A Farewell To Kings

[rusty water]

Rush are my all time favourite band. I liked their stuff from A farewell to Kings up to Signals. My favourite track by them if pushed is `Limelight`. I grew up with this band and there isn't anything concise I could say that would convey my personal value of the band.

Edit- yes I like all their stuff, but not so much their stuff after the power windows album ( methinks they did actually retire after that album ).

Edit 2- They will be doing something or other in the future, its not like we wont see them here and there, hopefully.

 

[H.P. Lovecraft]

Now, now, this isn't a Yes thread.

Keith Emerson's skull will remember that.

 

[Talos of Atmora]

Keith Emerson's skull will remember that.

Eh. At least I gave it a shot.

 

[rusty water]

This is how you play the Alex Lifeson guitar solo from the track called `Limelight`




So now you know.

 

[H.P. Lovecraft]

Eh. At least I gave it a shot.

Don't wring your fingers about it.

 

[rusty water]

 

[rusty water]

The Lyrics to this song are inspired by an English poet called Samuel Taylor Coleridge ( 1772 to 1834 ). Coleridge was one of the `Lake Poets`, from Cumbria in the Lake District in the North of England. He was part of the ` Movement Romantic` movement. There were several Lake Poets, another prominent and perhaps the most famous was `William Wordsworth`, these Poets, these people, those times we wont see the likes of again. The Poem that inspired this song is called `Kublah Khan`, Coleridge based his Poem on an Opium-induced dream after reading a work describing ` Xanadu`. Which leads to the name of the Rush recording called `Xanadu`. Xanadu is Rush`Swansong and was incidentally recorded in Wales, which is a beautiful Country in the West side of Britain. This is the song that got me into Rush, back in the day.

 

[Oblivious Maximus]

I guess CIG and crimsonfloyd are casual fans then too. Someone else here says Power Windows is their best one as well.

Edit: their favorites I guess, not necessarily best. I interchange both.

Power Windows is tied with Hemispheres for me. "Emotion Detector" just might be my favorite Rush song. For the record though I don't think they ever made a bad album, just certain albums that aren't as strong as the others.

 

[Omni]

Not surprising to anyone here tbh. Something a poseur or casual fan would say.

You already lost by replying seriously when I did it. Loser.

 

[Talos of Atmora]

Don't wring your fingers about it.

Triggered.

 

[CiG]

Grace Under Pressure is a really cool album.

 

[The Ozzman]

Grace Under Pressure is a really cool album.

Seriously. It's the only 100% consistent album from these dudes. The only argument people have against anything after Moving Pictures through Counterparts is 'muh synths'

 

[The Ozzman]

@Talos of Atmora @Oblivious Maximus @CASSETTEISGOD

My Rush rankings that I've figured out so far:

1 - Grace Under Pressure
2 - Moving Pictures
3 - Hemispheres
4 - Counterparts
5 - Vapor Trails
18 - Presto
19 - Test for Echo
20 - Hold Your Fire

Rush
Fly by Night
Caress of Steel
2112
A Farewell to Kings
Permanent Waves
Signals
Power Windows
Roll the Bones
Snakes & Arrows
Clockwork Angels

Anything without a ranking is something where I just don't know where it would go yet. I have 3,500+ plays from this band on Last.FM and have no idea where 6 through 17 would fall because of how solid the majority of their material is. The first 5 are pretty much locked but may switch order depending on the day. Grace Under Pressure is my all time #1 album from this band. I've listed my reasons why it's #1 in another post and don't really feel like justifying them again in this thread.

Presto and Test for Echo I just cannot get into for some reason but they aren't necessarily bad. Hold Your Fire is last because that is one of the only albums where I skip a song. I think Fly by Night is the other where I skip a song (need to listen to it again) but I need to really sit down and listen to the rest of these albums without anything else to distract me. I share @Oblivious Maximus ' opinion in that Rush never put out a bad album but they are varying degrees of good.

The most underrated albums out of the unranked ones are Roll the Bones and Power Windows. Those would definitely be in my Top 10 if I had to do one right now.

As a side note: The way Neil Peart phrases his drum parts to match or accent the lyrics blows my mind. The best rock drummer of all time imo.

 

[Omni]

Seriously. It's the only 100% consistent album from these dudes. The only argument people have against anything after Moving Pictures through Counterparts is 'muh synths'

How about a bigger focus on synths and AOR-style songwriting and a significantly lower focus on and extended progressive suites and actual experimentation?

You can like what you want, but it isn't like the band kept using the same type of songwriting but just added 1980s synths to it.

 

[Oblivious Maximus]

Never thought about ranking the albums. I guess a top 5 would be easy, after that though I see myself getting a headache. Like I said in the Darkthrone rankings thread, with a large, fairly consistent discography you start feeling bad the lower you put certain albums.

 

[The Ozzman]

Never thought about ranking the albums. I guess a top 5 would be easy, after that though I see myself getting a headache. Like I said in the Darkthrone rankings thread, with a large, fairly consistent discography you start feeling bad the lower you put certain albums.

It's probably the farthest I'll get tbh. Hold Your Fire isn't even that bad an album but it's last based on principle.

Thought it may be a good starting place to explore for some who haven't gone past Moving Pictures in terms of the band's discography

 

[Talos of Atmora]

It's probably the farthest I'll get tbh. Hold Your Fire isn't even that bad an album but it's last based on principle.

Thought it may be a good starting place to explore for some who haven't gone past Moving Pictures in terms of the band's discography

What do you think of their last two albums?

 

[The Ozzman]

What do you think of their last two albums?

Tbh I had dismissed CA. I checked it out when it was released and wasn't really sold by the album other than certain tracks (BU2B, Headlong Flight). Recently, I've been coming around to it ever since I've gone back on a Rush kick which has been going for 6+ months now.

Snakes and Arrows is great. Thought it was decent at first but Far Cry is probably one of Rush's best songs.

 

[Oblivious Maximus]

I've grown really fond of Hold Your Fire as of late. For the longest time it was one of their albums I reached for the least but recent listens have revealed it to be a solid effort. "Second Nature" is a gorgeous song, so calming. In fact, that's the best descriptor for the album I'd say. Even the more uptempo songs are somewhat relaxing. Its a nice album to just lay down and chill to.

 

[The Ozzman]

I've grown really fond of Hold Your Fire as of late. For the longest time it was one of their albums I reached for the least but recent listens have revealed it to be a solid effort. "Second Nature" is a gorgeous song, so calming. In fact, that's the best descriptor for the album I'd say. Even the more uptempo songs are somewhat relaxing. Its a nice album to just lay down and chill to.

Same man. Definitely grew on me over the years.