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

[King Postwhore]

For a dollar?

Little 80's movie humor. Hint, hint.

[DragonAttack]

I'm sorry to pick nits here, and don't get me wrong, I LOVE this song, but I can't imagine a non-Rush fan knowing this song. Having said that, Hocus Pocus (Focus) and Frankenstein (Edgar Winter) I think are both far better known, if only for their use at sporting events.

I bought both of those vinyls when they came out!  The Focus LP really stunk other than the title track, but I really enjoyed 'They Only Come Out At Night' (especially 'Free Ride' and watching our HS girls shake their pom poms to it )

(p.s.  not going for a quadruple dork award, but I noticed a couple posters did writeups on songs, without listing where they ranked them.  And Scotty, they weren't the highest wankers, er rankers.....)

[The Realm]

12 YYZ
Appeared on 24 of 25 entrees
Top 10 finishes: 8
Highest Ranking: 4 (romdrums)

11 Freewill
Appeared on 23 of 25 entrees
Top 10 finishes: 4
Highest Ranking: 4 (Puppies_On_Acid,)

Well I am absolutely floored both these songs weren't in all 25 lists, but I guess that is what makes this so great.

YYZ - ranked 25 for me. Not much more to say that hasn't been said. My second favourite Rush instrumental.

Freewill - my rank 13. Could easily have been top 10, just love this song.

So we have made it to the top 10. Going to really interesting to see what happens next, I have to say I am really surprised in some ways where things are heading.

[TAC]

12 YYZ
Appeared on 24 of 25 entrees
Top 10 finishes: 8
Highest Ranking: 4 (romdrums)


11 Freewill
Appeared on 23 of 25 entrees
Top 10 finishes: 4
Highest Ranking: 4 (Puppies_On_Acid,)

I had YYZ at #44. Awesome instrumental. So memorable.

I had Freewill at #25. Such a great song. You cannot overplay this song.

[pg1067]

I had "YYZ" ranked at number 6. This one will always hold a special place in my heart as I performed it as the last piece for my Senior Recital in college, complete with the drum solo in the middle (mostly inspired by/copied from Exit...Stage Left). Sure, it's been overplayed quite a bit, especially for an instrumental song, but the reception this song gets at concerts and by the public at large, it's always electrifying. I'd say among people who listen to rock music, this might be one of the most recognizable instrumental songs ever released. And like Kev mentioned, the Rio performance is just astounding.

I'm sorry to pick nits here, and don't get me wrong, I LOVE this song, but I can't imagine a non-Rush fan knowing this song. Having said that, Hocus Pocus (Focus) and Frankenstein (Edgar Winter) I think are both far better known, if only for their use at sporting events.

Hocus Pocus?  Hmmm, that would surprise me if many knew that one.  Totally agree about Frankenstein, though, as that is one of those instrumentals that always got played on classic rock stations, along with Jessica (Allman Brothers) and Fire On High (ELO).  And if we go a little newer, Cliffs of Dover (Eric Johnson) and Summer Song (Joe Satriani).

I too would be awfully surprised if non-hard rock fans knew YYZ.  I've heard both Hocus Pocus and Frankenstein on the radio more (and I have heard YYZ on the radio).  I'm not sure casual fans would know those songs by name.  I know Cliffs of Dover by name, but I don't know the other three by name.  I haven't the slightest idea what gets played on the radio these days since I haven't listened to anything other than sports talk since the turn of the century.

The ranking engine is still down, so I once again don't know where I had these songs ranked, but I know I had them both in the top 20, if not top 15.

Thanks to Kev for sending me my list...

I had YYZ at #20, Freewill at #16 and Between the Wheels at #31.

[HOF]

I hope the ranking engine isn’t permanently dead. Gonna make it hard to compile future lists for other bands!

[TAC]

The Ranker lives!

[KevShmev]

I hope the ranking engine isn’t permanently dead. Gonna make it hard to compile future lists for other bands!

It looks like it is working now.  It was down for me this weekend as well, but I went to the main page and it said they were upgrading it, so I suspect it is a work in progress now, which is why it is down at times.

[Cool Chris]

Years ago when I listened to classic rock radio, they played Frankenstein and Jessica all the time. Memory might fail me here, but those two instrumentals were played far and away more than any other that I can think of. Hocus Pocus got occasional air time, Fire on High and YYZ even less.

[TAC]

Fire On High? I have never heard of that.

*goes over to Spotify to check it out*

Nope. Never heard that before.

[TAC]

What about Raw Dog? You guys like that?

[King Postwhore]

Fire On High? I have never heard of that.

*goes over to Spotify to check it out*

Nope. Never heard that before.

Tim, I'm actually shocked you never heard that instrumental.

[TAC]

Not joking. I have zero recollection of ever hearing it. I've never heard a single ELO album, and I can't recall ever hearing that on the radio.

[King Postwhore]

That. Lows my mind. WCOZ, WBCN played it all the time!

[TAC]

That. Lows my mind. WCOZ, WBCN played it all the time!

I never listened to them. I never listened to BCN, and I occasionally listened to COZ. For me, I listened to HJY in Providence almost exclusively and AAF when I could get it in on a clear night.

[King Postwhore]

AAF used to play it too!

[TAC]

Only on cloudy nights apparently.

[King Postwhore]

Tim will tell us next that he never hear A Fifth Of Beethoven.

[TAC]

I only saw the first one. Did they make more? Was it the same dog in all of them?

[KevShmev]

I can imagine doing a LZ song thread and having Tim ask, "What is Stairway to Heaven?"

[Deadeye21]

I too would be awfully surprised if non-hard rock fans knew YYZ.  I've heard both Hocus Pocus and Frankenstein on the radio more (and I have heard YYZ on the radio).  I'm not sure casual fans would know those songs by name.  I know Cliffs of Dover by name, but I don't know the other three by name.  I haven't the slightest idea what gets played on the radio these days since I haven't listened to anything other than sports talk since the turn of the century.

Well, back in the day, there was a video game called Guitar Hero II. It introduced a whole lot of (then) younger audiences to a lot of classic hard rocking tunes sprinkled between some more modern tracks. One of the tracks on that game was YYZ.
Much like how Cliffs of Dover and Through The Fire and Flames are somewhat known because of the follow up game, Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock, YYZ and Free Bird were the big tracks from the second game IIRC.

[TAC]

I can imagine doing a LZ song thread and having Tim ask, "What is Stairway to Heaven?"

I know that song fool.

[King Postwhore]

I can imagine doing a LZ song thread and having Tim ask, "What is Stairway to Heaven?"

I know that song fool.

You sure? 

[KevShmev]

I can imagine doing a LZ song thread and having Tim ask, "What is Stairway to Heaven?"

I know that song fool.

I wasn't talking about Fool in the Rain.

[TAC]

Who doesn't fucking know Stairway To Heaven?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lbrp9WrljGU

[Cool Chris]

In looking at what I believe to be the remaining Top 10, I am a little surprised to see 7 of them are in my Top 15. I guess I assumed my list would be a bit off, based on how I feel about some of their albums relative to the fan base here.

[jammindude]

Who doesn't fucking know Stairway To Heaven?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lbrp9WrljGU

I swear I went to “end of thread” to see the last post…saw this quote and thought, “Well probably Tim hasn’t…..oh wait, that is Tim.”

[jammindude]

But to defend Tim a bit. I had to go listen to Fire on High myself. At first I didn’t recognize it AT ALL, but then when the power chords kicked in at the 1:45ish mark I was like, “ooohhhhhh yeah”

I heard that from time to time. But not nearly as much as Frankenstein.

For super popular instrumentals that EVERYONE knows, I’d nominate Sirius by The Alan Parsons Project. Though most people probably don’t know its name. They just know it as “The Chicago Bulls introduction music”

[Cool Chris]

I never knew that Bulls song was an actual song! I assumed it was just something a guy in their front office wrote for their introductions.

[jammindude]

I never knew that Bulls song was an actual song! I assumed it was just something a guy in their front office wrote for their introductions.

First released in 1982 as an intro to the APP album Eye in the Sky. 9 years before Jordan’s first championship year. But I don’t know how long they had been using it before that.

[wolfking]

Doesn't mean a lot coming from me but I've never heard Fire on High either.  Just checked it out and nothing remotely rings a bell.  Never even heard of it before.

[nobloodyname]

Well, back in the day, there was a video game called Guitar Hero II.

Bloody hell. The release of GH2 is now referred to as being "back in the day". Stop the train!

And noop, at the age of 49, I'd never heard Fire on High until about two minutes ago.

[Podaar]

Fire On High? I have never heard of that.

*goes over to Spotify to check it out*

Nope. Never heard that before.

Tim, I'm actually shocked you never heard that instrumental.

I looked it up as well. I've never heard that before, and I can guarantee I'll never hear it again.

[King Postwhore]

Flabbergasted!  It was such a staple on radio.

[KevShmev]

Time to begin the top 10!!  And we start with two songs that are very different from one another.  Both are the highest ranking songs from their respective albums.


10 Marathon
Appeared on 24 of 25 entrees
Top 10 finishes: 8
Highest Ranking: 1 (kingshmegland)

This was my number 6 song, but even I am a tad surprised it is finishing top 10.  I figured top 20, but was thrilled to see such great support for it to where it finished in the top 10. Well done, DTF. 


09 2112
Appeared on 24 of 25 entrees
Top 10 finishes: 8
Highest Ranking: 1 (KevShmev, Cool Chris, The Realm)

On the flip side, my number 1 song (by Rush AND all-time) finishing at 9 is a bit of a head-scratcher, but I won't quibble too much considering all of the heavyweights still to come.  This is, for me, still the greatest rock song ever.  Perfection in every way imaginable.