Rush studio albums countdown thread!!! (#01 revealed!!)

[ReaperKK]

Man you guys are crazy ranking S&A so low. Hope is a better song than a lot of materials that came out of late 80's/early 90's Rush

[nick_z]

That’s the thing with SNA. It’s not really bad per se. But I almost never listen to it. Just not one that I have any real excitement for. Roll the Bones, for all it’s faults, still has several classic/essential Rush songs that I frequently revisit. There’s just no one song on Snakes and Arrows that holds that appeal for me.

Yep, that pretty much sums it up for me as well.

Actually, I consider VT a much better album, song-wise.

+1

[pg1067]

I think most of the CD era Rush albums could have played better trimmed down to 45, 50 minutes max.

Couldn't agree more.  You can start by losing Scars, Superconductor and Hand over Fist from Presto.

[hefdaddy42]

Can't imagine thinking "Hmm, do I want to listen to S&A, or Roll The Bones?" and going "Roll The Bones it is!"   

That's just crazy talk.  Roll The Bones is good stuff.

[Glasser]

I like it a lot but had it at 18 . A bad Rush album is like bad pizza.

[KevShmev]

I will say more about Roll the Bones when it is featured here in a couple weeks, but I am definitely in the "it is really good" camp.

[Stadler]

Jack, relax.  Get busy with the facts.

[Glasser]

Can't imagine thinking "Hmm, do I want to listen to S&A, or Roll The Bones?" and going "Roll The Bones it is!"   

That's just crazy talk.  Roll The Bones is good stuff.

I saw them on that tour, it was incredible! The album is great.

[KevShmev]

Shocked to see this so low. Didn't expect it to be in the top half overall, but man, how does this not even beat Vapor Trails from the modern era?

On that note, that was a tough one to rank, not sure if I should rank the original unlistenable version, or the later version which actually allowed me to finally enjoy many of the tunes.

I think 10 years ago their spots likely would have been flipped, but the remix and/or remaster (whichever one prefers, I greatly prefer the remaster) has helped Vapor Trails a ton with both me and seemingly a lot of people, while Snakes & Arrows for me has kind of fallen into the nest with Test for Echo as being a later Rush album that I just don't spin that much.   Because there are no awesome/top tier songs on there, the 13 song total actually works against it, as it gives that "all these songs and not a truly great one in the bunch" feel.  And I say that while acknowledging again that this album has a handful of songs I like a lot, but (looking at post-80s Rush) there is no Dreamline, Leave That Thing Alone or Headlong Flight to be found anywhere near this record. 

[The Letter M]

I will say more about Roll the Bones when it is featured here in a couple weeks, but I am definitely in the "it is really good" camp.

So... it finished in the Top Five?

Can't imagine thinking "Hmm, do I want to listen to S&A, or Roll The Bones?" and going "Roll The Bones it is!"   

And as for "too long" and a "slog", well, both Vapor Trails and A Clockwork Angels - both inferior albums by my reckoning - are significantly LONGER (4:25 and 3:14, respectively).

That’s the thing with SNA. It’s not really bad per se. But I almost never listen to it. Just not one that I have any real excitement for. Roll the Bones, for all it’s faults, still has several classic/essential Rush songs that I frequently revisit. There’s just no one song on Snakes and Arrows that holds that appeal for me.

Also, even though I love it as a whole, I agree that Vapor Trails could do with some editing. I think most of the CD era Rush albums could have played better trimmed down to 45, 50 minutes max.

Interesting. So, what, from HYF onward, maybe trim each album down to 8-10 songs each? That definitely would've changed how a lot of fans feel about Presto, RTB, TFE, and S&A for sure, all of which I'm going to guess finished in the bottom half of this countdown, but I'm willing to be surprised!

-Marc.

[Mladen]

Roll the bones and Snakes and arrows were pretty much a tie for me, but I think Roll the bones has stronger highlights. It helps that it's also shorter.

[ReaperKK]

I will say more about Roll the Bones when it is featured here in a couple weeks, but I am definitely in the "it is really good" camp.

Couple WEEKS?!?!? "it's really that good"?? Christ I need a drink

[Trav86]

I will say more about Roll the Bones when it is featured here in a couple weeks, but I am definitely in the "it is really good" camp.

It kicks gluteus max!

[HOF]

I will say more about Roll the Bones when it is featured here in a couple weeks, but I am definitely in the "it is really good" camp.

So... it finished in the Top Five?

Can't imagine thinking "Hmm, do I want to listen to S&A, or Roll The Bones?" and going "Roll The Bones it is!"   

And as for "too long" and a "slog", well, both Vapor Trails and A Clockwork Angels - both inferior albums by my reckoning - are significantly LONGER (4:25 and 3:14, respectively).

That’s the thing with SNA. It’s not really bad per se. But I almost never listen to it. Just not one that I have any real excitement for. Roll the Bones, for all it’s faults, still has several classic/essential Rush songs that I frequently revisit. There’s just no one song on Snakes and Arrows that holds that appeal for me.

Also, even though I love it as a whole, I agree that Vapor Trails could do with some editing. I think most of the CD era Rush albums could have played better trimmed down to 45, 50 minutes max.

Interesting. So, what, from HYF onward, maybe trim each album down to 8-10 songs each? That definitely would've changed how a lot of fans feel about Presto, RTB, TFE, and S&A for sure, all of which I'm going to guess finished in the bottom half of this countdown, but I'm willing to be surprised!

-Marc.

I was more thinking from Counterparts onward (it's 54:00 minutes, with everything before that being 52:00 or less), but you could probably trim things from every album from HYF onward, yeah.

[TAC]

The only thing S&A has going for it is that it sounds great. But it has the be the most uninteresting album they've ever made. And to me, the whole Neil Peart is a great lyricist jumped the shark with me on this. Yeah, he writes the bands lyrics and a lot of them are really interesting. OK. You can stop shoving that down my throat now. S&A literally feels like they wrote the music around the lyrics. There's really just nothing going on with this album.

19 Snakes & Arrows
18
17
16
15
14
13
12
11
10
9 Rush
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1

[Stadler]

Can't imagine thinking "Hmm, do I want to listen to S&A, or Roll The Bones?" and going "Roll The Bones it is!"   

That's just crazy talk.  Roll The Bones is good stuff.

I saw them on that tour, it was incredible! The album is great.

I saw the tour twice and it was jaw-dropping.  The album, on the other hand...

[jammindude]

WOW! I’m with Stadler. I had this at #9, and how it comes in lower than Roll the Bones or Vapor Trails is just complete madness to me.  I pull this album out more and more as time goes by and I absolutely love it. The 1-2 punch of Hope/Faithless is a particular highlight of the album.

Sorry but I’m dumbfounded by this one.

[Stadler]

The only thing S&A has going for it is that it sounds great. But it has the be the most uninteresting album they've ever made. And to me, the whole Neil Peart is a great lyricist jumped the shark with me on this. Yeah, he writes the bands lyrics and a lot of them are really interesting. OK. You can stop shoving that down my throat now. S&A literally feels like they wrote the music around the lyrics. There's really just nothing going on with this album.

The Larger Bowl isn't any good?  It's neat how he built that lyric on a pantoum (a type of lyrical poem).  I agree that not all the record is A+ lyrically, but there are some bright spots.

[TAC]

The only thing S&A has going for it is that it sounds great. But it has the be the most uninteresting album they've ever made. And to me, the whole Neil Peart is a great lyricist jumped the shark with me on this. Yeah, he writes the bands lyrics and a lot of them are really interesting. OK. You can stop shoving that down my throat now. S&A literally feels like they wrote the music around the lyrics. There's really just nothing going on with this album.

The Larger Bowl isn't any good?  It's neat how he built that lyric on a pantoum (a type of lyrical poem).  I agree that not all the record is A+ lyrically, but there are some bright spots.

The Larger Bowl is the perfect example. Here's some lyrics and let's form some music around it. I don't care if it's The Gettysburg Address. If the music sucks, what the hell good are the lyrics?

I wasn't commenting on the quality of the lyrics with my post. I'd be fine opening a book and reading them. But musically, this album blows chunks. The Wild Wind Blows starts off with this awesome bluesy part, and then bam! it's gone.

[Jamesman42]

S&A is pretty okay, I agree that it's sometimes a slog to get through. It's like Far Cry sets up this amazing energy and then the rest doesn't live up to how great that song is.

[TAC]

Far Cry is a good song.

[HOF]

The only thing S&A has going for it is that it sounds great. But it has the be the most uninteresting album they've ever made. And to me, the whole Neil Peart is a great lyricist jumped the shark with me on this. Yeah, he writes the bands lyrics and a lot of them are really interesting. OK. You can stop shoving that down my throat now. S&A literally feels like they wrote the music around the lyrics. There's really just nothing going on with this album.

The Larger Bowl isn't any good?  It's neat how he built that lyric on a pantoum (a type of lyrical poem).  I agree that not all the record is A+ lyrically, but there are some bright spots.

The Larger Bowl is the perfect example. Here's some lyrics and let's form some music around it. I don't care if it's The Gettysburg Address. If the music sucks, what the hell good are the lyrics?

I wasn't commenting on the quality of the lyrics with my post. I'd be fine opening a book and reading them. But musically, this album blows chunks. The Wild Wind Blows starts off with this awesome bluesy part, and then bam! it's gone.

Heh, I remember reading the lyrics to Working Them Angels in Neil’s book Traveling Music before the album came out and thinking they were pretty good. And then I heard the song and thought they didn’t really execute on a good idea there.

[Stadler]

The only thing S&A has going for it is that it sounds great. But it has the be the most uninteresting album they've ever made. And to me, the whole Neil Peart is a great lyricist jumped the shark with me on this. Yeah, he writes the bands lyrics and a lot of them are really interesting. OK. You can stop shoving that down my throat now. S&A literally feels like they wrote the music around the lyrics. There's really just nothing going on with this album.

The Larger Bowl isn't any good?  It's neat how he built that lyric on a pantoum (a type of lyrical poem).  I agree that not all the record is A+ lyrically, but there are some bright spots.

The Larger Bowl is the perfect example. Here's some lyrics and let's form some music around it. I don't care if it's The Gettysburg Address. If the music sucks, what the hell good are the lyrics?

I wasn't commenting on the quality of the lyrics with my post. I'd be fine opening a book and reading them. But musically, this album blows chunks. The Wild Wind Blows starts off with this awesome bluesy part, and then bam! it's gone.

So you're saying The Way The Wind Blows Sucks? 

[Glasser]

WOW! I’m with Stadler. I had this at #9, and how it comes in lower than Roll the Bones or Vapor Trails is just complete madness to me.  I pull this album out more and more as time goes by and I absolutely love it. The 1-2 punch of Hope/Faithless is a particular highlight of the album.

Sorry but I’m dumbfounded by this one.

Roll The Bones and Vapor Trails are completely different animals... Respectfully 

[Glasser]

The only thing S&A has going for it is that it sounds great. But it has the be the most uninteresting album they've ever made. And to me, the whole Neil Peart is a great lyricist jumped the shark with me on this. Yeah, he writes the bands lyrics and a lot of them are really interesting. OK. You can stop shoving that down my throat now. S&A literally feels like they wrote the music around the lyrics. There's really just nothing going on with this album.

The Larger Bowl isn't any good?  It's neat how he built that lyric on a pantoum (a type of lyrical poem).  I agree that not all the record is A+ lyrically, but there are some bright spots.

The Larger Bowl is the perfect example. Here's some lyrics and let's form some music around it. I don't care if it's The Gettysburg Address. If the music sucks, what the hell good are the lyrics?

I wasn't commenting on the quality of the lyrics with my post. I'd be fine opening a book and reading them. But musically, this album blows chunks. The Wild Wind Blows starts off with this awesome bluesy part, and then bam! it's gone.

So you're saying The Way The Wind Blows Sucks?

It doesn't Suck, it Blows?!

[KevShmev]

I will say more about Roll the Bones when it is featured here in a couple weeks, but I am definitely in the "it is really good" camp.

Couple WEEKS?!?!? "it's really that good"?? Christ I need a drink

Maybe I am kidding, maybe I am not.  

[wolfking]

I had this album at 16.  Later day Rush really wasn't my thing.

[jammindude]

WOW! I’m with Stadler. I had this at #9, and how it comes in lower than Roll the Bones or Vapor Trails is just complete madness to me.  I pull this album out more and more as time goes by and I absolutely love it. The 1-2 punch of Hope/Faithless is a particular highlight of the album.

Sorry but I’m dumbfounded by this one.

Roll The Bones and Vapor Trails are completely different animals... Respectfully 

Well, they have similarities. Like how subpar they are for example. 

[TAC]

The only thing S&A has going for it is that it sounds great. But it has the be the most uninteresting album they've ever made. And to me, the whole Neil Peart is a great lyricist jumped the shark with me on this. Yeah, he writes the bands lyrics and a lot of them are really interesting. OK. You can stop shoving that down my throat now. S&A literally feels like they wrote the music around the lyrics. There's really just nothing going on with this album.

The Larger Bowl isn't any good?  It's neat how he built that lyric on a pantoum (a type of lyrical poem).  I agree that not all the record is A+ lyrically, but there are some bright spots.

The Larger Bowl is the perfect example. Here's some lyrics and let's form some music around it. I don't care if it's The Gettysburg Address. If the music sucks, what the hell good are the lyrics?

I wasn't commenting on the quality of the lyrics with my post. I'd be fine opening a book and reading them. But musically, this album blows chunks. The Wild Wind Blows starts off with this awesome bluesy part, and then bam! it's gone.

So you're saying The Way The Wind Blows Sucks?

Wow! 

Yes!

[wolfking]

He's saying The Way the Wind Blows.....blows.

[faizoff]

19
18
17
16  Rush
15
14
13
12
11
10 Snakes And Arrows
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1

Exact same ranking so far for me. I really enjoyed S&A, I had gotten into Rush big time just after VT came out and I remember hearing that teaser of Far Cry with the Hemisphere chord. Though for me the first two tracks are the highlight of the album followed by the instrumentals. Doing a full listen of the band and really enjoying it, might listen out of order and spin S&A next.


19
18
17
16  Rush
15
14
13
12
11
10 Snakes And Arrows
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1

[King Postwhore]

The Way the Tim Blows.

[TAC]

The Way the Tim Blows.

starts off with this awesome bluesy part, and then bam! it's gone.

 

[The Realm]

Snakes & Arrows - number 18 for me. Just not an album I really connect with or listen to at all.

[pg1067]

The only thing S&A has going for it is that it sounds great. But it has the be the most uninteresting album they've ever made. And to me, the whole Neil Peart is a great lyricist jumped the shark with me on this. Yeah, he writes the bands lyrics and a lot of them are really interesting. OK. You can stop shoving that down my throat now. S&A literally feels like they wrote the music around the lyrics. There's really just nothing going on with this album.

The Larger Bowl isn't any good?  It's neat how he built that lyric on a pantoum (a type of lyrical poem).  I agree that not all the record is A+ lyrically, but there are some bright spots.

The Larger Bowl is the perfect example. Here's some lyrics and let's form some music around it. I don't care if it's The Gettysburg Address. If the music sucks, what the hell good are the lyrics?

Yep.  Great lyrics can make a good song great, and crappy lyrics can make a great song good (or worse), but great lyrics can't make a bad/mediocre song good.  That said, I don't think the lyrics to the Larger Bowl are at all interesting.  It's a lot of the same lines repeated over and over and over.

And, by the way, I'm almost positive that most, if not all, 21st century Rush songs were created by taking lyrics that Neil had written independently of the music and trying to fit them into music that Geddy and Alex had written (as opposed to writing the music and then writing lyrics to fit it or taking existing lyrics and writing music around them).

Can't imagine thinking "Hmm, do I want to listen to S&A, or Roll The Bones?" and going "Roll The Bones it is!"   

That's just crazy talk.  Roll The Bones is good stuff.

I saw them on that tour, it was incredible! The album is great.

I saw the tour twice and it was jaw-dropping.  The album, on the other hand...

Fo shizzle.  The best thing about the tour was that only 5 of the 20+ songs were from RTB, and one was the instrumental (on the other hand, they never played the best song from the album).