Choose your favorite Rush songs (1 Viewer)

[Apple Jack]

A little odd including Hold Your Fire and Power Windows but not 2112.

 

[zamboni]

But one thing is for certain 77-87 is the very best period of Rush AFTK-HYF was Rush in their absolute prime.

You'll get a lot of different arguments, but I'll take '74-81 any day.

 

[Leroy Hoard]

one thing is for certain 77-87 is the very best period of Rush AFTK-HYF was Rush in their absolute prime.

I was just going to post Hold Your Fire as their last album I really liked & 2112 as the first one (9 studio albums in that 76-87 span)

 

[Ghost Rider]

I still say Counterparts sits comfortably with those 9 albums (from '76-'87). In fact, CP is probably one of my three or four favorites.

 

[Todem]

La Villa Strangiato and Jacob's Ladder (which is just mostly instrumental ) are both in my Rush top 5, so I hear you on that one.

Same here.Ok top 20 Rush songs for me......and this is so tough as you know Ghost.In no particular order:1) Anthem2) 21123) Xanadu4) Hemispheres5) La Villa Strangiato6) The Spirit of Radio7) Freewill8) Jacobs Ladder9) Natural Science10) Red Barchetta11) Subdivisions12) The Analog Kid13) Red Sector A14) Marathon15) Middletown Dreams16) Mission17) Between The Wheels18) Tom Sawyer19) YYZ20) Limelight

That's a great top 20 , and I am especially glad to see both Mission and Marathon in there; both would be in my top 20, and one of them might break the top 10. I'd have several from Counterparts in there as well - Leave That Thing Alone for sure, and maybe both Animate and Everyday Glory.

Like I said...it is so hard to come up with 20 tunes. I love Cut To The Chase, Alien Shore, Cold Fire, Totem, Armor and Sword, Far Cry, Vaportrail, I could go on and on and on.But one thing is for certain 77-87 is the very best period of Rush AFTK-HYF was Rush in their absolute prime.

You've stood at the top of the mountain and had China sing to you?

Sure have!

 

[zamboni]

As far as "modern" Rush goes, I think Ghost Of A Chance is also getting shortchanged. Very good tune.

 

[Grace Under Pressure]

Hard for me to argue with that, although I'd go back a year to 1976. I loved the synth era, which I know some did not. But I always have. It helps that Power Windows was one of the records that got me into Rush.

Have been listening to Power Windows a lot recently. While partial to Marathon (and it is so good live), Middletown Dreams is so good it was too bad it couldn't make the list.I enjoy all the Rush songs, but can't listen to nearly half of them anymore. Case in point, thrilled to see Roll the Bones getting a lot of votes, but can't listen to the song. Just too many times already. I tend to gravitate toward B sides from any era. I'll go from Cinderella Man and Madrigal to Anagram (for Mongo) Red Tide and Available Light, and then over to Bravest Face, Good News First and Mal Nar. Then maybe head back to Analog Kid, Digital Man and then back further to Jacob's Ladder and Entre Nous. Maybe wind up with Alien Shore through Everyday Glory and that's a good Rush day.Favorite popular tunes: Spirit of Radio, Red Barchetta, Subdivisions, 2112 side one and Natural Science. Given Rush's catalog, it should be a good tournament but probably a bit "top heavy".

 

[Grace Under Pressure]

And Grace Under Pressure. Can't forget Grace Under Pressure.

 

[Apple Jack]

Hard for me to argue with that, although I'd go back a year to 1976. I loved the synth era, which I know some did not. But I always have. It helps that Power Windows was one of the records that got me into Rush.

Have been listening to Power Windows a lot recently. While partial to Marathon (and it is so good live), Middletown Dreams is so good it was too bad it couldn't make the list.I enjoy all the Rush songs, but can't listen to nearly half of them anymore. Case in point, thrilled to see Roll the Bones getting a lot of votes, but can't listen to the song. Just too many times already. I tend to gravitate toward B sides from any era. I'll go from Cinderella Man and Madrigal to Anagram (for Mongo) Red Tide and Available Light, and then over to Bravest Face, Good News First and Mal Nar. Then maybe head back to Analog Kid, Digital Man and then back further to Jacob's Ladder and Entre Nous. Maybe wind up with Alien Shore through Everyday Glory and that's a good Rush day.Favorite popular tunes: Spirit of Radio, Red Barchetta, Subdivisions, 2112 side one and Natural Science. Given Rush's catalog, it should be a good tournament but probably a bit "top heavy".

Natural Science is a popular song?

 

[Fiddles]

Snakes and arrows is their best in decades. The last two tours have been redonkulous with them pulling out all the deep cuts. Entre nous circumstances Bangkok digital man camera eye. Great time to be a rush fan.

 

[Todem]

As far as "modern" Rush goes, I think Ghost Of A Chance is also getting shortchanged. Very good tune.

A superb song and one of my wife's favorites. So happy when they pulled that out on leg 2 of the Snakes & Arrows tour in 2008.

 

[Grace Under Pressure]

Hard for me to argue with that, although I'd go back a year to 1976. I loved the synth era, which I know some did not. But I always have. It helps that Power Windows was one of the records that got me into Rush.

Have been listening to Power Windows a lot recently. While partial to Marathon (and it is so good live), Middletown Dreams is so good it was too bad it couldn't make the list.I enjoy all the Rush songs, but can't listen to nearly half of them anymore. Case in point, thrilled to see Roll the Bones getting a lot of votes, but can't listen to the song. Just too many times already. I tend to gravitate toward B sides from any era. I'll go from Cinderella Man and Madrigal to Anagram (for Mongo) Red Tide and Available Light, and then over to Bravest Face, Good News First and Mal Nar. Then maybe head back to Analog Kid, Digital Man and then back further to Jacob's Ladder and Entre Nous. Maybe wind up with Alien Shore through Everyday Glory and that's a good Rush day.Favorite popular tunes: Spirit of Radio, Red Barchetta, Subdivisions, 2112 side one and Natural Science. Given Rush's catalog, it should be a good tournament but probably a bit "top heavy".

Natural Science is a popular song?

Sure thing. If it's not, it should be. Maybe "popular" isn't the best word, especially regarding Rush, but I consider it as such.

Snakes and arrows is their best in decades. The last two tours have been redonkulous with them pulling out all the deep cuts. Entre nous circumstances Bangkok digital man camera eye. Great time to be a rush fan.

Agreed, the concerts have been great and S&A is a great album. It was a good day when Vapor Trails came out, because at least Rush was back, but S&A is really top notch. It's been a good revival for the boys.

 

[fightingillini]

Not voting, since I would vote for almost all of those songs

I was in awe at their last tour......when they played the entire Moving Pictures album live, in order from Tom Sawyer to Vital Signs......the smile on my face was a mile wide!

 

[fightingillini]

As far as "modern" Rush goes, I think Ghost Of A Chance is also getting shortchanged. Very good tune.

A superb song and one of my wife's favorites. So happy when they pulled that out on leg 2 of the Snakes & Arrows tour in 2008.

Solid song from one of Rush's weaker efforts....Roll the Bones. Dreamline, Bravado and Ghost of a Chance are by far the 3 best songs from that album

 

[fightingillini]

Not really a huge fan of their music. However, I was invited by a friend to go see them a few years back, and I have to say, they play their asses off. What great musicianship. Blew me away.

That's how I got into the band over 25 years ago. Saw them live in 1986....Power Windows Tour because a good friend of mine wanted to see them and had no one else to go with. I was hooked after that 2 1/2 hour display of incredible musicianship. Walked out of there shaking my head...."how can three guys play all of that live?" I immediately went out and bought Moving Pictures.....then Permanent Waves....then 2112.....then A Farewell to Kings....until I had them all.Seeing Neil play a 4-5 minute drum solo is worth the price of the ticket alone. And he can still rip up the drums well into his 50s.

 

[fightingillini]

Snakes and arrows is their best in decades.

This in spades. Currently I would rank Snakes and Arrows about #6 or #7 on my favorite Rush album list, behind the legendary period between 2112 and Moving Pictures......it's about even with Signals in the second tier.Great album. Far Cry absolutely rocks major a##, especially live. Other great songs are Armor and Sword, The Main Monkey Business (albeit it could be shortened to 4 minutes or so), Where the Wind Blows and Malignant Narcissism. I didn't particularly like Faithless right off the bat, but it was great live and now I listen to it much more now.

 

[Fiddles]

As far as "modern" Rush goes, I think Ghost Of A Chance is also getting shortchanged. Very good tune.

A superb song and one of my wife's favorites. So happy when they pulled that out on leg 2 of the Snakes & Arrows tour in 2008.

Solid song from one of Rush's weaker efforts....Roll the Bones. Dreamline, Bravado and Ghost of a Chance are by far the 3 best songs from that album

I like big wheel also

 

[Ghost Rider]

As far as "modern" Rush goes, I think Ghost Of A Chance is also getting shortchanged. Very good tune.

Well, it does have the 2nd most votes from the fourth set of songs, and it having more than Dreamline and Bravado is pretty impressive considering both of those songs were more played on the radio and have been played a lot more live than Ghost of a Chance.

 

[Grace Under Pressure]

Ghost Rider and Todem. Good songs and good posters.

Huge Big Wheel fan here as well. The Big Wheel & Between the Wheels, in fact, both great tunes.

 

[Ghost Rider]

Ghost Rider and Todem. Good songs and good posters. Huge Big Wheel fan here as well. The Big Wheel & Between the Wheels, in fact, both great tunes.

 

[zamboni]

A farewell to thread?

 

[Ghost Rider]

I'll probably tally them up and wait till Monday to do the next phase, that way it doesn't get less votes during the weekend when there is often less traffic.

 

[Ghost Rider]

Top 32, with votes in parenthesis. I broke ties in alphabetical order, like tim did for LZ.

1. Subdivisions (48)

2. The Spirit of Radio (45)

3. Tom Sawyer (45)

4. 2112 (44)

5. Limelight (43)

6. Closer to the Heart (42)

7. Red Barchetta (41)

8. Freewill (39)

9. Working Man (39)

10. YYZ (36)

11.Fly by Night (35)

12. Roll the Bones (34)

13. The Trees (32)

14. Time Stand Still (31)

15. La Villa Strangiato (24)

16. New World Man (23)

17. A Passage to Bangkok (22)

18. Distant Early Warning (21)

19. Jacob's Ladder (21)

20. Ghost of a Chance (19)

21. Xanadu (18)

22. Red Sector A (17)

23. Anthem (16)

24. The Camera Eye (16)

25. Entre Nous (16)

26. The Analog Kid (15)

27. Finding My Way (14)

28. A Farewell to Kings (14)

29. Manhattan Project (14)

30. Nobody's Hero (14)

31. Dreamline (13)

32. Marathon (13)

The four divisions are as follows:

Division 1

1. Subdivisions

2. Freewill

3. Working Man

4. New World Man

5. A Passage to Bangkok

6. The Camera Eye

7. Entre Nous

8. Marathon

Division 4

1. 2112

2. Limelight

3. Roll the Bones

4. The Trees

5. Ghost of a Chance

6. Xanadu

7. A Farewell to Kings

8. Manhattan Project

Division 2

1. The Spirit of Radio

2. Red Barchetta

3. YYZ

4. La Villa Strangiato

5. Distant Early Warning

6. Anthem

7. The Analog Kid

8. Dreamline

Division 3

1. Tom Sawyer

2. Closer to the Heart

3. Fly by Night

4. Time Stand Still

5. Jacob's Ladder

6. Red Sector A

7. Finding My Way

8. Nobody's Hero

I'll start Divisions 1 and 4 tomorrow, and the 2 and 3 a few days later.

 

[Ghost Rider]

Natural Science is a popular song?

Not among casual fans, as shown that it didn't make the top 32 here (just missed the cut), but it is one of the most popular ones among the hardcore fanbase. And the band has played it a lot recently; it was played at every show on three of their last five tours, which is pretty good considering 2112 is the only other longer song (ones over 7 minutes) that gets played almost every tour, and even that is usually just the first two parts (with the recent exceptions being the TFE tour where they played all of it, and the R30 tour when they played parts I, II and VII).

 

[Buck Stop]

But one thing is for certain 77-87 is the very best period of Rush AFTK-HYF was Rush in their absolute prime.

You'll get a lot of different arguments, but I'll take '74-81 any day.

 

[Ghost Rider]

Not surprisingly, 17 of the 32 songs came from the 1976-1981 years, which most would agree were Rush's best years (although some might make the time span more broad).

8 of the 32 songs came from the often-maligned keyboard years (1982-1987).

And only 1 song made it from the last 20 years (Nobody's Hero), although they only have four studio albums in the last 20 years (soon to be five), and two of them (Test for Echo and Vapor Trails) are usually considered to be pretty average Rush records.

 

[zamboni]

"Roll The Bones" at #12 - I didn't see that one coming.

 

[optionmaven]

Way too few votes for "The Camera Eye" - such a great song.

Best song off that album and underrated even by Rush enthusiasts. The Rodney Dangerfield of Rush songs. One other song that was omitted that i really like is "What You're Doing". Probably because it was one of the first few songs I learned on guitar.Like Timschochet said, you see Rush live, you can't help but gain respect for their musicianship.

 

[SaintsInDome2006]

This'll work.

 

[Greggity]

Jeez is it cool to hate RUSH now? I must have missed that memo?

Witch Hunt....

 

[Jedi Knight]

We should try this again, but include Clockwork Angels songs. The Anarchist kicks major ***.

 

[Amused to Death]

 

[Ghost Rider]

We should try this again, but include Clockwork Angels songs. The Anarchist kicks major ***.

I love Clockwork Angels, and think it is definitely their best album in a long time, a sentiment shared by most of the fanbase, but doing this again would be kind of pointless since the tried and true classics would still go the farthest and the end result wouldn't change.

The Anarchist is definitely a killer tune, like you said! That, the title track, The Garden and Headlong Flight are four of their best songs ever.

 

[SaintsInDome2006]

We should try this again, but include Clockwork Angels songs. The Anarchist kicks major ***.

Clockwork Angels is terrific. That's pretty rare for bands with a history, they're usually churning out dreck after a certain point. C/A was one of the best albums of the year (that year) period.