Priest of Syrinx Posted July 24, 2012 Share Posted July 24, 2012 (edited) I finally did it, ranked the studio albums from first to worst, along with a comment or two. A Farewell to Kings/Hemispheres - Not content with a perfect half-album with 2112, Rush decides to release consecutive perfect albums. These conjoined twins cannot be separated, and who would want to? 2112 - The quintessential and definitive Rush album, the title track is a wonder. And how many of us would ever have heard of Ayn Rand without it? Caress of Steel - First album I ever bought with my own money. In grade school I had a teacher who, once a week, would allow students to play one song from any record they brought in. She saw "Caress of Steel" and said, "No." Moving Pictures - The most popular Rush album ever. FM-radio friendly yet sophisticated and virtuistic enough for progsnobs, Rush shows that they are modern day warriors of prog rock. Permanent Waves - Rush unilaterally decides no song can last longer than it takes to brew a pot of coffee. It's now easier to make our mix-tapes. Fly By Night - Debut album for Professor Neil Peart. Also, "Eth". Signals - A synth-laden shock to the system, the Rush faithful initially had a hard time accepting such a drastic change to "our" Rush. Today those short, concise songs with contemporary lyrics and great songwriting overpower the dated sound. I had a Signals shirt with 3/4 length sleeves. Clockwork Angels - Flawed but ambitious "epic". Their best music in over a quarter century is dulled by a poorly-produced CD, but the vinyl improves things somewhat. Includes a bobble-head doll's worth of nods to their glorious past. Counterparts - Rush decides to be a hard-rockin' alt-rock band. They do it pretty well, too. Hold Your Fire - A nice collection of catchy, accessible Rush songs... until the last two, which fall off the top of a mountain and plunge into high water. Power Windows - "Marathon" has Rush's best chorus ever. Grace Under Pressure - Au revoir, Broonsie. Presto - No magic here. Those hoping Rush could pull a rabbit out of their collective hat would be disappointed, but it's good "pop" Rush. Snakes & Arrows - Far Cry and the instrumentals gave me Hope for the future. Rush - Energetic debut for a talented Zep knock-off still finding their way. Test For Echo - Not a single memorable song. Some of them are enjoyable, though. Roll the Bones - "Jack, relax, get busy with the facts," someone please tell me Neil Peart did not really write that. For that matter, someone please tell me Rush did not really record RTB. Vapor Trails - A disaster of a production that literally gives me a (not my favorite) headache. Edited July 24, 2012 by Priest of Syrinx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cokebabies2112 Posted July 24, 2012 Share Posted July 24, 2012 While the first two albums as your favorite make sense, The way you talked about the ones at the end of the list was just so wrong..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rushgoober Posted July 24, 2012 Share Posted July 24, 2012 QUOTE (cokebabies2112 @ Jul 24 2012, 01:07 AM) While the first two albums as your favorite make sense, The way you talked about the ones at the end of the list was just so wrong..... Actually, I think he got it fairly spot on, at least with putting their worst 4 albums in his bottom six; Presto, RTB, T4E & VT. S&A belongs a tad higher, and Rush belongs a lot higher (not to mention Caress of Steel getting too much praise), but hey, no one's perfect! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bastille Dave Posted July 24, 2012 Share Posted July 24, 2012 my opinions are very close to yours and my rankings would be very similar if you switched the debut with HYF and switched S&A with Roll The Bones. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Priest of Syrinx Posted July 24, 2012 Author Share Posted July 24, 2012 QUOTE (cokebabies2112 @ Jul 24 2012, 03:07 AM) While the first two albums as your favorite make sense, The way you talked about the ones at the end of the list was just so wrong..... Should I have mentioned that I like Bravado? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Priest of Syrinx Posted July 24, 2012 Author Share Posted July 24, 2012 QUOTE (rushgoober @ Jul 24 2012, 04:22 AM) QUOTE (cokebabies2112 @ Jul 24 2012, 01:07 AM) While the first two albums as your favorite make sense, The way you talked about the ones at the end of the list was just so wrong..... Actually, I think he got it fairly spot on, at least with putting their worst 4 albums in his bottom six; Presto, RTB, T4E & VT. S&A belongs a tad higher, and Rush belongs a lot higher (not to mention Caress of Steel getting too much praise), but hey, no one's perfect! Not even Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Priest of Syrinx Posted July 24, 2012 Author Share Posted July 24, 2012 QUOTE (Bastille Dave @ Jul 24 2012, 09:27 AM) my opinions are very close to yours and my rankings would be very similar if you switched the debut with HYF and switched S&A with Roll The Bones. It was actually pretty fun to finally rank the albums after over 30 years of Rush fandom. It was kind of a trip down memory lane. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skullchrist Posted July 24, 2012 Share Posted July 24, 2012 (edited) Edited July 24, 2012 by skullchrist Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cokebabies2112 Posted July 24, 2012 Share Posted July 24, 2012 QUOTE (rushgoober @ Jul 24 2012, 04:22 AM) QUOTE (cokebabies2112 @ Jul 24 2012, 01:07 AM) While the first two albums as your favorite make sense, The way you talked about the ones at the end of the list was just so wrong..... Actually, I think he got it fairly spot on, at least with putting their worst 4 albums in his bottom six; Presto, RTB, T4E & VT. S&A belongs a tad higher, and Rush belongs a lot higher (not to mention Caress of Steel getting too much praise), but hey, no one's perfect! Well in my opinion besides Rush and maybe half of Fly by night there really is no bad rush album... Maybe test for echo. But PRESTO, S&A,VP, And Roll the bones? I mean come on those are each amazing albums!!!!?!?! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HomesickAlien Posted July 25, 2012 Share Posted July 25, 2012 QUOTE (Priest of Syrinx @ Jul 24 2012, 12:44 AM)I finally did it, ranked the studio albums from first to worst, along with a comment or two. A Farewell to Kings/Hemispheres - Not content with a perfect half-album with 2112, Rush decides to release consecutive perfect albums. These conjoined twins cannot be separated, and who would want to? 2112 - The quintessential and definitive Rush album, the title track is a wonder. And how many of us would ever have heard of Ayn Rand without it? Caress of Steel - First album I ever bought with my own money. In grade school I had a teacher who, once a week, would allow students to play one song from any record they brought in. She saw "Caress of Steel" and said, "No." Moving Pictures - The most popular Rush album ever. FM-radio friendly yet sophisticated and virtuistic enough for progsnobs, Rush shows that they are modern day warriors of prog rock. Permanent Waves - Rush unilaterally decides no song can last longer than it takes to brew a pot of coffee. It's now easier to make our mix-tapes. Fly By Night - Debut album for Professor Neil Peart. Also, "Eth". Signals - A synth-laden shock to the system, the Rush faithful initially had a hard time accepting such a drastic change to "our" Rush. Today those short, concise songs with contemporary lyrics and great songwriting overpower the dated sound. I had a Signals shirt with 3/4 length sleeves. Clockwork Angels - Flawed but ambitious "epic". Their best music in over a quarter century is dulled by a poorly-produced CD, but the vinyl improves things somewhat. Includes a bobble-head doll's worth of nods to their glorious past. Counterparts - Rush decides to be a hard-rockin' alt-rock band. They do it pretty well, too. Hold Your Fire - A nice collection of catchy, accessible Rush songs... until the last two, which fall off the top of a mountain and plunge into high water. Power Windows - "Marathon" has Rush's best chorus ever. Grace Under Pressure - Au revoir, Broonsie. Presto - No magic here. Those hoping Rush could pull a rabbit out of their collective hat would be disappointed, but it's good "pop" Rush. Snakes & Arrows - Far Cry and the instrumentals gave me Hope for the future. Rush - Energetic debut for a talented Zep knock-off still finding their way. Test For Echo - Not a single memorable song. Some of them are enjoyable, though. Roll the Bones - "Jack, relax, get busy with the facts," someone please tell me Neil Peart did not really write that. For that matter, someone please tell me Rush did not really record RTB. Vapor Trails - A disaster of a production that literally gives me a (not my favorite) headache. I would have reversed the order of your last three albums. Vapor Trails, despite it's inexcusable production flaws, does have a few good songs. T4E, on the other hand, should be dead last. It's even worse than RTB, and that's quite a feat, indeed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Priest of Syrinx Posted July 25, 2012 Author Share Posted July 25, 2012 QUOTE (substancewithoutstyle @ Jul 24 2012, 07:26 PM) I would have reversed the order of your last three albums. Vapor Trails, despite it's inexcusable production flaws, does have a few good songs. T4E, on the other hand, should be dead last. It's even worse than RTB, and that's quite a feat, indeed. The thing about Vapor Trails is that it quite literally gives me a headache, no poetic license at all on my part. I figure that an album that gives me physical pain needs to be at the bottom. Perhaps things will change if Rush ever gets around to re-mastering it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Priest of Syrinx Posted July 25, 2012 Author Share Posted July 25, 2012 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Priest of Syrinx Posted July 25, 2012 Author Share Posted July 25, 2012 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DBJetsman Posted July 25, 2012 Share Posted July 25, 2012 Finally a guy that can speak my language! I might not have put AFTK tied for 1st on my list and placed MP that low. Other than that, our lists barely differ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Priest of Syrinx Posted July 25, 2012 Author Share Posted July 25, 2012 I'm relocating the debut album to between Grace Under Pressure and Presto Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Priest of Syrinx Posted July 25, 2012 Author Share Posted July 25, 2012 QUOTE (DBJetsman @ Jul 24 2012, 09:25 PM) Finally a guy that can speak my language! I might not have put AFTK tied for 1st on my list and placed MP that low. Other than that, our lists barely differ... Well, in my ranking you can take Permanent Waves and the albums above it and consider that my Rush Pantheon... truly godly albums. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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