OH MY GOD I'M SO FAR BEHIND!!!!
Sorry guys. I just started a brand new job at the beginning of the year. FINALLY got out of the construction trade and into an inspector position for a local municipality. BEST job I've ever had...but I'm neck deep in training. I'm cramming on building codes like a first year law student, and I think I've hit the point of saturation. But I digress...
73. Prime Mover - Me #37
This has always been my favorite from HYF and was the only song from that album to make my top 50. Love Alex's catchy guitar work, love the lyrics, love the chorus. Definitely a highlight from a so-so album.
72. Open Secrets - Me (Did not rank. Original 2 lists had it in the 140s)
Everyone here is calling this one a classic, and I don't get it. I liked it when the album came out, but now I find it kinda klunky.
71. Test for Echo - (Did Not Rank - but one list had it just inside the top 100)
I brag about this album all the time, but this is a great song that had too many better songs to compete against. I stand by my claim that TFE has one of the best opening 5 of their entire catalog....but if I had to pick the least of those 5, it would be this one.
70. Fly By Night - (Did not rank. Both lists had it in the mid-80s)
Both of these last two REALLY had me wishing this had been a top 100. But this was an early favorite. After I heard Tom Sawyer for the first time, I tried finding as much Rush as I could. But AFTK and forward were all full priced albums, whereas Rush-COS were all available in the bargain bin. And I had heard FBN on the radio, so it prompted me to pick this up and it became my second ever Rush album.
69. Presto - (Did not rank)
Actually, this one hurts even more than the other two. Because in both of my final lists from the engine, this song DID make it to the upper 60s. But in my final collection of top 75 songs, I found a few songs that I truly loved that were just outside the top 75 and couldn't bear to see them not just a bit higher. So to make room, I had to make some difficult choices with the bottom 10 of my top 75, and this was a song that fell victim to that. I do love this song. I think it was the first time I had heard Alex play an acoustic on a Rush album since Permanent Waves....and I loved it instantly.
68. Countdown - Me #55
I just don't get the hate for this song at all. Yes...it is not one of Neil's finer lyrical moments, and the "excitement so think you can cut it with a knife" is particularly cringe-worthy. But there are a couple of gems. "This magic day when super science mingles with the bright stuff of dreams" is quite good. And the music is off the chart. The mood building in the song is PERFECT for the subject matter. And that ending riff would put me in front of a mirror with a tennis racket every time!
67. The Necromancer - Me #50
Definitely the highlight of CoS. It doesn't get any better than this. Worth the purchase price of the album all by itself. And Dream Theater's cover was amazing. There isn't a moment or a section of this song I don't think isn't wonderful just the way it is. I even love the old school "panning" of the guitar solo in Under the Shadow. No one ever does that anymore and I can't figure out why.
66. Emotion Detector - (Did not rank - one list had it just inside the top 100)
I love every moment from the Power Windows album. But I have to agree with the general consensus that this is the "least best". Great chorus, and I love the actual lyrics themselves, but some of the verses end up sounding just a tad too "pretty".
65. Everyday Glory - (Did not rank - another one where the two lists had it just inside and outside the top 100)
One of the better moments from Counterparts. Beautiful ending to what was otherwise a pretty raw album.
64. Show Don't Tell - (did not rank)
Same as Presto. One list had it at 120 and the 2nd had it at 69. But it was another really great song that just barely got bumped from my top 75 in a last minute reshuffle. It was a great comeback after the keyboard burnout of HYF. I remember hearing it on the radio a few days before the album came out, and everyone was praising the song because Rush was back to being a "rock" band. Too bad the production never quite lived up to the punch. But this song is a standout.
63. Something for Nothing - (did not rank the two lists had it at 140 and 132)
Loved it when I was 13. And yes, the live version is FANTASTIC. But it's actually a fairly repetitive song that gets really boring on repeated listens.
62. Driven - Me #36
Now we're talking!! What a BEAST!!! My feelings about TFE and CP are completely summed up in the respective 2nd tracks. When I heard that Rush was back to being "heavy" again, *this* was what I wanted to hear. The improvement of the execution of heaviness with musicality hits full stride on this song. I still want to crank it up every time I hear it.
61. Cut to the Chase - Me #35
Interesting that I also had this back to back on my list, though much higher. My top rated CP song. Probably Rush's most underrated song of all time. Shame it never got played live.
60. Cold Fire - Me #64
Well, at least if you guys were going to rank CP songs...you got the right ones!
Seriously though. Neil's insightful lyrics into the more realistic side of a long term relationship is a breath of fresh air, and Alex's riff is fantastic. And the chorus is one of their better ones. An earworm for the ages.
59. Bastille Day - Me #74
This was one of the songs that I just could not bear to see not make my list and first list had it at 76. Sometimes I feel like I'm sick of it, but when that opening riff kicks in, I can't get enough of it. Great opening for both the album, and on several tours to follow.
WHEW!!!! I did it!!
Topic: Official Top 75 Rush songs Thread!!! (Top 2 revealed!!) (Read 52892 times)
