THESE are the TOP 10 BEST RUSH SONGS

The top ten songs by Rush? Is that even possible to determine?

Rush has over 170 songs spread out over 19 or so studio albums. To determine which are the ten best seems an insurmountable task. There are many favorite songs, WAY more than ten. But I said to myself...

Challenge accepted!

It took me years, after the final album and final show of Rush, to determine which are the ten best Rush songs of all time. There are MANY opinions, but what I'm trying to do here is make as objective a list as possible. IS it possible?

See for yourself! If you have opinions about the best Rush songs, feel free to leave them in the Comments section, and follow my recommendations in the video.

Have fun!

References:

Sources:

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[joshuataylor]

One of my favorites that nobody seems to mention is Here Again. It really stands out from the rest of the debut album because of its complexity. I've tried to figure out the song's meaning, but it still baffles me.

[quark]

Very nicely done. Good rules. Very defensible choices including the surprising top choice. (Okay, not that surprising when you think about it.) Thanks much.

[r]

Love your input and passion from one fellow rush fan to another.

Loved the #1 choice wasnt expecting it, but honestly this is a very solid list and mine wouldnt be too different. I think for me, my ‘favourites’ would be quite different from my ‘best’ list. I agree re tom sawyer too - not one of my faves but undoubtadley one of their best.

I would probably try and squeeze natural science in here or cygnus book 2, but that might be me being subjective as theyre 2 of my faves.



35 yr old fan
Uk

[vladbarr]

Thanks for your work and your passion for our beloved band. I say beloved and I really mean it. I listen to some other band but Rush and me, it is simply LOVE. These guys have been with me since my childhood. Cliché but, they ARE the soundtrack of my life. The passing of Neil pained me like the loss of a an older brother, a wise and respected older brother (a contrast to my real life older brother).But enough of me being sentimental here... back to your list... At first, when you called out the songs, I was surprised and even tend to disagree a bit for some of them... But your explainations cemented your choices in a very solid thought process. I think you nailed it. I could passionaltly write all day about how this song and that song played out in my life experiences but this comment is getting longer and longer so, take good care of the love and respect for the band, as we all do. Bless Neil, bless Alex and Geddy. and bless you my friend, for your palpable passion.

[brettking]

Daunting task my friend, but a good list. Any Rush fan could make modifications, but I won’t. 😁. You could really open up the field by doing a “top 10 deep tracks” list. That would give a lot of us more room to argue for our pet favorites…I really enjoyed this!

[vittogalianodrums]

Let me tell you Omar that it is not my list, but let me also tell you that I have never been more in agreement with a top 10 list like the one you have prepared. The way you have argued each song and each position on the list, and you ended up surprising me with it number 1 that after you named number 2 I think everyone who saw the video including me yelled a loud WHAT??? !!! you convinced them with your number 1 and I totally agree with your list although it's not my list 🤣 🤣 🤣 great Video Omar like always!!

[inthedream]

I feel like my list is quite unique
10. A Farewell To Kings
9. Cygnus X-1 book 1: the Voyage
8. The Necromancer
7. Countdown
6. Red Barchetta
5. Losing It
4. 2112
3. Natural Science
2. Subdivisions
1. Cygnus X-1 Book 2: Hemispheres

This list isn’t based on popularity, simply just what I prefer. Hemispheres is by FAR my favorite Rush song, it’s just a brilliant epic and is one of the best songs every written. But Signals is my favorite Rush album. Good list man!

[WarPriest]

Loved the insertion of Tai Shan!! That was awesome!!

I'm replacing "Time Stand Still" with "Natural Science" and it's an easy replacement. There just isn't a better and more important representation of RUSH during that era than "Natural Science." It absolutely should be on the list. Otherwise, it's a very interesting list and while I don't know that your #1 is really their best song, I like the fact that you put it there.

[DM-heug]

Brave man narrowing it down to only 10!! Great selection. Interesting analysis of Time Stand Still. I've never really checked out the lyrics cos it's one of the few Rush songs I've never liked- too 'poppy' for me. I prefer Mission off the same album instead (live version is superb). Toss up between Finding My Way and Working Man off the 1st album (combined live version on ATWAS is a good compromise, complete with 'The Professor's' great drum solo). Nice comments re The Pass lyrics too. Xanadu live (ESL) spot on. So many other 'best songs', but for me, if you switch in Freewill and Distant Early Warning for The Pass and TST, it''s complete. (P.S. Hemispheres would be my no.1 of all time, if allowed).

[MrTimZoR]

Solid list, I would probably rank Marathon and Mission higher than some of your choises but it's hands down impossible to make a top 10 without missing some songs, there are way to may good to chose from! By the way, i noted that all your songs has been played live. Do you have any thoughts on making a top 10 of songs that never were played live?

ps. you named chapter 9 to "the path" and not the pass :)

[markjohnson]

I liked the irony of playing 'Tai Shan' in the background, their most unanimously hated track in their catalogue, while Geddy is talking about a possible greatest song inside him that hasn't come out yet.
I am not sure that I would choose The Garden for the number one spot, but surely as a magnificent finale. I would have placed Anthem and By-tor and the Snowdog somewhere around the eight and nine spots instead of Closer to the Heart. 2112 as a whole piece certainly deserves at least second or third from the top, if not the number one spot. Followed by Tom Sawyer, Spirit of Radio, Freewill, and personally I think Witch Hunt is one of their best conceived and most perfectly delivered songs of their entire catalogue. Deserves to be head to head with Freewill or Tom Sawyer at least. Circumstances is an absolute banger that is always overlooked but still stands for me as one of their greatest. OK...Here is my list
2112
Tom Sawyer
Freewill
The Spirit of Radio
Witch Hunt
Red Barchetta
Circumstances
Xanadu
Natural Science
By-tor and the Snowdog
Sorry Working Man didn't make my list, I love it of course, but it is not really a Geddy, Alex, Neil piece. That first album is fantastic and really sits in a classic hard rock category separate from the rest of their releases with Neil. I invite fans of Working Man to also focus on tracks like Take a Friend, What Your Doin, Before and After, In the End, and that strange one:
I Think I'm Going Bald To fully appreciate the hard blues-rock swagger that exemplified their first phase.

[caravann]

I think red barchetta needs to be in somewhere .I think its the embodiment of rushes playfulness .it's a car tune like deep purple highway star etc. The showcase of geaddy just bass and voice no keys and Al keeping it whole just soaring in the back making it sound like 5 people and not like 3 Canadian dudes just at garage play😁

[fretlesstuba]

This is a great list! Balanced, fair and well thought out. I can’t fault any of your choices. I’m 57.. an old school hard rocking Rush fan. Love the first 3 albums. My tastes is from the 70s and 80s. Zeppelin, Sabbath, Yes, Kiss, Van Halen. But surprisingly or maybe not, for me Clockwork Angels is easily top 5 in the Rush catalog along side w Hemispheres, Moving Pictures, Permanent Waves, and 2112. Lastly I’m 100% on board w The Garden being #1. No better way to go 💙👍🏿

[hfvfkft]

I agree with your list. I guess i never gave The Garden a chance because i hated listening to their last studio album but from what i heard of it- i have to agree it belongs in top 10. Maybe not #1 but very precise and well explained list.

[charlesdauphin]

Holy F! You totally got me with the intro to Tai Shan. I was screaming in my head: "HOW can The Garden NOT be the #1 song on this list, especially after seeing Time Stand Still and The Pass in there?". As i was judging by your choices, and the rationale behind each one, I was fully hoping The Garden would be #1. It sums up EVERYTHING that RUSH have been doing their whole career, and fittingly closes what would be their ultimate album. Ever since the news of Neil's passing, this has become the anthem of RUSH's career, from the nerds growing up in Toronto's suburbs, to the stars shining in the Limelight, Garden was their humble, parting gift to all us fans and lovers of well written music and lyrics. The measure of a life is indeed the measure of love and respect, so hard to earn, so easliy burned; in the fullness of time, a garden to nurture and protect.

[BrendaNelson-llls]

I love all the songs you chose for the top 10 list. However, I was watching to see if you were going to choose "Natural Science" to be on this top 10 list. It was not. 😥It's always been my favorite Rush song to hear live. The musicianship and lyrics are outstanding. This song it absolutely mesmerizing. I'm not going to replace it with any of your choices. "The Garden" is a beautiful masterpiece. Alex Lifeson on keyboards is priceless.

[PaganWizard]

As tight lipped as Neil, and EVERYONE who surrounded him were, and how they all went out of their way to hide the illness that would take his life, Neil still managed to give us, his fans, a subtle warning. In an interview about "Clockwork Angels" he said something along the lines of feeling under pressure to get the album finished before it was too late. I wish I could find that interview so I could share it here. I'm glad you insisted on mentioning John Rutsey. Without John Rutsey, there quite possibly never would have been, Rush, as we know them today.

[rushfan]

Neil was at the launch, and paints the picture, one of my with the back it was a farewell to all of us

[Ti]

It also depends if you like more the 70’s rock mood of Rush till Farewell to the Kings, maybe you like more Moving Picture vibes or Power Windows, you can like more from Hemispheres to Presto. Then maybe you like harder rock music like from Snakes and Arrows or some tunes of Counteroarts or Rolle the Bones. It also depends if you enjoy a short song or a long ones, because someone could say tha 2112 its a bangger, but in my case I only consider its first two parts like one of the best songs I’ve ever heard.

[TheMentalblockrock]

1. Xanadu (can't believe you put this one no3, I agree with Rick Beato.)
2. 2112
3. The Trees
4. Spirit of the Radio
5. Closer to The Heart
6. Red Barchetta
7. Tom Sawyer
8. A Passage to Bangkok
9. Lime Light
10. Working Man