For some reason I thought I saw this was going to be M-F so I tuned out over the weekend, but time for some catching up. Speaking of catching up, I have re-listened to all the albums through Vapor Trails now, and continue to go back through the albums as Kev features them. Been neat doing things in consensus order where it started enjoyably and theoretically should only get better every day.
Roll the Bones: Expected a gap here and got it. #14 on the big board, #9 on my list. I know people use easy listening as an insult in this case, but I've always just enjoyed throwing this album on. Even songs like Neurotica I love to hear. The opening one-two punch is well loved, and even though I've now heard it 1000 times too many, I actually love Roll the Bones. One thing in particular stands out to me about it. The rap section is what you'd expect from a trio of Canadian prog-rockers including a hip new rap section in one of their songs. It's not a horribly forced sounding integration of something new as can be seen one album later in Stick It Out.
Fly By Night: Hey, hit this one right on the average of #13! What an exciting album, just seeing the jump from the first album to this and what Neil could bring to the equation. Sure, you have some stuff that's still a little more in line with the first album, and you have Rivendell which deserves every yawn it gets, but then you have songs like Anthem, By-Tor, and the title track that are on a whole new level for the band.
Hold Your Fire: I was low at #15 compared to the overall #12. That said, the entire 16-10 range from me was really tough to order. The two clunkers at the end definitely help bring it down, that said the final ranking was just more a reflection of how much I love everything. Although there likely isn't anything on here I'm putting in my, let's say, top 15-20 of songs, there are plenty I'd probably be ranking in a reasonably good range behind that. And Time Stand Still is a favorite of mine to pretend to be able to play on drums.
19. Rush
18. Caress of Steel
17. Vapor Trails
16.
15. Hold Your Fire
14. Test for Echo
13. Fly By Night
12.
11.
10. Snakes and Arrows
9. Roll the Bones
8.
7.
6.
5.
4.
3.
2.
1.
Edit: And speaking of the tough choice between 16-10. I would be absolutely shocked if the album I had at #16 wasn't one of the albums revealed in the #11 or #10 spot. Kinda surprised it has survived thus far.