Rush Albums Ranked — An In Depth Analysis to the Legendary Prog Trio
It’s no secret to anybody I know that the Canadian progressive rock band Rush is my favourite band… ever. Rush is the band that got me into progressive rock, which is now a huge part of my life. Rush have also introduced many other bands to the genre, including Dream Theater, whose members described When Dream and Day Unite as ‘when Rush meets Metallica’. And Tool dedicated their 2020 Grammy win to the late Rush drummer Neil Peart.
No matter what I say about these albums, remember, I don’t dislike any of these albums, there are just a few imperfect ones. In my mind, this list is like a love letter to the band that changed my perception of music.
I will not be counting live albums or compilations obviously, nor will I count their 2004 cover EP Feedback. So, with that being said, to celebrate Geddy Lee’s new memoir, My Effin’ Life, let’s rank the studio albums of the Holy Trinity of Prog!
19 — Hold Your Fire (1987)
It’s not that 1987’s Hold Your Fire is a bad album, it’s just not very good either. While moments like Lock And Key and Mission have their fans, and Time Stand Still is up their with my favourite Rush songs — I absolutely love that song — the album is just overall forgettable in my opinion. I personally see this album as Time Stand Still and nine other songs. Easily the worst song on this album is Tai Shan as it’s pretentious to the point it’s cringey. Even Geddy Lee describes it as an ‘error’.
Still, the album has it’s moments, like Time Stand Still, which is actually Rush’s only song with an guest feature, as Aimee Mann accompanied Geddy in the chorus. Songs like Lock and Key are almost good. Listening to Hold Your Fire feels like listening to an ambient film score at times. I think it’s their weakest studio release.
18 — Test for Echo (1996)
I really tried to enjoy 1996’s Test For Echo after reading Neil Peart’s Ghost Rider: Travels on a Healing Road, but I just couldn’t. It’s yet another forgettable misstep in the discography for me. Unlike Hold Your Fire, however, this album has some good songs. It doesn’t have a highest high as Time Stand Still, but it doesn’t have a lowest low as Tai Shan.
It has it’s moments; Driven is a fun hard rock sort of thing. It sort of reminds me of early Rush, until the chorus, which is standard 90s Rush. Virtuality is probably my favourite song from the album, I love both Geddy’s vocals in this song and the bass in it. One thing with this album that is quite bizarre to me is Alex Lifeson’s guitar tone. It’s a very sort of ‘tough hard rock’ sort of tone, and it doesn’t feel very Rush. The title track has it’s fans, but I’m not really one of them. Those are the only songs that I really think about with this album.
Test For Echo is an imperfect, mostly forgettable album, but it’s not bad.
17 — Power Windows (1985)
I’m sorry. I used to really enjoy this album, but I only really enjoyed half of it on a second listen. I do think it’s the first good one on the list; it’s leagues better than Hold Your Fire and Test For Echo. I love The Big Money and Mystic Rhythms, I enjoy Middletown Dreams and Manhattan Project, and I like Grand Designs, but the album feels somewhat pretentious (not nearly as pretentious as Tai Shan, but still a good deal of pretentious).
Instrumentally, I can hear Lifeson’s dismay through Geddy’s keys, because man, this is a keyboard heavy, art-rock, new-wave-ish album.
‘With Power Windows, I found it really difficult to work around the way the keyboards were developing’, recalls Lifeson, ‘… [I remember thinking] What’s going on with all these keyboards? I mean, it’s not even a real instrument!’
But, there is enjoyment to be had with Power Windows, even if it’s a flawed album.
16— Snakes & Arrows (2007)
Like Power Windows, Snakes & Arrows is a hard one to rank. First off, I love the instrumental stuff on this album. The Main Monkey Business, Hope, and Malignant Narcissism, and I love Lifeson’s use of the 12 string. Apart from that, few songs speak out to me properly. Maybe Far Cry, Spindrift, and Workin’ Them Angels. This album is enjoyable to listen to, and it is reminiscent of classic Rush.
The 2000’s were an interesting time; it marked the end on Neil Peart’s ‘healing gypsy’ lifestyle he took after a set of personal tragedies, and Rush had been on an ‘indefinite hiatus’ since ’97, and it was very much them finding their footing. That might explain why Snakes & Arrows doesn’t really feel like it’s breaking the mould for a Rush album. Apart from the instrumentals, it’s not too unsimilar from the standard Rush album.
15 — Presto (1989)
I thoroughly enjoyed my first listening of 1989’s Presto; I’d consider it a hidden gem of Rush’s discography. It was their exit from their 80’s driven synth sound, even if this album is still quite 80’s. 80’s enough where it can feel like they were trying to emulate Genesis (looking at you, Red Tide!), but maybe that’s just me.
I absolutely love the The Pass, Presto, Anagram, Scars, and Red Tide, and the album carries a sort of majestic feel to it. It’s certainly an oddity in their catalogue. So why didn’t I rank it higher? Because it’s very much of it’s time. However, this is the first album on this list that I could choose to listen to frequently.
14 — Counterparts (1993)
Counterparts marks Rush’s return to a sort of fairly simplistic, but still sort of progressive formula. It has standard rock n’ roll stuff like Cold Fire, and Animate I believe is one of their greatest songs. I love Peart’s count in at the beginning. To quote Geddy himself, ‘It adds a sort of human element’. Nobody’s Hero had me thinking it was some right-wing sort of piece (the first two lines of lyrics worried me), but then it became a sort of emotional power ballad about sudden death. Another one of the ‘great Rush songs’ is the absolutely phenomenal Leave That Thing Alone. It’s one of my favourite Rush instrumentals… ever. It’s up there near YYZ, but not quite La Villa Strangiato.
Counterparts may seem kind of safe compared to their other albums, but I went through their catalogue in chronilogical order, and it was sort of a relief.
13 — Rush (1974)
Yes, this album has Working Man. Yes, Working Man is in my top 10 Rush songs, but I don’t care much for the rest of this album. The elephant in the room with this album: It’s the album without Neil Peart, and it shows. With the sort of Led Zeppelin-esque sound, and with such great lyrics as:
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀‘Well, I get up at seven, yeah
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀And I go to work at 9,
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀I got no time for livin’, yes
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ I’m working all the time’
I’m glad Geddy stopped doing lyrics (I still really dig Working Man though). John Rutsey clearly wasn’t a prog sorta guy, he stayed listening to Zeppelin and stuff like that, while Geddy and Alex were getting into Yes and Genesis. John Rutsey’s departure was partly due to his diabetes, but in Geddy Lee’s memoir My Effin’ Life, he writes about how the circumstances around Rutsey’s departure were much more multi-layered.
‘It’s long been rumoured that Rutsey left the band partly due to diabetes, but that’s not the whole story,’ Lee writes, ‘Yes, he must have wondered if he could hack a long tour on the road because he had to take insulin every day, but the bigger issue was musical difference. […] Alex and I were becoming more and more influenced by prog bands, while John was listening to simple, direct rock and roll; we were into Bill Bruford of King Crimson, while his favourite drummers was Simon Kirke of Free and Bad Company’ (p. 160).
Rush falls flat compared to their following endeavours, but it’s still a really solid rock and roll album, with a little bit of progg-y-ness in Working Man.
12 — Roll The Bones (1991)
So, Roll The Bones is an interesting album. I’d even call it underrated. When I first got into Rush, I actually hated this album, and sure, it’s a bit weird at times, particularly Geddy Lee’s strange pitched-down rap bit in the title track, but it’s still fun, experimental album. I’ve been listening to a lot of Dreamline recently. That and Bravado are probably my two favourite tracks. I also quite enjoy Ghost of a Chance.
As a huge Alex Lifeson fan, I was happy to hear his guitars at the forefront once again. Particularly in that solo on Roll The Bones. Speaking of the title track, I don’t hate the rap bit. It caught me way off guard when I first listened to it, but I don’t care, it’s fun. Roll The Bones is bewildering at first, but it’s a very enjoyable album.
11 — Caress of Steel (1975)
Now we’re getting into the amazing albums. I don’t care what Geddy, Alex or Neil have said about it, I really enjoy this album. It’s a weird album, it definetely suffers from chronic pretentious syndrome at some times, but it’s still great. Side 1 is a sort of standard and fun rock ‘n roll sort of thing. With Bastille Day*, and Lakeside Park (we’ll just ignore I Think I’m Going Bald, it’s not great…), and side 2 features two prog epics: The Necromancer and The Fountain of Lamneth.
Needless to say, the album was weird, and it didn’t do well commercially. In fact, it was Rush’s only commercial flop in their discography. But it has become a cult classic over the years, even Geddy and Alex still aren’t fans of it.
*Some trivia about this song. Dream Theater’s original name Majesty came from Mike Portnoy describing the ending as ‘majestic’. The name ‘Majesty’ still lives on. The Dream Theater logo remains an ‘M’ and John Petrucci’s signature guitar line is called Majesty.
10 — Vapor Trails (2002)
Vapor Trails is a raw experience. I listened to it after reading Neil Peart’s book Ghost Rider: Travels on a Healing Road, written about a sort of gypsy lifestyle he lived for a while after tragic death of his daughter in a car crash, and then his wife, who died of cancer, but Neil states that it really was a broken heart.
‘It was like witnessing a suicide brought on by total apathy,’ Neil writes, ‘She just didn’t care’ (page 8).
I won’t talk about anything else in the book. I do recommend it, though it is confronting and sad. Vapor Trails is very much the band healing and finding their footing. In fact, it was there first album since Caress of Steel (1975) to not feature any synthesisers whatsoever, which is interesting. It certainly helps with the raw feel of it.
Some of my favourite songs on this include Ghost Rider, Freeze, Vapor Trail, and One Little Victory.
9 — Clockwork Angels (2012)
Now we’re getting into the really good stuff. Clockwork Angels is Rush’s only concept album (2112 is absolutely not a concept album), there was even a novelisation written by Science Fiction author Kevin J. Anderson. This album is a poetic end to a wonderful discography. It’s got some absolutely amazing songs, like Clockwork Angels, The Wreckers, BU2B (BU2B2 gets an honorable mention) and The Garden.
It’s an absolutely majestic finish. Geddy sounds surprisingly good on this album, although you can definetely tell that he’s aged. But he still sounds great here. Particularly on BU2B, he sounds amazing on it. Neil Peart is incredible as always, they even have a string ensemble at times, Alex Lifeson’s guitar tone is out of this world here; it’s an poetic finish to a magnificent career.
8 — Fly By Night
I absolutely love this album. Anthem is one of their greatest album openers, marking the start of their prog era with the 7/8 intro. This is Neil’s first album, and, no disrespect to Rutsey, but Neil is exactly what Rush had needed all this time. The holy trinity had formed! Fly By Night was the obvious choice for a single, so that’s exactly what Mercury records chose. In My Effin’ Life, Geddy recalls hearing it on the radio for the first time.
‘I know it’s well-loved now, but it’s always been one of my least favourite Rush songs. It sounds kinda dinky to me!’ recalls Geddy, ‘The first time I heard on the radio I went, “Ugh”. To my taste there was something too sugary, too corny about the chorus.’
But this album has numerous classics, Anthem, Fly By Night, Rivendell, and one of my all-time favourite Rush songs, By-Tor and the Snow Dog. I love this album, and it was the beginning of my favourite Rush era.
7 — Permanent Waves
Okay, now hear me out —
Permanent Waves at 7 seems scandelous, and I still love the album, believe me. I absolutely love The Spirit of Radio, Freewill, Jacob’s Ladder, and Natural Science. It’s just Different Strings and Entre Nous that hold me back from putting this album higher.
I want to say, I absolutely love The Spirit of Radio. If Tom Sawyer and Closer to the Heart introduced me to Rush, then The Spirit of Radio got me to love Rush. At first, I thought it was too upbeat. I was a huge metal fan, and I still am, but I had to get used to the upbeat sort of nature of a lot of Rush songs. And when I did, I couldn’t stop! For some ungodly reason, I skipped Natural Science for a while, but when I listened to it, man it was brilliant. I love that opening ‘tidal wave’* section, followed by that sort of arpeggio-esque riff, followed by, y-know, the WHOLE song!
I love this album, believe me, I just love the other six a bit more.
The ‘Tidal Wave’ section was recorded utilising an actual lake, with Alex and Neil messing around with boat oars. This was just one of the advantages of Rush recording this album outside.
6 – 2112 (1976)
OKAY, HEAR ME OUT —
I absolutely love the first side, with the seven-part 2112 suite, and it’s without a doubt in my top 5 Rush songs, however, it’s just that the second side, just doesn’t… stand a chance when compared. I mean I really like A Passage to Bangkok, I like The Twilight Zone, but the first song completely overshadows it. Luckily the first song is literally half of the album, and it’s simply one of the great 20 minute songs. I’d pin it against Yes’ Close to the Edge and Dream Theater’s Octavarium, and Cygnus x-1 Book II (that is also by Rush though).
I love 2112, and it’s a disgrace on my end that I don’t have it on vinyl! What kind of a Rush fan am I!?* But I still would put the next five records over it.
*Unrelated fact: ‘!?’ is called an ‘interrobang’.
5 — Signals (1982)
I really like Signals. It’s quite 80s, but it still feels very Rush, in the lyrical content and in the composition. It noticeably features keys very prominently, giving it a slightly different feel to their other albums. But I mean, a song like Subdivisions is very Rush-like. And it isn’t too keyboard focused to the point where Alex Lifeson is made any less relevant, which is all I ask, really.
I enjoy every single song off of this album (as with all of my top 10), but I especially enjoy Subdivisions, The Weapon, The Analog Kid, Digital Man* and Losing It. It may not seem like it, but this album is still quite progressive.
In Dream Theater’s GRAMMY winning track The Alien, in the chorus, just before the post chorus, there’s a lyric before the sing about The Alien, where James LaBrie sings the words ‘Digital Man’, which is likely a reference to Rush. Dream Theater were very influenced by Rush and often pay tribute.
4 — Grace Under Pressure (1984)
I know I’ve angered fellow Rush superfans when I place Grace Under Pressure above both 2112 and Permanent Waves. Scandalous!
Grace Under Pressure is such an awesome album though! I absolutely love the lyrical content, which can range from Grief, to the Holocaust*, to the cold war. It’s a really interesting album. I reckon it was their last album before the keyboards got a bit much, because, while it wasn’t as grounded as Signals, it still feels as if Alex Lifeson still got some spotlight, which was cool.
I absolutely love Grace Under Pressure, and I think it was the last great Rush album until (dare I say it!) Clockwork Angels.
*So, the song I am indirectly referring to is Red Sector A, which was actually based off of Geddy Lee’s parents, Mary and Morris Weinrib, and there experience in the Holocaust. In Geddy Lee’s memoir My Effin Life, chapter three is entirely about his parents experience in the holocaust, throughout which he tells the story from there perspective and uses images of documents. Geddy’s mother Mary Weinrib lived to the ripe old age of 95! Living that long as a holocaust survivor, what a badass!
3 — Moving Pictures (1981)
Everybody loves Moving Pictures, and for good reason. Shockingly, it’s the only Rush album on Rolling Stone’s Top 500 Albums of all Time list (at only no. 379, which is ludicrous, but hey, it made it!). This album is absolutely incredible! Every song on this album is amazing, Tom Sawyer is Rush’s most well known song, and it introduced me to Rush, prog, and the 7/8 time signature. Red Barchetta is a sort of chilled out song. It’s a narrative about a dystopian future, and the protagonist finds a car. What kind? A Red Barchetta! YYZ is hugely influential to not only me, but the world of rock instrumentals, and Limelight could be my favourite Rush song.
The album’s long epic is the 10 minute The Camera Eye (it was long at the time). The final two songs are simpler, I love the chord progression in Witch Hunt, particularly in the chorus, and Vital Signs is a fun finale.
It’s an incredible album, that’s simple enough for the common listener, and progressive enough for music nerds like me!
2 — A Farewell To Kings (1977)
A Farewell To Kings is an absolute masterpiece and I love every track off of it. While Rush were smoking weed before, this album was their introduction to coke, which can be heard at times. Though, no matter what fatal substance they were doing, they always kept disciplined on stage and mostly in the studio. The ‘not even a beer during the drum solo’ kind of discipline.
I love the Alex Lifeson’s nylon string on the title track, and that paused followed by that power-chord and Neil coming in — the song starts out brilliantly. Xanadu not only preceded the ELO version by about two-to-three years, it’s also one of the other contenders for my favourite Rush song. The second side of the record starts off with Closer to the Heart; another one of Rush’s greatest hits. And it’s a fantastic song. Cinderella Man and Madrigal are both two underrated tracks, particularly the latter — no one really cares for Madrigal for some reason. Then the album finishes with part one of Cygnus X-1, which was later named Cygnus X-1 — Book One — The Voyage. Geddy’s vocal performance in that song is by far my favourite of his — ever. At approximately 9:27, Geddy Lee hits a ridiculously high B♭5 note. It gives me chills every time.
Instrumentally, Alex’s guitar work is masterful as always, Neil’s drumming is perfect here (In this album, his kit includes about every percussion instrument ever made), and Geddy’s keys and bass work is incredible, particularly the latter.
Now, what could be my no. 1 Rush album of all time? Drum roll please!!!
1 — Hemispheres (1978)
I absolutely adore Rush’s 1978 album Hemispheres. It starts off with Cygnus X-1 — Book II — Hemispheres, which is 18 minutes, putting the full Cygnus X-1 at 28 minutes in length*. I’d put it among the great 20 minute epics, including even 2112! I think it is just one of the great Rush songs of all time. It’s the other contender for my favourite Rush song.
Side 2 opens up with a semi-autobiographical piece written by Peart about living in England for a brief period, feeling alone and adjusting to a new environment. It features a verse, a pre chorus, a chorus, that again, then a cool 11/8 interlude, then the verse pre chorus and chorus again. Short and sweet. It’s one of a few Rush songs with French lyrics, which it has in the chorus, ‘Plus ca change, Plus c’est la meme chose’, which translates to ‘The more it changes, the more it is the same’. Close enough! Then there is The Trees. I guess I have room for one more contender for my favourite Rush song! I think The Trees is a perfect song, it’s a fun lyrical metaphor for worker’s unions, and has a great interlude, with Neil on the temple blocks, some great clean guitar sounds from Alex and some great keys from Geddy. The next song is La Villa Strangiato, yet another contender for my favourite Rush song. It’s this badass 10-minute long instrumental piece featuring a nylon string classical intro, followed by a great electric guitar segment, and a haunting solo, followed by a bunch of other cool things. It’s a really hard song to play for all of the guys, and it’s incredible that they play it as a trio.
And that’s Hemispheres, not only is it my favourite Rush album, it’s also my favourite album of all time. It’s perfectly done, with two long songs, and two shorter ones; it’s an incredible album. And the fact it continues on from A Farewell to Kings is astonishing.
*Don’t worry about ‘Cygnus X-2 Eh’ from the 40th Anniversary edition of A Farewell to Kings, as it’s just unused sound effects and it’s what one would call taking the piss. It’s officially the greatest track title of all time.
Conclusion — The Legacy of Rush
Without Rush, progressive music would have been very different. Over the years, they have continued to innovate and inspire. I remember seeing a video where Rush walked on stage to accept the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame award. Neil spoke first, and to begin his characteristically elegant speech, he opened up with a quote from Bob Dylan. The quote reads, ‘The highest purpose of art is to inspire, what else can you do for anyone?’. Then Geddy did his also-elegant speech, and then Alex did the infamous Blah Blah Blah speech, which never gets any less funny.
Point is, that Bob Dylan quote is one that the three guys took to heart. It’s hard to comprehend the scope of their influence. Here is just a list of bands and artists who list Rush as an inspiration:
Dream Theater
Tool
Foo Fighters
Porcupine Tree
Iron Maiden
Metallica
Rage Against The Machine (Believe it or not)
Trent Reznor
Smashing Pumpkins
Queensrÿche
And the list goes on and on.
No one can deny the instrumental proficiency of the three guys; they’re all at the top of their respective instruments. Alex Lifeson is simply one of the great chord builders and composers, Geddy Lee is a stupidly fast bassist, and — whether you like it or not — he’s a fantastic vocalist. Listen to that B♭5 at 9:27 on Cygnus X-1 — Book 1 — The Voyage, and tell me he’s not!
But this wouldn’t feel complete without paying tribute to the drummers, John Rutsey and Neil Peart, who died in 2008 and 2020 respectively:
John Rutsey probably wouldn’t have been a great fit for the band, however, he still was a great rock and roll drummer. I remember listening to the My Favourite Headache interview with Geddy Lee, which I believe is on Spotify, and Geddy was asked about John Rutsey, and he told the interviewer that Rutsey didn’t play anymore. Apparently he got into bodybuilding after Rush. I think it’s a shame that he didn’t really have a career after Rush.
John Rutsey sadly died on May 11th 2008.
Neil Peart was much more prolific. He worked with Rush from 1975 until the band officially stopped in 2018, when Neil was battling glioblastoma. Maybe the circumstances of Rush’s end were more complex, because Neil also had chronic tendinitis.
In my guitarist opinion, I think Neil was the greatest drummer of all time. And there was John Bonham, who yes, at least ties with Peart, but Neil was super proficient, and he kept taking lessons until he got sick, interestingly enough. I have a poster that came with my Hemispheres vinyl, which has Alex, Neil, and Geddy, left to right, and Neil’s drum kit there, a long with a bout a trillion toms and cymbals, has just about every percussion instrument every made*. Temple blocks, wind chimes, tubular bells, a marimba, I think there was even a cowbell and a triangle there, but if you look at Neil’s Time Machine Tour kit, it’s astounding! He’s held within a circle of toms, a bunch of cymbals and kick drums, the electronic marimba beside him, and he helmed it like it was nothing. Neil Peart sadly died after a 3 and a half year long battle with glioblastoma on January 7th 2020.
*Hyperbole, obviously.
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