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What are your top 5 Rush albums.

armybass

armybass

Jul 19, 2001
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#1
I have been a fan since 82 but I am building my iTunes library and have most of the new stuff but am going back for the pre Moving Pictures stuff that I am not as familiar with.


Anyway..... I am asking the serious Rush fans what are your top 5 Rush albums in order. If you are a serious, serious Rush fan....please feel free to list your top 10!
 
#4
Chronological order, not order of personal favor, with the emphasis being on the pre-Moving Pictures era:

Caress of Steel
All the World's a Stage
A Farewell to Kings
Hemispheres
Permanent Waves

Notice what's missing, in my list, above. 2112 is considered a holy grail to many. I much prefer the truncated version of the epic, found on ATWAS, and don't particularly care for the rest of the album's tracks that much, in comparison to the rest of the band's late 70's catalog. Similarly, all of the tracks that I enjoy the most from Fly By Night are on ATWAS, and "By-Tor" in particular is a ferocious performance (despite the apparent overdubs of the "battle groans," which were done on a P-bass, in the studio recording).

Let's face it; "Moving Pictures" will always be considered the band's most definitive album; even Neil has written that it was the album that they had always been wanting to make. Sure, subsequent works have had moments that equal, or even surpass "Pictures," but not over an entire album. IMHO, "Snakes and Arrows" came the closest to being MP-like, in terms of being a consistent, hermetic piece of work.
 
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#7
HEMISPHERES first and foremost!
2112
Fly By Night
AFTK

After that it's basically a tie for Permanent Waves, Moving Pictures, Signals, and P/G. I don't have much experience with Caress of Steel so I can't offer much input, but other than that I am a die hard Rush fan....except I hate almost everything after 1985....:hiding: I find the epics and more raw 70's material to be the best, that's why Hemispheres is my favourite. Cygnus Book II and La Villa are just brilliant. :bassist:
 
#9
Hemispheres, A Farewell To Kings, Permanent Waves, Moving Pictures, Snakes And Arrows, 2112, Fly By Night, Signals, Roll The Bones, Counterparts

I also for a long time couldn't get into the post-Signals stuff. When Geddy changed his playing style I think the music suffered. I listen to it now though and really like a lot of it. So much of it was such a departure from their progressive rock roots. I've always thought of Rush being a bass/drums focused group with a bit of guitar/keyboards thrown in.
 
#10
This is impossible for me to answer. I like them all in one way or another and my preference between songs and albums is ever evolving.

I'm not really sure what the point of determining the best X of anything is. Maybe if I did, I could formulate a more definitive answer, but I doubt it.
 
#17
I like all Rush albums, so choosing just five is a very difficult thing for me to do. I'll go by which albums I've listened to a lot recently. They are:

1. Presto
2. Hold Your Fire
3. Signals
4. Grace Under Pressure
5. Counterparts

I like their 80s and 90s music. It's not that I don't like their 70s music, but their 80s music seems more texturally dense to me.

Tomorrow I'll have a completely different list!
 
#19
OK, I forgot to mention that my absolute favorite is Presto...... I do not think I have seen anyone ever emtnion that as a favorite Rush album or even Top 10.

I started listening to Rush when MP came out. I have had MP and several other albums after MP and am a huge fan of Snakes and Arrows....but my knowledge of anything pre MP is very limited.

I am really surprised but not shocked to see how many die hard Rush fans pick Hemispheres over MP.

I think the next three I will get will be

2112, AFTK and Hemispheres
 
#20
stratovani said:
I like all Rush albums, so choosing just five is a very difficult thing for me to do. I'll go by which albums I've listened to a lot recently. They are:

1. Presto
2. Hold Your Fire
3. Signals
4. Grace Under Pressure
5. Counterparts

I like their 80s and 90s music. It's not that I don't like their 70s music, but their 80s music seems more texturally dense to me.

Tomorrow I'll have a completely different list!
Click to expand...

I stand corrected....LOL
 

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