Ultimate Classick Rock Ranks All 167 Rush Songs

The Ultimate Classic Rock Web site recently ranked all 167 Rush songs from worst to best. From the appearance and ranking of the list this seems to be one writer’s opinion, who does admit this was a very difficult and nerdy task. Of course any list ranking the songs of a particular group is going to be subjective from someone who definitely has too much time on their hands. It seems this writer likes the 80’s style of Rush the best.

I would like to list the songs that I heavily disagree with

167. In the Mood- I would agree with the writer that Geddy Lee’s lyrics are a little weak, cheesy, and even a little funny, similar to an AC/DC song. After the first album, Neil Peart, who is probably one of the greatest rock lyricists of all time, and not a bad drummer either, took over writing the lyrics, in which Geddy Lee was more than happy to let him do. Most Geddy Lee songs, as well as most lyricists in rock will pale in comparison to Neil Peart’s lyrics. However in the early years, Rush was copying their music style and sound from Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath to a certain degree, and In The Mood does have some good musicianship and style that was indicative of the 70’s rock era. While it’s not one of my favorite Rush songs, I think it’s a good song and in my opinion better than any song from Power Windows, Hold Your Fire, Presto or Test for Echo, and would rank somewhere between 75-100 for me.

164. Roll the Bones- Rush doing Rap seems unthinkable. However that’s what we have for about 60-90 seconds in the middle of Roll the Bones. In the late 80’s and early 90’s, it was becoming more popular for classic rock and progressive rock bands to record at least one rap song to boost their album sales. Even Frank Zappa experimented with Rap with Promiscuous, from the Broadway the Hardway album. Personally, I can’t stand rap, I gives me a headache, and I cringed the first time I heard it on Roll the Bones. That being said, there is still some good musicianship here, with more of a focus on the guitar riffs and less synthesizers than the previous 3 albums, and some profound lyrics. While I fully understand some people don’t like this song because of the rap element, I think it’s not a bad song and there is more to the song than rap. If I ranked Roll the bones it would probably make my top 100 Rush songs.

72. 2112- Now this is just a travesty.  I think most Rush fans would feel that 2112 is one of the most creative, profound, complex and greatest songs Rush has produced. Personally, I thought their previous album, Caress of Steel, was a decent album, but Rush was in a transitional phase at the time, attempting to produce a Progressive rock album, which was not well received by the fans of their first two albums. Decreased sales and playing at smaller venues, almost caused their record Label, Mercury Records to drop Rush, but thanks to their Manager Ray Danniels, who ask Mercury records to give Rush one more chance. Not heeding Mercury Records advice to attempt to produce a pop sounding hit record, Rush decided, if this was their last album, they would go out with a bang. Inspired by Any Rand’s Anthem, Neil Peart wrote a 20 minute concept album, set in a futuristic Totalitarian Socialist dystopian society, which rejects music and Individualism, in the city of Megadon. During a time of intergalactic war, the main character finds an ancient musical instruments which he feels can bring peace and harmony to society. However, the High Priests, who control the city of Megadon, reject this idea and destroy the instrument. Then, the main character finds an oracle, which show the ancient elder race on another world growing more powerful in hopes of returning and reclaiming Megadon. Meanwhile the main character, feeling empty and alone seeks isolation. I think it’s an intriguing story that’s well developed, and the musical instrumentation compliments the visceral emotions of the main character, with some of Alex Lifeson’s best guitar work. My only minor complaint is that I always thought it’s the High Priests that take control at the very end, when you hear “Attention all planets of the Solar Federation, we have assumed control”, and thwart the rebellion. I saw recently in an interview with Neil Peart, he says that an outside third party takes control, which feels anti-climactic. While I think that worked well with the song the Trees, as the trees are all kept equal with hatchet, axe, and saw, it feels like a cop-out with 2112. That aside, I still think it’s one of Rush’s greatest songs.

2112 was a gold selling album for Rush, one of their highest selling albums, and the Man in the Star is one of the most recognized iconic Rush symbols. I feel the Ultimate Classic Rock reviewer missed the boat on 2112, and while some Rush fans may not considerate it to be their favorite, I think most would agree that 2112 is one of their best songs, and should be at least in the top 25. Personally I would rank 2112 in my top 10.

8. Vital Signs- Initially when I first heard Vital Signs I liked it, though it was not one of my favorite Rush songs. After hearing Vital Signs over the years, the more I heard it the less I liked it. The lyrics are very good with Neil Peart’s objectivism philosophy of society, stating that everybody has to deviate from the norm, which I personally agree with. Geddy Lee’s vocals are captivating as usual, however the problem lies with the instrumentation. The guitar and drums are very limited and in the background, while the synthesizers, which sounds like only a few notes repeating over and over, control the tempo of the song. Starting with the Permanent Waves album, Rush gradually began to rely on more use of synthesizers and less guitars and drums, leading to a more pop sounding band. The heavy synthesizer use wasn’t as noticeable on Permanent Waves, as it was on Vital Signs and the Signals album. Loyal Rush fans that were fond of the hard rock heavy guitar style of music, were disenchanted with the heavy synthesizer style and the new musical direction Rush was heading into. Due to Moving Pictures being a very successful and popular album,  and they were copying the music style of The Police and Reggae, since that was what Neil Peart was listening to at that time, Rush would gradually rely more heavily on synthesizers over the next eight years. Rush decided to bring back the heavy guitar and drum style with the Roll the Bones album, and continued with that style for their final four albums. In my opinion, Vital Signs is an average song that the Ultimate Classic Rock viewer has ranked way too high at number 8, and if I had to give the song a ranking, it might just barely make my top 100.

The reviewer has Tom Sawyer at number 1 and Limelight listed at number 2. While I feel they are both good songs, this is understandable from a fans prospective, since Tom Sawyer is Rush’s most popular song and Limelight is very popular as well, there are songs I like better, and I would probably rank both songs between 25 and 50. Though I do love Neil Peart’s drum solo, no matter how many times it’s played on the radio.

Other noticeable rankings which I feel are too high:

24. The Pass, 25. Time Stand Still 26. Show Don’t Tell 36. Chain Lightning 37. Big Money 38. Far Cry 39. Faithless 40. Manhattan Project 41. The Garden 42. Kid Gloves 43. Middletown Dreams 45. Bravest Face 46. Mystic Rhythms 48. The Wreckers 55. Force Ten 56. Prime Mover

Songs which I feel are ranked too low:

117. Countdown- between 50-75

98. Something for Nothing- Between 50-75

66. By-Tor and the Snowdog-  in my top 10

64. The Trees- in my top 25

While I appreciate the effort that went into ranking all 167 Rush songs, I feel this was one person’s opinion, who happened to like the 80’s Rush songs the best, and though I personally prefer the period of Rush from 1974-1981, it don’t feel this list is indicative of the Rush fan base as a whole. I know I said a lot, so now I would like to hear what other Rush fans think.