_hi_water._ ranks all 173 Rush songs

[_hi_water._]

140. "Here Again," Rush (1974)

Rush - Entry 2 out of 8

 

The only ballad from the self-titled debut... and it goes on for seven and a half minutes, longer than "Working Man"; with "Working Man", you are always engaged with the band for every second, but this one could've easily been trimmed a few minutes shorter. Lifeson soars with the bluesy solos, though!

 

 

 

141. “Roll the Bones” - 4/10, Roll the Bones (1991)
140. “Here Again” - 2/8, Rush (1974)

Edited June 24, 2023 by _hi_water._

[Nova Carmina]

1 hour ago, _hi_water._ said:

140. "Here Again," Rush (1974)

Rush - Entry 2 out of 8

 

The only ballad from the self-titled debut... and it goes on for seven and a half minutes, longer than "Working Man"; with "Working Man", you are always engaged with the band for every second, but this one could've easily been trimmed a few minutes shorter. Lifeson soars with the bluesy solos, though!

 

 

 

141. “Roll the Bones” - 4/10, Roll the Bones (1991)
140. “Here Again” - 2/8, Rush (1974)

 

Should be rated much higher! I can't argue with the possibilities of a good edit, but I've always liked this one.

[grep]

13 hours ago, _hi_water._ said:

140. "Here Again," Rush (1974)

Rush - Entry 2 out of 8

 

The only ballad from the self-titled debut... and it goes on for seven and a half minutes, longer than "Working Man"; with "Working Man", you are always engaged with the band for every second, but this one could've easily been trimmed a few minutes shorter. Lifeson soars with the bluesy solos, though!

 

 

 

141. “Roll the Bones” - 4/10, Roll the Bones (1991)
140. “Here Again” - 2/8, Rush (1974)

The first album should be given immunity from suck numbers.  It's a product of it's time, and frankly happens to a good record with groovy songs.  Those songs are all magic.

Plus Rutsey.

[TheAccountant]

On 6/24/2023 at 10:59 AM, _hi_water._ said:

140. "Here Again," Rush (1974)

Rush - Entry 2 out of 8

 

The only ballad from the self-titled debut... and it goes on for seven and a half minutes, longer than "Working Man"; with "Working Man", you are always engaged with the band for every second, but this one could've easily been trimmed a few minutes shorter. Lifeson soars with the bluesy solos, though!

 

 

 

141. “Roll the Bones” - 4/10, Roll the Bones (1991)
140. “Here Again” - 2/8, Rush (1974)

Basically agree with you on this one.  Not a really good song but not totally terrible either.  It fits in with the rest of the album well however.  Rush's first album should have been a warning of what was to come (in a good sense).  Even though none of the songs (other than Working Man) really thrill me they are basically ok and, more importantly, they fit together.  The album flows from one song to the next - Rush were masters of this.

[_hi_water._]

139. "Between Sun & Moon," Counterparts (1993)

Counterparts - Entry 2 out of 11

 

Alex Lifeson really goes to town on Counterparts. That riff with tapping guitar is absolutely beautiful, along with a roaring bass; easily one of the best Alex tracks on this album, and even so within this Rush era. The chorus is quite daft, however.

 

 

 

141. “Roll the Bones” - 4/10, Roll the Bones (1991)
140. “Here Again” - 2/8, Rush (1974)
139. “Between Sun & Moon” - 2/11, Counterparts (1993)

[TheAccountant]

1 hour ago, _hi_water._ said:

139. "Between Sun & Moon," Counterparts (1993)

Counterparts - Entry 2 out of 11

 

Alex Lifeson really goes to town on Counterparts. That riff with tapping guitar is absolutely beautiful, along with a roaring bass; easily one of the best Alex tracks on this album, and even so within this Rush era. The chorus is quite daft, however.

 

 

 

141. “Roll the Bones” - 4/10, Roll the Bones (1991)
140. “Here Again” - 2/8, Rush (1974)
139. “Between Sun & Moon” - 2/11, Counterparts (1993)

I have never fully ranked all of Rush's songs so I am in awe of what you are doing.  I know my top 11 and basically my top 20 - 25.  I also know what is the bottom of the barrel.  The in-between gets a bit hard for me though.  Tough to rank them like you have been but I would rank this higher.  Its a top 100 song for me.  Where in the top 100?  That I don't know.  But I would clearly rank it higher than you have.

[grep]

2 hours ago, _hi_water._ said:

139. "Between Sun & Moon," Counterparts (1993)

Counterparts - Entry 2 out of 11

 

Alex Lifeson really goes to town on Counterparts. That riff with tapping guitar is absolutely beautiful, along with a roaring bass; easily one of the best Alex tracks on this album, and even so within this Rush era. The chorus is quite daft, however.

 

 

 

141. “Roll the Bones” - 4/10, Roll the Bones (1991)
140. “Here Again” - 2/8, Rush (1974)
139. “Between Sun & Moon” - 2/11, Counterparts (1993)

I guess it has to go somewhere.  Thought it would have ended up between to higher numbers.

[Mosher]

I know a lot of people hate this song, I remember that from one of the earlier threads. 

 

I love this song. When I made my rankings it landed 37th. 

Might be higher sometimes, even. 

 

[1-0-0-1-0-0-1]

17 hours ago, _hi_water._ said:

139. "Between Sun & Moon," Counterparts (1993)

Counterparts - Entry 2 out of 11

 

Alex Lifeson really goes to town on Counterparts. That riff with tapping guitar is absolutely beautiful, along with a roaring bass; easily one of the best Alex tracks on this album, and even so within this Rush era. The chorus is quite daft, however.

 

 

I'm trying to decide if this list is out of the "These are the shit songs" zone and into the "These are not bad" zone. Seems like we are.

 

This is a pretty good tune, good guitar stuff going on.

[Mosher]

Re: Between Sun and Moon

While Neil has written less than great lyrics in his time, the lyrics here are a paraphrase of Pye's poem. Most of what is written was written by Pye. 

 

The music captures the poem's intent beautifully as well. The music is truly excellent.

 

It's fair to blame the band for choosing that poem, but it's also important to note that, at least lyrically, this song's a cover.

Edited June 26, 2023 by Mosher
Clarity

[_hi_water._]

5 hours ago, 1-0-0-1-0-0-1 said:

 

I'm trying to decide if this list is out of the "These are the shit songs" zone and into the "These are not bad" zone. Seems like we are.

 

This is a pretty good tune, good guitar stuff going on.

I'd say from my list, #173 - #154 is the bland/mediocre stuff, and now we are in the fairly decent material with some of my shitty nitpicks :)

[laughedatbytime]

8 hours ago, 1-0-0-1-0-0-1 said:

 

I'm trying to decide if this list is out of the "These are the shit songs" zone and into the "These are not bad" zone. Seems like we are.

 

This is a pretty good tune, good guitar stuff going on.

There's plenty of shit songs left; most of the non-instrumental songs from Snakes, for example.

 

This should be much higher, though it's not great by any means.

[_hi_water._]

138. "The Stars Look Down," Vapor Trails (2002)

Vapor Trails - Entry 3 out of 13

 

Time to get rid of the one that people often consider the throwaway track from Vapor Trails. A heavy, straightforward rocker that doesn't overstate its welcome - though maybe the only issue with this one is that it is the most overly simplistic track from the album, and it really just ain't as heavily layered as the others. A good tune nonetheless.

Also, I am more thankful for the remixed version when the falsetto is slightly grating in the original mix.
 

 

141. “Roll the Bones” - 4/10, Roll the Bones (1991)
140. “Here Again” - 2/8, Rush (1974)
139. “Between Sun & Moon” - 2/11, Counterparts (1993)
138. “The Stars Look Down” - 3/13, Vapor Trails (2002)

[laughedatbytime]

5 minutes ago, _hi_water._ said:

138. "The Stars Look Down," Vapor Trails (2002)

Vapor Trails - Entry 3 out of 13

 

Time to get rid of the one that people often consider the throwaway track from Vapor Trails. A heavy, straightforward rocker that doesn't overstate its welcome - though maybe the only issue with this one is that it is the most overly simplistic track from the album, and it really just ain't as heavily layered as the others. A good tune nonetheless.

Also, I am more thankful for the remixed version when the falsetto is slightly grating in the original mix.
 

 

141. “Roll the Bones” - 4/10, Roll the Bones (1991)
140. “Here Again” - 2/8, Rush (1974)
139. “Between Sun & Moon” - 2/11, Counterparts (1993)
138. “The Stars Look Down” - 3/13, Vapor Trails (2002)

Pleasant enough song.  I'd have it higher, but it seems like a reasonable ranking overall.

[1-0-0-1-0-0-1]

1 hour ago, _hi_water._ said:

138. "The Stars Look Down," Vapor Trails (2002)

Vapor Trails - Entry 3 out of 13

 

 

May I offer a suggestion? I like that you indicate that this is the third song from this album to make it to the list, which is very useful in illustrating, at this current position, how strong or weak an album is in your overall ranking. I wouldn't mind also seeing the other two songs from VT that you've already listed, and where you ranked them. We can then see how other songs from the album is doing at a glance.

[1-0-0-1-0-0-1]

1 hour ago, _hi_water._ said:

138. "The Stars Look Down," Vapor Trails (2002)

Vapor Trails - Entry 3 out of 13

 

Time to get rid of the one that people often consider the throwaway track from Vapor Trails. A heavy, straightforward rocker that doesn't overstate its welcome - though maybe the only issue with this one is that it is the most overly simplistic track from the album, and it really just ain't as heavily layered as the others. A good tune nonetheless.

Also, I am more thankful for the remixed version when the falsetto is slightly grating in the original mix.
 

 

1 hour ago, laughedatbytime said:

Pleasant enough song.  I'd have it higher, but it seems like a reasonable ranking overall.

 

Agreed.

[_hi_water._]

33 minutes ago, 1-0-0-1-0-0-1 said:

 

May I offer a suggestion? I like that you indicate that this is the third song from this album to make it to the list, which is very useful in illustrating, at this current position, how strong or weak an album is in your overall ranking. I wouldn't mind also seeing the other two songs from VT that you've already listed, and where you ranked them. We can then see how other songs from the album is doing at a glance.

I think I have a good idea of what you're saying and how I can implement this into my posts! Thanks for the suggestion.

[_hi_water._]

2 hours ago, _hi_water._ said:

138. "The Stars Look Down," Vapor Trails (2002)

Vapor Trails - Entry 3 out of 13

 

Time to get rid of the one that people often consider the throwaway track from Vapor Trails. A heavy, straightforward rocker that doesn't overstate its welcome - though maybe the only issue with this one is that it is the most overly simplistic track from the album, and it really just ain't as heavily layered as the others. A good tune nonetheless.

Also, I am more thankful for the remixed version when the falsetto is slightly grating in the original mix.
 

 

141. “Roll the Bones” - 4/10, Roll the Bones (1991)
140. “Here Again” - 2/8, Rush (1974)
139. “Between Sun & Moon” - 2/11, Counterparts (1993)
138. “The Stars Look Down” - 3/13, Vapor Trails (2002)

Here's my Vapor Trails ranking so far:

 

13. “Peaceable Kingdom” (#164/173)

12. “Out of the Cradle” (#155/173)

11. “The Stars Look Down” (#138/173)

 

Songs left: "One Little Victory", "Ceiling Unlimited," "Ghost Rider," "How It Is," "Vapor Trail," "Secret Touch," "Earthshine," "Sweet Miracle," "Nocturne," and "Freeze (Part IV of "Fear")".

 

Edit: I'll make sure to add this kind of thing for my future posts!

 

 

Edited June 27, 2023 by _hi_water._

[1-0-0-1-0-0-1]

26 minutes ago, _hi_water._ said:

Here's my Vapor Trails ranking so far:

 

13. “Peaceable Kingdom” (#164/173)

12. “Out of the Cradle” (#155/173)

11. “The Stars Look Down” (#138/173)

 

Songs left: "One Little Victory", "Ceiling Unlimited," "Ghost Rider," "How It Is," "Vapor Trail," "Secret Touch," "Earthshine," "Sweet Miracle," "Nocturne," and "Freeze (Part IV of "Fear")".

 

Edit: I'll make sure to add this kind of thing for my future posts!

 

 

 

Yeah, that works! I'm not sure you need to list all the remaining songs from the album, but that's up to you. Recapping the songs already ranked is nice info to have.

[yyz305]

8 hours ago, _hi_water._ said:

138. "The Stars Look Down," Vapor Trails (2002)

Vapor Trails - Entry 3 out of 13

 

Time to get rid of the one that people often consider the throwaway track from Vapor Trails. A heavy, straightforward rocker that doesn't overstate its welcome - though maybe the only issue with this one is that it is the most overly simplistic track from the album, and it really just ain't as heavily layered as the others. A good tune nonetheless.

Also, I am more thankful for the remixed version when the falsetto is slightly grating in the original mix.
 

 

141. “Roll the Bones” - 4/10, Roll the Bones (1991)
140. “Here Again” - 2/8, Rush (1974)
139. “Between Sun & Moon” - 2/11, Counterparts (1993)
138. “The Stars Look Down” - 3/13, Vapor Trails (2002)

I like this and would have it (along with the already 'rejected' Vapor Trail songs) ranked much higher. Just my opinion, of course.

[grep]

The stars are indifferent to our concerns. They burn for billions of years then die explosively, and in doing so create the fabric of new matter and life. 

But yet here we are - in the infinite age of the universe we are all lucky enough to have lived during the era of Rush. 

Things were looking up for a while.

Something, something, the stars burn like Cold Fire.....

Edited June 27, 2023 by grep

[Alex’s Amazing Arpeggios]

On 6/22/2023 at 10:03 PM, 1-0-0-1-0-0-1 said:

 

 

Actually, CP seems to be a polarizing album for us fans. I liked it right off the bat because they FINALLY ditched the thin-sounding instruments that plagued HYF thru RTB. I liked it when it first came out and still do. Others see it as another step removed from their prog years.

 

Nobody's Hero, Speed of Love and Everyday Glory are the only songs I skip on that album.

I believe from my experience from a UK perceptive, for the majority of my friends and colleagues who were big long standing   fans at the time of CP’s release back in ‘93, this is the album I’d that a higher percentage as say 90% of us were both elated and relieved that after too many recent albums becoming increasingly poppier and borderline bland, they - finally, thank god ! - decided to return to being a Hard Rock group again !

  ..albeit with a current-ish grunge influenced tinge, which was fine by me. 
 Personally after the poor run of 

HYF, Presto & RTB my patience - they’d earned my un-devoted loyalty because of 2112 thru to Power Windows - was becoming increasingly thin 😮

One or two more albums like HYF/Presto and think I may have given up on any future releases and just struck exclusively to their golden ‘76-‘85 era.

I know for a lot of fans consider the

‘ Golden Era ‘ to just be ‘76-‘81, but I equally adore Signals, P/G & PoW 

[grep]

1 hour ago, Alex’s Amazing Arpeggios said:

I believe from my experience from a UK perceptive, for the majority of my friends and colleagues who were big long standing   fans at the time of CP’s release back in ‘93, this is the album I’d that a higher percentage as say 90% of us were both elated and relieved that after too many recent albums becoming increasingly poppier and borderline bland, they - finally, thank god ! - decided to return to being a Hard Rock group again !

  ..albeit with a current-ish grunge influenced tinge, which was fine by me. 
 Personally after the poor run of 

HYF, Presto & RTB my patience - they’d earned my un-devoted loyalty because of 2112 thru to Power Windows - was becoming increasingly thin 😮

One or two more albums like HYF/Presto and think I may have given up on any future releases and just struck exclusively to their golden ‘76-‘85 era.

I know for a lot of fans consider the

‘ Golden Era ‘ to just be ‘76-‘81, but I equally adore Signals, P/G & PoW 

^^This   (From an NYC perspective).  

They got some old fans back with CP.

Edited June 27, 2023 by grep

[_hi_water._]

137. "The Big Wheel," Roll the Bones (1991)

Roll the Bones - Entry 5 out of 10

 

Another tune that seems to be going nowhere other than straightforward, this time from Roll the Bones. It's definitely a lot better than the few I've went through so far, which were all ill-advised, gimmicky tracks. I like the lyrics on this one, though - "Well, I was only a kid, on a holy crusade/I placed no trust in a faith that was ready-made/Take no chances on paradise delayed/So I do a slow fade."

 

 

Previous tracks I've covered:
141. “Roll the Bones” - 4/10, Roll the Bones (1991)
140. “Here Again” - 2/8, Rush (1974)
139. “Between Sun & Moon” - 2/11, Counterparts (1993)
138. “The Stars Look Down” - 3/13, Vapor Trails (2002)
137. “The Big Wheel” - 5/10, Roll the Bones (1991)

 

How is this album holding up?

10. “Face Up” (#166/173)
9. “You Bet Your Life” (#163/173)
8. “Neurotica” (#159/173)
7. “Roll the Bones” (#141/173)
6. “The Big Wheel” (#137/173)

 

I still have yet to uncover "Dreamline", "Bravado", “Where’s My Thing? (Part IV, “Gangster of Boats” Trilogy)", "Heresy", and "Ghost of a Chance".

 

What are your thoughts?

Edited June 27, 2023 by _hi_water._

[TheAccountant]

23 hours ago, _hi_water._ said:

138. "The Stars Look Down," Vapor Trails (2002)

Vapor Trails - Entry 3 out of 13

 

Time to get rid of the one that people often consider the throwaway track from Vapor Trails. A heavy, straightforward rocker that doesn't overstate its welcome - though maybe the only issue with this one is that it is the most overly simplistic track from the album, and it really just ain't as heavily layered as the others. A good tune nonetheless.

Also, I am more thankful for the remixed version when the falsetto is slightly grating in the original mix.
 

 

141. “Roll the Bones” - 4/10, Roll the Bones (1991)
140. “Here Again” - 2/8, Rush (1974)
139. “Between Sun & Moon” - 2/11, Counterparts (1993)
138. “The Stars Look Down” - 3/13, Vapor Trails (2002)

I would rank this lower.  Much loser.  But I dislike VT so that should not be a shock.  That being said, its one of the better songs from VT (Ghost Rider & Peaceable Kingdom being the best).