Just read someone's theory, on a review of
Roll The Bones, that "Rush are at their best in the studio when the album title ends in an ‘S’."
Is that true, though? Would you guys be inclined to agree that...
A Farewell To Kings
Hemispheres
Permanent Waves
Moving Pictures
Signals
Power Windows
Roll The Bones
Counterparts
Vapor Trails
Snakes & Arrows
Clockwork Angels
Are better works than...
Rush
Fly By Night
Caress Of Steel
2112
Grace Under Pressure
Hold Your Fire
Presto
Test For Echo
Granted, it's 11 albums to 8 (9 if you want to include Feedback), so the "Ends with -s" side already weighs a bit more... I would have to agree, though. The last 3 albums on the "non-s" list are in my middle-of-the-pack group of Rush albums, and some fans rarely listen to the first three albums, leaving only
2112 and the bleak masterpiece of
Grace Under Pressure as the only often-listened albums in the second list.
In the first list though, the first 5 is one of the best 5-album-runs of all time, by anyone or any band ever, and toss in great albums like POW and CP, you've got some of the band's best. VT, S&A and CA are pretty great as well, leaving only RTB at the bottom of my list in the "Ends with -s" list. It's funny how that one observation really makes you think about their discography more in a different way.
It also makes me realize how much they like plural album titles.
-Marc.