Show 45 - Rush and Roll, the rest....
 

Here's the second part of the Rushfest....

Permanent Waves -

Freewill
Jacob's Ladder
Entre Nous
Natural Science

Saw a chemically altered girl dance to Jacob's Ladder when I saw a Rush tribute band some 15 years back. Very strange....

Natural Science has one of the best endings.

Moving Pictures -

Red Barchetta
Witch Hunt
Vital Signs

Skipped the really popular ones....

Signals -

Subdivisions
Chemisrty
Losing It
Countdown

There's a glossy overly keyboard sound that permeates the record, but it's one of my favorites. Subdivisions is a classic (I had a friend drum to that tune once...he's pretty good...Larks Tongues III also!). Losing It features the great Ben Mink (love to see FM at Nearfest). As usual, great lyrics. My 12-year old son (as of tomorrow) really digs Countdown.

Grace Under Pressure -

Distant Early Warning
The Enemy Within
The Body Electric
Between The Wheels

A vibrant, powerful record. Full of energy, it's the last really great Rush record until Test For Echo.

Power Windows -

Territories
Middletown Dreams

This is a record in transition, a hybrid between the prior three and the song-oriented ones to follow. Marathon in particular has a neat middle section, but the choruses repeat too much, a problem I have with the next record.

Hold Your Fire -

Force Ten
Time Stands Still
Mission


I've learned to like this a bit more over time. Mission is a fantastic tune, and Time Stands Still features the great Aimee Mann.

Presto -

The Pass
Presto

Presto features a return of the long-missing acoustic guitar, and The Pass is a sweet tune, another swath of the lyrical brilliance of Neil Peart. Too bad a lot of side two is not up to par.

Roll The Bones -

Dreamline
Face Up
Where's My Thing

The nadir of Rush's output, it's a sketchy record. The title cut, Neurotica, and Ghost of A Chance are also pretty good, but some of the tunes are wimpy. Where's My Thing is the first of three successive records with an instrumental, each excellent.

Counterparts -

Animate
Double Agent
Leave That Thing Alone

A return to form, I personally like this one a lot. Although that's not shared by everyone, there's some real gems on here. Between Sun and Moon has some Who snippets stuck in, and Alien Shore is also a cool tune. You guessed it - Leave that Thing Alone is instrumental # 2. I wish they'd do more of that. They're incredibly fine musicians.

Test For Echo -

Driven
Half The World
Virtuality

What a great record. Had to leave eight tunes off! Even Dog Years, my least favorite cut, has the same riff as Bastille Day. And Time And Motion has a Cygnus riff. Maybe that's a big reason...it harkens back to the glory days. Half the World is simple in lyrics, but spot on - and it's just a nice fucking tune. Driven spotlight's Geddy's grooves, and Virtuality is a dead-on rocker. Limbo is probably the best instrumental they've done since YYZ.

Vapor Trails -

Peaceable Kingdom
Secret Touch

I like this better as I listen to it, but the sound is off. It's muddied and a bit too grungy for a Rush record. I'm not against changing the sound, but as with King's X and "Manic Moonlight", it's too convoluted in the bass/drum sound. All that said, it's a favorite of a lot of others, and given Neil's tragedies after Test For Echo, it's just great to have Rush back.

Enjoy!!!

Rush Rules...
 

... and happy birthday, Son-Of-Rick!!

It's interesting to see what you did and didn't pick on the Grace Under Pressure and after albums. Some of the ones you picked make me scratch my head, and some of the ones you skipped as well. It always amazes me that we can all love a band and like different songs. I'd have gone with:

The Analog Kid
Afterimage
Mystic Rhythms
Lock and Key (no Missions)
Show Don't Tell
Scars
Roll the Bones
Stick It Out :D
Earthshine

Rush is amazing in that you'll get different favorite songs. All of the above would be good choices. Mystic and Scars show another side of Rush.

I wouldn't say, though that the ones I'm playing are favorites. A lot of it is done by feel, but especially time constraints.

Maybe another show in a say, a year...call it "Skipped Rush"?

:p

By the way Moses, thanks...Ray was not happy that I referenced him. I guess he has the modesty gene....;)