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The ___ Absolutely Essential Rush Albums


rushgoober
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Ok, so you've come across a potential new Rush fan. What are their ABSOLUTELY ESSENTIAL titles?

 

I'm not talking about listing 2112 because it's a really important album even though you get lost on side 2. As another example, I think Grace Under Pressure is a fantastic album without any weak tracks, but that's a slight level of perfection below what I consider the top of the heap albums that are perfect all the way through AND are really the absolutely short list must haves for new perspective fans.

 

List what you consider those to be, however many those might be IN ORDER OF PREFERENCE, even though in my case the differences in quality between these is microscopic at best. My list:

 

1. Signals

2. Moving Pictures

3. Permanent Waves

4. Hemispheres

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Permanent Waves

Moving Pictures

Signals

Power Windows

Presto

Vapor Trails

whatever their latest is at the time, SNA for now, CA later.

 

I like to have a representative from each era more or less, but for a new listener, I wouldn't go back further than PeW. Light the torches. I'm a heretic, I know. I'd start a newbie with PeW and work forward.

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Yep, for someone new to the band, you've done very well with your ranking. For me, Hemispheres will always be their high water mark for me, but if I had to rank them, the top ones would be (along with the best sounding masters for some in parentheses):

 

1. Hemispheres (Canadian WANK CD)

2. Permanent Waves (Canadian VANKCD)

3. Moving Pictures (MFSL Gold CD)

4. 2112 (Japanese 25.8P CD)

5. Caress of Steel

6. Signals (MFSL Gold CD or Japanese 25.8P CD)

7. Power Windows (Japanese 32.8P CD or SHM CD)

8. Counterparts

9. Hold Your Fire (SHM CD)

10. Snakes and Arrows

 

Those would be my Top 10 for sure, though the bottom 3 could be interchanged at any time. The only two albums by them I pretty much have no use for would be Test for Echo (though I do like the song "Dog Years" while others think its one of their worst songs ever...go figure!) and Vapor Trails, which to me is just pure unfocused crap.

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1) Moving Pictures

2) Permanent Waves

3) A Farewell to Kings

4) Hemispheres

5) 2112

6) Fly by Night

 

That's an OBJECTIVE list of Rush's best, from a non-biased perspective. My personal favorites are:

 

1) Power Windows

2) Grace Under Pressure

3) Moving Pictures

4) Signals

5) Counterparts/Hemispheres (tie)

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Well, it also depends on the person you are trying to convince.... I've made a few compilation CDs for potential new fans and they varied quite a bit. But objectively, I'd have to go with these as the top 5:

 

Hemispheres

Moving Pictures

Permanent Waves

Power Windows

Signals

 

 

Of course, some of my favorite Rush albums don't fall in that list but that's because I'm trying to be objective tongue.gif

 

 

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QUOTE (rushgoober @ Jan 18 2012, 01:17 AM)
Ok, so you've come across a potential new Rush fan. What are their ABSOLUTELY ESSENTIAL titles?

I'm not talking about listing 2112 because it's a really important album even though you get lost on side 2. As another example, I think Grace Under Pressure is a fantastic album without any weak tracks, but that's a slight level of perfection below what I consider the top of the heap albums that are perfect all the way through AND are really the absolutely short list must haves for new perspective fans.

List what you consider those to be, however many those might be IN ORDER OF PREFERENCE, even though in my case the differences in quality between these is microscopic at best. My list:

1. Signals
2. Moving Pictures
3. Permanent Waves
4. Hemispheres

Sounds right to me.

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QUOTE
I like to have a representative from each era more or less

 

I agree, what with Rush changing their sound so much over the years, it would be hard to play something like Bastille Day, and then when they buy something like Hold Your Fire hear that its nothing like Bastille Day! So I would want to mix it up for the new fan, and explain, these guys are always evolving and changing their sound.

 

But since younger music fans don't seem to be into albums anymore, I would probably make a mix CD instead. Then if they like it, suggest the following albums:

 

Moving Pictures

Signals

Permanent Waves

Counterparts

Clockwork Angels (when if comes out)

2112

 

However, a mix CD would have the following:

 

Working Man

Fly by Night

Closer to the Heart

The Spirit of Radio

Freewill

Tom Sawyer

YYZ

Limelight

Subdivisions

The Big Money

Show Don't Tell

Driven

One Little Victory

Far Cry

Caravan

BU2B

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It certainly depends on what kind of music that person is into.

 

If they are a metal head- you would certainly want to stress the 70s albums and forget about anything post MP

 

If they are more into'adult rock', you would stress the PeW-PoW period.

 

If they are into rap, give them Roll The Bones. tongue.gif

 

If they are a stoner, stress FBN-Hempispheres.

 

Without knowing the person at all, the essential Rush albums are (looks similar to many other previous posts):

 

2112

A Farewell To Kings

Hemispheres

Permanent Waves

Moving Pictures

 

(Notice I didn't even list my favorite album)

 

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I think it's funny people trying to be objective. Is that really even possible? My list is entirely subjective.

 

The most "objective" I can think to say is that most people's lists really should include Moving Pictures at all costs since it seems to be the most accessible/popular, but still that's a subjective statement.

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2112 shouldn't be on anyone's 'essential titles' for a new fan IMO

 

it's just too polarizing for a 'first run' album

 

ATWAS is a much better album to introduce fans to that early era (and FBN likely the 'best' studio album)

 

however, there's only one album I'd ever lend to someone asking about Rush:

 

Permanent Waves

 

it's beyond reproach - any interested party should take this one for a spin, as it's arguably Rush at their pinnacle of songwriting/performance/production

 

 

 

 

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QUOTE (rushgoober @ Jan 18 2012, 12:17 AM)
Ok, so you've come across a potential new Rush fan. What are their ABSOLUTELY ESSENTIAL titles?

I'm not talking about listing 2112 because it's a really important album even though you get lost on side 2. As another example, I think Grace Under Pressure is a fantastic album without any weak tracks, but that's a slight level of perfection below what I consider the top of the heap albums that are perfect all the way through AND are really the absolutely short list must haves for new perspective fans.

List what you consider those to be, however many those might be IN ORDER OF PREFERENCE, even though in my case the differences in quality between these is microscopic at best. My list:

1. Signals
2. Moving Pictures
3. Permanent Waves
4. Hemispheres

I think you might have forgot a few:

 

Add:

 

2112

A Farewell to Kings

Grace Under Pressure

Snake and Arrows

 

Any of the Live Albums!

 

2.gif 1022.gif 2.gif

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QUOTE (ghostworks @ Jan 18 2012, 09:00 AM)
2112 shouldn't be on anyone's 'essential titles' for a new fan IMO

it's just too polarizing for a 'first run' album

That certainly is not true in my experience. It was one of the first three Rush albums I heard and made me (and many others I'm sure) an instant fan. You may not like it but it is quite rightly considered their definitive statement among their 1970s output.

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Well, my first four were ...

 

Grace Under Pressure

Power Windows

Caress of Steel

Permanent Waves

 

Worked for me, why shouldn't it work for others.

Though it took some time to get into Number three - as I only knew the two Eighties outputs before. But after six or seven spins, I loved it.

For a present newbie, I might replace Power Windows by Moving Pictures and, probably, Caress of Steel by Counterparts.

On the other hand ... why not Caress of Steel. If you dig this one, you're really into Rush.

 

 

 

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QUOTE (trenken @ Jan 18 2012, 03:26 PM)
In this order

Moving Pictures
Permanent Waves
Hemispheres
2112

I dont see how you can possibly put Signals on there when that was when many original and casual Rush fans started jumping ship.

Because in retrospect is was one hell of an album. People jumped ship not because of the quality of the record but because it was new and a little different than what had come before. There are people even now, here on TRF, who believe that Rush ended in 1981 (which is fking retarded - they went on another thirty years after Moving Pictures).

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