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The 50 Greatest RUSH songs of all-time (featuring # 1 from the 1970's) (1 Viewer)

Great pick for #1. It might not be in my personal top 10, but there’s no denying the greatness of 2112 and the importance of that song to the band’s success, record company be damned. 
 

Thanks so much to @Ghost Rider for starting this thread. It’s been great to relive, discuss and share stories about these great songs from a great band that obviously had a huge effect on those of us who’ve been replying so often in this thread. 
 

Literally off the top of my head as I write this, here's my personal top 15 as of this moment.  The top 2 haven’t changed in decades. The rest are undeniably great Rush songs but shift up and down depending on my mood, but when they come up on shuffle, I crank it the eff up and can relive  the days when I first became obsessed with these songs, listened to them over and over, and they were the highlights of the albums they were on for me:

1. La Villa 
2. Natural Science 
3. Limelight 
4.  Spirit of Radio
5.  Analog Kid  
6. Kid Gloves
7. Camera Eye
8. Between the Wheels
9. Tom Sawyer
10. Subdivisions
11. 2112 
12. Red Barchetta  
13.  Hemispheres 
14. YYZ 
15. Middletown Dreams
Great call on Middletown Dreams. And the rest, but that really stood out.

 
Also, I will throw out a few honorable mentions and notable omissions:

Working Man - as discussed prior, I like this song, but I don't love it. Never have.
Hemispheres - I figured I would get some push back on this not being in there.  I like this song a lot, but I almost never listen to it anymore, and it is hard to call a song one of my favorites when I almost never listen to it.
Beneath, Between and Behind - this is my favorite song from the first three albums that didn't make the cut. Love this one.
Bastille Day - tough leaving this one off as well.
Roll the Bones - I love this song, rap and all.
Everyday Glory - I am nuts about this song, especially the section after the solo. "We're the ones who have to fly."
Losing It - another one that just missed the cut. 
Afterimage - as discussed prior as well, I hated leaving this one off as well. 
Notable omission from the Top 50 for me: Circumstances. Something about that song grabbed me from the very being, and it’s not just the French line in the chorus that made me feel oh so smart when I’d sing along. :)  

 
Oh, and that quiet 7/8 beat in the middle section (that builds beautifully during Alex's solo) is probably the first 7/8 beat most rock drummers learn. I learned it when I was 14 or 15. My son learned it when he was 13 or so. (He can be much better than his old man if he applies himself). and, yes, I’ve brain washed him with Rush and he and I have matching gold-on-black 2112 "dude in the star" tshirts. Poor kid ;)  
Great minds think alike. My son is a beast on the drum kit. He just turned 15 and has been playing Rush his whole life. He nails this tune now.....I challenged him to learn it and it took him about 3-4 weeks of heavy practice to finally have it down to a tee. 

La Villa for me on Exit Stage Left....is the definitive version of this incredible song. Top 5 for me all time......simply amazing. 

 
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2112.......oh yeah. The prog metal song that slays them all. I can’t argue with this choice as #1. The song literally was the reason Rush was able to carve out the glorious 40 year career they had. If there was no 2112......they would have been done.

I will put some thought into my own personal top 50 and post it here. 

Fantastic thread GR very well done. I used to have that official Rush thread that got locked up after they updated the board.....we need another new Official Rush Thread.

BTW......there is a band out there that started as a fantastic Rush cover band (not really a tribute band but they covered Rush incredibly well). They have a female lead singer name Rocky. They have released two albums of all original music....and gentlemen they are filling the Rush void that is in our hearts since they hung it up back in 2015.

I ask you all to give them a chance......they are truly gifted and sound incredible. Lot’s of Rush influenced riffs and some homage in the song Kingdom Come...they are really really great. I am going to see them the next time they are in Florida......They have incredible setlist filled with Rush and originals.

Tim Starce the bass player.....he is Geddy man. That tone he is getting.....he has Geddy’s fingers too.....litterally!!!! Guy is a beast. And Billy Alexander on guitar is amazing. Love his tone, style...totally Alex and he writes all of it. Music, lyrics and producer. Superbly talented. 

YYNOT

Check out a few of their songs here below:

Etheria from the debut album:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dc9yFhJIqrI

Kingdom Come from the debut

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FlvnbnLH3wU

When The Curtain Falls from the debut

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-9iGmA_MiSI

Chemical Burn from the album Resonance

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ub-t3WhPOc&list=PLKQn1ZL1bdLGy__mnvQWasPdxYptAf9qv

She Said I Love The Rain from the album Resonance 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XL4naMd4goQ

Open Book Live from the album Resonance

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kdXtWWIeZJY

Rush cover Natural Science

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0g1aYt1-X6g

Rush cover The Body Electric live

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iVDDub4UtPU

They are sick!!!

 
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13. Subdivisions (from the 1982 album Signals)

I have lost track at how many times I have seen someone say how much the lyrics to this spoke to them about their high school life.  I know I have gushed a lot about Neil's lyrics, but for me, the 80's are when Neil was at his best lyrically, and this is one of the most notable ones.  And not only are the lyrics great, but it's awesome musically as well.  The opening synth is so warm and inviting, and then the band really shows how much they were looking to change things as the 80's moved forward.  This is probably their most popular post-Moving Pictures song, and it is one of my favorite post-MP songs as well (but not my number 1 favorite :P ).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EYYdQB0mkEU
I was just watching the music video for this (God bless remote teaching, I have all day to listen to music). Has there ever been a song that wrote its own video more clearly than Subdivision? I mean the lyrics tell you exactly what to show (the shopping mall and school halls, etc.) It's almost top ten for me as well, perfect placement.

 
Nice job, GR. As a purveyor of prog rock, the luster started fading from Rush right around Grace Under Pressure for me. They still wrote good songs and the playing is great but it just wasn't fresh enough or interesting enough for me as I moved on to Yes, King Crimson, ELP, etc. Anyway, that informs my top ten (yours in parentheses):

1. Xanadu (3)

2. 2112 (1)

3. Jacob's Ladder (5)

4. La Villa Strangiato (2)

5. Cygnus X-1, part 2 (didn't make your list?)

6. Cygnus X-1, part 1 (they belong together) (30)

7. YYZ (15)

8. Spirit of Radio (8)

9. The Trees (some of the most beautiful and well-crafted lyrics ever written) (11) 

10. I waffle between Subdivisions and Tom Sawyer

 
I've been a long-time lurker on this board.  Really long.  Probably 15+ years.  I setup my account in only god knows what year, but never posted before... until now.  This is a subject I feel a little qualified to talk about.

I became a Rush fanboy in the mid- to late-80s.  I heard of Rush back in the early-80s thanks to MTV (I watched MTV night and day in the early-80s) and thanks to some older neighbor boys playing it on their boombox while out in the yard.  However it wasn't until the summer on '87 when I really explored their back catalog.  I went on a soccer tour of Europe in that summer and a guitar playing high school classmate of mine dubbed  Rush's first six albums onto cassettes for me to listen to on my Walkman.  It was an awakening.  From that moment on they'd be "my band".  By the time I hit college two years later I was basically listening to Rush non-stop. 

The first new release as a total Rush fanatic was obviously Presto.  Then I was lucky enough to see them on that tour in '90 from the tenth row with the buddy that set me up with those dubbed cassettes three years prior and the drummer in his band.  Magical show.

I'm not one to ever get really saddened over the death of someone I never met, but Neil's passing hit me.  He was such a mainstay in my life due to me being a wannabe drummer and the lyrics he wrote.  

"Suddenly, you were gone.. From all the lives you left your mark upon."  -NEP

As a thank you to Ghost Rider for this excellent diversion in these turbulent times... I'd like to present my Top 50-ish.  Feel free to pick it a part.  Obviously some picks vary from day to day, mood to mood, but hopefully I don't have any glaring omissions.  As you can tell from the rankings I'm not a huge fan of the last few albums... like at all, but that didn't dampen my enthusiasm supporting them on tours, and celebrating their back catalog, etc. 

  1. Middletown Dreams
  2. Losing It
  3. Earthshine
  4. Anthem
  5. The Necromancer
  6. Cinderella Man
  7. Vital Signs
  8. Force Ten
  9. In The End
lost your number rankings but LOVE all of these choices

 
Great job @Ghost Rider, tremendous thread and list! And thanks too to everyone commenting and posting lists!

Background on myself as a Rush fan: born in 1978, and grew up in a "classic rock" household. So the radio songs were always a part of my consciousness. The first album (CD) I bought when it was released was Counterparts, which I loved. When Vapor Trails came out, I liked that a lot too, and became friends with an older (than me anyways) Rush fan at work. I soon thereafter started digging through their back catalog, and it wasn't long before Rush became my favorite band. Ended up going to I think 8 concerts, but missed them on the last tour :cry:

Anyway, here's my top 30. Xanadu definitely my favorite, but really the top 8 are in the top tier and are somewhat interchangeable. Power Windows is my least favorite album (unpopular opinion in this thread, I know) from my least favorite era of the band. Moving Pictures in a tier by itself :tebow: , followed by Permanent Waves and Hemispheres.

1. Xanadu
2. The Spirit of Radio
3. YYZ
4. Natural Science
5. By-Tor & the Snow Dog
6. 2112
7. Tom Sawyer
8. La Villa Strangiato
9. Limelight
10. Red Barchetta
11. Cygnus X-1 Book I: The Voyage
12. Freewill
13. Fly By Night
14. One Little Victory
15. The Trees
16. Vital Signs
17. New World Man
18. Closer to the Heart
19. Double Agent
20. Working Man
21. Jacob's Ladder
22. Distant Early Warning
23. Bastille Day
24. The Camera Eye
25. Red Sector 'A'
26. Dreamline
27. Finding My Way
28. A Passage to Bangkok
29. Witch Hunt
30. Subdivisions 

 
Nice job, GR. As a purveyor of prog rock, the luster started fading from Rush right around Grace Under Pressure for me. They still wrote good songs and the playing is great but it just wasn't fresh enough or interesting enough for me as I moved on to Yes, King Crimson, ELP, etc. Anyway, that informs my top ten (yours in parentheses):

1. Xanadu (3)

2. 2112 (1)

3. Jacob's Ladder (5)

4. La Villa Strangiato (2)

5. Cygnus X-1, part 2 (didn't make your list?)

6. Cygnus X-1, part 1 (they belong together) (30)

7. YYZ (15)

8. Spirit of Radio (8)

9. The Trees (some of the most beautiful and well-crafted lyrics ever written) (11) 

10. I waffle between Subdivisions and Tom Sawyer
See, I don't think they do since they really don't go together.   They sound very different and the only musical connection they really have was the Cygnus X-1 reprises in the background during the ambient section in Hemispheres, and even those strike me as "let's throw these into the background and call it Part 2."  And lyrically, the two songs don't really go together either. 

 
And for the fun of it, I will spitball an album ranking as well:

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

 
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Here is my album rankings........songs coming next.

1. Permanent Waves

2. Moving Pictures

3. Hemispheres

4. Signals

5. Power Windows

6. Grace Under Pressure

7. A Farewell To Kings

8. 2112

9. Hold Your Fire

10. Clockwork Angels

11. Counterparts

12. Roll The Bones

13. Fly By Night

14. Presto

15. Snakes And Arrows

16. Test For Echo

17. Caress Of Steel

18. Rush

19. Vapor Trails

 
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See, I don't think they do since they really don't go together...And lyrically, the two songs don't really go together either. 
I disagree. The music is different but not all that much so. The lyrics tell a cohesive story. Part two serves as the entire point of the Hemispheres album, lyrically. Part one was a cliffhanger from Farewell to Kings. Taken together, those two albums form an incredible 1-2 combined punch of a pair of Rush albums, evolving into Permanent Waves into Moving Pictutes. Aside from the pantheon of rock legends like the Beatles or Led Zeppelin, you’d be hard pressed to find a better four-pack of albums. Cygnus deserves more credit. Not to mention they are great songs. 

 
Yep, this one set the hook deep for me. About 9 or 10 years old, had some older neighbors who were the ones that turned me on to Floyd, Rush, and Neil. I was obsessed with this record. Such a nerd. Discovery was a game-changer for me. It's been said about other songs, but this song is as Rush as Rush gets.

And on that note, the lack of Passage to Bangkok here did not go unnoticed.

 
Here is my album rankings........songs coming next.

1. Permanent Waves

2. Moving Pictures

3. Hemispheres

4. Signals

5. Power Windows

6. Grace Under Pressure

7. A Farewell To Kings

8. 2112

9. Hold Your Fire

10. Clockwork Angels

11. Counterparts

12. Roll The Bones

13. Fly By Night

14. Presto

15. Snakes And Arrows

16. Test For Echo

17. Caress Of Steel

18. Rush

19. Vapor Trails
Move Hemispheres to 6, and your others from top 6  can shuffle in the top 5 and your list is pretty much the same as mine.  :)  

 
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Yep, this one set the hook deep for me. About 9 or 10 years old, had some older neighbors who were the ones that turned me on to Floyd, Rush, and Neil. I was obsessed with this record. Such a nerd. Discovery was a game-changer for me. It's been said about other songs, but this song is as Rush as Rush gets.

And on that note, the lack of Passage to Bangkok here did not go unnoticed.
Was one of my top 5 when I was younger.  I still love that song.  I didn't even realize what it was about until much later in life.  Just a great song all around.  As GR has said a few times, there are so many great ones, they can't all make the top 50.  

 
My album rankings (with tier breaks)

1. Moving Pictures
2. Permanent Waves 

3. Signals  
4. Hemispheres 

5. Power Windows
6. Grace Under Pressure  
7. 2112 
8. A Farewell To Kings   
 

9. Hold Your Fire
10. Fly By Night  
11. Counterparts

12. Presto  
13. Roll The Bones  
14. Rush 

15. Caress Of Steel  
16. Clockwork Angels  
17. Snakes And Arrows  
18. Vapor Trails
19. Test For Echo

(I might mush 3-8 into a single tier since their rankings probably depend more on my mood at that moment than any others)

 
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Don't get me wrong, I love the Grace Under Pressure record.  I can't think of another album where I can say that about their 12th best album. 

I disagree. The music is different but not all that much so. The lyrics tell a cohesive story. Part two serves as the entire point of the Hemispheres album, lyrically. Part one was a cliffhanger from Farewell to Kings. Taken together, those two albums form an incredible 1-2 combined punch of a pair of Rush albums, evolving into Permanent Waves into Moving Pictutes. Aside from the pantheon of rock legends like the Beatles or Led Zeppelin, you’d be hard pressed to find a better four-pack of albums. Cygnus deserves more credit. Not to mention they are great songs. 
I agree about their album run, although I think 2112 is better than both A Farewell to Kings and Hemispheres.  We can agree to disagree about Cygnus X-1 and Hemispheres being connected.

And on that note, the lack of Passage to Bangkok here did not go unnoticed.
Only Rush song with a toke in it!

 
BTW, I was considering doing a similar type thread for Van Halen. Would you Rush followers be down for that?
I don’t know any other band's catalog as well as Rush, besides perhaps The Smiths and a The Cure

(a clear delineation between my high school favorite band and my college favorite bands. I got range, baby! ;)  )

so, no from me on a Van Halen countdown. But I imagine others would be very interested. 

 
BTW, I was considering doing a similar type thread for Van Halen. Would you Rush followers be down for that?
Passively. I anticipate a riot between the Diamond Dave and Sammy sets where they possibly align for a split second to lay waste to the Gary Cherrone apologists.

Signed,

Model citizen, zero discipline

 
yall are killing me with these caress of steel rankings
It was simply a stepping stone album....what came after just went to a much higher level (2112-Hemispheres).....then another (Waves-Hold Your Fire).

I do have a couple of songs I adore from it. But as a whole......the album was not one of their best IMO. That is what happens when you have 19 studio albums to choose from LOL!!!

 
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BassNBrew said:
I’m assuming their first album and running with the devil / eruption won’t be in the top 50.  :boxing:
Of course they would, because, unlike Working Man and Rush's debut, that is actually great stuff.

Gotta do both GR!!!! So much great music from both era’s. 
I agree, but a top 50 including both would inevitably lead to a ton of #####ing (usually from the pro-Roth crowd that loves to trash Van Hagar), and that would take a lot of the fun out of it.

 
Did anyone check out YYNOT?

Thoughts? 
I did. First of all, their Natural Science cover is absolutely epic. Spot on. 
 

their originals were pretty good as well, obviously Rush influenced. Very talented group of musicians. 
they do seem to go thought drummers like Spinal Tap, though ;)  

 
yall are killing me with these caress of steel rankings
Actually, I just looked back at my album rankings above and, upon rethinking it, I would move Caress of Steel up a tier for sure. There are some really good songs on that album and it doesn’t deserve to be in the bottom tier with those albums that I only like 1 or 2 songs on (their newest stuff) and insta-skip the rest. 

 
I did. First of all, their Natural Science cover is absolutely epic. Spot on. 
 

their originals were pretty good as well, obviously Rush influenced. Very talented group of musicians. 
they do seem to go thought drummers like Spinal Tap, though ;)  
Yes...the drummer situation has been like that LOL. They all live in different states BTW and record remotely. That is how talented they are. Their drummer from the second album left the band. So they had been using guest drummers on the club tour they embarked on (until this corona stuff happened). So they have used different drummers for the videos on the new stuff from their second album.

The more you listen to their original stuff the better it gets.....it is just that good IMO. 

 
I'll give a shot at ranking the albums (kind of broken into tiers).  Not too much different from most at the top, but I really love Signals, Grace Under Pressure and Caress of Steel more than most.  You can see I really won't miss them not releasing new material.  I'm probably down on anything after the late-'80s more than most.

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

 
Because I won’t let this thread die ;) , I’m redoing my album list in tiers without rankings since it feels more correct with my desire to listen to any from that group of albums...

Tier 1: Moving Pictures, Permanent Waves
Tier 2: Signals, Hemispheres, Power Windows, Grace Under Pressure, 2112, A Farewell To Kings   
Tier 3: Hold Your Fire, Fly By Night, Counterparts 
Tier 4: Presto, Roll The Bones, Rush, Caress Of Steel  
Tier 5: Clockwork Angels, Snakes And Arrows, Vapor Trails, Test For Echo

 
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Todem's Top 50 Rush songs (and the respective version live or studio) And man GR credit to you....this is not easy at all.

1. Red Barchetta - Exit Stage Left...

2. La Villa Strangiato - Exit Stage Left...

3. The Spirit Of Radio

4. Subdivisions

5. Jacobs Ladder

6. Natural Science

7. Mission - A Show Of Hands

8. Marathon

9. Red Sector A - A Show of Hands

10. Freewill 

11. Limelight

12. 2112

13. Xanadu - Exit Stage Left...

14. The Analog Kid

15. Middletown Dreams

16. YYZ

17. Dreamline - Different Stages

18. Afterimage

19. Between The Wheels

20. Digital Man

21. Broons Bane/The Trees - Exit Stage Left...

22. Animate

23. Clockwork Angels

24. The Garden

25. Time Stand Still

26. Anthem - Hammersmith Oden Show 1977 (Disc three of Different Stages)

27. By-Tor And The Snow Dog - All The Worlds A Stage

28. The Camera Eye

29. The Big Money

30. Turn The Page - A Show Of Hands

31. Entre Nous

32. Hemispheres 

33. Mystic Rhytms

34. Prime Mover

35. Lock And Key

36. Closer To The Heart

37. Test For Echo

38. Headlong Flight

39. Different Strings

40. Lakeside Park

41. The Necromancer

42. The Manhattan Project

43. Bravado

44. Ghost Of A Chance

45. Leave That Thing Alone

46. Cold Fire

47. Working Man

48. Presto

49. The Pass

50. Show Don't Tell

Albums represented:

Rush - 1

Fly By Night - 2

Caress of Steel - 2

2112 - 1

A Farewell To Kings - 2

Hemispheres - 3

Permanent Waves - 6

Moving Pictures - 5 

Signals - 3

Grace Under Pressure - 3

Power Windows - 5

Hold Your Fire - 5

Presto - 3

Roll The Bones - 3

Counterparts - 3

Test For Echo - 1

Vapor Trails - 0

Snakes And Arrows - 0

Clockwork Angels - 3

 
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Todem's Top 50 Rush songs (and the respective version live or studio) And man GR credit to you....this is not easy at all.

1. Red Barchetta - Exit Stage Left...

2. La Villa Strangiato - Exit Stage Left...

3. The Spirit Of Radio

4. Subdivisions

5. Jacobs Ladder

6. Natural Science

7. Mission - A Show Of Hands

8. Marathon

9. Red Sector A - A Show of Hands

10. Freewill 

11. Limelight

12. 2112

13. Xanadu - Exit Stage Left...

14. The Analog Kid

15. Middletown Dreams

16. YYZ

17. Dreamline - Different Stages

18. Afterimage

19. Between The Wheels

20. Digital Man

21. Broons Bane/The Trees - Exit Stage Left...

22. Animate

23. Clockwork Angels

24. The Garden

25. Time Stand Still

26. Anthem - Hammersmith Oden Show 1977 (Disc three of Different Stages)

27. By-Tor And The Snow Dog - All The Worlds A Stage

28. The Camera Eye

29. The Big Money

30. Turn The Page - A Show Of Hands

31. Entre Nous

32. Hemispheres 

33. Mystic Rhytms

34. Prime Mover

35. Lock And Key

36. Closer To The Heart

37. Test For Echo

38. Headlong Flight

39. Different Strings

40. Lakeside Park

41. The Necromancer

42. The Manhattan Project

43. Bravado

44. Ghost Of A Chance

45. Leave That Thing Alone

46. Cold Fire

47. Working Man

48. Presto

49. The Pass

50. Show Don't Tell

Albums represented:

Rush - 1

Fly By Night - 2

Caress of Steel - 2

2112 - 1

A Farewell To Kings - 2

Hemispheres - 3

Permanent Waves - 6

Moving Pictures - 5 

Signals - 3

Grace Under Pressure - 3

Power Windows - 5

Hold Your Fire - 5

Presto - 3

Roll The Bones - 3

Counterparts - 3

Test For Echo - 1

Vapor Trails - 0

Snakes And Arrows - 0

Clockwork Angels - 3
Nice list. Thanks for sharing. I only did a top 20, and very quickly at that, cuz I knew it would’ve taken me ages otherwise. It’s so damn hard with so many great songs. 
 

looks like we can infer your album tiers as well from the # of songs from each album. Looks similar to mine at a glance
 

 

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