Official Top 75 Rush songs Thread!!! (Top 2 revealed!!)

[TAC]

I had Working Man at #65. And I had Here Again at #73.

[KevShmev]

And I still have not had the highest rating for any song yet...not including the locked out ones.

Fear not. You are the high rater for one of the big dogs that we will still not see for a while. 

By the way, I love Nobody's Hero...sad to not see it ranked in the aggregate top 75...

I would have been surprised if it had made the top 75, to be honest.  I love it and rated it at 40, but I know that a lot of fans are not crazy about it.

[Cool Chris]

I kinda wish the 76+ songs were not revealed till the entire 75 are listed. It would leave room for at least the possibility of a surprise or two, even if at the individual level.

[Stadler]

I had Working Man at #65. And I had Here Again at #73.

Here Again made my list, too.  I love that song.

[KevShmev]

I kinda wish the 76+ songs were not revealed till the entire 75 are listed. It would leave room for at least the possibility of a surprise or two, even if at the individual level.

Hmmm, that might not be a bad idea.  I will think that one over. 

[DragonAttack]

It is your thread, but you know I would ‘second’ that motion. It would keep the discussion mostly on the countdown. And then see follow up lists together of our songs that did not make the lists which should make for an interesting discussion on its own.

Sidebar: did your friend let you play his pinball machine, or was it ‘hands off’😉?

[KevShmev]

It is your thread, but you know I would ‘second’ that motion. It would keep the discussion mostly on the countdown.

Sidebar: did your friend let you play his pinball machine, or was it ‘hands off’😉?

Nope, we both played a few games.  I am not a big pinball wizard , but it was cool to see all of the stuff, and of course Geddy and Alex did all of the voices you hear in the game.

[TAC]

It is your thread, but you know I would ‘second’ that motion. It would keep the discussion mostly on the countdown.

Sidebar: did your friend let you play his pinball machine, or was it ‘hands off’😉?

Nope, we both played a few games.  I am not a big pinball wizard , but it was cool to see all of the stuff, and of course Geddy and Alex did all of the voices you hear in the game.

So Geddy and Alex told you that you suck at pinball?

[romdrums]

Looking at my list, I've only had one song of my top 25 not make it so far, and I've only had the highest rating on two songs so far (Show Don't Tell and The Garden).  I'm interested to see if my number one is the one that doesn't make the top 10.  It could happen! 

So...24 of your 25 have been in the 25-75 range?  Interesting.

What I meant to say was that I’ve only had 1 of my top 25 songs not make the aggregate Top 75.  Of my Top 25, I’ve had 7 named so far, including 2 where I had the highest ranking (Show Don’t Tell at #17, and The Garden at #8).  So 17 of my top 25 are still in play.

[nobloodyname]

It is your thread, but you know I would ‘second’ that motion. It would keep the discussion mostly on the countdown.

Thirded!

[Deadeye21]

It is your thread, but you know I would ‘second’ that motion. It would keep the discussion mostly on the countdown.

Thirded!

I also agree, fourthed kinda sounds wrong though.

[KevShmev]

Works for me, and in the meantime...

24 Territories
Appeared on 21 of 25 entrees
Top 10 finishes: 2
Highest Ranking: 4 (jammindude)

This song was an instant favorite for me, and has remained one of my favorites, landing at 13 in my ranking.  I think a very strong case can be made that this song was Neil at his lyrical best.  Just amazing.


23 Cygnus X-1
Appeared on 19 of 25 entrees
Top 10 finishes: 5
Highest Ranking: 4 (The Letter M, Cool Chris, Dream Team)

I don't quite genuflect to this song like I used to, but I still had it at 47.  In the conversation of "When did Rush rock the hardest?", there are two moments, the latter half of the second section of The Fountain of Lamneth, and then the last few minutes of this song.  The edgier production and mix of A Farewell to Kings really benefits this song. 

[King Postwhore]

I got Big Money on a 10" album single with Territories as the B side so I got to hear it before the album came out. I loved it right away.

[TAC]

24 Territories
Appeared on 21 of 25 entrees
Top 10 finishes: 2
Highest Ranking: 4 (jammindude)

23 Cygnus X-1
Appeared on 19 of 25 entrees
Top 10 finishes: 5
Highest Ranking: 4 (The Letter M, Cool Chris, Dream Team)

I had Territories at #50. This was really the only song that appealed to me when Power Windows came out. It was the only song that, at the time, I thought sounded like Rush. Plus, it was the heavier track on the album.

I had Cygnus X-1 at #67. I just consider AFTK a weak album. This is a cool enough song with lots of cool parts, but I guess they never seem to tie it all together for me. I've never loved this track.

[nick_z]

Territories (ranked #72)

Great song (like pretty much everything on Power Windows  ), but in the bottom tier of that album for me, actually. I guess the consensus is a little different here (if even Tim likes it! ). Love Alex's guitar on this.

Cygnus X-1 (ranked #12)

Fantastic song. That was the great thing about discovering Rush and exploring their catalog - there were so many cool surprises and left turns. First time I listened to A Farewell to Kings and I got to Cygnus X-1, I was floored by how heavy and "riffy" it was, especially the first part. I always felt it had such an influence on bands like Voivod. And, yes, the last few minutes are kinda nuts.

[romdrums]

24. Territories (12).  What a showcase for Neil, as both a drummer and a lyricist.  His lyrics are relevant, especially today, as we watch the war in Ukraine.  And goddamn, his drumming!!  This is one of my all time favorite Neil drum parts.  It's so powerful and so expertly orchestrated.

23. Cygnus X-1 (37).  I like what they were going for on this, and this is a great example of them really pushing themselves as players.

[HOF]

Oh, wow, I was worried Territories wouldn’t make it since we hadn’t seen it yet through the first 50 songs. Maybe we get all of them on after all! I have this one at 34, and at first it was my least favorite track on PW. But once I sort of figured out what he was saying in the lyrics it started to click, though I’d say it was really only a couple of years back that the music really clicked for me too. Now I really love everything about it, even the “better beer” line. I think Neil really nails the topic lyrically. Some great bass lines from Geddy on this one. ALSO: those fills from Neil following the “colorful rag is unfurled” line.

Cygnus X-1 is one of my least favorite Rush songs. I even (randomly) listened to it again just last night trying to give it another shot and just don’t get it. There is no flow, just a bunch of random different riffs and sections bolted together and weird space noises. Some of the individual parts are pretty cool and probably could have been worked into a memorable song, but this one is not it!

[Deadeye21]

Works for me, and in the meantime...

24 Territories
Appeared on 21 of 25 entrees
Top 10 finishes: 2
Highest Ranking: 4 (jammindude)

23 Cygnus X-1
Appeared on 19 of 25 entrees
Top 10 finishes: 5
Highest Ranking: 4 (The Letter M, Cool Chris, Dream Team)

Dang! These are really far apart for me.

Territories is my number 75. Never been a favourite on Power Windows, and very barely scratched through instead of Nobody’s Hero. Idk, this one’s cool, but, just never really phased me.

Now Cygnus X-1, on the other hand, hit at 33! While it”s easily my lesser two of the Cygnus Duology, the opening jam is awesome, and even through the slower sections, this thing never loses it’s way. 10:27 long and once it kicks off, it flys by.   

[devieira73]

24 Territories (#36) - My first exposure to it was seeing ASoH VHS and I really enjoyed it - at the time I was discovering Rush and wasn't quite sure what to think about them from GUP to HYF. But, this song immediately went along with the ones I liked a lot from that era and sure it was one of the most guitar-oriented songs from that time.

23 Cygnus X-1 (#50) - This intro and the very heavy ending are great! But all its instrumental parts are very interesting.

[pg1067]

Five of my top 25 have appeared and only one of the remaining 20 is locked out.

Five of my Top 25 have appeared and four are locked out.

The four that are locked out are:

What You're Doing #15
Nobody's Hero #12
In The End #11
Finding My Way  #9

I'm REALLY surprised that Finding My Way didn't make the top 75.  I had it at #58.

The only songs from my top 25 that have appeared are Cygnus Book I, AFTK, Digital Man, Countdown and Losing It, and my one locked out song is Earthshine, which I had at #23.

[nick_z]

So far, my highest-ranked song that's locked out is Alien Shore (had it at #41), followed by Vapor Trail (had it at #42)

[pg1067]

24 Territories
Appeared on 21 of 25 entrees
Top 10 finishes: 2
Highest Ranking: 4 (jammindude)

This song was an instant favorite for me, and has remained one of my favorites, landing at 13 in my ranking.  I think a very strong case can be made that this song was Neil at his lyrical best.  Just amazing.

I REALLY don't like this song.  I had it at #106, and looking at where some other songs fell out behind it, that's WAY too high.  It's pretty much everything that's wrong with that era.  With this as the side 2 opener and Mystic Rhythms as the closer, it's no wonder it took me a while to recognize that the two songs that came between were actually pretty decent.

23 Cygnus X-1
Appeared on 19 of 25 entrees
Top 10 finishes: 5
Highest Ranking: 4 (The Letter M, Cool Chris, Dream Team)

I don't quite genuflect to this song like I used to, but I still had it at 47.  In the conversation of "When did Rush rock the hardest?", there are two moments, the latter half of the second section of The Fountain of Lamneth, and then the last few minutes of this song.  The edgier production and mix of A Farewell to Kings really benefits this song.

Damn!  I just missed having the highest ranking for a song.  The Voyage came in at #5 for me.  It's the epitome of epic.  Geddy's vocals are just ridiculous, and this might be Rush's heaviest song.  Just a perfect weaving of prog elements with heaviness.  Possibly the only Rush song I was able to learn all the way through on bass just by ear.  I can remember sitting in my room for hours going over each section.  So much good stuff!  Completely mind-boggling that this song was left off two more rankings than Territories.


The Score So Far
Rush - 1 song (Working Man - #56)
Fly by Night - 3 songs (Fly by Night - #70; By-Tor and the Snow Dog - #38; Anthem - #36)
Caress of Steel - 2 songs (The Necromancer - #67; Bastille Day - #59)
2112 - 2 songs (Something for Nothing - #63; A Passage to Bangkok - #58)
A Farewell to Kings - 3 songs (Closer to the Heart - #43; A Farewell to Kings - #26; Cygnus X-1 Book I: The Voyage - #23)
Hemispheres - 1 song (Circumstances - #45)
Permanent Waves - 2 songs (Different Strings - #57; Entre Nous - #53)
Moving Pictures - 2 songs (Vital Signs - #51; Witch Hunt - #38)
Signals - 5 songs (Countdown - #68; New World Man - #54; The Weapon - #48; Digital Man - #47; Losing It - #25)
Grace Under Pressure - 2 songs (The Enemy Within - #49; Afterimage - #29)
Power Windows - 6 songs (Emotion Detector - #66; Grand Designs - #37; Mystic Rhythms - #35; Middletown Dreams - #31; The Big Money - #30; Territories #24)
Hold Your Fire - 5 songs (Prime Mover - #73; Open Secrets - #72; Force Ten - #50; Mission - #44; Time Stand Still - #34)
Presto - 3 songs (Presto - #69; Show Don't Tell - #64; The Pass - #33)
Roll the Bones - 4 songs (Roll the Bones - #75; Ghost of a Chance - #52; Bravado - #41; Dreamline - #32)
Counterparts - 6 songs (Double Agent - #74; Everyday Glory - #65; Cut to the Chase - #61; Cold Fire - #60; Leave That Thing Alone - #40; Animate - #28)
Test for Echo - 2 songs (Test for Echo - #71; Driven - #62)
Vapor Trails - NO SONGS
Snakes & Arrows - NO SONGS
Clockwork Angels - 4 songs (Clockwork Angels - #55; Headlong Flight - #46; Caravan - #42; The Garden - #27)

POW back in a tie with Counterparts for most songs to appear so far, and any doubt that POW would get all 8 of its songs in the ranking is now completely gone.

[The Letter M]

Works for me, and in the meantime...

24 Territories
Appeared on 21 of 25 entrees
Top 10 finishes: 2
Highest Ranking: 4 (jammindude)

This song was an instant favorite for me, and has remained one of my favorites, landing at 13 in my ranking.  I think a very strong case can be made that this song was Neil at his lyrical best.  Just amazing.


23 Cygnus X-1
Appeared on 19 of 25 entrees
Top 10 finishes: 5
Highest Ranking: 4 (The Letter M, Cool Chris, Dream Team)

I don't quite genuflect to this song like I used to, but I still had it at 47.  In the conversation of "When did Rush rock the hardest?", there are two moments, the latter half of the second section of The Fountain of Lamneth, and then the last few minutes of this song.  The edgier production and mix of A Farewell to Kings really benefits this song.

Oh hey, my first mention in the rankings! I guess I'll do another catch-up post:

29 Afterimage - ranked 55th. A very poignant song these days, this is an underappreciated GUP song, and I wish the band had played it more after the GUP tour (which even then, it was dropped halfway through that tour).
28 Animate - ranked 92nd. Had I edited my final ranking, this would've ended up higher, though I sort of agree with how the band edited it for the 21st century when they brought it back. Parts of it felt a bit long, though it's still a strong album opener.
27 The Garden - ranked 17th. Probably my favorite song off of Clockwork Angels, and my highest ranked CA song on my list.
26 A Farewell To Kings - ranked 34th. A pretty strong opener from one of my favorite Rush albums. I was sad to find out that they dropped it from their live shows after the Hemispheres Tour, though given the direction their music would take, I understand why.
25 Losing It - ranked 42nd. I've always enjoyed this one, so when it was got played live on the R40 tour, I was ecstatic that the band brought it out (finally), even if it was only for five shows. I might've ranked it higher had I edited my final list.
24 Territories - ranked 23rd. Another really close one to the actual ranking (I feel like I've been getting a LOT of these). Great song from POW, in my top half of the album.
23 Cygnus X-1 - ranked 4th (as stated above). Definitely worthy of a Top 5 Rush Song spot. What else could I say that hasn't been said before? This has some great playing from the band, a lot of hard and fast riffs and fills, just expert performances from everyone.

-Marc.

[Setlist Scotty]

Did not like the screeching guitar pitch during the instrumental <ducks for cover>

/smacks DragonAttack even though he tried ducking - that's electric violin, you dork!   

Call me a double dork, since I had just watched the live performance (hopefully having nailed the exact positions of two consecutive songs earlier gets me a pass ).

Enjoyed your write up of the song.  Curious as to what your ranking was.

Going for a "triple dork"?

25 Losing It
Appeared on 20 of 25 entrees
Top 10 finishes: 1
Highest Ranking: 7 (Setlist Scotty)

But seriously, thanks for your kind words about my comments on LI! Maybe in time it will grow on you like it did for me. 

It's funny that for my highest ranking PoW song, I didn't really like it much on first listen. In fact, I think it took a couple years before I came around to liking it - kinda like how I felt about LI, but it didn't take as long. I actually got to see it performed live on the HYF tour, but didn't appreciate it at the time - I just remember seeing some weird tribal African or Indian masks floating around on the video screen for parts of the song. I'm so glad that they brought it back for the CA tour so that I got a chance to truly enjoy it live. Not much else I can say that hasn't been said before. It's a lyrical masterpiece with some great guitar riffs and musically just fits in so well with what the lyrics are all about. It made it to #5 on my list, just under my buddy Jammindude.

Once again, I'm one of the outliers that doesn't really like Cygnus X-1 that much. It's OK and I'll listen to it, but I won't actively go out of my way to give it a spin. With all that said, I did enjoy when they finally started playing more of it on the VT tour - I just LOVE that heavy feedback transition that Alex used as they drifted from By-Tor into Cygnus X-1 during the encore! Nonetheless, the song didn't make my top 75, ending up at #93.

[The Realm]

24 Territories
Appeared on 21 of 25 entrees
Top 10 finishes: 2
Highest Ranking: 4 (jammindude)

23 Cygnus X-1
Appeared on 19 of 25 entrees
Top 10 finishes: 5
Highest Ranking: 4 (The Letter M, Cool Chris, Dream Team)

Territories - unranked for me. I don't get it? Sorry, this is the first time I am absolutely shocked by the placement of a song. I did have 6 songs from PW in my top 75 so I do like the album but to me, Territories is one of Rush's weakest songs. I do like some of the music but the vocals and vocal melody are just extremely unappealing and jarring to me. It really puts me off.

Cygnus X-1 - my rank 56. Always liked this one but it isn't near the top of the more prog era Rush tunes.

[HOF]

You know, has any song appeared on more lists so far than Territories (21 of 25 lists)?

[romdrums]

The people who don't like Territories are looking through the eyeglass in reverse. 

[King Postwhore]

They don't like better food and better beer.  Obviously.

[wolfking]

Territories in the top 25, very nice.

[King Puppies and the Acid Guppies]

24 Territories
Appeared on 21 of 25 entrees
Top 10 finishes: 2
Highest Ranking: 4 (jammindude)

This song was an instant favorite for me, and has remained one of my favorites, landing at 13 in my ranking.  I think a very strong case can be made that this song was Neil at his lyrical best.  Just amazing.


23 Cygnus X-1
Appeared on 19 of 25 entrees
Top 10 finishes: 5
Highest Ranking: 4 (The Letter M, Cool Chris, Dream Team)

I don't quite genuflect to this song like I used to, but I still had it at 47.  In the conversation of "When did Rush rock the hardest?", there are two moments, the latter half of the second section of The Fountain of Lamneth, and then the last few minutes of this song.  The edgier production and mix of A Farewell to Kings really benefits this song.

Territories - This ranked just a little ahead of Big Money for me at #60. I really like the lyrics and the drumming here. The rest of it is merely just OK to me. Good song overall, but obviously 59 songs placed higher than it.

Cygnus X-1 - This almost cracked the top 10 at #12. I loved this song from the first moment I heard it. It's everything I love in music; atmosphere, heaviness, technical playing, melody, great vocals, great lyrics. The whole package. Also, like PG this is one of the few Rush songs I actually learned on bass by ear. Back probably 24 years ago a friend and I learned this on guitar and bass, we didn't know anyone that could play the drums at the time so we couldn't play it for people. This was the final shoe that dropped that made me decide to pick up drums. Well, mostly it was my fandom of Rush and Neil, but this was the straw that broke the camel's back, so to speak.

[pg1067]

They don't like better food and better beer.  Obviously.

In this case, I like better songwriting and better performing.   

You know, has any song appeared on more lists so far than Territories (21 of 25 lists)?

Going back to song #45, no.  However, The Garden also appeared on 21 lists.

[King Postwhore]

 

Says the violin player on the Titanic.

Just teasing!

[KevShmev]

This is where I will be accused of being crazy, but as I am doing a run through of Rush's discography again right now, while the song A Farewell to Kings would rank a lot higher for me than it did a month ago, conversely, Cygnus X-1 would rank a lot lower for me.  I listened to both yesterday and today and was kind of stunned at how much I didn't really enjoy it.  And I enjoyed the hell out of the first four songs from that record (Madrigal is always a snoozer for me), so it's not like I am off of 1977 Rush right now.  I just think Cygnus X-1 isn't as great as I always thought it was.   

[HOF]

This is where I will be accused of being crazy, but as I am doing a run through of Rush's discography again right now, while the song A Farewell to Kings would rank a lot higher for me than it did a month ago, conversely, Cygnus X-1 would rank a lot lower for me.  I listened to both yesterday and today and was kind of stunned at how much I didn't really enjoy it.  And I enjoyed the hell out of the first four songs from that record (Madrigal is always a snoozer for me), so it's not like I am off of 1977 Rush right now.  I just think Cygnus X-1 isn't as great as I always thought it was.

It’s just a bunch of ideas in search of a song. I also listened to all of AFTK last night and would agree that the first 4 songs are good to great, and then the last two just don’t land at all.

[Stadler]

They don't like better food and better beer.  Obviously.

In this case, I like better songwriting and better performing.   

HAHAHAHA!   I wish I thought of that line!