...even though they had already changed (emotionally, mentally, etc) by then?

 

Nah. Their songwriting changed for the worst. Possibly because Neil moved to LA and they had to do so much work apart from each other. Corresponding by email and creating songs separately. They started playing around too much with the digital format, chopping songs together and they lost the compositional flow.

 

I think my disinterest in most of the material starting with Vapor Trails is because Neil started providing lyrics that were hard, if not impossible, to compose and sing a really awesome memorable song around. Far Cry was really good from that era. A few off of VT. But most of it was too wordy, too preachy, too much to jam into a verse or chorus and not sound like shoehorning. And he started to sound more like a cranky old "get off my lawn you damn kids!" man instead of the worldly wry observer mixed with some philosophy that he used to be in all the previous albums. I remember getting the Snakes album and reading the lyric insert and felt like I was looking at someone's humorless rants than actual song lyrics. OK Neil, we get it...religion is scary and the world stinks. :codger: :eyeroll:

[EagleMoon]

This era needs its own scale. It can't compare favorably to the 70's/early 80's output at all, which I'd put at mostly at 10 stars. So that being said, I'd rate them thusly:

 

TFE - 4.1

RTB's - 4

SA's - 3.5

CA's - 3

CP's - 3

VT's - 2.2

Presto - 2

Feedback - 1

Is this on the 5 star scale?

 

No. The 10.

 

 

Lofl

I think she was too lenient on Snakes & Bones ;)

 

I think they lost something really critical after Neils tragedy and the big break they had. The creative spark was never again as bright.

That's so hard to say. I can't even argue either way. Maybe it was a result of Neil's tragedy? Maybe they just got older and everything that followed was due to aging and having those kinds of eyes? Maybe it was a combination of both? Maybe they never lost it but WE got older and expected the same things from them...even though they had already changed (emotionally, mentally, etc) by then?

 

Nah. Their songwriting changed for the worst. Possibly because Neil moved to LA and they had to do so much work apart from each other. Corresponding by email and creating songs separately. They started playing around too much with the digital format, chopping songs together and they lost the compositional flow.

 

I think my disinterest in most of the material starting with Vapor Trails is because Neil started providing lyrics that were hard, if not impossible, to compose and sing a really awesome memorable song around. Far Cry was really good from that era. A few off of VT. But most of it was too wordy, too preachy, too much to jam into a verse or chorus and not sound like shoehorning. And he started to sound more like a cranky old "get off my lawn you damn kids!" man instead of the worldly wry observer mixed with some philosophy that he used to be in all the previous albums. I remember getting the Snakes album and reading the lyric insert and felt like I was looking at someone's humorless rants than actual song lyrics. OK Neil, we get it...religion is scary and the world stinks. :codger: :eyeroll:

 

Yes, exactly. He used to be an observer that was fascinated with the world and his lyrics came across that way. Eventually it seemed to turn to cynicism and how short life is. I think somewhere in an interview he said something like his lyrics grew up or matured at one point but I'm not sure I agree. Unless you call maturing being cranky.

[JohnnyBlaze]

This era needs its own scale. It can't compare favorably to the 70's/early 80's output at all, which I'd put at mostly at 10 stars. So that being said, I'd rate them thusly:

 

TFE - 4.1

RTB's - 4

SA's - 3.5

CA's - 3

CP's - 3

VT's - 2.2

Presto - 2

Feedback - 1

Is this on the 5 star scale?

 

No. The 10.

 

 

Lofl

I think she was too lenient on Snakes & Bones ;)

 

I think they lost something really critical after Neils tragedy and the big break they had. The creative spark was never again as bright.

That's so hard to say. I can't even argue either way. Maybe it was a result of Neil's tragedy? Maybe they just got older and everything that followed was due to aging and having those kinds of eyes? Maybe it was a combination of both? Maybe they never lost it but WE got older and expected the same things from them...even though they had already changed (emotionally, mentally, etc) by then?

 

Nah. Their songwriting changed for the worst. Possibly because Neil moved to LA and they had to do so much work apart from each other. Corresponding by email and creating songs separately. They started playing around too much with the digital format, chopping songs together and they lost the compositional flow.

 

I think my disinterest in most of the material starting with Vapor Trails is because Neil started providing lyrics that were hard, if not impossible, to compose and sing a really awesome memorable song around. Far Cry was really good from that era. A few off of VT. But most of it was too wordy, too preachy, too much to jam into a verse or chorus and not sound like shoehorning. And he started to sound more like a cranky old "get off my lawn you damn kids!" man instead of the worldly wry observer mixed with some philosophy that he used to be in all the previous albums. I remember getting the Snakes album and reading the lyric insert and felt like I was looking at someone's humorless rants than actual song lyrics. OK Neil, we get it...religion is scary and the world stinks. :codger: :eyeroll:

 

Yes, exactly. He used to be an observer that was fascinated with the world and his lyrics came across that way. Eventually it seemed to turn to cynicism and how short life is. I think somewhere in an interview he said something like his lyrics grew up or matured at one point but I'm not sure I agree. Unless you call maturing being cranky.

Well, nobody is ever as cool as they think they are. Neil included.

 

IMHO, his best lyrics were between Signals to HYF. Their best MUSIC, however, came before that IMHO. I might be digressing.

[EagleMoon]

This era needs its own scale. It can't compare favorably to the 70's/early 80's output at all, which I'd put at mostly at 10 stars. So that being said, I'd rate them thusly:

 

TFE - 4.1

RTB's - 4

SA's - 3.5

CA's - 3

CP's - 3

VT's - 2.2

Presto - 2

Feedback - 1

Is this on the 5 star scale?

 

No. The 10.

 

 

Lofl

I think she was too lenient on Snakes & Bones ;)

 

I think they lost something really critical after Neils tragedy and the big break they had. The creative spark was never again as bright.

That's so hard to say. I can't even argue either way. Maybe it was a result of Neil's tragedy? Maybe they just got older and everything that followed was due to aging and having those kinds of eyes? Maybe it was a combination of both? Maybe they never lost it but WE got older and expected the same things from them...even though they had already changed (emotionally, mentally, etc) by then?

 

Nah. Their songwriting changed for the worst. Possibly because Neil moved to LA and they had to do so much work apart from each other. Corresponding by email and creating songs separately. They started playing around too much with the digital format, chopping songs together and they lost the compositional flow.

 

I think my disinterest in most of the material starting with Vapor Trails is because Neil started providing lyrics that were hard, if not impossible, to compose and sing a really awesome memorable song around. Far Cry was really good from that era. A few off of VT. But most of it was too wordy, too preachy, too much to jam into a verse or chorus and not sound like shoehorning. And he started to sound more like a cranky old "get off my lawn you damn kids!" man instead of the worldly wry observer mixed with some philosophy that he used to be in all the previous albums. I remember getting the Snakes album and reading the lyric insert and felt like I was looking at someone's humorless rants than actual song lyrics. OK Neil, we get it...religion is scary and the world stinks. :codger: :eyeroll:

 

Yes, exactly. He used to be an observer that was fascinated with the world and his lyrics came across that way. Eventually it seemed to turn to cynicism and how short life is. I think somewhere in an interview he said something like his lyrics grew up or matured at one point but I'm not sure I agree. Unless you call maturing being cranky.

Well, nobody is ever as cool as they think they are. Neil included.

 

IMHO, his best lyrics were between Signals to HYF. Their best MUSIC, however, came before that IMHO. I might be digressing.

 

Best as in how they fit to the music, well constructed grammatically or as in "deep?" :P

[The Honest Man]

I gave a four star rating for this era. If I were to list the albums in order...

 

1- Clockwork Angels 5 stars

2- Vapor trails 5 stars ( for the material, not the production)

3- Snakes & Arrows 4 stars

4- Counterparts 4 stars

5- Roll the Bones 3.5 stars

6- Presto 3 stars

7- Test for Echo 2 stars

[LeaveMyThingAlone]

Counterparts and Clockwork Angels save this era from total mediocrity. I gave it 3 stars.

 

One problem with this era is that production/audio quality really started taking a nose dive. Rush seemed like they were always looking for something in the production of the album that was different and far away from the brilliant sound they had with Terry Brown. Moving Pictures is still the best "sounding" album I've ever heard.

 

Presto has some good tunes but is a freaking mess to listen to. It's like Rupert wanted to make Alex's guitar sound as distant as possible.

Roll the Bones is better but still not great.

Counterparts is their best sounding album from this era.

Test for Echo is fairly crisp but the lyrics are so.....not Neil's best

Snakes and Arrows is folksy acoustic rock

Vapor Trails is obviously a legendary screw up

Even Clockwork sounds too heavy and not crisp.

[Rick N. Backer]

Clockwork Angels is the best album of that era. Then comes Snakes. Then Vapor Trails. You can skip Presto, Roll the Bones, Counterparts and Test For Echo. I give the era 3 stars. One really good album. One good one. One decent one. 4 stinkers.

 

Good thing you left out Hold Your Fire. Then we're throwing an atomic stink bomb into the mix.

[Carvan Alex]

I rank them in this order: Clockwork Angels, Snakes and Arrows, Test For Echo, Counterparts, Presto, Roll the Bones, and Vapor Trails.

[LeaveMyThingAlone]

This era needs its own scale. It can't compare favorably to the 70's/early 80's output at all, which I'd put at mostly at 10 stars. So that being said, I'd rate them thusly:

 

TFE - 4.1

RTB's - 4

SA's - 3.5

CA's - 3

CP's - 3

VT's - 2.2

Presto - 2

Feedback - 1

Is this on the 5 star scale?

 

No. The 10.

 

 

Lofl

I think she was too lenient on Snakes & Bones ;)

 

I think they lost something really critical after Neils tragedy and the big break they had. The creative spark was never again as bright.

That's so hard to say. I can't even argue either way. Maybe it was a result of Neil's tragedy? Maybe they just got older and everything that followed was due to aging and having those kinds of eyes? Maybe it was a combination of both? Maybe they never lost it but WE got older and expected the same things from them...even though they had already changed (emotionally, mentally, etc) by then?

 

Nah. Their songwriting changed for the worst. Possibly because Neil moved to LA and they had to do so much work apart from each other. Corresponding by email and creating songs separately. They started playing around too much with the digital format, chopping songs together and they lost the compositional flow.

 

I think my disinterest in most of the material starting with Vapor Trails is because Neil started providing lyrics that were hard, if not impossible, to compose and sing a really awesome memorable song around. Far Cry was really good from that era. A few off of VT. But most of it was too wordy, too preachy, too much to jam into a verse or chorus and not sound like shoehorning. And he started to sound more like a cranky old "get off my lawn you damn kids!" man instead of the worldly wry observer mixed with some philosophy that he used to be in all the previous albums. I remember getting the Snakes album and reading the lyric insert and felt like I was looking at someone's humorless rants than actual song lyrics. OK Neil, we get it...religion is scary and the world stinks. :codger: :eyeroll:

 

Yes, exactly. He used to be an observer that was fascinated with the world and his lyrics came across that way. Eventually it seemed to turn to cynicism and how short life is. I think somewhere in an interview he said something like his lyrics grew up or matured at one point but I'm not sure I agree. Unless you call maturing being cranky.

 

Well put, but I think it started more with Test for Echo. There's some real challenging subjects for Geddy to sing about with any feeling and still keep the song rocking on that album. Agree about the albums that followed. Snakes and Arrows has some songs with way too many lyrics to fit in. Armor and Sword and The Way the Wind Blows come to mind