Rush Albums Ranked
Listened to every Rush album in order this year. Here is my ranking. No Feedback on this btw. |
| 19 |  | Rush
Roll The Bones
I had only ever heard the first three songs, so I was pretty excited for this one. I just found the rest of the album to be lackluster in some areas. Best Track: Dreamline |
| 18 |  | Rush
Signals
Sorry guys. Don't get the hype. They sound a little lost in my opinion. Best Track: Subdivisions |
| 17 |  | Rush
Hold Your Fire
This breaks my heart. I LOVE Time Stand Still, so I wanted really bad to enjoy this. Ended up pretty bored, or in the case of Tai Shan, lightly offended. Best Track: Time Stand Still |
| 16 |  | Rush
Presto
Expected to hate this. It surprised me in a few spots. Interested to take a break and come back to this in about a month. Best Track: War Paint OR The Pass |
| 15 |  | Rush
Snakes & Arrows
Some cool moments. A pleasant listen. Need more time to discover what makes this one special to me. Best Track: Far Cry |
| 14 |  | Rush
Counterparts
Heavy in parts, slow in others. Love the lyrical topics on this one, but at times the music drowns under the production for me. Best Track: Stick It Out |
| 13 |  | Rush
Fly By Night
Great sophomore album. Some cool ideas. For me though, this is the band in transition. For hard rock, I prefer the debut. For mysticism and prog, I prefer the latter half of the 70s. This just tends to get left behind for me. Best Track: Beneath, Between and Behind |
| 12 |  | Rush
Test For Echo
Love this one. Never got the hate. A little long, with a couple duds, but I love the production and it sounds like they were just having fun here. The riff on Virtuality is insane. Best Track: Test For Echo OR Resist. |
| 11 |  | Rush
Rush
Simple? Yes. Catchy? 100%. Cheesy? Absolutely. But you have to respect how these guys showed up on their first album already determined to flex their musical abilities. The solos and bass lines on here are insane for couple of guys who were playing high school gyms and Sadie Hawkins dances. Best Track not named Working Man: Take A Friend OR Finding My Way |
| 10 |  | Rush
Caress Of Steel
Underrated, although I will say Fountain is a little half baked. The short tracks are catchy and great early Rush. Necromancer is the ultimate underrated Rush epic. Best Track: Necromancer |
| 9 |  | Rush
Vapor Trails
Love how heavy and straightforward this one is. Way too long, but if you want Rush without all the bells and whistles, this is a good pick: One Little Victory |
| 8 |  | Rush
2112
Title track is objectively the best thing here, but I am slowly learning to like Side 2 more and more with each listen. Best Track not named 2112: Something For Nothing |
| 7 |  | Rush
Grace Under Pressure
Catchy as hell. Pertinent lyrics. The synths really bite you in this one. Almost every song has a moment where the synths shoot to the front and hit you like a freight train. Best Track: Red Sector A |
| 6 |  | Rush
Clockwork Angels
Such a heavy album. Maybe a little long, but nothing makes me snooze. Best Track: Seven Cities of Gold (THAT RIFF) |
| 5 |  | Rush
Hemispheres
Close to Farewell in a lot of ways, but lacking something for me compared to that one. Best Track: Cygnus X-1 Book 2 |
| 4 |  | Rush
Power Windows
Was going to put this a little lower but I have been coming back to it a lot since listening to all the albums in order. Mystic Rhythms really evokes images of problems and scenarios much larger than ourselves. Best Track: Mystic Rhythms. |
| 3 |  | Rush
Permanent Waves
Never glommed onto this one until my most recent playthrough. One of their most atmospheric albums in my opinion. Best Track: Entre Nous |
| 2 |  | Rush
Moving Pictures
One of those immutable classics that needs no introduction. This is Rush's equivalent of Metallica's black album (maybe that should be the other way around). I will always be a fan of this for just how culturally dominant it is. Sometimes an album gets so big it becomes impossible to hate. I will also add that the songs on here sound like their lyrical topics in a way I don't think any other Rush album achieves (ie:Red Barchetta sounding like a cool fall road trip, Limelight sounding like an arena rock banger while the lyrics literally talk about being a popular arena rock band). Best Track: Red Barchetta |
| 1 |  | Rush
A Farewell To Kings
Unbeatable classic for me. So catchy and well structured. Every note is exactly where it should be. Best Track: Xanadu |
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