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Rank the Rush Albums


pdurbin22
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I think the best way to do this is as off the top of my head as possible, without trying to analyze everything....

1. MP

2. Counterparts

3. CA

4. Presto

5. VT

6. Signals

7. 2112

8. S&A

9. GuP

10. PoW

11. HYF

12. AFTK

13. PeW ( 3 absolute classics, and 3 I couldn't care less about)

14. 2.gif

15. Hemispheres (Title epic doesn't grab me like 2112, LVS comes off better live than studio)

16. FBN

17. RTB

18. T4E

(all of these are at worst listenable. And then there's, um, ...)

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19. CoS Bastille Day is classic, Lakeside Park is good, the other 35 minutes 062802puke_prv.gif

 

Looking at my list my own first impression is "What a scrambled top 7!" None of them sound like the others.

Edited by Pause Rewind Replay
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1) Hemispheres

2) A Farewell to Kings

3) Permanent Waves

4) Moving Pictures

5) 2112

6) Snakes and Arrows

7) Clockwork Angels

8) Signals

9) Fly By Night

10) Presto

11) Grace Under Pressure

12) Caress of Steel

13) Rush

14) Hold Your Fire

15) Roll the Bones

16) Power Windows

17) Counterparts

18) Vapor Trails

19) Test for Echo

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QUOTE (Silas Lang @ Aug 11 2012, 11:47 PM)
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.

goodpost.gif

 

These are some really good rationales for your rankings. I really like the one for Fly By Night. That is how I always feel when trying to rank the albums "Absurd! How can AlbumX get such a low ranking?!?"

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1. Permanent Waves

2. Power Windows

3. Signals

4. Caress of Steel

5. Moving Pictures

6. Hold your Fire

7. Presto

8. Snakes and Arrows

9. Farewell to Kings

10. Roll the Bones

11. Hemispheres

12. 2112

13. Counterparts

14. Grace under Pressure

15. Clockwork Angels

16. Fly by Night

17. Test for Echo

18. Vapor Trails

19. Rush

20. Feedback

 

Mick

Edited by bluefox4000
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QUOTE (bluefox4000 @ Aug 12 2012, 11:31 AM)
1. Permanent Waves
2. Power Windows
3. Signals
4. Caress of Steel
5. Moving Pictures
6. Hold your Fire
7. Presto
8. Snakes and Arrows
9. Farewell to Kings
10. Roll the Bones
11. Hemispheres
12. 2112
13. Counterparts
14. Grace under Pressure
15. Clockwork Angels
16. Fly by Night
17. Test for Echo
18. Vapor Trails
19. Rush
20. Feedback

Mick

Interestingly, you're the first person to mention Feedback. Why? Because almost no one considers it a "Rush album" even though there was all that ridiculous hubbub awhile back about Clockwork Angels being their 20th album. It was their 19th. And one time they made a short EP of cover tunes.

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1 A Farewell to Kings

1 Hemispheres

1 Permanent Waves

1 Moving Pictures

5 2112

6 Caress of Steel

7 Fly By Night

8 Power Windows

9 Signals

10 Clockwork Angels

11 Vapor Trails

12 Counterparts

13 Snakes & Arrows

14 Grace Under Pressure

15 Hold Your Fire

16 Rush

17 Test for Echo

18 Roll the Bones

19 Presto

20 Feedback

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My list is bulletproof

 

1. Moving Pictures

2. Signals

3. Permanent Waves

4. Hemispheres

5. A Farewell To Kings

6. 2112

7. Fly By Night

8. Caress of Steel

9. Grace Under Pressure

10 Clockwork Angels

11. Counterparts

12. Snakes and Arrows

13. Power Windows

14. Rush

15. Vapor Trails

16. Presto

17. Roll The Bones

18. Hold Your Fire

19. Test For Echo

 

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1. A Farewell to Kings - To me, you can't get better than this. Pure prog at it's finest. Xanadu is Rush's best track, and the whole album flows together so well. I've always called Madrigal "the calm before the storm."

 

2. Moving Pictures - Generally considered their best for good reason. Not one weak track here.

 

3. Power Windows - I love this album. I'm one of the few people who really, really likes Territories (it's just so danceable), and overall, I feel this album represents the best of their synth period.

 

4. Hemispheres - The title track has one of the most interesting ideas for one of their songs, and the rest of the album rounds out brilliantly. La Villa is their best instrumental.

 

5. Permanent Waves - The first album where we start to hear some synth, but well before the synth era. Natural Science and Jacob's Ladder are truly inspired tracks.

 

6. Signals - More great synth tracks here, and I love the album even though I feel that Subdivisions + the even numbered tracks are far stronger than the other three. However, the whole album flows together really well, and it works as one piece.

 

7. 2112 - Amazing title track, and some more of their great prog era.

 

8. Hold Your Fire - The bass on this album is amazing, and a lot of the lyrics are quite inspired. I am one of three people who actually likes Tai Shan (so shoot me).

 

9. Snakes and Arrows - The best production on an album we've seen since Power Windows, and it shows. Great instrumentals all around, and only a couple of weak tracks.

 

10. Fly By Night - Great early stuff here, Bytor and the Snow Dog really foreshadows where they're going, and there are a few really great rockers on here, like Beneath, Between, and Behind, Fly By Night, and In the End.

 

11. Grace Under Pressure - Some of their darkest synth stuff, which I love. Between the Wheels and Kid Gloves are amazing, and again the lyrics here are astounding.

 

12. Roll the Bones - I love this album unashamedly. The rap is silly, but fun, and the whole concept behind the album of life as a game of chance is very interesting. You Bet Your Life is a great album closer.

 

13. Presto - Slightly weaker production than Roll the Bones, but the tracks are just as compelling. Show Don't Tell, Presto, and Available Light are standouts here, but the poppy feel of this album I always enjoy.

 

14. Caress of Steel - Great tracks all around here, but that early Rush sound doesn't work quite as well when it is extended to the length of some of their more proggy stuff. I still love it though.

 

15. Counterparts - Much heavier than other Rush. Amazing playing and great structures, but I prefer the lighter to the heavier sounds of Rush.

 

16. Clockwork Angels - Production feels muddled here, though the lyrics are great, and I'm glad to see Rush finally do a full, true concept album, in terms of telling a story (I consider most Rush albums loose concept albums, but this is their first tight one, to be sure).

 

17. Rush - The lack of Peart shows. I still like the tunes, but it's obvious it's not the Rush we all know and love.

 

18. Vapor Trails - Production feels very muddled here, though there are still some standout tracks, and I still enjoy listening to the album. Hey, it's still Rush, right?

 

19. Test for Echo - Some of their worst lyrics, and again fairly muddled production. A few standout greats on this one, but this is definitely the Rush album I listen to the least.

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1. Moving Pictures

2. Hemispheres

3. 2112

4. Permanent Waves

5. A Farewell To Kings

 

6. Grace Under Pressure

7. Power Windows

8. Fly By Night

9. Signals

10. Clockwork Angels

11. Vapor Trails

12. Counterparts

13. RUSH

14. Caress Of Steel

 

15. Hold Your Fire

16. Presto

17. Snakes & Arrows

18. Test For Echo

19. Roll The Bones

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I cheated and used the Johnny Blaze System again.

 

1. Moving Pictures

2. Permanent Waves

3. A Farewell to Kings

4. Signals

5. Hemispheres

6. Clockwork Angels (recently fell from #5, but not because I lowered any of the songs' rankings. Hemispheres just moved up a hair after some reconsideration).

 

7. Power Windows

8. Fly By Night

9. Rush

10. Hold Your Fire

11. Counterparts

12. Presto

 

13. 2112

14. Roll the Bones

15. Snakes and Arrows

16. Grace Under Pressure

17. Vapor Trails

18. Caress of Steel

 

19. Test for Echo

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Caress Of Steel

Hemispheres

A Farewell To Kings

2112

Moving Pictures

Permanent Waves

Fly By Night

Rush

Signals

Grace Under Pressure

Clockwork Angels

Counterparts

Snakes And Arrows

Power Windows

Vapor Trails

Roll The Bones

Test For Echo

Hold Your Fire

Presto

 

 

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I grew up listening to a few songs off "Chronicles", so I always thought "Finding My Way" Rush was the same as "Tom Sawyer" Rush and "Show Don't Tell" Rush. I wasn't aware that it was a compilation album, so I thought they had a drastic and hugely varied sound on each album (boy was I wrong!). That meant that when I started listening to "Vapor Trails", the only other Rush album I had at the time, I was not entirely surprised or overwhelmed by its supposedly 'loud' sound. For that reason, I can't rank these albums based on 'sound', but how much I enjoy them. So, here we go, my album rankings and my favorite cuts:

1. Vapor Trails - This is the reason I listen to Rush. Every song is a gift to mankind.

2. Caress of Steel - Yes, that's right. "The Necromancer" is just wonderful.

3. Test For Echo - My friend gave me his MP3 player, which I listened to during summer school in '07, but I never knew it was Rush, until I heard "Virtuality" recently.

4. Rush - I'm not going to lie. "Need Some Love", for when I need a pick-me-up.

5. Moving Pictures - Without "Tom Sawyer", I would not be complete.

6. Signals - "Digital Man" is amazing. I don't know why everyone could live without it.

7. A Farewell to Kings - Does anyone else listen to "Cygnus X-1" when playing Star Fox? No? Well "Madrigal" needs some attention, too...

8. Hemispheres - Because you can't finish "Book I" without "Book II".

9. Fly By Night - Actually, "Anthem" is why I bought a drum set.

10. Counterparts - "Speed of Love" offers excellent contrast in terms of sound versus the rest of the alum.

11. 2112 - "Lessons" and "Something for Nothing" are very relaxing after that mind-blowing title track.

12. Permanent Waves - Only because of "Spirit of Radio" and "Freewill".

13. Roll the Bones - "Dreamline". 'Nuff said.

14. Clockwork Angels - "Headlong Flight" makes for some good rocking...

15. Snakes and Arrows - ...so does "Far Cry".

16. Grace Under Pressure - I honestly thought the title meant someone named Grace was in a pickle until I read Hemmingway. "Kid Gloves" and "Distant Early Warning" deserve more recognition.

17. Presto - "Show Don't Tell" was on Chronicles.

18. Hold Your Fire - Don't have it yet, but "Time Stand Still" defined it for me.

19. Power Windows - "Big Money" is enjoyable, but the synths keep it from being higher on the list.

20. Feedback - Just a cover album, but I like "Summertime Blues", "Seven and Seven is", "The Seeker" and "For What it's Worth" more than the originals.

 

Like I said, I don't really have a favorite, since I grew up with "Chronicles" and thought it was a studio album. But in all honesty, "Power Windows" is the only one I have ANY complaints about, and that's just because of the synth use, which was pretty standard in the 1980s anyways.

 

 

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Oh, I might as well...

 

9/10:

Moving Pictures

 

8/10:

Presto

Hemispheres

Clockwork Angels

Power Windows

2112

 

7/10:

Vapor Trails

Fly by Night

Permanent Waves

Grace Under Pressure

 

6/10:

Counterparts

Snakes and Arrows

Signals

Rush

 

5/10:

A Farewell to Kings

 

4/10:

Hold Your Fire

Caress of Steel

Roll the Bones

 

3/10:

Test for Echo

 

Albums with the same rating are arranged in descending order of preference.

Edited by StellarJetman
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1. Permanent Waves

1. A Farewell To Kings

1. ClockWork Angels

 

4. 2112

5. MP

6. Signals

7. Counterparts

8. Vapor Trails

9. Hemispheres

10. Power Windows

11. Caress of Steel

11. Fly by Night

13. Grace Under Pressure

14. Hold Your Fire

15. Snakes & Arrows

16. Test For Echo

17. Roll The Bones

18. Presto

19. Rush

Edited by Tombstone Mountain
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1. Grace Under Pressure

2. Permanent Waves

3. Moving Pictures

4. 2112

5. Power Windows

6. Clockwork Angels

7. Signals

8. Fly By Night

9. A Farewell To Kings

10. Hemispheres

11. Counterparts

12. Snakes & Arrows

13. Presto

14. Caress Of Steel

15. Rush

16. Test For Echo

17. Hold Your Fire

18. Vapor Trails

19. Roll The Bones

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QUOTE (StellarJetman @ Aug 29 2012, 12:30 PM)
Oh, I might as well...

9/10:
Moving Pictures

8/10:
Presto
Hemispheres
Clockwork Angels
Power Windows
2112

7/10:
Vapor Trails
Fly by Night
Permanent Waves
Grace Under Pressure

6/10:
Counterparts
Snakes and Arrows
Signals
Rush

5/10:
A Farewell to Kings

4/10:
Hold Your Fire
Caress of Steel
Roll the Bones

3/10:
Test for Echo

Albums with the same rating are arranged in descending order of preference.

You are certainly entitled to your opinion, but would you mind explaining the 7/10 for Permanent Waves? I think that besides Moving Pictures it is one of the most widely acclaimed albums among even casual fans.

 

Jus wondrin.

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1. A Farewell to Kings

Something very unique about this album. The title track is outstanding, and in whole this is simply a great album to listen to.

2. Signals

Some true gems in here: The Analog Kid, Subdivisions, Countdown... The beginning of the synth era was strong!

3. Caress of Steel

My favorite album of theirs when it comes to the "Epics". The Fountain of Lamneth is a masterpiece!

4. Hemispheres

A perfect album as many here agree. Four great tracks.

5. Grace Under Pressure

The album that got me into the band. Over time, it's gone from #1 to a bit lower, but it still has that nostalgic value to it and is an album that means something to me. I remember sitting in the park doing my schoolwork at the break of dawn while listening to Distant Early Warning...

 

6. Permanent Waves

7. Hold Your Fire

8. Fly by Night

9. Moving Pictures

10. Power Windows

11. 2112

12. Presto

13. Snakes & Arrows

14. Clockwork Angels

15. Vapor Trails

16. Test for Echo

17. Counterparts

18. Roll the Bones

19. Rush

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Permanent Waves

 

Hemispheres

 

Moving Pictures

 

Signals

 

Power Windows

 

Grace Under Pressure

 

2112

 

Hold Your Fire

 

Clockwork Angels

 

A Farewell To Kings

 

Snakes and Arrows

 

Counterparts

 

Fly By Night

 

Roll The Bones

 

Rush

 

Presto

 

Test For Echo

 

Vaportrails

 

Caress of Steel

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QUOTE (drbirdsong @ Aug 30 2012, 10:49 PM)
You are certainly entitled to your opinion, but would you mind explaining the 7/10 for Permanent Waves?  I think that besides Moving Pictures it is one of the most widely acclaimed albums among even casual fans.

Jus wondrin.

"Jacob's Ladder" is a monotonous, repetitive slog that goes on forever and destroys the album's pacing, and "Different Strings", while pretty (and graced with an excellent chorus), has stupid lyrics and just trails off disappointingly instead of having a real ending, which almost ruins it for me. Together, these songs take up a third of the whole album. I'm not a big fan of the title track's third part, either.

 

Everything else is great, and I'd probably give the album a high 8 if it had real music in place of "Jacob's Ladder".

Edited by StellarJetman
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1. MP

2. Hemispheres

3. Permanent Waves

4. Kings

5. Signals

6. 2112

7. Grace

8. Power Windows

9. Fly By Night

10. Presto

11. Clockwork (would probably be higher if it didn't sound like !@#$)

12. Caress of Steel

13. Counterparts

14. Rush

15. Roll the Bones

16. Vapor Trails

17. Test For Echo

18. Hold Your Fire

19. Snakes

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1. Permanent Waves

Flawless. There isn't one miss on this entire record. Everything just works. The greatest among several of RUSH's masterpieces IMO.

 

2. Hemispheres

The apex of RUSH's progressive period. Probably the greatest showcase of their musicianship. Truly a beautiful album.

 

3. Signals

Everything works seamlessly like a well-oiled machine. It's cold, mechanical, beautiful. A bold record that ushered in the synth era. It took courage to put this record out.

 

4. Grace Under Pressure

Dark, synthy, and some of the best songwriting in RUSH's career. Lerxst is still in the forefront with the rest of the boys so Signals and GUP are definitely the best of the synth era.

 

5. Moving Pictures

Yes, it's excellent but not their best work. All the radioplay from this album knocks it down a bit. Don't get me wrong. It's VERY, VERY good but not their opus in my opinion.

 

6. Clockwork Angels

Powerful. Heavy. Beautiful. The last of RUSH's masterpieces. Probably the last great album they'll put out. If you ask me, "The Garden" should be RUSH's swan song.

 

7. A Farewell To Kings

Xanadu is one of my favorite songs of all time, does the rest of the album hold up though? Not quite so much. I consider this a "warm-up" album for Hemispheres. Still excellent though.

 

8. Power Windows

Icy cold. Colder than Signals. This is where RUSH's synthyness peaked. While not as solid as Signals and GUP it's a damned fine effort.

 

9. 2112

A tad overrated. Solid album but the disconnect between the title track and the rest of the songs (Which come off as mostly filler to me...) slightly bothers me.

 

10. Caress Of Steel

This little gem garners too much hate. Yes, "I Think I'm Going Bald" is a laughable dud but this album sealed the boys as the proggy pioneers of their time, even if their label hated it.

 

11. Hold Your Fire

A mixed bag, really. It always bothered me how the two weakest songs are the ones that close the album. Not spectacular but not bad in any sense.

 

12. Fly By Night

RUSH was still molding themselves into fantastic musicians at this point and it shows. The start of their proggyness is in full display here, but it's blended with Zeppelin-esque leftovers from their first album. A good effort but not their best.

 

13. Counterparts

PHENOMENAL production...but that's really it. "Animate" and "Leave That Thing Alone" are quite good but nothing else stands out on this record. It's a shame too because it probably has the best production since their late 70s albums. Can't have it all, eh?

 

14. Snakes & Arrows

Not too fond of the lyrical content of this record, and I'm an atheist. Also, it's a bit too folky for my taste. I don't really think acoustic when I think of Rush. A bit of a misstep on the boys' part. Far Cry and MalNar are awesome though.

 

15. Vapor Trails

Awful production. But if you listen to it remixed it's quite adequate. Still not fond of the Geddy choruses and lack of Alex solos though. What I like about VT is the rejuvenated attitude from the boy. They came back to take the world with vengeance and it shows. One Little Victory has BALLS.

 

16. Presto

Paper-thin production and weak, uninspired songwriting (Presto and Available Light are exceptions) does not make for a strong record. This feels like some sort of weird mutation between synth and heavy rock. It doesn't flow as well in that respect.

 

17. Roll The Bones

Well Dreamline is good. Yeah...

 

18. Rush

More or less a facsimile of Zeppelin. A bit juvenile, but it's excusable. They were just forming the shell of their musical identity.

 

19. Test For Echo

Abysmal. Only the title track, Driven, Totem, and Limbo are listenable. I really want to know why they thought they could put this record out? It's painfully sloppy.

Edited by Alchemical
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