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Rank the Rush Albums


pdurbin22
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Apologies if this has been done a million times (I'm sure it has), but few bands have as phenomenal a catalog as Rush's. In celebration of their excellent new album and in anticipation of their upcoming tour, I've been listening to every album straight through, chronologically, multiple times in an effort to find out what really are the "best" albums.

 

Here is my ranking. I take no offense if you disagree - I'd love to hear what you all think!

 

1) MOVING PICTURES - Sure, this is a cliche #1, but there's a reason. A flawless Side 1 that one plays like a greatest hits. A Side 2 with three hidden gem classics. Acknowledgement by the band that they pretty much became "Rush" with this album. You just can't beat it.

 

2) PERMANENT WAVES - Remove the plodding "Jacob's Ladder" which has never been my favorite (sorry everyone!), and this might've been my #1. Every other song is ridiculously excellent.

 

3) COUNTERPARTS - Yeah, that's right. This album proved Rush could rule in the 90's and beyond. Flawless production. Great hooks. A renewed focus on riffs. For me, this album is even greater than their 70's output - it's a sum of everything great they'd done over the previous 20 years.

 

4) HEMISPHERES - The best of their 70's prog goodness, and as far as they could take the formula.

 

5) CLOCKWORK ANGELS - Like 'Counterparts' before it, this albums proves how truly relevant this band still is. I wouldn't even call it a "return to form" - it's simply Rush producing brilliantly crafted music. And the fact that this comes nearly 40 years into their career is just astonishing.

 

6) GRACE UNDER PRESSURE - My favorite of their synth period, it's dark, heavy and not quite as keys-saturated as the next two albums.

 

7) 2112 - This may be the lowest anyone has ever put this album on such a list, but I feel it tends to rank higher solely because of the epic title track. Side 2 is good, but not great.

 

8) SIGNALS - Epic first side; so-so second side.

 

9) A FAREWELL TO KINGS - Some of it's a bit 'chirpy' for my tastes, with all the keys, bells, etc. and Geddy's voice gets a little out of hand at times (again, 70's Rush is no my favorite period), but it's still in my top 50% of Rush albums.

 

10) SNAKES & ARROWS - Prior to the release of 'Clockwork Angels' I would've ranked this album higher. I found it infinitely better than the mess of 'Vapor Trails.' But time hasn't been as kind, as I now find much of it a tad boring. That being said, there are some phenomenal tracks on here.

 

11) POWER WINDOWS - I like this album a lot more now than I used to. Previously it sounded like little more than a wash of synths to me, but I've come to appreciate a lot of the hooks and subtleties over the years. "Marathon" is a beast of a song.

 

12) PRESTO - Many good songs, but only half are super-memorable. Production is a little thin. But "The Pass" is worth the price of admission alone.

 

13) ROLL THE BONES - I love the first three songs (even the polarizing title track), but the album largely loses me after that. Not a bad album; just doesn't hold up as well as others.

 

14) FLY BY NIGHT - "Anthem", "By-Tor" and "BBB" are so damn good it's hard for me to put this album so low. But the reality is that Rush was still finding their footing here, and for me, Side 2 is just not all that good (including the title track - I'm not surprised the band hasn't played it in 35 years).

 

15) HOLD YOUR FIRE - Too synth-y overall. But "Time Stand Still" is one of my very favorites, and "Force Ten", "Mission" and "Lock & Key" are great too.

 

16) TEST FOR ECHO - The production is great. The first three songs are epic. And then the rest of the album goes from decent to mediocre to just not good.

 

17) VAPOR TRAILS - This album is kind of a mess. The production plays a big part in that, but the songwriting is just not their best. This is not an album I find myself listening to on a whim. That being said, the title track is stellar (why "Earthshine" and "Secret Touch" get played over this is beyond me).

 

18) CARESS OF STEEL - I love "The Necromancer." "Bastille Day" has a great riff/opening. You can keep the rest.

 

19) RUSH - Simply put, the band just handn't grown into the Rush we know and love quite yet.

Edited by pdurbin22
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It HAS been done a million times before, but my list has changed in recent times, so I might as well chime in again:

 

1. Hemispheres - this only recently became my favorite. I always thought side 2 was perfection, but only in the last couple of years have I thought the same about the title track - what used to seem a little dense and ponderous now is completely awesome. I hate to bump Signals out of the top spot, but this one is SLIGHTLY more perfect.

 

2. Signals - my #1 for many years, but still a perfect album. I love the thematic elements and it's the very best of the synth era.

 

3. Moving Pictures - side 1 is absolute perfection - the best album side by anyone ever. It drops slightly only because of The Camera Eye, which while still a great track, is a tad repetitive and lyrically uninspiring - don't get me wrong, still a GREAT track and it only drags down the perfection of the album very, very slightly.

 

4. Permanent Waves - Again virtually perfect, side one especially. The one weak spot here is Different Strings, and then only very slightly. Still virtually perfect, just not quite as much as 1 through 3.

 

5. Grace Under Pressure - I always resist putting this album so high, because for some reason it doesn't seem to deserve it, but I have to just for its amazing consistency. It's also a really cool album that had them taking on some heavy subject matter. It took a long time for Kid Gloves and Red Lenses to grow on me, but now I love them.

 

6. A Farewell to Kings - This would rate CONSIDERABLY higher if not for Cygnus X-1, which contains great parts, but I don't like the narration at the start or the screaming at the end - drags the song down a good bit. Also, Madrigal and Cinderella Man are great songs, but not as great as the perfect trifecta of AFTK/Xanadu/CTTH wub.gif

 

7. Rush - Yeah, it doesn't have their best lyrics in the world, but it kicks tons of ass and is ridiculously fun. Plus, Alex never soloed this much again. Damn! 1022.gif

 

8. 2112 - The album is a bit schizophrenic - side one is brilliant, and side two doesn't have any bad tracks at all or even close, but feels more like a random collection of songs without any real flow. Still a great album, but I rarely listen to side one and side two in one sitting as they have no common identity.

 

9. Hold Your Fire - This would be considerably higher if not for the two lemons at the end. The rest of it is amazing though - among the very best of the synth era and contains some truly incredible anthemic songs.

 

10. Clockwork Angels - this album really could move higher. It certainly won't move lower. It just needs to stand the test of time before I seriously consider bumping it up one or two or three spots. I doubt it could get higher than 7th for me, but not sure if it will even get there. Still, an incredible latter day near masterpiece. Every song is strong except for Halo Effect which is only decent and BU2B2 which is awful. Some songs are classics.

 

11. Fly By Night - great and consistent album, just without many incredible standout tracks.

 

12. Power Windows - again, not one weak song, some songs are amazing, and it's a great album overall, i just find myself playing it infrequently.

 

13. Counterparts - easily their best of the 90's, and a solid surprising album after two not so hot efforts. Pretty consistent, especially the first four killer tracks. I love this album!

 

14.Caress of Steel - Bastille Day is great, Lakeside Park is classic and TFOL is also truly amazing, even though it took forever to grow on me. Unfortunately ITIGB was a bad mistake and The Necromancer is killed by the obnoxious narration. Still, it's 3/5ths of a great album.

 

15. Snakes & Arrows - About half of a really great album, with the rest going from meh to pretty good. Still, a HUGE comeback album for them after their two worst albums. Very underrated.

 

16. Presto - I love The Pass, think Chain Lighting is great, but the rest is pretty mediocre. In general, this album is a significant disappointment lyrically from everything that came before.

 

17. Roll the Bones - One word: Dreamline. EXCELLENT track. The rest goes from ok to abysmal, and some songs are really pretty embarrassingly bad. What on earth were they thinking with some of those lyrics, not to mention the rap? 062802puke_prv.gif Also, Rush just got too poppy on this album.

 

18. Test For Echo - This album is really pretty bland and uninteresting. It's not horrible, but it never excites and doesn't even contain one song that's better than just alright. And then some of the lyrics on songs like T4E, Dog Years, Virtuality and Totem - YIKES! unsure.gif

 

19. Vapor Trails - Abysmal beyond belief. There's the obvious sound problems that renders it painfully unlistenable, but beyond that it just doesn't contain decent songs - depressing, repetitive, sludgy, overlong, annoying songs with precious little melody, no guitar solos at all and of course the infamous Geddy choirs. The two remixed tracks on the best of only highlighted the inherent weakness of the material underneath the horrible remaster. The fact that they overcame so much tragedy is more than admirable, but the album is still an embarrassment to their recorded legacy.

Edited by rushgoober
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1. Moving Pictures - Simply the BEST. Every song never fails to blow my mind. Red Barchetta is the BEST Rush song EVER. The worst song (Vital Signs imo) destroys the best song on a lot of Rush albums.

 

2. 2112 - It's probably my favorite story an album has every told behind Tommy and it has the best vocals of any Rush album EVER.

 

3. Hemispheres - You really can't go wrong with the instrumentals (BEST instrumentals of any Rush album). It also has the best RUSH instrumental EVER (La Villa Strangiato) and the lyrics might be the most inteligent of any Rush album.

 

4. Permanent Waves - This album never impressed me as much as the average Rush fan because the transitional period from the 70s into the 80s for Rush just didn't sound as brilliant. I could never really get into PeW, but Freewill and Spirit of Radio alone elevate this album to a high class.

 

5. Caress of Steel - Undoubtebly the MOST UNDERRATED album in music history. Fountain of Lamneth and Necromancer are decent, but I'm blown away by the other 3 (especially I Think I'm Going Bald) biggrin.gif .

 

6. A Farewell to Kings - Definitely the time that Rush was in their prime. The title track, Xanadu, and Closer to the Heart are some of Rush's best sounding songs from the 70s.

 

7. Fly by Night - I really love this album. Its as I call it "in your face" sound puts it far above many other Rush pieces. The title track is the BEST Rush song from the 70s. Best I Can along with By-Tor and the Snowdog are not far behind.

 

8. Signals - I feel bad ranking this one so low. New World Man just lights up my mood every time I hear it and is definitely my 3rd fav Rush song. Subdivisions is such a beautiful song that identifies Rush's 80s sound.

 

9. Rush - I'm enraged at how disliked this album is among Rush fans. Working Man is the closest I've ever seen Rush mirror the best band EVER (The Who). In the Mood and Finding my Way are classic rockers too. Overall, the band appeared lost in what direction to take, but it was worth it to create such awesome Zeppelin riffs.

 

10. Clockwork Angels - I'm still getting used to this new sound of theirs, but so far, at least half the album appears to be very strong in terms of Rush awesomeness. The Anarchist is Rush's best song since Presto. Very good album when you consider that Rush might be at the end of their road.

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1. Hemispheres - The height of the conceptual period. The songs are strong, and the playing is unmatched.

 

2. 2112 - One of the greatest songs every, complimented by 5 very good to amazing songs.

 

3. Caress of Steel - A critical and commercial failure, this album holds a special place in my heart. With one foot in the past, the band rocked out with two great songs. With one foot in the future they try the dark and beautifully ambitious Necromancer and Fountain.

 

4. Moving Pictures - Hit after hit after hit. Red Barchetta is like a little movie, and I'll never get tired of that song.

 

5. Fly By Night - Early and raw, with light and shade. Hints of brilliance to come in other fields, while mastering the hard rock/metal genre.

 

6. Clockwork Angels - Power and beauty. No album rocks much harder, and no album has more beautiful songs.

 

7. Farewell to Kings - Great songs, great subtlety, great lyrics. Only Cygnus X-1, the band's worst (but still ok) concept song drags this album down to #7.

 

8. Permanent Waves - A great and ambitious new start for the band, Natural Science and Jacob's Ladder aren't the band's best work, but they are still good.

 

9. Roll the Bones - After 3 disappointing albums (and many would argue 5), RTB corrects the mistakes of Presto, adding better songs to go with the return to guitar sound.

 

10. Signals - For many, the start of a period of decline for the band. The album only has one weak song, though, even if it only had a couple of great ones.

 

11. Test for Echo - Correcting the embarrassing mistakes of Counterparts, this album sees Rush back in fine form with a focus on good songs.

 

12. Vapor Trails - Bad production can't hide very good songs. The album is weighed down by a lack of variety and excessive length, and that the album's worst two songs were released as the signals and played live. Rush never rocked harder than this.

 

13. Rush - The original still kicks much ass, giving a glimpse at the power of the band. In retrospect, you can see the skill and diversity that would become Rush staples, but at the time, it's impossible to think the band would be where it was a mere two years later.

 

14. Grace Under Pressure - The band retains some of the power of its earlier days, though layers in interesting themes and a ton of synths.

 

15. Snakes & Arrows - 4 great songs, including the best song of the 2000's, can't wipe away the fact that the band was mired in mid-tempo trudges that went nowhere. Still, the clean sound, good lyrics, and inarguable highs make this an album worth enjoying.

 

16. Power Windows - 4 amazing songs and 2 good ones and two not so good ones. The first album where not great songs equal the great ones.

 

17. Hold Your Fire - Much maligned, this album was more ambitious than it seems. The band stretches to new themes, sometimes succeeding, but often with just ok results.

 

18. Presto - A commercial low-point for the band, in their first effort to shed the synths the band had lost the focus on song writing.

 

19. Counterparts - An almost embarrassing effort by the band. Rush's return to a harder, grunge sound completely forgot to bring the songs and lyrics. With only one great song, and very few very good ones, there's not much to like here other than a return of the hard guitars, a fact that obscures objective evaluation of this album by the hard core fans. The lyrics show why Peart doesn't tackle love.

 

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Mine changes all the time, but here's my current list:

 

1. Permanent Waves - Signals used to be my favorite but PeW is slowly inching up to first place. Its pretty much tied with Signals at 1st place. Natural Science is a masterpiece and there isn't one weak track.

 

2. Signals - The best of the synth era. Subdivisions, Analog Kid, and The Weapon are 3 of my favorites. I'd love to see TAK and TW live.

 

3. Moving Pictures - As "overplayed" as the hits are, they are all incredible songs. I've recently started to appreciate Witch Hunt after seeing it live on the TM tour. Also, Vital Signs is underrated and could have easily been on Signals.

 

4. Hemispheres - The title track blew me away when I first heard it, especially The Sphere. The Trees and La Villa are also 2 favorites. Circumstances is great as well but its my least favorite of the 4 tracks.

 

5. Grace Under Pressure - My 2nd favorite synth album. The production and use of keys is usually criticized but I really like the whole sound and mood of this album. Currently my favorite song is Kid Gloves.

 

6. 2112 - I obviously love the title track but side B is underrated. Something For Nothing is a really great song, especially the live version from ATWAS. Bangkok is a fun song and the others are enjoyable as well.

 

7. A Farewell to Kings - Not much to say about this one. Xanadu and Cygnus X-1 are excellent. Madrigal isn't as bad, imo, as many say it is.

 

8. Counterparts - Even though I like the 80's/early 90's albums this was a great return to more guitar orientated rock. The production is pristine and there's a ton of memorable songs (except The Speed of Love). Yeah, the lyrics are pretty bad and Neil doesn't do a good job writing about love but I don't really listen to Rush for the lyrics. The music is good and that's really all that matters to me.

 

9. Clockwork Angels - This album and Counterparts are pretty much interchangeable. Despite the production its an extremely great album, especially since it was made so late into their career. The title track, The Wreckers, and The Garden are my favorites.

 

10. Power Windows - Geddy's bass on this album is magnificent. The production is really good and the synths don't bother me at all.

 

11. Hold Your Fire - My least favorite synth album but its a great album, except for the last 2 songs. Turn The Page would have made a great closing track and the album would be a bit higher if TS and HW were excluded.

 

12. Fly By Night - Anthem and By-Tor are classics. I don't really like Rivendell but its not as terrible as most say it is.

 

13. Presto - This album used to be in my top 10. I listened to it recently but I didn't enjoy it as much as usual. Still its a fine album and The Pass is one of my favorites. I tend to associate this album and FBN with the fall, so I'll probably start listening to it more in a couple of months. It will probably then move up again on my list.

 

14. Vapor Trails - The production's terrible but I still enjoy listening to it. I really started to like this album when I was on vacation last summer. It just suddenly clicked with me. Favorites are Sweet Miracle, How It Is, and Ghost Rider.

 

15. Snakes and Arrows - I like how Alex played more acoustic guitar on this one. Even though CA blows it away its not a bad album at all. I really like Armor and Sword, Far Cry, the 3 instrumentals, and Workin' Them Angels (a song that I used to hate but now like).

 

16. Caress of Steel - A solid album but its not one of my favorites. TFOL is excellent, as is Bastille Day and Lakeside Park.

 

17. Rush - I hate putting this album so low since its a very good album, but I haven't really wanted to listen to it in a while. Still, its a good blues-rock debut and it has Working Man.

 

18. Roll The Bones - I love Bravado, Dreamline, and Ghost of a Chance. The rest is decent to mediocre. Can't get into Where's My Thing? at all. Its another album that has recently dropped down on my list.

 

19. Test For Echo - Easily my least favorite album. Like I previously said, I don't really care about bad lyrics so that isn't the issue here. Actually one of the songs I like on this album is Virtuality. It just sounds bland, and it kind of sounds like a lot of the songs were CP outtakes. Honestly I've only listened to it several times so I should try to give it another chance. Maybe my opinion will change.

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Don't really want to explain my rankings cause I could make a book about it, but this is how it looks now. I'm pretty sure the bottom 9 won't change much, but my top 10 will definitely change from now till the start of the upcoming tour.

 

1. Signals

2. Moving Pictures

3. Permanent Waves

4. Hemispheres

5. Counterparts

6. A Farewell to Kings

7. Power Windows

8. 2112

9. Grace Under Pressure

10. Clockwork Angels

11. Hold Your Fire

12. Fly By Night

13. Presto

14. Vapor Trails

15. Caress of Steel

16. Snakes and Arrows

17. 2.gif

18. Roll the Bones

19. Test for Echo

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QUOTE (PolarizeMe @ Aug 11 2012, 01:00 AM)
Don't really want to explain my rankings cause I could make a book about it, but this is how it looks now. I'm pretty sure the bottom 9 won't change much, but my top 10 will definitely change from now till the start of the upcoming tour.

1. Signals
2. Moving Pictures
3. Permanent Waves
4. Hemispheres
5. Counterparts
6. A Farewell to Kings
7. Power Windows
8. 2112
9. Grace Under Pressure
10. Clockwork Angels
11. Hold Your Fire
12. Fly By Night
13. Presto
14. Vapor Trails
15. Caress of Steel
16. Snakes and Arrows
17. 2.gif
18. Roll the Bones
19. Test for Echo

The bottom half of your list is almost identical to mine.

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QUOTE (LedRush @ Aug 10 2012, 09:16 PM)
1. Hemispheres - The height of the conceptual period.  The songs are strong, and the playing is unmatched.

2. 2112 - One of the greatest songs every, complimented by 5 very good to amazing songs. 

3. Caress of Steel - A critical and commercial failure, this album holds a special place in my heart.  With one foot in the past, the band rocked out with two great songs.  With one foot in the future they try the dark and beautifully ambitious Necromancer and Fountain.

4. Moving Pictures - Hit after hit after hit.  Red Barchetta is like a little movie, and I'll never get tired of that song. 

5. Fly By Night - Early and raw, with light and shade.  Hints of brilliance to come in other fields, while mastering the hard rock/metal genre.

6. Clockwork Angels - Power and beauty.  No album rocks much harder, and no album has more beautiful songs. 

7. Farewell to Kings - Great songs, great subtlety, great lyrics.  Only Cygnus X-1, the band's worst (but still ok) concept song drags this album down to #7.

8. Permanent Waves - A great and ambitious new start for the band, Natural Science and Jacob's Ladder aren't the band's best work, but they are still good.

9. Roll the Bones - After 3 disappointing albums (and many would argue 5), RTB corrects the mistakes of Presto, adding better songs to go with the return to guitar sound.

10. Signals - For  many, the start of a period of decline for the band.  The album only has one weak song, though, even if it only had a couple of great ones.

11. Test for Echo - Correcting the embarrassing mistakes of Counterparts, this album sees Rush back in fine form with a focus on good songs.

12. Vapor Trails - Bad production can't hide very good songs.  The album is weighed down by a lack of variety and excessive length, and that the album's worst two songs were released as the signals and played live.  Rush never rocked harder than this.

13.  Rush - The original still kicks much ass, giving a glimpse at the power of the band.  In retrospect, you can see the skill and diversity that would become Rush staples, but at the time, it's impossible to think the band would be where it was a mere two years later.

14. Grace Under Pressure - The band retains some of the power of its earlier days, though layers in interesting themes and a ton of synths. 

15. Snakes & Arrows - 4 great songs, including the best song of the 2000's, can't wipe away the fact that the band was mired in mid-tempo trudges that went nowhere.  Still, the clean sound, good lyrics, and inarguable highs make this an album worth enjoying.

16. Power Windows - 4 amazing songs and 2 good ones and two not so good ones.  The first album where not great songs equal the great ones.

17. Hold Your Fire - Much maligned, this album was more ambitious than it seems.  The band stretches to new themes, sometimes succeeding, but often with just ok results.

18. Presto - A commercial low-point for the band, in their first effort to shed the synths the band had lost the focus on song writing. 

19. Counterparts - An almost embarrassing effort by the band.  Rush's return to a harder, grunge sound completely forgot to bring the songs and lyrics.  With only one great song, and very few very good ones, there's not much to like here other than a return of the hard guitars, a fact that obscures objective evaluation of this album by the hard core fans.  The lyrics show why Peart doesn't tackle love.

RTB ranked higher than Signals? Absolute heresy!

 

Counterparts dead last? CP was no great prize, but it was a ray of sunshine in an otherwise dreary decade.

 

My own rankings, at least as of today (they could change tomorrow):

 

1. Hemispheres

2. Moving Pictures

3. Permanent Waves

4. Signals

5. Grace Under Pressure

6. Power Windows

7. 2112

8. AFTK

9. COS

10. Hold Your Fire

11. Clockwork Angels

12. Counterparts

13. Presto

14. FBN

15. Rush

16. S&A

17. VT

18. RTB

19. T4E

 

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Power Windows

Grace Under Pressure

Clockwork Angels

Hemispheres

Moving Pictures

Signals

Permanent Waves

Vapor Trails

A Farewell To Kings

2112

Snakes & Arrows

Hold Your Fire

Test For Echo

Presto

Caress Of Steel

Fly By Night

Roll The Bones

Rush

Counterparts

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QUOTE (ColdFireYYZ @ Aug 11 2012, 12:14 AM)
QUOTE (PolarizeMe @ Aug 11 2012, 01:00 AM)
Don't really want to explain my rankings cause I could make a book about it, but this is how it looks now. I'm pretty sure the bottom 9 won't change much, but my top 10 will definitely change from now till the start of the upcoming tour.

1. Signals
2. Moving Pictures
3. Permanent Waves
4. Hemispheres
5. Counterparts
6. A Farewell to Kings
7. Power Windows
8. 2112
9. Grace Under Pressure
10. Clockwork Angels
11. Hold Your Fire
12. Fly By Night
13. Presto
14. Vapor Trails
15. Caress of Steel
16. Snakes and Arrows
17. 2.gif
18. Roll the Bones
19. Test for Echo

The bottom half of your list is almost identical to mine.

Eh...it's just pure coincidence that my bottom 9 ended up that way tongue.gif

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I am going to rank in terms of sonic pairs

 

1. Moving Pictures, Permanent Waves.

 

What ever other album I might be digging at the moment, there is always the acknowledgment that this pair is clearly the pinacle of Rush in terms of songwriting, muscisionship, popularity, uniqueness, production quality etc etc.

 

 

2. 2112, Caress of Steel

 

The hard rock and hard prog rock duo

 

3. A Farewell to Kings, Hemispheres

 

Often, this pair switches places with 2112 and COS

 

4. Clockwork Angels, Vapor Trails, Rush, Fly by Night

 

Rush and VT wub.gif 4 the haters: moon.gif

 

5. Powerwindows, Hold Your Fire, Presto

 

This trio is given such a high spot because of their importance to other Rush fans and not really for personal reasons.

 

6. Signals, GUP

 

6. Counterparts, Test for Echo

 

7. RTB

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QUOTE (LedRush @ Aug 11 2012, 09:42 AM)
QUOTE (Animate @ Aug 11 2012, 09:12 AM)
I am going to rank in terms of sonic pairs

1. Moving Pictures, Permanent Waves. 

What ever other album I might be digging at the moment, there is always the acknowledgment that this pair is clearly the pinacle of Rush in terms of songwriting, muscisionship, popularity, uniqueness, production quality etc etc. 


2.  2112, Caress of Steel

The hard rock and hard prog rock duo

3. A Farewell to Kings, Hemispheres

Often, this pair switches places with 2112 and COS

4. Clockwork Angels, Vapor Trails, Rush, Fly by Night

Rush and VT wub.gif  4 the haters: moon.gif

5. Powerwindows, Hold Your Fire, Presto

This trio is given such a high spot because of their importance to other Rush fans and not really for personal reasons. 

6. Signals, GUP

6. Counterparts, Test for Echo

7.  RTB

How is RTB not with Presto?

That is were the whole "sonic pairs" idea began to really breakdown laugh.gif

 

Even thought they are a natural sonic pair, Presto is actually a really good album. RTB, not so much. I could not bring myself to place RTB above any other album nor could I put Presto below the albums below it.

 

So, this pair was split.

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The problem for RTB is ultimately, it came out the same month that Nirvana "Nevermind" came out. RTB was very badly, badly outclassed. Poppy, rock lite songs compared to Smells Like Teen Spririt and In Bloom? mmmmm. no.

 

While almost every other Rush album either explored new sonic locations, or at least kept up with the sonics of the time, RTB stands out to me as not doing so, in a big way.

 

However, Dreamline wub.gif

Edited by Animate
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Permanent Waves

Hold Your Fire

Hemispheres

Signals

2112

COS

Rush

Power windows

presto

GUP

Clockwork angels

fly by night

Moving Pictures

Roll the bones

Counterparts

A farewell to kings

Snakes and arrows

Test for echo

Vapor trails

Edited by av450
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FLY BY NIGHT

2112

RUSH

A FAREWELL TO KINGS

HEMISPHERES

CARESS OF STEEL

CLOCKWORK ANGELS

SNAKES AND ARROWS

PRESTO

COUNTERPARTS

PERMANENT WAVES

MOVING PICTURES

ROLL THE BONES

TEST FOR ECHO

GRACE UNDER PRESSURE

VAPOR TRAILS

POWER WINDOWS

SIGNALS

HOLD YOUR FIRE

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QUOTE (Na na na @ Aug 11 2012, 03:07 AM)
Power Windows
Grace Under Pressure
Clockwork Angels
Hemispheres
Moving Pictures
Signals
Permanent Waves
Vapor Trails
A Farewell To Kings
2112
Snakes & Arrows
Hold Your Fire
Test For Echo
Presto
Caress Of Steel
Fly By Night
Roll The Bones
Rush
Counterparts

Clockwork Angels

Power Windows

Grace Under Pressure

Hemispheres

Moving Pictures

Signals

Permanent Waves

Vapor Trails

A Farewell To Kings

2112

Snakes & Arrows

Hold Your Fire

Test For Echo

Presto

Caress Of Steel

Fly By Night

Roll The Bones

Rush

Counterparts

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QUOTE (dethroned emperor @ Aug 11 2012, 05:46 PM)
caress of steel
a farewell to kings
fly by night
counterparts
hemispheres
rush
clockwork angels
snakes and arrows
2112
presto
grace under pressure
signals
test for echo
moving pictures
power windows
roll the bones
hold your fire
permanent waves
vapor trails

I'm sorry, but Signals is 12th? Moving Pictures 14th? Permanent Waves 18th?

 

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1/1a. Permanent Waves/Moving Pictures - the twin peaks in the Rush canon and the point at which Rush gained enough confidence to move beyond their early influences while absorbing new ones and meld them all into a sound uniquely their own, in the process creating two flawless masterpieces

3. 2112 - Rush throws down the gauntlet and makes their stand in the ultimate philosophical and emotional statement of purpose. The first side on its own is so powerful it's pretty much inconsequential what side 2 (which ain't too shabby in its own right) consists of.

4. Grace Under Pressure - one of their most powerful and passionate efforts that perfectly reflects the dark and uncertain times in which it was made. The first sense of a musical/lyrical maturity following the band's 'adolescent' years. Icy stabbing synth lines, slashing metallic guitar chords along with some of Peart's finest lyrics combine to create a cold, mechanical feel that's purely awesome.

5. Caress of Steel - an atmospheric journey into dark, forbidding musical lands resulting in many moments of incredible power, majesty and beauty. A great adventure indeed!

6. Rush - people hearing this on Cleveland radio in '74 thought it was LED ZEPPELIN for fukks sake and there's a reason for that: it's great rock & roll, period

7. A Farewell To Kings - the first three tracks are among their very best, giving it the slightest edge over...

8. Hemispheres - where they push themselves to the limit in terms of complexity, vocals and musicianship. Geddy has said that around this time they were out to prove that they could play and they did that here without any doubt.

9. Power Windows - the ultimate blending of guitar and keyboards for Rush, as Geddy said. What truly shines hear though is the songwriting and lyrics with the first five tracks being particularly top-notch.

10. Clockwork Angels - every song on here is excellent and extremely well written and they're playing with as much fire as ever...astounding and pretty much unprecedented really for a band's 19th album. Listen to the music that's there without constantly trying to compare it to prior eras and you could be rewarded. There's enough diversity and depth that any Rush fan should be able to connect with some of it. I'm not sure about declaring it a masterpiece quite yet but it's about as close as you can get (perhaps in the fullness of time).

11. Vapor Trails - hardly an embarrassment...far from it actually. Rush returns with an album full of passion, energy and tremendous spirit with nearly every song a gem...excellent stuff.

12. Fly By Night - it's ridiculous that an album this great is so far down the list but there you are. Side one kicks a ton of ass but isn't quite as monumental as say, 2112. Side two is similar and certainly comparable to 2112's.

13. Counterparts - several great real rockers on here (their best in a while) with an underrated closer. still this far down an album I would call great overall.

14. Test For Echo - pretty much the equal to Counterparts in my mind, even slightly more musically interesting and adventurous at times

15. Snakes & Arrows - maybe not as diverse and varied as other albums but still a lot of strong material

16. Signals - Rush refuses to become complacent or coast on their breakthrough success. A brave effort and a necessary step for them at the time but for me their weakest up to that point. Mostly good though with a few great songs.

17. Hold Your Fire - I agree with Neil here in that they were going a bit too far with the keyboards. Their heavy rock edge, while still present at times, was largely in absence. Still half of it is really great.

18/19. Presto/Roll The Bones - Their first attempts to correct the HYF issue and get back to a heavier guitar/bass/drums oriented sound didn't quite get there since the production team in place couldn't get the job done. They're not terrible albums just rather bland, unexciting and unspectatcular.

 

 

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Caress of Steel

Moving Pictures

Signals

Permanent Waves

Counterparts

Clockwork Angels

Snakes & Arrows

Rush

Hemispheres

Grace Under Pressure

Test for Echo

Fly By Night

A Farewell to Kings

2112

Hold Your Fire

Vapor Trails

Presto

Roll the Bones

Power Windows

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