Rush

Top 5 Rush Albums/Next Band

  • Total voters
    87
Hold Your Fire (1987)
Force Ten - 8/10
Time Stand Still - 10/10
Open Secrets - 9/10
Second Nature - 5/10
Prime Mover - 10/10
Lock and Key - 5/10
Mission - 10/10
Turn the Page - 6/10
Tai Shan - 1/10
High Water - 3/10

Album rating - 6.7/10

What a weird, wacky album this is. Half of the tracks are legitimately amazing, some of the band’s catchiest work with great lyrics and some are among the worst things they’ve ever done.
  • Some fans call this Rush’s adult contemporary album and it’s easy to hear why: it’s very soft, restrained, and adult-themed. It feels like a soft rock album. The thing is: sometimes it really works! The beauty of Rush is that if they write a great song, it doesn’t matter how soft or hard or weird or typical it is: the material still rules. And half the songs are truly beautiful, catchy things.
  • Alex is once again pushed to the background here, but thankfully the synths are also toned down in terms of the cheeseball intensity. They’re definitely not turned down, though, as I think there’s more synth here than guitar. When Alex does shine through he really makes it count, though.
  • Another album that ends with a whimper in the abysmally earnest and awful Tai Shan and the elongated sigh that is High Water.
  • Geddy really sings well here. I think he was a really powerful vocalist during this time period.
 
I was connected to my Sonos speaker that combines left and right channels in one, so for a minute or so I was sitting here like "what am I supposed to hear", then I read the video description haha ...

- edit, this is a reply to the drums comparison video
 
MrK said:
Hold Your Fire (1987)
Force Ten - 8/10
Time Stand Still - 10/10
Open Secrets - 9/10
Second Nature - 5/10
Prime Mover - 10/10
Lock and Key - 5/10
Mission - 10/10
Turn the Page - 6/10
Tai Shan - 1/10
High Water - 3/10

Album rating - 6.7/10

What a weird, wacky album this is. Half of the tracks are legitimately amazing, some of the band’s catchiest work with great lyrics and some are among the worst things they’ve ever done.
  • Some fans call this Rush’s adult contemporary album and it’s easy to hear why: it’s very soft, restrained, and adult-themed. It feels like a soft rock album. The thing is: sometimes it really works! The beauty of Rush is that if they write a great song, it doesn’t matter how soft or hard or weird or typical it is: the material still rules. And half the songs are truly beautiful, catchy things.
  • Alex is once again pushed to the background here, but thankfully the synths are also toned down in terms of the cheeseball intensity. They’re definitely not turned down, though, as I think there’s more synth here than guitar. When Alex does shine through he really makes it count, though.
  • Another album that ends with a whimper in the abysmally earnest and awful Tai Shan and the elongated sigh that is High Water.
  • Geddy really sings well here. I think he was a really powerful vocalist during this time period.
Click to expand...
I'm not a big fan of this album (although it was the first tour where I saw them live!) but it's interesting to me that your favorite 3 songs are the same as mine. I'm especially curious how you came to your 10/10 rating for Prime Mover? I don't think it was a single and wasn't a fan favorite however it's my favorite song on the album. Like so many Rush songs from this era it starts a bit slow but patience is rewarded as it reaches an emotional crescendo during the "Anything can happen" parts, with Geddy's haunting background vocals sounding like another layer of instruments.

I'm not usually a Lyrics Guy, but you need a heart of stone not to feel some emotion at the lyrics from Time Stand Still and from the first time I heard this album, I always been fascinated by these lyrics from Mission:
If their lives were
Exotic and strange
They would likely have
Gladly exchanged them
For something a little more plain
Maybe something a little more sane
 
el diablo said:
I'm not a big fan of this album (although it was the first tour where I saw them live!) but it's interesting to me that your favorite 3 songs are the same as mine. I'm especially curious how you came to your 10/10 rating for Prime Mover? I don't think it was a single and wasn't a fan favorite however it's my favorite song on the album. Like so many Rush songs from this era it starts a bit slow but patience is rewarded as it reaches an emotional crescendo during the "Anything can happen" parts, with Geddy's haunting background vocals sounding like another layer of instruments.

I'm not usually a Lyrics Guy, but you need a heart of stone not to feel some emotion at the lyrics from Time Stand Still and from the first time I heard this album, I always been fascinated by these lyrics from Mission:
If their lives were
Exotic and strange
They would likely have
Gladly exchanged them
For something a little more plain
Maybe something a little more sane
Click to expand...
Mission also features one of the most beautiful solos from Alex at the end of it. Especially the version from Snakes and Arrows Live. It's up there with Limelight and The Garden. Another song with top drawer lyrics and the bass/xylophone breakdown at the end of the middle section is downright filthy. Geddy/Neil combo at their best.

All in all, Mission is one of my favourite post-Moving Pictures Rush songs.
 
Happy to say that Hold Your Fire has risen for me in my estimations.

Force Ten - 8/10
Time Stand Still - 10/10
Open Secrets - 7/10
Second Nature - 4/10
Prime Mover - 7/10
Lock and Key - 6/10
Mission - 7/10
Turn the Page - 10/10
Tai Shan - 5/10
High Water - 9/10

Total: 73%

“Time Stand Still” is a top 5 Rush song.

I’ve really liked “Turn the Page” from the get-go but MAN is that song so much fucking fun, twisting and turning and big and powerful and awesome.

“Tai Shan” isn’t bad, but it doesn’t go anywhere and the pan flute is certainly a choice.

“Second Nature” is in the running for Rush’s worst track. I say track because it’s just straight up not a song. It’s Neil writing a letter to the editor and it’s weird and rambling and not nearly as tight as one comes to expect from The Professor. Sunday revival piano doesn’t help either. I just don’t know what the thought was behind this song and maybe my score is too generous.

I love the primordial, mystical soundscape they built around “High Water” and as I got deeper into Rush’s discography I found myself missing it. I’m actually exactly the person it was made for.
 
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