Favorite Rush Album?

I agree Moving Pictures is probably the best but my favorite is Vapor Trails. I thought they were done and they came back with an opus.

Moving Pictures has the best Side A in the history of rock, but it is not Rush's best album.

From start to finish Permanent Waves is their best.

My favorite is probably A Farewell To Kings because of Xanadu.

Superjuice wrote:Moving Pictures has the best Side A in the history of rock, but it is not Rush's best album.

From start to finish Permanent Waves is their best.

My favorite is probably A Farewell To Kings because of Xanadu.

PW is fantastic, but Different Strings drags it down a bit for me.

I have never had a Rush album.  I just couldn't get into them.

All albums up to and including Moving Pictures.
What a great laser show on the Moving Pictures tour. Max Webster warmed for them.
Sadly, 2 weeks later Max Webster broke up.

alldatndensum wrote:I have never had a Rush album.  I just couldn't get into them.

Diddo. And I feel guilty because every prog rocker is supposed to love them.  

Hemispheres

Sevenoneself wrote:

alldatndensum wrote:I have never had a Rush album.  I just couldn't get into them.

Diddo. And I feel guilty because every prog rocker is supposed to love them.  

I’m honestly more of a Rush fan than a prog fan.

Pethead wrote:

Sevenoneself wrote:

alldatndensum wrote:I have never had a Rush album.  I just couldn't get into them.

Diddo. And I feel guilty because every prog rocker is supposed to love them.  

I’m honestly more of a Rush fan than a prog fan.

Rush were my gateway into progressive hard rock/metal.

The epic, proggy compositions on Metallica's Lightning, Puppets, and Justice albums also played a huge role in that.

Dream Theater were the first full-on progressive metal band I got into. Discovered many, many more after that. 

Still one of my favorite genres of music!

Tie between Grace Under Pressure and Clockwork Angels

For me it's 2112.  That album was how I was introduced to Rush.  At the time, it was more than just an album with songs.  The whole story that unfolded with the music and the album liner was an experience.

I'm not a big Rush fan, but I'd say A Farewell To Kings is my favorite.

Moving Pictures would be #2, followed by Signals.

2112. I have the four albums after that as well but 2112 has the biggest nostalgia factor for me.

For me it's an ongoing toss-up between Hemispheres, Permanent Waves, and Moving Pictures.  All 3 of them always deliver front-to-back for me.

This thread inspired me to start checking out the whole Rush catalog, as I have not heard every album in it's entirety.  
I was never really that into Rush before (all my friends are though, go figure) but now I'm greatly appreciating them.

Their catalog is overwhelming though...I'm still working through it and making notes and picking favorite songs for a playlist.

Question:  What do you all think of Hold Your Fire?

I really like this album.  Song quality is very consistent.  It's more mellow which I appreciate.  
The musicianship is fantastic, especially the bass lines.  Lyrics are clever.  
The melodies are more subtle, but some are really beautiful.  I can get lost in this album, which is very rare for me - my mind tends to wander during most albums and I usually hit the skip button a lot.  Not so much here.

The song-craft is strong even though there are not any super-obvious hit singles.  
But songs like Open Secrets and Prime Mover are some of their best songs IMO.

I realize this one and Signals don't get much love, but I really enjoy both albums.

Constantine wrote:This thread inspired me to start checking out the whole Rush catalog, as I have not heard every album in it's entirety.  
I was never really that into Rush before (all my friends are though, go figure) but now I'm greatly appreciating them.

Their catalog is overwhelming though...I'm still working through it and making notes and picking favorite songs for a playlist.

Question:  What do you all think of Hold Your Fire?

I really like this album.  Song quality is very consistent.  It's more mellow which I appreciate.  
The musicianship is fantastic, especially the bass lines.  Lyrics are clever.  
The melodies are more subtle, but some are really beautiful.  I can get lost in this album, which is very rare for me - my mind tends to wander during most albums and I usually hit the skip button a lot.  Not so much here.

The song-craft is strong even though there are not any super-obvious hit singles.  
But songs like Open Secrets and Prime Mover are some of their best songs IMO.

I realize this one and Signals don't get much love, but I really enjoy both albums.

I love Hold Your Fire. The run of albums from Permanent Waves through Hold Your Fire is my favorite Rush era. It just hits me right.

Constantine wrote:Question:  What do you all think of Hold Your Fire?

It's good.  Love the opener "Force Ten"

"Time Stand Still" is one of their best songs of the 80's Rush keyboard era.  Same thing with "Mission" which has an even better version with Eric Martin on vocals on a Rush covers album.

But some of these songs are kinda dull for me and a big reason for that is the mellowness and sounding like their trying to get on 80's radio aka "Lock and Key."  This is a different band really in approach and style from 74-81.  It's almost like 80's Genesis compared to 70's Genesis.  Cool bass lines on "Turn the Page."

Last two songs:

^^I don't mind High Water, but Tai Shan is usually a song I skip.

I'll have to listen to Hold Your Fire again. That was always my least favorite Rush album. Used to bore me to tears. 
Come to think of it, I haven't listened to it in YEARS. Maybe since 2008 or so LOL!
I'll try and take another listen before too long.

Test for Echo was the one that did little for me, although Driven is a monster.

Pethead wrote:Test for Echo was the one that did little for me, although Driven is a monster.

Test for Echo is surprisingly dull.  I like the title track and Limbo the best.  
Dog Years is kinda neat for the lyrics.  I'll have to re-listen to Driven.  Overall this one is lots of skip button action.

I enjoy Hold Your Fire but it's not one I listen to much. Now Signals is a great album, the last one with Terry Brown producing and I still listen semi regularly.

I've always liked the Signals album a lot.
It's actually popular and a big seller despite all the naysayers who complain about the synthesizers.