First off, many many thanks to Kev for taking this on and running a tremendous thread. Also many thanks to everyone who contributed lists, running point totals, and commentaries. This has just been a ton of fun and an excellent excuse to dig back into Rush's catalog.
Xanadu was the highest ranked of the Rush epic/long tracks for me, and I think I can safely say it's one of my favorite things they did in the 70s. So if that's your era of Rush, it makes all the sense in the world for this to finish near the top. The intro is captivating and one of the best things they did in the 70s for sure. Probably their most copied piece of music (I can think of at least 3 other songs off the top of my head that borrowed from that intro pretty explicitly). The reason this only finishes at 68 is similar to other 70s era tracks. It’s just not my favorite style that Rush does, particularly Geddy’s singing/vocal melodies from that era. The vocal parts here do hold it back a bit for me, but musically, there’s a lot packed in there and I really do enjoy the track over all. It helps that the vocals don't kick in until after the 5 minute mark (!). That intro is really a song in itself, and I love the base line Geddy puts under the main riff once the intro gets going. Neil is all over the place as well. It's a great track for sure.
I’m not sure at what point I first realized how great of a song Subdivisions is. It’s another one that I always liked from way back on the radio, but unlike Tom Sawyer, Limelight, or Free Will, it’s never really lost any shine from repeated radio plays. In fact, I remember taping it off the radio at one point and taking special note of the drums and synths. I also had it early on from that Retrospective II set, but I’m not sure it registered as one of my favorites at the time, which may have helped it avoid being overplayed (by me) the way a song like Limelight was. I think the Jacob Moon cover actually helped bring out the lyric more for me, but by that time I think it was already pretty firmly one of my favorites. I actually remember my kids really liking it when they were young. There was a period in time where we moved a couple times in between the city and the country, and then finally ended up in the suburbs, and that "in between the bright lights and the far unlit unknown" line really connected with me. I think what really helped though was hearing it in the context of Signals, which has become probably my second favorite Rush album. It's such a compelling opening to such an amazing album.
That synth opening in itself is so compelling, and Neil propels the song along with his relentless cymbal work and fills. I absolutely love the lead up to the chorus, with Geddy's base line really building the tension leading into and throughout the chorus. I can see how Alex felt a little left out on this one, but man that synth line following the chorus is so perfect. It couldn't and shouldn't have been any other way IMO. But Alex still gets his solo in, and there are subtle things he does in the chorus that are cool. As great as Neil's drumming is, I feel like Geddy might really be the hero of this song though. Amazing bass, vocal, and synth performance. But the lyrics are just so good too. Not just the content, but their rhythm and rhyme is just excellent. A masterclass in songwriting that becomes apparent when Jacob Moon strips it back in his cover versions. Neil apparently even thanked him for his cover, as he always felt the song was more of a singer/songwriter affair. When you can strip a song down to its chords, vocal melody, and lyrics like that, and it not only works but sounds amazing, that's a great song. I don't think you could do something like that with Xanadu, for example (which is great for different reasons of course).
Topic: Official Top 75 Rush songs Thread!!! (Top 2 revealed!!) (Read 53321 times)
