Rush's Five Album Run From 2112 To Moving Pictures

[Sycsa]

Classic prog really started to burn out after 1974, so it's hard to pick 5 or more consistent albums out of that period and genre. If we're going for albums which are all so good that they're almost interchangeable, I'd pick Kansas (first 5 albums) and Gentle Giant (first 7).

[WildRanger]

Rush's album run from 2112 to Moving Pictures is superb and among the best runs in rock music.
Some guys in this thread mentioned Yes' run from The Yes Album to Relayer, but I disagree because Tales From Topographic Oceans is generally not considered a top-tier record.

Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath have 6 great classic albums in a row (their first 6 records), Iron Maiden has 7 (all their 80's albums), Opeth's run from Morningrise to Damnation is very strong. Thin Lizzy's run from Fighting to Black Rose too.
I would add Bruce Springsteen from The Wild, the Innocent & the E Street Shuffle to Nebraska (5 albums) and Neil Young from Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere to Zuma (6 albums).

[Stadler]

Rush's album run from 2112 to Moving Pictures is superb and among the best runs in rock music.
Some guys in this thread mentioned Yes' run from The Yes Album to Relayer, but I disagree because Tales From Topographic Oceans is generally not considered a top-tier record.

Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath have 6 great classic albums in a row (their first 6 records), Iron Maiden has 7 (all their 80's albums), Opeth's run from Morningrise to Damnation is very strong. Thin Lizzy's run from Fighting to Black Rose too.
I would add Bruce Springsteen from The Wild, the Innocent & the E Street Shuffle to Nebraska (5 albums) and Neil Young from Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere to Zuma (6 albums).

Pink Floyd.

[HOF]

Count me as one who prefers the run from Permanent Waves through Power Windows.

[romdrums]

Count me as one who prefers the run from Permanent Waves through Power Windows.

Same here.

[The Walrus]

Count me as one who prefers the run from Permanent Waves through Power Windows.

Same here.

Same. That run absolutely smokes 2112 to MP imo

[King Postwhore]

Power Windows is my #1 album of all time soooooooo.....

[The Walrus]

Power Windows is my #1 album of all time soooooooo.....

MY MAN!

[romdrums]

Power Windows is my #1 album of all time soooooooo.....

MY MAN!

Power Windows is my go-to Rush album.  I think Permanent Waves and Moving Pictures are better, but I can listen to Power Windows at any time. 

[The Walrus]

Power Windows is my #1 album of all time soooooooo.....

MY MAN!

Power Windows is my go-to Rush album.  I think Permanent Waves and Moving Pictures are better, but I can listen to Power Windows at any time.

The Power Windows legion grows!!

[HOF]

Power Windows is my #1 album of all time soooooooo.....

MY MAN!

Power Windows is my go-to Rush album.  I think Permanent Waves and Moving Pictures are better, but I can listen to Power Windows at any time.

The Power Windows legion grows!!

Power Windows is also my favorite Rush album. Though at times I feel very similarly strongly about Signals, Grace Under Pressure, and Presto.

[The Walrus]

Wow. TAC isn't going to like this series of posts when he wakes up from his nap. 

[King Postwhore]

When he turns on his Thingamajig.

[pg1067]

Of course it was WildRanger who resurrected this three year old thread.   

Count me as one who prefers the run from Permanent Waves through Power Windows.

Yeesh.  Not even close.

I agree that Signals is part of Rush's run, but GUP and PoW aren't fit to hold the pee bucket for 2112, AFTK and Hemispheres.  GUP and PoW can barely muster one album's worth of listenable material between them.

Some guys in this thread mentioned Yes' run from The Yes Album to Relayer, but I disagree because Tales From Topographic Oceans is generally not considered a top-tier record.

And I disagree because I think TFTO is a GREAT album, and I would extend Yes's run from TYA to GFTO.

[HOF]

Of course it was WildRanger who resurrected this three year old thread.   

Count me as one who prefers the run from Permanent Waves through Power Windows.

Yeesh.  Not even close.

I agree that Signals is part of Rush's run, but GUP and PoW aren't fit to hold the pee bucket for 2112, AFTK and Hemispheres.  GUP and PoW can barely muster one album's worth of listenable material between them.

Some guys in this thread mentioned Yes' run from The Yes Album to Relayer, but I disagree because Tales From Topographic Oceans is generally not considered a top-tier record.

And I disagree because I think TFTO is a GREAT album, and I would extend Yes's run from TYA to GFTO.

I am glad that I am not old enough to be subject to the tyranny of thought that “everything was better in the 70s.”

 

[romdrums]

Of course it was WildRanger who resurrected this three year old thread.   

Count me as one who prefers the run from Permanent Waves through Power Windows.

Yeesh.  Not even close.

I agree that Signals is part of Rush's run, but GUP and PoW aren't fit to hold the pee bucket for 2112, AFTK and Hemispheres.  GUP and PoW can barely muster one album's worth of listenable material between them.

Some guys in this thread mentioned Yes' run from The Yes Album to Relayer, but I disagree because Tales From Topographic Oceans is generally not considered a top-tier record.

And I disagree because I think TFTO is a GREAT album, and I would extend Yes's run from TYA to GFTO.

I am glad that I am not old enough to be subject to the tyranny of thought that “everything was better in the 70s.”

 

Same.  I'm 43, but holy hell, if I hear one more boomer type say, "back when REAL music was made!" I'm going to smash their 59 Les Paul replica over their heads.

[Architeuthis]

I'm surprised no one has mentioned Dream Theater yet - Images and Words through Six Degrees (since we are counting consecutive studio albums and not factoring in EPs or compilations).

I would go with Scenes, Six Degrees, TOT,  Octavarium, and  SC..   All fantastic albums imo.   

[King Postwhore]

I'm 52, close to 53 sooooooooooooo........

[WildRanger]

And I disagree because I think TFTO is a GREAT album.

I find it a mixed bag. And there is no consensus that TFTO is a great Yes album (as CTTE or Fragile or The Yes Album).
For example, it's rated 3.90 on ProgArchives, so it's not a high average score there.

[HOF]

Of course it was WildRanger who resurrected this three year old thread.   

Count me as one who prefers the run from Permanent Waves through Power Windows.

Yeesh.  Not even close.

I agree that Signals is part of Rush's run, but GUP and PoW aren't fit to hold the pee bucket for 2112, AFTK and Hemispheres.  GUP and PoW can barely muster one album's worth of listenable material between them.

Some guys in this thread mentioned Yes' run from The Yes Album to Relayer, but I disagree because Tales From Topographic Oceans is generally not considered a top-tier record.

And I disagree because I think TFTO is a GREAT album, and I would extend Yes's run from TYA to GFTO.

I am glad that I am not old enough to be subject to the tyranny of thought that “everything was better in the 70s.”

 

Same.  I'm 43, but holy hell, if I hear one more boomer type say, "back when REAL music was made!" I'm going to smash their 59 Les Paul replica over their heads.

I kid mostly. I’m sure most people have a period in their life where they were strongly influenced by what was going on at the time and that informs your likes and preferences for the rest of your life. For me that was probably more the 90s, although I was also exposed to music from the 70s and 80s growing up. I’m glad that I was able to come to a band like Rush retrospectively because I think that makes it easier to appreciate the different phases of the band. Heck, I’m kind of biased against 2000s and beyond Dream Theater, partly because the 90s releases were formative for me. Just didn’t like them when they started to change after about SFAM/SDOIT. But if you came to those releases first, I can see why it would be easier to like them.

[Stadler]

Give us a break; back when REAL music was made we didn't have to deal with people that didn't realize it. 

[WildRanger]

I am glad that I am not old enough to be subject to the tyranny of thought that “everything was better in the 70s.”

When it comes to rock bands who had a big discography through two decades - 70's and 80's, in the vast majority of cases their 70's output easily crushes the 80's output. For example, let's look at ZZ Top: "Tres Hombres" kicks the living crap out of "Eliminator".

[King Postwhore]

70's is my favorite era for music.  Doesn't mean i can't love 80's output.  Also Wildranger, I think all output from ZZ Top sucks.

[The Walrus]

70's is my favorite era for music.  Doesn't mean i can't love 80's output.  Also Wildranger, I think all output from ZZ Top sucks.

I want to buy you a beer for this. Hell yeah 

[pg1067]

Of course it was WildRanger who resurrected this three year old thread.   

Count me as one who prefers the run from Permanent Waves through Power Windows.

Yeesh.  Not even close.

I agree that Signals is part of Rush's run, but GUP and PoW aren't fit to hold the pee bucket for 2112, AFTK and Hemispheres.  GUP and PoW can barely muster one album's worth of listenable material between them.

Some guys in this thread mentioned Yes' run from The Yes Album to Relayer, but I disagree because Tales From Topographic Oceans is generally not considered a top-tier record.

And I disagree because I think TFTO is a GREAT album, and I would extend Yes's run from TYA to GFTO.

I am glad that I am not old enough to be subject to the tyranny of thought that “everything was better in the 70s.”

 

Dafuq?!

There was very little about the 70s that was "better" than the 80s, but the music of Rush and Yes by and large fall into that category.  I was a kid in the 70s and a teen and young adult in the 80s, but when you look back from a historical perspective, there was a shit-ton of shit happening in the 70s that I'm glad I was too young to deal with.

And I disagree because I think TFTO is a GREAT album.

I find it a mixed bag. And there is no consensus that TFTO is a great Yes album (as CTTE or Fragile or The Yes Album).
For example, it's rated 3.90 on ProgArchives, so it's not a high average score there.

Yes, I'm aware that TFTO is not universally as highly regarded as the albums on either side of it, but that's why opinions are subjective.

I'm surprised no one has mentioned Dream Theater yet - Images and Words through Six Degrees (since we are counting consecutive studio albums and not factoring in EPs or compilations).

I would go with Scenes, Six Degrees, TOT,  Octavarium, and  SC..   All fantastic albums imo.   

The existence of FII and SC make it impossible to come up with a 5-album run for DT that works for me.  Those are two of their bottom four albums, but the four in between (which, by the way, contain far more music than just about any of the five-album runs that have been mentioned) are virtually unparalleled.

70's is my favorite era for music.  Doesn't mean i can't love 80's output.  Also Wildranger, I think all output from ZZ Top sucks.

That's because it's an objective fact.

[King Postwhore]

And that's my opinion.

[King Postwhore]

Oh and pg, we still our candybars.

[Stadler]

70's is my favorite era for music.  Doesn't mean i can't love 80's output.  Also Wildranger, I think all output from ZZ Top sucks.

I want to buy you a beer for this. Hell yeah 

Huh.   That surprises me from both of you (and pg).   I would have thought that they would be at least middle of the road.  They seem to have a modicum of integrity, and Billy Gibbons is a monster player.    Personally, you have to be careful with ZZ Top's catalogue (they went through a phase when they reconfigured their earlier output to sound more like "Eliminator", which is to be avoided, but they went back to the original mixes which still sound good today). 

They were less than impressive live though; I saw them as a headliner and they literally played for 60 minutes.  Lame (even if the 60 minutes were solid).

[King Postwhore]

I don't mind a few songs but they've never been "my cup of tea."

[Stadler]

There was very little about the 70s that was "better" than the 80s, but the music of Rush and Yes by and large fall into that category.  I was a kid in the 70s and a teen and young adult in the 80s, but when you look back from a historical perspective, there was a shit-ton of shit happening in the 70s that I'm glad I was too young to deal with.

We're the same age; I know for me there's a whiff of "you had to be there" to some of the concerts of the 70's.  I'm sure a lot of it is apochryphal, but I'd have loved to experience a true 70's show from Zeppelin or the Dead.   I saw the Dead in the 80's (well, more correctly, I worked the show as a security guard/usher) and it was one of the more crazy shows I was ever at.   I can only imagine that was a watered down version of the 70's heyday. 

[kirksnosehair]

Just going back to the original topic of the 5 album run from Rush beginning with 2112 and ending with Moving Pictures - those are the only Rush albums that interest me.  What they became after these albums is just not my cup of tea.  Although I freely admit I did enjoy the bulk of their radio hits throughout their careers. 

[TAC]

I don't mind a few songs but they've never been "my cup of tea."

You do know that Eliminator was not their first album, right?

[WildRanger]

70's is my favorite era for music.  Doesn't mean i can't love 80's output.  Also Wildranger, I think all output from ZZ Top sucks.

That's because it's an objective fact.

Nope, it's not. "Tres Hombres" is objectively good. 

[King Postwhore]

 

I don't mind a few songs but they've never been "my cup of tea."

You do know that Eliminator was not their first album, right?

Are you really asking me this?

[pg1067]

70's is my favorite era for music.  Doesn't mean i can't love 80's output.  Also Wildranger, I think all output from ZZ Top sucks.

I want to buy you a beer for this. Hell yeah 

Huh.   That surprises me from both of you (and pg).   I would have thought that they would be at least middle of the road.  They seem to have a modicum of integrity, and Billy Gibbons is a monster player.    Personally, you have to be careful with ZZ Top's catalogue (they went through a phase when they reconfigured their earlier output to sound more like "Eliminator", which is to be avoided, but they went back to the original mixes which still sound good today). 

They were less than impressive live though; I saw them as a headliner and they literally played for 60 minutes.  Lame (even if the 60 minutes were solid).

I can't say I'm all that familiar with ZZ Top's pre-Eliminator stuff.  I know there's Tush, which seems to be a pretty garden variety boogie-woogie song.  There's a another song where I have to assume Gibbons got drunk and mumbled a lot and they recorded it and decided to use it as the "vocal" for the song.

I think Sharp Dressed Man is an ok song, but it's almost the exact same song as Gimme All Your Loving.  Your reference to integrity is interesting because comparing the sound of their early stuff to the Eliminator stuff leads me to conclude that they sold out big time to the gods of MTV.

Ultimately, ZZ Top is a blues-rock band, and I don't like the blues and am not a fan of overtly bluesy rock.  Definitely not my cup of meat (tea isn't my cup of tea either).

There was very little about the 70s that was "better" than the 80s, but the music of Rush and Yes by and large fall into that category.  I was a kid in the 70s and a teen and young adult in the 80s, but when you look back from a historical perspective, there was a shit-ton of shit happening in the 70s that I'm glad I was too young to deal with.

We're the same age; I know for me there's a whiff of "you had to be there" to some of the concerts of the 70's.  I'm sure a lot of it is apochryphal, but I'd have loved to experience a true 70's show from Zeppelin or the Dead.   I saw the Dead in the 80's (well, more correctly, I worked the show as a security guard/usher) and it was one of the more crazy shows I was ever at.   I can only imagine that was a watered down version of the 70's heyday. 

I have no interest in the Dead, but I definitely agree with you about 70s concerts.  Zeppelin and Sabbath in their early 70s heyday.  Yes on the CTTE tour or in the round on GFTO.  Rush on the Drive Until You Die tour.  The Who with Keith Moon.  Those will definitely be time machine destinations for me.  My comment about there being very little about the 70s that was better than the 80s was intended to be very all-encompassing.