What is your least favorite Rush album? 

What do you dislike about your least favorite Rush album?

really can't get on with either...

A friend told me that the Vapor Trails 2013 remix was a huge improvement on the original.  Is it?  I haven't heard either. 

I'll be honest, to these ears, literally all the tracks sound the same. If I played say Counterparts, at any point I would know what track I was listening to and indeed roughly how far thru the track. Put VT on and I could be anywhere on the album... every time I hear it (and I bought it when it was first released) within a couple of tracks, I have zoned out and lost interest; it's a complete mess.

That's true. I have neither a favourite Rush album, nor a least favourite Rush album. They all sound the same to me, including the seven Rush albums I own on CD. 

Pete Pardo picks

For myself, I've always considered the first two albums to be amateur efforts. In the 80s, Grace Under Pressure, while not terrible, is definitely below par. And while I've heard bits and pieces every now and again, I've never bought a Rush album after Presto, especially after hearing parts of Roll the Bones. 

blimey, which bits are below par? it's one of their most consistent offerings!?

Going into the 90's I had largely forgotten about them until I heard the song Roll The Bones on the radio. That sounded fresh and interesting and brought me back to the band. Admittedly at the time (1991) there was a desperate lack of anything that was remotely interesting so this seemed as good as anything!

First off, let's not blame producer Peter Henderson. He was the band's third choice after being stood up by two other producers, and he was just not the right man for the job. I do not have any problem with the production/engineering side of the album, even if the band does. They really wanted a guitar-heavy album after people criticized Signals for having too many keyboards, so they are responsible for the album's overall sound even before recording began.

The real problems with Grace Under Pressure are 1) the lyrics, 2) the keyboards that do appear on this album, and 3) the overall "doom and gloom" atmosphere. By studio album #10, Rush had become successful beyond their wildest dreams and I think with this album it started going to their heads. It's my understanding that the bandmembers were dealing with personal issues at the time this album was made, and they were also affected by the general "edge of nuclear war" malaise that was constantly in the news. Neil's lyrics had become far more personal (notice all the personal pronouns) and preachy, and a lot less universal in subject and scope. The keyboards issue can be explained with "keeping up with the times", but today they sound embarrassingly dated.

So again, I do not hate this album, but I just find it wanting compared with their other albums of the 1980s. I would rank the 1980s Rush albums (best to worst) as follows:

1) Signals

2) Power Windows

3) Permanent Waves

4) Moving Pictures

5) Hold Your Fire

6) Grace Under Pressure

7) Presto (I still think of this as a 90s album even it was released at the end of 1989).

I'm sorry Steve, I struggle to relate to your criticisms...

1) Permanent Waves (My fave Rush album as a matter of interest) 5/5

2) Moving Pictures 5/5

3) Signals 5/5

4) Grace Under Pressure 4.5/5

5) Power Windows 4/5

6) Hold Your Fire 3.5/5

7) Presto 3.5/5 (3.25/5 would be fairer)

8) Roll The Bones 3/5

The 80's for Rush were a simple case of 'law of diminishing returns' thru the decade...

agreed, Rich... I still own their albums up to HYF as there are tracks I still really like despite the off-putting wall of synthetic synths, redolent of the era..

GuP has always been near the bottom for me as well. I can't really explain why but it just doesn't click with me. I rarely listen to it anymore. Between The Wheels though is one of my favorite Rush songs. 

This . . . :-)

1) Moving Pictures 5/5

2) Permanent Waves 4.5/5

3) Signals 4.5/5

4) Hold Your Fire 4/5

5) Grace Under Pressure 3.5/5

6) Power Windows 3/5

7) Presto 2/5

8) Roll The Bones 1.5/5

After the disappointing Presto and the almost cringeworthy Roll the Bones I quit following Rush. The only post-1991 album I have heard in its entirety was Clockwork Angels, which was a return to form (4/5).

You should take a peek at Counterparts. I don't know if you'll like it but it has all of the balls that Roll The Bones didn't plus 300% more.

That is harsh and wrong. 

I can't say I agree. 

corrected 

I don't understand the question or statement .....As well the highlighted sentence should answer your question, there is a reason for that.

I agree but it was the seventies albums that made Rush the behemoth band that had room to experiment in the 80's and move outside of itself.

I bought Hold Your Fire used and sold it right back to the used record store.

I regret that decision.  It's a fantastic album.

If forced to choose, I'm not really fond of the debut.  It's too much standing in Led Zeppelin's shadow.

All the other albums are at least great, which is a testament to just how incredible and creative this group was.

Snakes & Arrows

Both are practically unlistenable to these ears.  

I used to not like Power Windows and Hold Your Fire, but now love both.  So....maybe in a couple decades I'll come around on Counterparts and S&A.  

Word....For me if my life depended in it would be Test For Echo, but only because I don't spin it that often.

Mr Skeletor, any new music coming out?? 

Yes!

Ten new songs this year.  Just need the sports season to wind down.

I gave up teaching and I'm now a sports editor.  Once the lazy days of baseball get underway, I can finish the new project.  It is called, Moments Between Light.

Garage bands often covered "Working Man" in that era!  

That title is very cool .....Keep us posted on the release date. I assume you will have a release party with beer and chocolate cake?? 

I still play Refulgence....

I think mostly Rush were a great band up to Signals with their album run from 2112 being one of the identifiable better album runs covering 6 albums. Possibly the band started to run low on inspiration around the time of Grace Under Pressure (although personally I rate that album very highly). Power Windows is the album that maybe divides opinion most and could be rated anything from 2 stars to 5 stars legitamately. Just depends on taste. HYF is where most agree the band truly dipped and I think generally it was a time where pop and rock music was in the gutter. Rush were not the only band churning not very interesting stuff. Once we got to the 90's there was a full on rock revival and with it 'traditional' sounding progressive rock came back. The bands that were the pillars of the movement back in the day (Rush included) could not turn the clock back that easily even when as in the case of ELP and Yes they wanted to. Rush decided they had paid their dues but at least carried on putting out great live shows. Different Stages is a testament to that. Vapor Trails was a return to form but by this time they had become (or reverted to) a hard rock band with few pretensions. This trend definitely started with Roll The Bones as the art side of the music was largely removed. Presto was an anaemic album and not a great measuring stick and showed them at a crossroads. 

I generally agree....I personally love both GuP and PW and enjoyed that era of the band where they were moving forward with synths to accompany Lifeson's guitar.  Regarding HYF, for many years I couldn't stand to hear any tracks from it.  In the past few years it has grown on me so I no longer throw shade on it.  

Around the time of Grace Under Pressure, there were continuous rumors about the band taking a "solo album sabbatical" due to all of the "record biz" frustrations they were dealing with at that time. No, they didn't hate each other, nor were they considering breaking up, but all three members also had growing kids and were concerned that the "album - tour - album - tour" cycle was becoming too hard on their families. So with all the "nuclear war" headlines, the record biz issues, and the personal issues, it's no wonder the resulting album is really kind of a downer and more difficult to listen to than the other albums from that same decade.    

Up to that point, pretty much every album had my attention. Only COS seemed weak. But I regained faith in the band with Presto, an album that many here seem down on. That's OK. The thing about Rush is that they were certainly not "one-note." Their heavy reliance on synths was a bit challenging. But their guitar-heavy albums really pump.

Signals remains my favorite Rush album of all time. 

The people have spoken. 

what's "ST"?! 

is it "self titled"? Ok... 

I dont listen  to either early lp either and Echo might be better than Bones to some.

Oh, and Driven live rocks! Normally I prefer studio versions of songs but this is a clear exception.

I agree that You Bet Your Life is pretty bad but not as bad as Out of the Cradle on Vapor Trails. It's the only Rush song that I've never been able to get even to the point of rating it as tolerable.

I don't agree that Show Don't Tell is better than Dreamline. Dreamline is a killer tune. the rest of RTB, not so much. There is just so much "meh" about RTB. 

That and 1586th poll about this or that. 

I understand this place was a lot more vibrant in the years before I joined. 

I'm pretty sure I heard them all at least once, even the ones I hated (late 80's) and loather (early 90's).

I'd say that as well, but there are still some valid stuff on PW and MP. 

Signals bores the hell out of me, but it's still ok-sounding

Where the trouble really starts is with GUP and PW, but it (the music, not the sonics) does get steadily worse with every new album until TFE.
 

Other than that, the last two are OK (but no more), but I prefer S&A to CA, so I'd say that S&A is their best since Moving Pictures, but there is miles between them.

I saw that tour in 1990 in Maryland, the big blow up bunnies ala Pink Floyd was kinda goofy for Rush. 

And yes, quite boring around here......

My comment was more about the stylistic change. The Rush that became so massive and kicked some life back into the prog scene when it was under attack (by punk) is represented on 2112, FTK and Hemispheres. After that they wanted to be 'cool' like that other very popular 3 piece The Police. Somehow they managed the transition perfectly and PW and MV are quite rightly recognised as classics and I rate Signals nearly as highly.

I listened to GUP recently and expected to dislike most of it but actually I like it a lot. The lyrical themes are worryingly topical as well. Power Windows has one of Rush's greatest tracks (Manhattan Project) but is steely cold sounding and a bit too samey throughout so does get a bit boring. After that they went through a 'wimpy' phase before getting their act together. I still reckon that Different Stages is their best live album. Most of their best material resides on that album and its 'straight from boards' sound is perfect to my ears.

My favorite three album "block" from anything post Moving Pictures is Power Windows through Presto. I only got into Rush around 1980 and my first new Rush album (as in the first album I bought upon release) was Signals, which was a pretty big change from Moving Pictures. 

It's a covers album.