Rush for the rest of your life: 70's vs 80's

[KevShmev]

If someone came up to you said, "You can only listen to one of these eras for the rest of your life, you must pick one," which are you taking?

It is hard to not pick the first option, as I cannot imagine never hearing 2112, La Villa Strangiato, The Trees or Xanadu again, but I find that I listen to the 80's material a lot more often as time goes on, thus the 80's gets my vote.

Also, Permanent Waves was released in 1980, so I don't care that it was recorded in the 70's.  For the purposes of this poll and thread, it counts as an 80's album.  Just throwing that out there since it is inevitable that someone will try to cheat and include it in the 70's.

[TAC]

So the first 6 albums vs the next TWO??

[KevShmev]

So the first 6 albums vs the next TWO??

Damn it.  Poll fixed.

[King Postwhore]

80's easily. 

[Zoom E]

80s. My three favourite albums = Moving Pictures, Permanent Waves, Grace Under Pressure

[TAC]

Hmm, let's see. I have to think about this..

Hemispheres
Moving Pictures
2112
Permanent Waves
Signals
Presto
Grace Under Pressure
Fly By Night
A Farewell To Kings
Rush
Caress Of Steel
Hold Your Fire
Power Windows


For this thread, I'll go 80's but under actual circumstances, I'd never give up Hemispheres.

But I'm calling bullshit because Permanent Waves was recorded in the 70's and it was released the first day of 1980.

[King Postwhore]

Released January 14th.

[TAC]

Wiki says Jan 1st.


Still recorded in the 70's.

[King Postwhore]

In England. In Canada and USA it was January 14th.

[wolfking]

80's.  No contest for me at all.

[HOF]

80s without a doubt.

[Cool Chris]

Had to take a quick peek at their discography to verify... I can do without anything prior to 2112, and anything after MP (though The Pass is one of my favorite songs of theirs and Presto has some nostalgic value). So it really comes down to 2112/AFtK/H vs PW/MP/The Pass. Which is pretty darn equal for me. 70s gets the edge due to 2112 (the song) and being burned out on half of MP due to classic rock radio.

[Stadler]

Hmm, let's see. I have to think about this..

Hemispheres
Moving Pictures
2112
Permanent Waves
Signals
Presto
Grace Under Pressure
Fly By Night
A Farewell To Kings
Rush
Caress Of Steel
Hold Your Fire
Power Windows


For this thread, I'll go 80's but under actual circumstances, I'd never give up Hemispheres.

But I'm calling bullshit because Permanent Waves was recorded in the 70's and it was released the first day of 1980.

huh, we agree here.   I have a different ranking (AFTK is WAY higher, PeW and GUP are WAY lower) but my answer is the same as yours:  80's, but I'm not leaving Hemispheres on the table.

[jjrock88]

I legitimately couldn’t care less about this poll and won’t participate. 70s and 80s Rush rule 

[TAC]

I legitimately couldn’t care less about this poll and won’t participate. 70s and 80s Rush rule 

So you choose not to decide?

[TheCountOfNYC]

This is an impossible choice. Moving Pictures is my favorite Rush album, but 2112 is my favorite Rush song. The six album run from 2112 to Signals is untouchable to me, but that’s three albums for each decade. I wouldn’t want to part with any of them.

[jjrock88]

I legitimately couldn’t care less about this poll and won’t participate. 70s and 80s Rush rule 

So you choose not to decide?

 

[SoundscapeMN]

10-0 80's, jeez.

[Cool Chris]

Oops, I said I picked 70s in my post, but forgot to click in the poll. So.... first!

[425]

Definitely the 80s. Permanent Waves, Moving Pictures and Grace Under Pressure are three of my four favorites. I don't have a tremendous interest in the first three albums or side B of 2112.

[ThatOneGuy2112]

80's easily. Looking at my ranking, it's pretty clear.

Moving Pictures
Permanent Waves
Hemispheres
Signals
A Farewell to Kings
Grace Under Pressure
Power Windows
2112
Presto
Fly By Night
Caress of Steel
Hold Your Fire
Rush

On the whole, I get more mileage out of the 80's output. Way too many songs I couldn't do without.

[KevShmev]

Yeah, to break it down a little more based on what my favorites are...

My three favorite Rush songs are from the 70's (2112, La Villa Strangiato and Xanadu), but then if I stretched it out to a top 25, The Trees is the only other song from the 70's that would be in there for certain.  By-Tor and the Snow Dog might make it depending on what day you ask me.  The Necromancer and Cygnus X-1 used to be up there for me as well, but while I still love both, neither would be that high anymore.  I actually might put Closer to the Heart back up there, as my love for that song has really been ignited recently after years of burn-out with it.

My three favorite Rush albums are all from the 80's: Permanent Waves, Moving Pictures and Power Windows. 

I think the 80's was really when Neil his stride as a lyricist. There are plenty of good lyrics in the 70's, but some of them come off as a bit silly and/or overly wordy at times.  Neil is one of my two favorite lyricists of all time (along with Roger Waters), and I feel that his peak as a lyricist was 1980-1993 (P Waves thru Counterparts).

[romdrums]

80's without hesitation.

[TAC]

The swing album to me is Permanent Waves. (it's a 70's album)

[King Postwhore]

The swing album to me is Permanent Waves. (it's a 70's album)

Hey, your birthday is on the 14th but we'll call you a year older 2 weeks before your birthday because I say so.

[TAC]

The swing album to me is Permanent Waves. (it's a 70's album)

Hey, your birthday is on the 14th but we'll call you a year older 2 weeks before your birthday because I say so.

Life begins with conception, and an enbryo has a heartbeat at .....

The album was written and recorded in 1979.

[King Postwhore]

Nope.  That was you just having fun creating,  LOL

[Fritzinger]

I voted for the 80s without thinking one second about it. Rush is the only prog band from the 70s era who had their peak in the 80s for me. I really like Hemispheres and Farewell, but I'd take every 80s album over any 70s album by Rush (really!). Even Hold Your Fire and Presto.

[TAC]

Even Power Windows??

[King Postwhore]

You watch it bub.

[T-ski]

I’m just here for TAC’s Power Windows love.

[jingle.boy]

I hesitated, then went with 70s.  It'd kill me to mis out on Red Barchetta, but while all the 80s albums are rock solid start to finish, my most preferred individual tracks are from the 70s - Xanadu, La Villa, 2112, Cygnus.

[Zydar]

I went with 70s too. Although I love Moving Pictures, overall I prefer the late 70s. The 80s Rush sound became too much keyboards for my taste.

[Stadler]

I hesitated, then went with 70s.  It'd kill me to mis out on Red Barchetta, but while all the 80s albums are rock solid start to finish, my most preferred individual tracks are from the 70s - Xanadu, La Villa, 2112, Cygnus.

Either way, there's just too much left out.  How about "75-85" then "85-95"?   

[pg1067]

Well...the best stretch of albums is 2112 through Signals, three of which are from the 70s and three of which are from the 80s.  2112 through Hemispheres versus Permanent Waves through Signals is a virtual draw, so let's look at the others.

Rush, Fly by Night and Caress of Steel versus the three synth era albums and Presto.  Presto and Fly by Night are the best of that bunch and probably pretty comparable, so that leaves Rush and Caress of Steel against the three synth era albums.  I can make one album of material worth listening to from the synth era (Distant Early Warning, The Enemy Within, Kid Gloves, Between the Wheels, Marathon, Manhattan Project, Middletown Dreams, Emotion Detector and Time Stand Still).  Rush has about a side's worth of really good to great material, and Caress is almost all good.

So...I guess that's 70s by the whiskeriest of whiskers.