Thanks! That would be my number 5, then (it’s the only one on my list that never made the transition in my collection from vinyl to CD, so I haven’t heard it in a while)
I’ll give it a spin once or twice a year, but it’s more of an interest because of Working Man. Otherwise, it would be one of a lot of bands that tried to sound like Led Zeppelin
Agreed. Rush didn’t really become Rush until Neil joined, imo. Their first album is good, but it’s been their more progressive and experimental stuff that has appealed to me the most.
I honestly think they would have become a footnote in music history if it wasn’t for Neal Peart’s influence on their music and lyrics.
No guff !
Agreed > 3,000%
That first Rush album would be a footnote, perhaps Working Man would have been in rare rotation on classic rock radio for a while and now on Deep Cuts type radio online.
But I can’t see Geddy or Alex just packing it in and taking jobs in accounts payable. I think they’d both go off and join different bands.
My top eight are as follows:
- Moving Pictures
- Permanent Waves
- Hemispheres
- Signals
- Power Windows
- Grace Under Pressure
- Hold Your Fire
- Clockwork Angels
Unsurprisingly the list skews to the 80’s…that’s when I discovered them and became a rabid fan.
Totally agree. Had John Rutsey not been a type 1 diabetic and had to quit the band due to the resulting health issues, they would probably have put out a few albums and been vaguely remembered as an opening-act band.
Is that second one Permanent Waves or Power Windows?
- Hemispheres
- Permanent Waves
- Moving Pictures
- 2112 {*}
- Grace Under Pressure
{*} Toughest to rank as the 1st half is as good as anything they’ve done, but the 2nd half blows.
Moving Pictures is kind of a dividing line between their early proggy stuff vs. their later synth-heavy alternative rock. Obviously I strongly prefer the earlier work. GUP barely nosed out Farewell to Kings for the #5 spot.
Same here, except I checked out after Grace Under Pressure. (Although Time Stand Still from Hold Your Fire is a great track. It’s even more bittersweet with Neil gone.)
Just my two ¢, but if I were a bettor, might could bet that PW in this case might be Permanent Waves because Permanent Waves immediately preceded Moving Pictures and because John_DiFool lists his two favorites as MP (Moving Pictures) and PW (Permanent Waves?)
Gonna toss this out- Most Under-rated track: Best I Can off Fly By Night
One of the few songs with lyrics by Geddy, I seem to recall. Great solo by Alex.
My all time favorite song with lyrics solely written by Geddy Lee:
Different Strings
This song is the last Rush song in which Neil Peart does not have lyric credit.