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What song sums up Rush for you ?

#21
Definitely good arguments for all the songs listed. Xanadu and La Villa have always been my two favorites. Until recently, I really didn't care for Tom Sawyer so much because it was what you'd most likely hear on the radio, or if someone knew of Rush, they knew that song only. In the last few months I have really found a new respect for it since we play it in our Rush tribute band. It's so complex, with so much going on...it's such a great song to play!

I think a newer song like Far Cry (from Snakes and Arrows) or even Headlong Flight (from Clockwork Angels) sum them up nicely. While there are no doublenecks, temple blocks or wind chimes, Headlong Flight is a great guitar-bass-drums song!
 
#22
This is a tough choice but for me personally I think it has to be Subdivisions. I was in high school when that song came out so I could relate to the lyrics. Also, the Signals tour was the first time I saw Rush in concert, so that whole album holds a special place in my heart!
 
#24
Subdivisions

"Conform or be cast out."

Not only does it describe their fan base, but it kind of describes how they were treated by mainstream rock radio stations for much of their career and up until recently the R&R HOF.
 
#26
probably the working man, cause it was written the year before i was born and still played all the time when i was a young kid all the way up through high school when i moved away from pittsburgh, it also kind of sums up how they cool they are musically, and how they aren't always the most fashionable pick for a jamming hard rock band
 
#27
Tough question...every few years they come up with another defining song. Right now I'd say maybe Headlong Flight, since in addition to being fresh and new, it's also a nod to their entire history up to 2012.

Nev375 said:
Subdivisions

"Conform or be cast out."

Not only does it describe their fan base, but it kind of describes how they were treated by mainstream rock radio stations for much of their career and up until recently the R&R HOF.
Click to expand...

+1 million. Summed it up nicely.

Plus that was the song that was on the radio when I first started really getting into Rush and music in general growing up.
 
#28
I'm going to go against the grain, and throw out their first BIG hit, "Closer to the Heart." I realize they had already gotten "Working Man" and "Fly by Night" onto the radio, but those songs didn't get Rush the recognition that "Closer to the Heart" did. It is not their favorite song to play, by a longshot, and Peter Talbot contributed to the writing of it, but the lyrics are oh so Rush, the sound of the Rick is oh so Rush, Geddy's vocal trills are oh so Rush, and it's one of those songs like Zeppelin's "Stairway," or the Eagles' "Hotel California," where the fan base distanced themselves from it, just because everyone else knows it, too.

But back when it hit, it was a truly remarkable sound for a mainstream radio single.

Of course, my favorite Rush song will always be "No One at the Bridge." That is such essential Rush, from Alex's layered guitars to the tight, tight drumming and banshee wailing of Geddy, that it practically gives me goosebumps.

Honestly, Rush is that rare band that has very distinctive eras, where what "sums up Rush" is going to be very different for different fans of different ages.

Where I would say "Signals" was the beginning of the Rush I didn't listen to much, others would say that was the dawn of their golden age.

Did I mention "By-Tor" from the "All the World's a Stage" album yet? Man, is that killer.
 
#29
Though it wasn't from my favorite period in the band's history, I've always liked "Manhattan Project."

But as mellowinman pointed out, it's gonna be tough to single out one definitive song from a group with so many eras and such a rich history. I love "Red Barchetta" & "Roll The Bones" as much as "Manhattan Project" but how many years seperated all those pieces?

I just know I'll be at the show May 11 in Atlantic City, so I'm gettin' my fix!
 
#34
Although I cant pick one song, i would like to think the Permanent Waves album sums them up for me. My cousin(a drummer) introduced me to Rush with that album and I listened to it over an over again for what seems like a week. Big fan ever since. If I had to pick one from that album... Natural Science
 

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