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Rank the Rush Albums


pdurbin22
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I still have trouble understanding why the debut gets so little love, sigh.

 

Signals

Permanent Waves

Moving Pictures

Grace Under Pressure

Rush

2112

Counterparts

Presto

Power Windows

Snakes and Arrows

Fly By Night

Hemispheres

A Farewell to Kings

Clockwork Angels

Hold Your Fire

Roll the Bones

Vapor Trails

Caress of Steel

Test for Echo

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In order:

 

Best of the best

1)Signals

2)Moving Pictures

3)A Farewell to Kings

4)Caress of Steel

5)2112

6)Hemispheres

7)Permanent Waves

8)Grace Under Pressure

9)Fly By Night

 

Good

10)Counterparts

11)Hold Your Fire

12)Power Windows

13)Rush

 

Bottom tier

14)Roll the Bones

15)Presto

16)Snakes and Arrows

17)Test for Echo

18)Clockwork Angels

19)Vapor Trails

Edited by greg2112
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1. Counterparts

1. Grace Under Pressure

3. Hemispheres

4. Signals

5. Moving Pictures

6. Clockwork Angels

7. Power Windows

8. Permanent Waves

9. Snakes And Arrows

10. 2112

11. Vapor Trails

12. Test For Echo

13. A Farewell To Kings

14. Hold Your Fire

15. Fly By Night

16. Caress Of Steel

17. Roll The Bones

18. Presto

19. Rush

 

Updated Grace Under Pressure to tie at #1 with Counterparts, mainly for personal reasons and that I have been listening to both pretty heavily. p/g is kinda the album that my dad used to get me into Rush, along with Moving Pictures. First album I ever listened to from start to finish and loved. Starting and finishing with some RAWK with DEW and Wheels :haz:

 

Swapped FBN and CoS. I have started to think better of the material on FBN, pulling Anthem and BBB out of the vaults and putting them up with By-Tor and In The End. The rest is still pretty lacking, though and didn't improve much from the first album. CoS still only has one song I like, Fountain of Lamneth.

 

Swapped AFTK and HYF. Narp will be pleased... I love half the songs on HYF but Xanadu and Cygnus X-1 are too good, and I have come to appreciate the title track more.

Edited by BowlCity
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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.

 

 

I must disagree with your astute observations here. No, wait, I poo on them :coy: . Side 2 is, in it's own way, just as epic as side 1, and together the two form one gaping masterpiece of studio perfection. :poke:

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Gotta love a good list!

 

1. AFTK

2. Hemispheres

3. PeW

4. Hold Your Fire

5. Power Windows

6. P/G

7. 2112

8. Caress of Steel

9. Presto

10. Signals

11. Moving Pictures

12. Roll the Bones

13. Test for Echo

14. Counterparts

15. Vapor Trails

16. Fly By Night

17. Snakes and Arrows

18. Clockwork Angels

19. Rush

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Subject to change:

 

Counterparts

Signals

Power Windows

Moving Pictures

Presto

Hold Your Fire

Clockwork Angels

Snakes & Arrows

Roll The Bones

Grace Under Pressure

Permanent Waves

A Farewell To Kings

2112

Test For Echo

Hemispheres

Fly By Night

Vapor Trails

Caress Of Steel

Rush

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It changes all the time for me but doesn't change much when it does. Albums from Counterparts to Snakes & Arrows aren't included because I haven't listened to them yet.

 

1. Moving Pictures

2. Permanent Waves

3. Hemispheres

4. Hold Your Fire

5. Signals

6. Power Windows

7. A Farewell To Kings

8. Grace Under Pressure

9. Presto

10. 2112

11. Fly By Night

12. Caress Of Steel

13. Rush

14. Roll The Bones

15. Clockwork Angels

Edited by Tuesday's Gone
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1. AFTK

2. MP

3. HYF

4. VT

5. Hems

6. GUP

7. PeW

8. Presto

9. CoS

10. 2112

11. PoW

12. T4E

13. Signals

14. CA

15. RTB

16. Rush

17. CP

18. FBN

19. SA

Edited by Segue Myles
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1. Signals - Every track on this album is a winner. I especially dig Countdown and The Weapon.

2. Permanent Waves - I really dig this one. This album holds my all-time favorite RUSH song - Natural Science. No disappointments here.

3. Hold Your Fire - Another album with lots of gems like Lock and Key, as well as Prime Mover, Turn The Page, many more.... Tai Shan and Second Nature hold the album back however.

4. Counterparts - Only three small disappointments here with Alien Shore, Cold Fire, and Everyday Glory. I love every other song on this record.

5. A Farewell to Kings - Only one disappointment here with Madrigal. Everything else here is excellent work, and it features a rare Geddy written lyric with Cinderella Man.

6. Moving Pictures - A truly timeless album. A stunning side one, followed by......an even more stunning side two! Standout tracks for me are The Camera Eye, Red Barchetta, and Limelight.

7. Grace Under Pressure - I love this album. I would rank it higher if the production wasn't so thick. Standout track for me are Kid Gloves and Between The Wheels.

8. Hemispheres - Not a bad song on this record. An energetic, high vocal side one, with a epic side two. Who doesn't love this album?

9. Clockwork Angels - A true concept album, and a great example of how a band like them can still produce stunning material. Standout tracks are The Anarchist, The Wreckers, and Headlong Flight.

10. Presto - Amidst very thin production, there are some real gems here - most notably Hand Over Fist, Superconductor and Presto.

11. Power Windows - I find this album as a Grace Under Pressure with better production. Also, the synth solo in Middletown Dreams is the best thing that Geddy ever played on that keyboard.

12. Snakes and Arrows - This is an album with a very Beatle-esque quality to it. Standout tracks are Far Cry, Bravest Face, The Larger Bowl and Malignant Narcissism.

13. 2112 - The title track here is a true masterpiece. Side two has a few so-so songs like The Twilight Zone and Lessons. I love Bangkok and SFN however, although Tears is pretty miserable.

14. Fly By Night - A decent album, with a very heavy sound to it. A decent album, although By-Tor and The Snow Dog ruins it for me.

15. RUSH - A decent album, although it is nothing like what they would become. I do love What You're Doing a lot.

16. Test For Echo - This album kind of falls apart after Time & Motion. Resist is decent, although the live version is better.

17. Roll The Bones - Another decent album that sounds awful with the thin production. Good songs though. Standout tracks are Ghost of a Chance, Where's My Thing?, and Bravado.

18. Caress of Steel - I never have been able to dig this album. I do love Lakeside Park, however.

19. Vapor Trails - Wow this album is miserable. The title track and The Stars Look Down save it.

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1. Signals, 2. Power Windows, 3. Hold Your Fire, 4. Moving Pictures, 5. Roll The Bones, 6. Grace Under Pressure. Signals gets the nod for me because some of Lifesons best guitar solos are on that album, I think his best work was across these albums especially the 80s stuff, maybe he thought he had to be more expressive because of the heavy use of keyboards which I applauded, Rush have lost something since the 80s, it's all gone pretty flat since with the worst album being the dreadful Vapor Trails with no guitar solos of note. All the other stuff is ordinary and couldn't rank them apart from sticking VP at the bottom of the pile.
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My list now.

 

1. Hemispheres

2. HYF

3. Waves.

4. Windows

5. Signals

6. COS

7. Presto

8. MP

9. Snakes

10. 2112

11. AFTK

12. RTB

13. CP

14. T4E

15. p/g

16. CA

17. FBN

18. Rush.

19. VT

 

I think from about 13 on really the order is interchangeable, lol RTB Is higher only cause live the songs are Great. And once again AFTK is high because of Xanadu.

 

Mick

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It’s so difficult to decide what criteria to use to rank the albums – this time, I tried to ignore the fact that there are songs on every album that I love, and ignore the personal connections that I have with various albums, and just focus on the album as a complete statement. I think for me what causes albums to fall into the “very good” territory is that they are uneven and just didn't have the same magic. What some would call “filler” songs, I like to think of as experiments that just didn’t quite generate magic. Sometimes experiments did work and drove an album closer to the top.

 

R41 Edition

 

Top Tier Rush / Untouchable:

Moving Pictures

Permanent Waves

Hemispheres

A Farewell to Kings

2112

 

Excellent Rush:

Clockwork Angels

Signals

Counterparts

Grace Under Pressure

Power Windows

Fly By Night

 

Very Good Rush:

Snakes & Arrows

Vapor Trails

Hold Your Fire

Test For Echo

Roll The Bones

Caress Of Steel

Presto

Rush

Edited by cygnify
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Admittedly, I'm not fan of Presto and RTB - but besides those 2 albums, the rest of their catalog is amazing to me.

 

Power Windows

Hemispheres

Moving Pictures

Permanent Waves

A Farewell to Kings

Hold Your Fire

Clockwork Angels

Counterparts

Signals

2112

Vapor Trails

Grace Under Pressure

Test For Echo

Snakes and Arrows

Fly By Night

Rush

Caress of Steel

Roll The Bones

Presto

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As an aside, I don't see how a list can have Moving Pictures listed anywhere lower than second or third. I can maybe buy liking Permanent Waves more. It's more of a stretch, but I can see liking Hemispheres more. If your list has Caress of Steel, Hold Your Fire, Counterparts, or Presto listed HIGHER than Moving Pictures, you should tear up your list. :)
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As an aside, I don't see how a list can have Moving Pictures listed anywhere lower than second or third. I can maybe buy liking Permanent Waves more. It's more of a stretch, but I can see liking Hemispheres more. If your list has Caress of Steel, Hold Your Fire, Counterparts, or Presto listed HIGHER than Moving Pictures, you should tear up your list. :)

 

I do what I want! :P

 

The reason I have CP, Grace, and Hemispheres above MP is just personal preference of songs and I've burned out heavily on a lot of MP's songs. Doesn't take away from its greatness, but it'll knock it down a rank or two.

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Update:

 

1. Grace Under Pressure

2. Counterparts (:o)

3. Hemispheres

4. Moving Pictures

5. Clockwork Angels

6. Signals

7. Permanent Waves

8. Power Windows

9. Snakes And Arrows

10. 2112

11. Vapor Trails

12. Test For Echo

13. Hold Your Fire

14. A Farewell To Kings

15. Fly By Night

16. Caress Of Steel

17. Roll The Bones

18. Presto

19. Rush

 

 

Lately I've been listening to more Grace Under Pressure than I have Counterparts. I still love both, but right now Grace Under Pressure has been getting a LOT of play. Signals moves down a couple spots as I've grown to dislike the way the album sounds, despite its strong songs. The guitar sounds pretty horrid at times. Meanwhile CA moves into top 5 and PeW and PoW swap spots.

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Alrighty.

 

Hemispheres

Permanent Waves

A Farewell To Kings

Moving Pictures

Signals

Fly By Night

Caress of Steel

Grace Under Pressure

Clockwork Angels

Test For Echo

Presto

Roll The Bones

Hold Your Fire

Counterparts

2112

Snakes & Arrows

Power Windows

Vapor Trails

Rush

 

Still the same for me.

 

I take that back. I have to change it.

 

Hemispheres

Permanent Waves

Signals

A Farewell To Kings

Moving Pictures

Fly By Night

Caress of Steel

Grace Under Pressure

Clockwork Angels

Test For Echo

2112

Presto

Roll The Bones

Hold Your Fire

Snakes & Arrows

Power Windows

Counterparts

Vapor Trails

Rush

Edited by Lorraine
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Here goes nothing - ( I think ive done this a dozen times, and wouldnt be surprised if not one of my lists was same)

 

1. Permanent Waves

2. Hemispheres

3. Moving Pictures

4. A Farewell to Kings

5. 2112

6. Caress of Steel

7. Signals

8. Power Windows

9. Fly By Night

10. Hold Your Fire

11. Grace Under Pressure

12. Presto

13. Vapor Trails

14. Test for Echo

15. Clockwork Angels

16. Rush

17. Roll the Bones

18. Counterparts

19. Snakes and Arrows

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As an aside, I don't see how a list can have Moving Pictures listed anywhere lower than second or third. I can maybe buy liking Permanent Waves more. It's more of a stretch, but I can see liking Hemispheres more. If your list has Caress of Steel, Hold Your Fire, Counterparts, or Presto listed HIGHER than Moving Pictures, you should tear up your list. :)

 

I do what I want! :P

 

The reason I have CP, Grace, and Hemispheres above MP is just personal preference of songs and I've burned out heavily on a lot of MP's songs. Doesn't take away from its greatness, but it'll knock it down a rank or two.

 

The "I've heard Tom Sawyer too many times" line is not an acceptable response. Counterparts ahead of Moving Pictures? Tear your list up. NOW! MOVE!

 

:)

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Here goes nothing - ( I think ive done this a dozen times, and wouldnt be surprised if not one of my lists was same)

 

1. Permanent Waves

2. Hemispheres

3. Moving Pictures

4. A Farewell to Kings

5. 2112

6. Caress of Steel

7. Signals

8. Power Windows

9. Fly By Night

10. Hold Your Fire

11. Grace Under Pressure

12. Presto

13. Vapor Trails

14. Test for Echo

15. Clockwork Angels

16. Rush

17. Roll the Bones

18. Counterparts

19. Snakes and Arrows

Your list is always a good one though :cheers: Would love to see the Debut sneak up a place or two but other than that you have the good and great ones ahead of "the rest"... :)
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Clockwork Angels

Moving Pictures

Permanent Waves

Hemispheres

Signals

Hold Your Fire

Grace Under Pressure

Power Windows

A Farewell to Kings

Roll the Bones

2112

Fly by Night

Counterparts

Snakes & Arrows

Vapour Trails

Presto

Caress of Steel

Rush

Test for Echo

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