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

[romdrums]

4. Red Barchetta (26).  I understand the love for this song, but kinda surprised it’s the highest ranking song from Side A of Moving Pictures.  It was the lowest on my list.  Still, a cool song and really fits the flow of what is one of the greatest album sides in rock history.

3. The Spirit of Radio (14).  I love the energy of this song.  Other than Stadler, who doesn’t get excited when that opening riff starts?      It’s such a great mission statement.

[DragonAttack]

04. Red Barchetta (#56)  you would think with my affection for ‘Trampled Underfoot’, ‘I’m In Love With My Car’, and certainly ‘Under My Wheels’, that I would have rated this much higher.  Maybe that was MY problem.  I certainly ‘like it’ a whole lot.  Perhaps it is because the other three songs on Side One are so damn strong, and that the top 2-3 songs on many albums deserved higher marks. 


03. The Spirit of Radio (#3)  high rank as well, and nailed yet another one!  ‘A Farewell To Kings’ and ‘Hemispheres’ are great albums, but by this time they’d had very few radio hits.  ‘Working Man’ and ‘Fly By Night’ were it.  I never heard ‘Closer To The Heart’ on the AM radio airwaves (and rarely on the AOR FM stations). Well, THIS one hit the mark in every facet!  The opening riff!!!  And then what follows!  As immediately recognizable as few of their songs are to the general public.  It's also clever, love the ‘concert halls’ then crowd noise, and that the lyric line is not done.

As with the early Queen catalogue, look at how their first three albums reentered the charts to the point where they went Gold or Platinum after ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ and ‘A Night at the Opera’ were released. ‘The Spirit of Radio’ and ‘Permanent Waves’ had that same effect at that time.
 
Appeared on 24 of 25 entrees.  Really?  I mean, WTW!?!

[T-ski]

I didn’t participate but my all-time favorite song is either #1 or #2, so I’m good with that.

[KevShmev]

Hey Kev - Are we having the big top 2 reveal tomorrow?

Yes.

[DragonAttack]

I didn’t participate but my all-time favorite song is either #1 or #2, so I’m good with that.

Because I am not into the analytics and ignore the album breakdowns, tomorrow’s announcement is going to be rather fun for me. I know my top choice will be one of the two (which means I am a fairly good Rush fan, right?😀), but I have no clue on the other.

Could it be ‘Before and After’ from their debut album, which I ranked at #15 due to the ‘Pavlovian factor’ of it preceding my #2, or is it some other song?😉

Now, to be serious…I am not going to look at my list or look at this thread until tomorrow, so as not to spoil the unveiling for me.

That’s supposed to be part of the fun of these things. Thank you, Kev, for distracting us from certain aspects of our lives. It has been a great and fun ride. I have learned to appreciate a few more songs in their catalogue more than I had before. And I really appreciated the commentators who participated and shared their comments…old and young.

To quote Mister Mercury, “It was a worthwhile experience.”

Hope this did the same for you.

[pg1067]

04 Red Barchetta
Appeared on 25 of 25 entrees
Top 10 finishes: 13
Highest Ranking: 1 (TAC)

I was pleasantly surprised to see this finish this high.  I figured top 10-15, but didn't think it would make top 5.  I was wrong.  It was my number 5, so yeah, well done on this one, DTF. 

Just a great song.  I had it at #8.  It flows so well between various moods as the story unfolds.  Great vocal from Geddy, and Alex REALLY shines.  Geddy and Neil play so well together to lay a perfect bed for Alex's changing feels.  Not my #1 from MP, but not surprised to see it finish as such in the aggregate.

03 The Spirit of Radio
Appeared on 24 of 25 entrees
Top 10 finishes: 13
Highest Ranking: 3 (The Realm)

This was my number 8, and like Tom Sawyer, I worried that the "overplayed" aspect might cause some to ding it to where it would finish outta the top 10, but happily that was not the case.  This song crushed me the first time I heard back in November 1991 at the first Rush concert I attended, and still kicks my ass to this day.

I had TSOR at #13, and I had to admit that some fatigue from "overplaying" landed it outside the top 10.  The opening guitar riff is one of the most iconic in all of hard rock.  Such a great concert and album opener.  I ranked it as my #3 song on PEW, but it really could be overtaken by Freewill.


The Score So Far
- Rush - 1 song of 8 (12.5% or 17.86% of album time):  Working Man - #56)
- Fly by Night - 3 songs of 8 (37.5% or 43.67% of album time):  Fly by Night - #70; By-Tor and the Snow Dog - #38; Anthem - #36
- Caress of Steel - 2 songs of 5 (40% or 38.15% of album time):  The Necromancer - #67; Bastille Day - #59
- 2112 - 3 songs of 6 (50% or 72.57% of album time):  Something for Nothing - #63; A Passage to Bangkok - #58; 2112 - #9
- A Farewell to Kings - 3 songs of 6 (50% or 51.57% of album time):  Closer to the Heart - #43; A Farewell to Kings - #26; Cygnus X-1 Book I: The Voyage - #23
- Hemispheres - 4 songs of 4 (100%):  Circumstances - #45; The Trees - #18; Cygnus X-1 Book II: Hemispheres - #14; La Villa Strangiato - #5
- Permanent Waves - 6 songs of 6 (100%):  Different Strings - #57; Entre Nous - #53; Jacob's Ladder - #15; Freewill - #11; Natural Science - #7; The Spirit of Radio - #3
- Moving Pictures - 7 songs of 7 (100%):  Vital Signs - #51; Witch Hunt - #38; The Camera Eye - #17; YYZ - #12; Limelight - #8; Tom Sawyer - #6; Red Barchetta - #4
- Signals - 6 songs of 8 (75% or 75.22% of album time):  Countdown - #68; New World Man - #54; The Weapon - #48; Digital Man - #47; Losing It - #25; The Analog Kid - #16
- Grace Under Pressure - 5 songs of 8 (62.5% or 64.51% of album time):  The Enemy Within - #49; Afterimage - #29; Red Sector A - #21; Distant Early Warning - #20; Between the Wheels - #13
- Power Windows - 8 songs of 8 (100%):  Emotion Detector - #66; Grand Designs - #37; Mystic Rhythms - #35; Middletown Dreams - #31; The Big Money - #30; Territories #24; Manhattan Project - #22; Marathon - #10
- Hold Your Fire - 5 songs of 10 (50% or 40.19% of album time):  Prime Mover - #73; Open Secrets - #72; Force Ten - #50; Mission - #44; Time Stand Still - #34
- Presto - 4 songs of 11 (36.36% or 39.62% of album time):  Presto - #69; Show Don't Tell - #64; The Pass - #33; Available Light - #19
- Roll the Bones - 4 songs of 10 (40% or 41.62% of album time):  Roll the Bones - #75; Ghost of a Chance - #52; Bravado - #41; Dreamline - #32
- Counterparts - 6 songs of 11 (54.55% or 54.24% of album time):  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 of 11 (18.18% or 19.41% of album time):  Test for Echo - #71; Driven - #62
- Vapor Trails - NO SONGS (0%)
- Snakes & Arrows - NO SONGS (0%)
- Clockwork Angels - 4 songs of 12 (33.33% or 41.58% of album time):  Clockwork Angels - #55; Headlong Flight - #46; Caravan - #42; The Garden - #27

Two songs left:  one I would not be surprised at #1 (it's my #3 song), and the other I'm VERY surprised it's as high as #2 (it's my #10 song).

[nick_z]

Hey Kev - Are we having the big top 2 reveal tomorrow?

Yes.

 

[pg1067]

Only Signals and AFTK left. Interesting. Will I actually disagree with the top 2? I’m not entirely sure which sings they are, but it’s possible.

Really?

[pg1067]

While we're waiting for the top 2, here's my bottom 10:

166. BU2B2
165. Hand Over Fist
164. Rivendell
163. You Bet Your Life
162. Wish Them Well
161. Neurotica
160. Need Some Love
159. Roll the Bones
158. Take a Friend
157. The Larger Bowl

I think The Larger Bowl probably fell victim to my apathy regarding match-ups between songs that I knew had no chance of making the top 100.  For example, I definitely like it better than Scars and Superconductor.

For reference, I ranked all of the studio album songs plus Broon's Bane.  I did not include pre-debut album songs like Garden Road.  Broon's Bane finished at #63, but I didn't include it in the list I sent to Kev.

[TAC]

04 Red Barchetta
Appeared on 25 of 25 entrees
Top 10 finishes: 13
Highest Ranking: 1 (TAC)

03 The Spirit of Radio
Appeared on 24 of 25 entrees
Top 10 finishes: 13
Highest Ranking: 3 (The Realm)

I had Red Barchetta at #1. Red Barchetta is my favorite Rush song. I love Rush, and so many of their songs are ingrained in me, but Red Barchetta is the one that touches me the most. I know Tom Sawyer is more iconic, and when I heard it on the radio, I loved it. But is was Red Barchetta that spoke to a 13 y/o TAC in 1981/82. I love the "wide-eyed wonder" of the lyrics. At 13, my eyes were really opening up to everything around me. I would do 1981 all over again if I could.
And for me, I substitute the "uncle" for my grandfather who passed away in August of '82.  I remember sleeping over my grandparents house to watch the MTV concert when they had Rush on. I lived in the boonies and we didn't have cable, but they lived in the city.  It's one of those special songs for me that has the ability to transport me to a certain stage in my life.




I had The Spirit Of Radio at #7. Great tune, and I never get sick of hearing it.

[Cool Chris]

The top two are my #2 and #12. Really surprised my #2 made the final top 2. I had Spirit of Radio or Tom Sawyer pegged as #1, but that might have been my classic rock radio sensibilities showing through.

I didn't rank past the Top 75. I love my Rush Top 25, really like 26-75. But after that there is too big of a drop off for me.

[HOF]

It looks like I'm going to finish with 20 songs in my top 75 that didn't make the overall list.

It would be interesting to know after this is all done how many and which songs appeared on only one person's list.

[The Realm]

04 Red Barchetta
Appeared on 25 of 25 entrees
Top 10 finishes: 13
Highest Ranking: 1 (TAC)

03 The Spirit of Radio
Appeared on 24 of 25 entrees
Top 10 finishes: 13
Highest Ranking: 3 (The Realm)

Can I start off my saying I am astounded that The Spirit of Radio isn't on all 25 lists. Mind blown!

Red Barchetta - my rank 12. Could have been higher, just a classic song. As others have said I am a bit surprised this is the highest ranking ranking MP song though.

The Spirit of Radio - my number 3 (ie spot on). Is it weird that I nailed the ranking for both The Spirit of Radio and Tom Sawyer? Absolutely loved this song the first time I heard it and still do, never get tired of this one.

For the remaining 2 songs, both are in my top 10 (7 and 5) and I am a little surprised where one of these is going to finish, I didn't realise it was so loved.

[KevShmev]

It looks like I'm going to finish with 20 songs in my top 75 that didn't make the overall list.

It would be interesting to know after this is all done how many and which songs appeared on only one person's list.

63 of my 75 top made the final list.  Not sure if anyone else had more, but it wouldn't surprise me.

[nobloodyname]

Not meaning to get a jump on the conversation but I really don't understand the dislike - hatred? - for Rivendell. It's a soothing, melodic and peaceful tune. And I don't even like The Lord of the Rings! Made 95 for me. Should have ranked it higher

[devieira73]

04 Red Barchetta (#14) - Amazing song with a lot of different stuff going on in just 6 minutes. The interaction between the instruments stands out in this song, even for Rush's standarts.

03 The Spirit of Radio (#3) - Its intro is maybe my favorite intro for any song: the guitar part and that phrasing of the bass and drums together are unmatched and incredibly cool. "Rush for the masses" at its best and most inspired.

[Setlist Scotty]

Red Barchetta is one of the first Rush songs that I remember having an impact on me when I first discovered them listening to the radio, along with Tom Sawyer, Limelight, Closer to the Heart and The Spirit of Radio. Classic tune and great story telling by Neil. Oddly enough though, it's slipped in the ratings for me. It just doesn't have as much appeal as the other tracks. I can't really say why, because it hasn't been overplayed. I dunno. Still ended up at #46 on my list.

Gotta love The Spirit of Radio - IMO, it is the quintessential Rush opener for a live concert! Part of that may be down to my first time seeing Rush live was watching the p/g concert video, opening with that searing performance, but I don't think that's the only thing. Like Tom Sawyer, it's the one other Rush tune that has been overplayed live but I never get tired of it. Really an amazing song. I found it interesting how the opening guitar line was Alex's way of trying to mimic turning the dial on the radio hearing bits of various radio stations in the process - very clever and unique idea! So it goes without saying that I rated it as #10.
 
 

It looks like I'm going to finish with 20 songs in my top 75 that didn't make the overall list.
It would be interesting to know after this is all done how many and which songs appeared on only one person's list.

63 of my 75 top made the final list.  Not sure if anyone else had more, but it wouldn't surprise me.

52 of my top 75 ended up making the cut.
 
 

Not meaning to get a jump on the conversation but I really don't understand the dislike - hatred? - for Rivendell. It's a soothing, melodic and peaceful tune. And I don't even like The Lord of the Rings! Made 95 for me. Should have ranked it higher

I guess it's because it's just a super dull snoozer of a song. Zzzzzzzzzzz
It was at #169 on my list, beating only BU2B2.

[nick_z]

It looks like I'm going to finish with 20 songs in my top 75 that didn't make the overall list.

It would be interesting to know after this is all done how many and which songs appeared on only one person's list.

63 of my 75 top made the final list.  Not sure if anyone else had more, but it wouldn't surprise me.

59 of my top 75 made the list...but all of my top 40 made it.

[pg1067]

Not meaning to get a jump on the conversation but I really don't understand the dislike - hatred? - for Rivendell. It's a soothing, melodic and peaceful tune. And I don't even like The Lord of the Rings! Made 95 for me. Should have ranked it higher

I don't hate it, but...  Soothing and peaceful?  Sure.  Also boring and uninteresting.  It also doesn't suit Geddy's voice.  TBH, it's awfully hard to give a ton of critical thought to how the bottom 20 truly rank with respect to each other.

It looks like I'm going to finish with 20 songs in my top 75 that didn't make the overall list.

It would be interesting to know after this is all done how many and which songs appeared on only one person's list.

63 of my 75 top made the final list.  Not sure if anyone else had more, but it wouldn't surprise me.

59 of my top 75 made the list...but all of my top 40 made it.

I had 22 that didn't make it.  I think I might have listed them before, but....

14. Cinderella Man
23. Earthshine
28. Armor and Sword
35. Chemistry
36. Far Cry
42. Beneath, Between & Behind
43. Red Tide
44. Vapor Trail
45. In the End
51. BU2B
56. Out of the Cradle
57. Nocturne
58. Finding My Way (REALLY surprised this one didn't make it)
62. Kid Gloves
63. Freeze
65. The Twilight Zone
69. Half the World
70. Resist
71. Alien Shore
72. Chain Lightning
73. Stick It Out
74. Virtuality

[Lethean]

Not meaning to get a jump on the conversation but I really don't understand the dislike - hatred? - for Rivendell. It's a soothing, melodic and peaceful tune. And I don't even like The Lord of the Rings! Made 95 for me. Should have ranked it higher

I agree with you, but I do like Lord of the Rings.  I can totally imagine the hobbits resting after their long journey to get to Rivendell and listening to something like that.

[Deadeye21]

Excitement is palpable to see this come to a head.

[KevShmev]

We are all a little sad that this is coming to an end, as this has been tons of fun, but thanks to everyone who submitted a list and/or participated in this thread!! 

Now...the top 2!!





02 Xanadu
Appeared on 25 of 25 entrees
Top 10 finishes: 15
Highest Ranking: 1 (BRGM, DragonAttack)

My number 2 finished at number 2 overall!  Once it became clear that enough people ranked 2112 too low (or not at all in one case) for it to finish at 1, I thought Xanadu would finish at 1, and it almost did.  It finished with 1,552 points total, only 10 points behind the top song.  Unbelievable song.  The live version from Exit...Stage Left is musical heaven.


01 Subdivisions
Appeared on 25 of 25 entrees
Top 10 finishes: 16
Highest Ranking: 1 (wolfking)

This was my number 10, and I figured it was a lock for the top 10, but I gotta admit I was a bit stunned that it finished at the very top.  It got only one number 1 ranking, but had the most top 10 finishes (16), and finished in the top 25 in 22 of the 25 submitted lists.  Great song, and a very worthy number 1.

[Elite]

I thought they'd be the other way around

[Deadeye21]

Subdivisions won? That was my number 60. It’s really not a song I’d put high in the list, let alone the top spot. Yeah, this is actually really disappointing. Xanadu coming out on top, I’d have been like “yeah, this is absolutely the pinnacle of so much of what the band stood for, with a fantastic opening instrumental, great somewhat sci-fi lyrics and fantastic drumming, not to mention the double necks”, but Subdivisions? The song is overrated, to my mind. It’s good enough, but it’s not worthy.

Thanks for the ride though, Kev! Very sad to see it at it’s end, but I’ll start gathering my top 75 Maiden tracks and send them to you soon so we can do it all again. Hopefully the top song on that one will be a lot less of a disappointment.

[KevShmev]

Thanks for the ride though, Kev! Very sad to see it at it’s end, but I’ll start gathering my top 75 Maiden tracks and send them to you soon so we can do it all again. Hopefully the top song on that one will be a lot less of a disappointment.

Let's not turn today in this, but I have not committed to this yet.  Let's leave it at this for now.

Back to Rush...Subdivisions is awesome. 

[devieira73]

02 Xanadu (#8)
01 Subdivisions (#4)
Although personally I think Subdivisions is totally awesome, I thought a little unexpected to be the #1. But the pairing with Xanadu really makes sense, as I guess the love for the keyboard era here is the same for the band's prog era. And those 2 songs are no doubt worthy Top 10 songs and really encapsulate those 2 eras perfectly.
As the DT Top 100, I loved to have participed on this one too, thanks to you all!

[ReaperKK]

I had Xanadu at 21 but over the past few years it's been going up in my personal rankings quicker than any other Rush song. I've never listening to the Exit Stage Left version I'll give it a spin today.

[Trav86]

I thought they'd be the other way around

My thoughts exactly!

[DragonAttack]

I had Xanadu at 21 but over the past few years it's been going up in my personal rankings quicker than any other Rush song. I've never listening to the Exit Stage Left version I'll give it a spin today.

Make sure to so with 'Broon's Bane' and 'The Trees' before it, so that you get the 'ol' fart' experience of listening to Side 3 as back in the day.

02. Xanadu (#1)
Appeared on 25 of 25 entrees
Top 10 finishes: 15
Highest Ranking: 1 (BRGM, DragonAttack)

I am no doubt a more experienced 'air drummer' than Kev (probably not as good) but this is by far my favorite one of all time!  Oh, and it totally blew me away all those years ago, and still does.

01. Subdivisions (#9)  a great first song follow up to 'Moving Pictures'.  Absolutely superb lyrics.

Of my Top 50, 41 made this list.  Six of my nine misses came from the debut and 'Fly By Night'.  I nailed 3 exactly, 7 within two spots, and 22 within ten positions.

Looking forward to you running the Queen countdown next

[Deadeye21]

Actually, hell yeah. A Queen countdown would e awesome. I could bust out 75 of those real easy. Wonder how far Dragon Attack would get?

[King Postwhore]

Xanadu was my #2

Subdivisions was my #3

[nick_z]

Wow...I have to say I am a bit surprised. Didn't think Subdivisions was going to end up #1. Even with just that and Xanadu left, I thought it'd be the other way around (incidentally, I rated Subdivisions one spot higher...I just thought consensus was a higher ranking for Xanadu). Both fantastic songs, anyway, and so different (only 5 years apart!!)

Xanadu (ranked #7)

A masterpiece, and my second favorite of Rush's longer songs (after Natural Science, and I guess excluding La Villa Strangiato, given it's an instrumental and all). The intro, and Alex's guitar taking center stage with that epic lick...just perfect. So much cool stuff going on. Beautiful chorus and ending too.

Subdivisions (ranked #6)

Another classic song I NEVER get tired of. The "ominous" synth intro sets the stage perfectly. Alex's guitar riff under the chorus is another top Rush moment. And Neil's drums on this song are one of my favorite performances of his.

[TAC]

Actually, hell yeah. A Queen countdown would e awesome. I could bust out 75 of those real easy. Wonder how far Dragon Attack would get?

Kev can’t do Queen until Joe finishes his thread. I don’t even know 75 Queen songs yet. 

[nick_z]

Kev, thank you for doing this. Participating truly was a lot of fun. Not that I need any excuse to listen to some Rush, but this was a great way to enjoy their whole catalog once again.

...and here is the final DTF aggregate Rush album ranking!

1   Moving Pictures   395
2   Power Windows   353
3   Permanent Waves   310
4   Signals   273
5   Grace Under Pressure   248
6   Hemispheres   222
7   A Farewell to Kings   210
8   Clockwork Angels   134
9   Counterparts   128
10   Presto   119
11   Hold Your Fire   107
12   Roll the Bones   104
13   2112   98
14   Fly By Night   84
15   Caress of Steel   26
16   Rush   20
17   Test for Echo   19
18   Vapor Trails   0
19   Snake and Arrows   0

I had a sense Power Windows was highly regarded here (except, you know, for a couple of nonbelievers  ), but it's pretty incredible to see it up there in second place. it's in my own top 5, so I'm not complaining 

Just for the fun of it, I'm also including the album raking that incorporates Jammindude's suggestion of adding points that account for the % of songs in a given album that ended up in the top 75. The bonus is determined as (# of songs in top 75/# of songs in the album)*100. So the bonus is 100 if all songs made it (Hemispheres, Permanent Waves, Moving Pictures and Power Windows got it). This is supposed to give a potentially larger boost to albums with fewer songs, especially if they happen to have a large % in the top 75.

With that, we have:

1   Moving Pictures   495.00
2   Power Windows   453.00
3   Permanent Waves   410.00
4   Signals   360.50
5   Hemispheres   322.00
6   Grace Under Pressure   310.50
7   A Farewell to Kings   276.67
8   Counterparts   182.55
9   Clockwork Angels   167.33
10   Hold Your Fire   157.00
11   Presto   155.36
12   2112   148.00
13   Roll the Bones   144.00
14   Fly By Night   121.50
15   Caress of Steel   66.00
16   Test for Echo   37.18
17   Rush   32.50
18   Vapor Trails   0.00
19   Snake and Arrows   0.00

Not much is different. There are some marginal changes in the ranking, though. Hemispheres now ranks above Grace Under Pressure and makes the top 5. Counterparts overtakes Clockwork Angels. Same thing for Hold Your Fire over Presto, 2112 over Roll the Bones and Test for Echo over Rush.

[KevShmev]

The aggregate rankings are very nice, but I do think they can be skewed a bit due to number of songs on an album.  Power Windows finished ahead of Permanent Waves in the aggregate because it has 8 songs vs 6 songs, but Permanent Waves as a whole did better, as it had four songs in the top 15, while Power Windows had just one song in the top 20 (at # 10).  Hemisphere as well had three of its four songs finish in the top 18, but only finished at 6th in the aggregate because it only has 4 songs. Just something to chew on.