All Rush tunes ranked

[chalkpie]

https://www.thrillist.com/amphtml/en...h-songs-ranked

[aith01]

Interesting...

Have to say, I agree with them about the song "Tom Sawyer". Particularly this bit: "[...] That opening – a Wall of Sound with Lasers – is truly one of the best things Western Civilization has ever accomplished, and every time it comes up on the radio the instinct is to crank the volume. [...]"

My sentiments exactly.

Thanks for sharing!

[Phlakaton]

Had a feeling I'd see some of my favorites very high in the list - yup. These lists are painful to look at most of the time - for me at least. I'm never in line with the majority.

[Progatron]

I got three songs into that list before I already vehemently disagreed.

[Nearfest2]

I got three songs into that list before I already vehemently disagreed.

Same here. Insufferable.

I love this from the "Between the Wheels" entry:
"Quite frankly you listen to Alex Lifeson shred and you wonder why The Police never hired a guitar player."

Huh? What? Andy Summers?

Oh, and two Top 10's. Nice work, dope Jordan Hoffman.

[miamiscot]

Same here. Insufferable.

I love this from the "Between the Wheels" entry:
"Quite frankly you listen to Alex Lifeson shred and you wonder why The Police never hired a guitar player."

Huh? What? Andy Summers?

Oh, and two Top 10's. Nice work, dope Jordan Hoffman.

Hot take: All five Police LP's are better than anything Rush did after Signals.

[Nearfest2]

Hot take: All five Police LP's are better than anything Rush did after Signals.

False. But you are welcome to your opinion.

[ytserush]

Hot take: All five Police LP's are better than anything Rush did after Signals.

I'll enjoy the hell out of both, thanks.

[Mister Triscuits]

I got three songs into that list before I already vehemently disagreed.

Two. Fuck that guy.

[Zappathustra]

It's a silly concept of course, I mean you can give your best choices or worst choices, but how do you rank them all? Do you rate them with decimals, and then put them in order? Do you have the songs fight it all out in knock-out brackets?

Anyway, a list that puts Hemispheres on number 37, below Bravado and We Hold On is definitely nowhere near my take on the band's value.

[MudShark22]

I wont nitpick the list but agree on the worst song.... Been slagging that tune forever...

[Progatron]

I wont nitpick the list but agree on the worst song.... Been slagging that tune forever...

It's really just the banal lyrics in the chorus that drag it down. Musically, it's a good piece and the verses are fine IMO. I wouldn't put it at the bottom myself... there are really only a handful of Rush songs I don't care for. You Bet Your Life and Speed Of Love come to mind - and although I wouldn't say I dislike it, I'd rank Lakeside Park quite low on the list. I know that's hard for some fans to grasp, but I'd take Virtuality over that one any day.

[Jerjo]

I saw Double Agent listed as among the worst and gave up on this writer

[JKL2000]

WTF? He has all those live drum solos as most of the top 10 or so. Ridiculous. As much as I like Peart, the solos just aren't very interesting IMO, and don't really qualify as "songs."

[yamishogun]

WTF? He has all those live drum solos as most of the top 10 or so. Ridiculous. As much as I like Peart, the solos just aren't very interesting IMO, and don't really qualify as "songs."

Look again. That was a separate Top 10 that weren't considered Rush songs and didn't change his list rankings.

The Feedback songs shouldn't have been on the list or placed at the bottom.

[Finch Platte]

WTF? He has all those live drum solos as most of the top 10 or so. Ridiculous. As much as I like Peart, the solos just aren't very interesting IMO, and don't really qualify as "songs."

Ugh. Also not a fan of Peart solos.

And Turn The Page at #136? FAIL.

[ytserush]

WTF? He has all those live drum solos as most of the top 10 or so. Ridiculous. As much as I like Peart, the solos just aren't very interesting IMO, and don't really qualify as "songs."

I think a lot of them do, but not until around 1987.

[MudShark22]

Jed - its so bad that people in my section at the T4E show at the Boston Garden were audibly guffawing at its awfulness.

[moecurlythanu]

The drum solo list is an insert, an interjection. It's a detour from the list which he then resumes if you scroll down.
Lots to disagree with here, but at least he got No. 1 right.

[mozo-pg]

2112 is my favourite Rush song, glad to see it as number 2.

[progmatist]

The Rush song which touches me most deeply on a personal level is I Think I'm Going Bald.

[yamishogun]

These are some of the crazy placements at the low end:

178. "Double Agent," Counterparts (1993)
A rare miserable Rush song. Even though there's some cool dissonant guitar fills, the spoken-word element is embarrassing and the call-and-response ("Wound up and tight" "Soooooo tight!") is like something out of a Saturday Night Live parody. Cringe.

174. "High Water," Hold Your Fire (1987)
An aimless track from one of Rush's most all-over-the-place albums. It just sounds like notes for notes' sake. And lots of them.

172. "Presto," Presto (1989)
There are chord similarities to the far superior "The Pass" off the very same album. For that we issue demerits. Being forgettable is one thing, but being lazy is unusual for Rush.

166. "Lock and Key," Hold Your Fire (1987)
Ooof. The opening sounds like the DVD menu of a Uwe Boll film. The rest is another synth-heavy pop track from Rush's very hit-or-miss album that just bugs me. There is, I admit, a strong solo in here. Even bad Rush is good, we must remember!

157. "Available Light," Presto (1989)
A forgettable late '80s Rush track that almost puts you to sleep before it gets a little oomph from a weird recurring use of falsetto -- weird even by Geddy Lee standards.

146. "Out of the Cradle," Vapor Trails (2002)
A not-very-inspiring song that has some interesting things going on vocally, but are better presented in this album's "Peaceable Kingdom" and "One Little Victory." This is the last track on Vapor Trails and when you make it this far chronologically you are usually pretty exhausted.

[boilk]

These are some of the crazy placements at the low end:

178. "Double Agent," Counterparts (1993)
A rare miserable Rush song. Even though there's some cool dissonant guitar fills, the spoken-word element is embarrassing and the call-and-response ("Wound up and tight" "Soooooo tight!") is like something out of a Saturday Night Live parody. Cringe.

174. "High Water," Hold Your Fire (1987)
An aimless track from one of Rush's most all-over-the-place albums. It just sounds like notes for notes' sake. And lots of them.

172. "Presto," Presto (1989)
There are chord similarities to the far superior "The Pass" off the very same album. For that we issue demerits. Being forgettable is one thing, but being lazy is unusual for Rush.

166. "Lock and Key," Hold Your Fire (1987)
Ooof. The opening sounds like the DVD menu of a Uwe Boll film. The rest is another synth-heavy pop track from Rush's very hit-or-miss album that just bugs me. There is, I admit, a strong solo in here. Even bad Rush is good, we must remember!

157. "Available Light," Presto (1989)
A forgettable late '80s Rush track that almost puts you to sleep before it gets a little oomph from a weird recurring use of falsetto -- weird even by Geddy Lee standards.

146. "Out of the Cradle," Vapor Trails (2002)
A not-very-inspiring song that has some interesting things going on vocally, but are better presented in this album's "Peaceable Kingdom" and "One Little Victory." This is the last track on Vapor Trails and when you make it this far chronologically you are usually pretty exhausted.

Nothing crazy about any of those to me, but then again I jumped on board the Rush train with 2112, and Moving Pictures was them selling out, for me and my Rush friends, at the time, lol. The only really crazy ones for me, are Hemispheres at #37 and Xanadu at #20. Waaayyyy too low.

neil

[MudShark22]

Both of those Presto tunz would be in my Top 80

[Paulrus]

That wasn't as bad as I feared, and hey -- it's one guy's opinion. All of us here should be used to that!

But there's a few gems of insight in there, such as this about "Cut to the Chase":

"Cut to the Chase" is not one of Rush's masterpieces but, let's be honest, if a band like Dream Theater were to record it it would be the highlight of their resume.

So true. I also appreciate how much attention he pays to the lyrics. To wit:

Funnily enough, if you listen to the lyrics you'll discover that the aggrieved, narrating working man doesn't have it that bad. He gets up at seven, gets to work at nine. What's he doing for two hours? Then he's home by five. Is this a Canadian thing?