The Garden When Ram4 posted this back in June, I wasn’t familiar enough with the Rush catalog to get the joke. I skipped ahead to check out the song, realized the joke, and then went back to Counterparts. I’m glad I didn’t spend too much time on it back then because it has been great to experience it in the context as the “last song on the last album”. To me, the whole song pivots on the melody in these lines: “So hard to earn, so easily burned” and “The way you live, the gifts that you give” followed by “in the fullness of time”- this melody is so good. Yes, the song is based on Candide, an 18th century text, but I like how Neil inserts the modern “the cells tick away” - I can visualize the telomeres shortening on chromosomes as cells reach the end of their lives. It’s such a Neil thing to do! Yes, this is really good. Nothing beats a repeating arpeggio to wind down a song.
“Live for yourself, there's no one else More worth living for Begging hands and bleeding hearts will only cry out for more Though I know they've always told you selfishness is wrong Yet it was for me not you I came to write this song” “The measure of a life is a measure of love and respect So hard to earn, so easily burned In the fullness of time A garden to nurture and protect It's a measure of a life The treasure of a life Is a measure of love and respect The way you live, the gifts that you give In the fullness of time Is the only return that you expect” Neil’s first and his last lyric. Not completely disparate; in fact, the whole garden premise is pretty much, “Take care of yourself and the rest will fall in place” but the differences in tone and general outlook are obvious.
The Garden: A poignant, yet an excellent album closer. Everything musically that is Rush comes together in this emotional ballad which is reminiscent of 'The Sphere'. If they plan to release an anthology of the bands work, perhaps for their 50th, this song better be on it to close the set out. Clockwork Angels (Revisited): It's been fun listening and discussing the album proper. I forgot how much I love this album and foolish that I mothballed the album in my collection for a few years. So it was great rediscovering the album once more. So anyway, although I am disappointed that this is the last one, I am happy that the band went out on an ambitious high note.
The Garden... ...just lays me bare. That it is Rush's swan song makes it all the more poignant. It may not be Rush's "best" song, but it certainly is their most beautiful. The final statement of a career is also a meaningful statement of life itself. It is a glorious culmination on multiple levels with multiple meanings fitting into multiple contexts. This nexus is no doubt the greatest capstone of any band's career. It was also a glorious live performance when I saw the CA tour.
Ranking Clockwork Angels I loved this album when it came out despite the distracting sonics. Having gone through it song by song here, my appreciation has only grown, and I've even made peace with the sound now, so it's even better than that. This is one brilliant freaking album. I had it at number 2 in 2012 (behind only the great late Asia outing, XXX), but I now elevate it back to #1. Other than the obvious limitations on Geddy's vocals peeking through in a couple places, this thing is super solid through and through. Their only full up concept album is a major winner and a fantastic way to finish their incredible run. The Wreckers The Garden Headlong Flight Caravan Clockwork Angels Seven Cities of Gold Wish Them Well The Anarchist Carnies BUTB Halo Effect BU2B2 1. Moving Pictures (#1 in 1981) 2. 2112 (#3 in 1976) 3. Hemispheres (#1 in 1978) 4. Permanent Waves (#2 in 1980) 5. Signals (#1 in 1982) 6. A Farewell to Kings (#2 in 1977) 7. Clockwork Angels (#1 in 2012) 8. Hold Your Fire (#1 in 1987) 9. Fly By Night (#5 in 1975) 10, Roll the Bones (#2 in 1991) 11. Power Windows (#4 in 1985) 12. Snakes and Arrows (#2 in 2007*) 13. Rush (#7 in 1974) 14. Caress of Steel (#14 in 1975) 15. Grace Under Pressure (#5 in 1984) 16. Test for Echo (#2 in 1996) 17. Vapor Trails (#4 in 2002) 18. Counterparts (#10 in 1993) 19. Presto (#14 in 1989)
I know there are several that don’t get the ranking thing, but I care, especially now that we are at the end. For example, I find it fascinating to know that Fischman, after all of the months of reading his comments, finds Presto to be the Rush album he likes the least.
And Mark has Power Windows second to last! Only ahead of the s/t. I am not judging anyone’s opinion of the album itself. What surprises me is that Mark has it that low. Based on my mental image of what Mark has enjoyed (I honestly can’t recall his specific thoughts on Power Windows), I would have thought Power Windows would have been just below the mid-point. Here’s mine: Moving Pictures Permanent Waves Power Windows A Farewell to Kings Snakes and Arrows Grace Under Pressure Hemispheres Signals Clockwork Angels Hold Your Fire Counterparts 2112 Fly By Night Presto Test For Echo Rush Caress of Steel Roll the Bones Vapor Trails Top 5 Songs Spirit of Radio Tom Sawyer Limelight Natural Science Anthem
It's really quite interesting seeing how everyone views the catalog, to me. I can't do the @The MEZ thing ... but I know lots of folks get into it. I've tried, but it just never seems right for me.
That sort of surprises me too. I don't think it helped that I didn't really get a chance to give it full attention, because everything blew up at that time. I really want to like it, but on my hobbled attempt to go through it and find its heart I just get washed away by the splashiness of it .... I like delay and reverb, but something about that album just doesn't click with me, and like I say, at the time my attempt to revisit it properly was hobbled... so it is the only album that really didn't get a fair hearing from me
Interestingly, Presto wasn't at the bottom when this thread started. Counterparts was. I didn't come to appreciate Presto less, but as a result of the discussion here I came to appreciate Counterparts more. This has been a great thread.
"The Garden" is an extraordinary song - easily the best on Clockwork Angels and one of the best of their post-1980s career. It's obvious that they knew it was the end. The piano works so well here. For once, Geddy's diminished vocals suit the song perfectly and, in fact, his younger voice would have sounded rather ridiculous singing these stirring lyrics against this grand and elegiac music. A beautiful way to bring down the curtain.
For me... The Garden is Rush’s swan song. I had this feeling, when I heard this song the first time. As I said, it is the best song on the album... no other song comes close IMO. It is the only song on CA I would take on a "Best of Rush" list.
A few thoughts on summing up Clockwork Angels. Before participating in this thread, if somebody had asked me which Rush album I thought was their best after their "classic" era ended, I would have said "Clockwork Angels". I no longer think so. Apart from the rather appalling sonics of the album (I'm not sure whether the original Vapor Trails is worse or better than this one in that respect, which says it all), I find the album's concept/storyline completely muddled and of virtually no interest or relevance to me whatsoever. I feel like Neil lost track of the story midway through and grew bored with it and so, to finish out the album, wrote a batch of songs that only relate to it in the vaguest terms. Perhaps the realization that this was most likely going to be the final Rush studio album dawned on him and he decided there were other, more personal things he wanted to write about. There are some good songs here as well as a couple of excellent ones, but, on the whole, this thread has made me realize how much I had underrated Snakes & Arrows. It's simply a far, far better album than Clockwork Angels and now holds the crown as the post-classic era Rush album I consider their best. I think I'd probably hold Clockwork Angels in higher esteem if it sounded as good as Snakes & Arrows does, but I still don't think the quality of the songs is nearly as good. Clockwork Angels tracks in order of preference: "The Garden" "Clockwork Angels" "The Wreckers" "Seven Cities Of Gold" "Wish Them Well" "Caravan" "BU2B" "The Anarchist" "Halo Effect" "Carnies" "Headlong Flight" "BU2B2" Updated ranking of Rush non-compilation albums: 1. Power Windows 2. Moving Pictures 3. Hold Your Fire 4. Permanent Waves 5. A Farewell To Kings 6. Signals 7. Caress Of Steel 8. Grace Under Pressure 9. Hemispheres 10. Snakes & Arrows 11. R30: 30th Anniversary World Tour 12. Snakes & Arrows Live 13. A Show Of Hands 14. 2112 15. Fly By Night 16. Vapor Trails 17. Different Stages 18. Rush In Rio 19. Clockwork Angels 20. Grace Under Pressure 1984 Tour 21. Test For Echo 22. Roll The Bones 23. Exit...Stage Left 24. Time Machine 2011: Live In Cleveland 25. Presto 26. All The World's A Stage 27. Counterparts 28. Rush 29. Feedback Top 6 songs: 1. "Time Stand Still" 2. "The Big Money" 3. "Red Barchetta" 4. "The Spirit Of Radio" 5. "Xanadu" 6. "Subdivisions" Dropping out: None. There's been no change to my top 6 songs since Hold Your Fire and given that the last two Rush albums are live, this is my final Top 6. I will be going through the last two live albums in detail (I've never heard them) and so will add them to my album rankings to satisfy by completist OCD.
Ranking the Studi0 Albums 1. Moving Pictures - pretty close to perfection. 2. Permanent Waves - not far off MP. 3. 2112 - this album put them on the map for a reason. 4. Signals - my first exposure to Rush, this album has a special place for me, as well as a unique sound. 5. Counterparts - the later period album where the sound, production and songwriting come together the best. 6. Power Windows - a sparkly gem, sometimes I wish it was more hard rock, but the quality in sound and songwriting is undeniable. 7. Hemispheres - would be higher except it's on the short side and the title track is not quite as good as 2112. 8. Grace Under Pressure - I like the synth years. Songwriting is great but production is a step down from Broon years. 9. Clockwork Angels - This album has so much strong material. It could be higher than CP except for production issues. 10. A Farewell To Kings - Some people put this near the top but its a little uneven for me. 11. Roll the Bones - Some great songs along with some not-so-great. 12. Vapor Trails - If they didn't remix this, it would be lower. Miss the guitar solos but love the emotion. 13. Presto - A good solid album, pushing them back towards hard rock. Wish it had a thicker sound. 14. Snakes and Arrows - Good production but the singing and songwriting is a little spotty in places. 15. Hold Your Fire - Some good stuff but getting too close to adult contemporary in places for my taste. 16. Fly By Night - A solid album considering they are a young band still finding their sound. 17. Test for Echo - feel bad putting it this low, but it just lacks a certain - umph. 18. Caress of Steel - I think they bit off more than they could chew given where they were at the time. Ambitious but doesn't quite hold together. 19. Rush (s/t) - All three legs of the stool were not in place for this one. It just can't compete with the later albums. 20. Feedback - Maybe if they really made the songs their own, it could compete with the rest of the list. As it stands it is merely enjoyable. I'm pretty firm on the first few at the top and bottom. The order between 5 and 17 is much more fluid. I could rearrange those on any given day. Rush is one of the few bands where I do enjoy all of their albums.
Simply gorgeous. The vocal and oh that solo. Great way to end it. Thanks for the memories , Lee, Lifeson & Peart! And thanks @mark winstanley for this thread ..Well done!
I always find it surprising that so few concept albums manage to hold their ground as a concept on close inspection. This seems like a very valid possibility, to me.
Best albums Moving Pictures Hemispheres Permanent Waves Signals Power Windows A Farewell to Kings Grace Under Pressure Counterparts 2112 Hold Your Fire Clockwork Angels Presto Vapor Trails Roll the Bones Snakes and Arrows Test For Echo Fly By Night Caress of Steel Rush Best 5 Songs Tom Sawyer Subdivisions La Villa Strangiato YYZ Natural Science
Glad you enjoyed it mate. I have a much better grasp of the band now, and hold them in very high esteem. A remarkably good catalog for a band that generally seemed to stay on the fringes of superstardom.
The Garden: almost a paradox of a song, as if I listed my top three on this album it would likely not feature. Yet, speaking objectively, I may also contend it is one of the very best efforts of the later Rush period. It is a delightful track, with the string, piano and acoustic arrangement treated with a light touch. Geddy's vocal works well to deliver a poignant and fitting epitaph to Rush's stellar career. "It is what it is – and forever". Clockwork Angels overall: this falls between the two stools of Vapor Trails and Snakes and Arrows. It doesn't quite live up to the standard of the latter, but in part that is due to issues with the quality of the sonics as in the former. It is not egregious like Vapor Trails was, but a clearer production would certainly have elevated this album somewhat. And we also can't shy away from Geddy's failing abilities; whilst not detracting from the album in any tangible way for me personally, it is so evident on some of the tracks. Clockwork Angels sits squarely in the middle of this 19-studio album collection. And so we come to the final reckoning. It will be interesting to revisit this in six months, or a year's time to see how things may have changed. Certainly, I would not expect 1-4 to shift at all, but my appreciation for a couple of other albums may grow (i.e. Hemispheres and A Farewell To Kings). Not being invested in Rush at any point of the actual lifespan of their career has helped here I think: I came into this thread with no preconceptions about which era of Rush was, or should be considered 'the best' and I have been able to simply take each album on it's own merits, without the influence of any nostalgia. The individual track listing is slightly more spurious, as it is more subject to change on any given week, but throughout I've tried to give a fair representation of my favourites without being overly influenced by any particular album that was on heavy rotation for this thread. I think this is a balanced representation of my top 40 Rush tracks. The Wreckers comes in hot at no.15 as the sole entry from Clockwork Angels. That so many quality tracks are not featured - and that all parts of their career are - is a testament to the standard Rush set over such a lengthy period of time. It has been a pleasure participating on the thread over the past months and I'm sure we'll do it again on another (*cough* Lizzy *cough*). Thanks to Mark for his time and efforts particularly.
Still pondering what's next. When the dust has settled from the overload I gave myself this year, I'm going to suss out what I'm going to do. Lizzy are certainly in the mix though.... A similar situation for me with Lizzy as I was with Rush, familiar with a couple of mid period albums, but like everything I've heard.
My favs: Moving Pictures Permanent Waves A Farewell to Kings Signals Grace Under Pressure Hemispheres Snakes and Arrows Counterparts Hold Your Fire Fly By Night 2112 Power Windows Clockwork Angels Roll The Bones - I such luv Bravado, Dreamline, Ghost Of A Chance Big Wheel though Rush Test For Echo Presto Vapor Trails remix-(Original would be last) Caress Of Steel Thanks you all. I like this thread and Mark dids such great
