The game is ON!

Chris Morrissey and our Fearless Leader, Brad Birzer, have issued a “Top 10 Rush Albums” challenge. In fact, Brad’s was pointed right at me via Twitter, so how can I say no?

This assignment was so easy, it was done on my lunch hour.

In order:

1. Moving Pictures (1981).  Two months ago this week, I penned what this album means to me. I’ll add no more here.

2. Permanent Waves (1980). Released on January 1, 1980, the album that thrust Rush into the mainstream grabbed my upon my first listen and never let go. Rush managed to blend epics and epic playing with a modern, urgent sound to remind everyone thinking they were just another bloated, long-song prog band that they were instead a progressive, HARD ROCK band.

3. Hemispheres (1978). The group’s most progressive album, sporting just four tracks in the vein of “Close To The Edge,” is fantastic from start to finish. They just played their asses off on this one. While most will point to “La Villa Strangiato,” the oft-played “The Trees” or even the album-side sequel to “Cygnus X-1” as the best tracks, I’ve always been partial to “Circumstances” the same way I’m fond of “Entre Nous” on “Permanent Waves” (both side two openers, by the way).

4. A Farewell To Kings (1977). Yes, I’ve now listed my top four Rush albums in reverse chronological order of release, but for me, 1977-81 was truly the band’s landmark period. “Xanadu” alone makes this a great album for me, as does “Cygnus X-1”, but while I rarely – which is to say, never – make a fuss of lyrics on albums, the sad truth is that Neil Peart’s lyrics in the title track ring true more and more with each passing year.

5. Power Windows (1985). While some may give “Signals” and Grace Under Pressure” a hard time for various song-related reasons, my issue with both of those albums wasn’t the songs…it was the production.  Both sounded either flat and/or muddy to me, but all that changed in the first few seconds of “The Big Money,” the opener to “Power Windows.” Heck, they could have just called it “The Big Album,” because producer Peter Collins – referred to by the group as “Mr. Big” – and his team just made this album shine.  Huge tracks and big themes populate this gem of a release.

6. Roll The Bones (1991). After the synth and sequencer-heavy “Hold Your Fire,” producer Rupert Hine was determined to get Rush back to its power trio roots and certainly did so with “Presto,” but for me, “Roll The Bones” took it one step further. Yes, there are songs on “Roll The Bones” that probably rival those on “Presto” – “Show Don’t Tell” vs. “Dreamline” and “Superconductor” vs. “The Big Wheel” – but in “RTB” we got our first instrumental since “YYZ” with “Where’s My Thing,” plus “Roll The Bones” features not one, but two brilliant tracks that tug at the heartstrings in “Bravado” and “Ghost of a Chance.” Those more than make up for the last two tracks on the album – “Neurotica” and “You Bet Your Life,” which I can do without.

This brings me to the point when I have to really think about what the last four are and in what order. Thinking…comparing…contrasting…okay, here goes:

7. Counterparts (1993). I can’t believe I’m putting this before the album at #8, but aside from a production superior to the previous two releases – “Presto” and “Roll The Bones” – and despite a bunch of standout tracks, Rush saved it’s best for last with the highly-emotional “Everyday Glory.” Prog bands rarely get points for squeezing emotion out of songs, but Rush just nailed it with this sad-yet-hopeful track.

8. Signals (1982). Certainly one of the biggest 180-degree turns made by a prog band between albums – rivaled by the “Drama” to “90125” succession – Rush’s first attempt to wedge its formidable musicianship into an album’s worth of shorter tracks was a triumph. We can point to the beautifully-structured “Subdivisions” and the band’s only U.S. Top 40 hit in “New World Man” – written only to balance out the lengths of the two sides as bands were still considering vinyl back then – but how about Alex Lifeson’s blazing solo in “The Analog Kid?” How about Geddy Lee’s and Peart’s work in “Digital Man?” How about Rush’s first attempt at a four-on-the-floor track with “The Weapon?”  Owwwwooooo! Scaddddy! 🙂

9. Grace Under Pressure (1984). A somewhat muddy production mars Peter “Hentor” Henderson’s time with the band, and if you read Peart’s notes from the GuP tourbook, this one was certainly recorded under pressure, but Rush continued to explore how to fit their chops into shorter tunes and mostly succeeded with gems such as “Distant Early Warning,” “Red Sector A,” the jazz-tinged “Red Lenses” and “we can still fit 5/4 into a song” with “Kid Gloves.” Once again, the band saved its best for last with the amazing “Between The Wheels” with its haunting intro and verses, giving way to a gorgeous, big chorus (note: I’m a sucker for a big chorus).

10. Snakes and Arrows (2007). The batch of “new millennium” Rush albums have been a bit of a mixed bag for me. “Vapor Trails” was the album the band simply had to make (and get through) in the wake of Peart’s personal tragedies, and it was reflected in that fragile recording. While many welcomed the first full concept album from Rush in “Clockwork Angels,” I guess I was well past the point where I wanted to absorb a concept album, plus I find myself skipping through a lot of the tracks save for “Caravan,” the title track and the magnificent “The Garden.” In between those two albums is the best of the bunch, and while there are some forgettable tracks for me, I do love works such as “Far Cry,” “Bravest Face,” “Armor and Sword,” “Workin’ Them Angels,” and “The Way The Wind Blows.”

Well then, I’m sure to be lambasted for ignoring “2112,” let alone the releases before it. They all have their respective places in Rush history and in moving the band towards what they’d become, but they just don’t do a ton for me. If it makes anyone feel better, though, “2112” would have come in at #11.

So…there. Back to work(in’ them angels). You can lambast me for that.