Rush: Top 100 Songs / All the Albums Ranked

First posted 7/29/2012; updated 1/21/2020.

Rush l to r: Alex Lifeson, Neil Peart, and Geddy Lee of Rush

This page includes the top 100 Rush songs and a ranking of all of Rush’s studio albums, as well as significant live releases and compilations. You can also check out the following: Rush’s DMDB Music Encyclopedia Entry Rush Discography Rolling Stone (1/10/2020). “Neil Peart, Rush Drummer Who Set a New Standard for Rock Virtuosity, Dead at 67.” By Brian Hiatt.

Awards:

Top 100 Songs Dave’s Music Database lists are determined by song’s appearances on best-of lists as well as chart success, sales, radio airplay, streaming, and awards. Songs which hit #1 on various charts are noted. (Click for codes to singles charts.) DMDB Top 5%: 1. Tom Sawyer (1981) 2. The Spirit of Radio (1980) DMDB Top 10%: 3. Closer to the Heart (1977) 4. Limelight (1981) 5. New World Man (1982) #1 AR, CN DMDB Top 20%: 6. Fly by Night (1975) 7. Subdivisions (1982) 8. The Big Money (1985) 9. The Temples of Syrinx (Part II of “2112”) (1976) 10. Free Will (1980) 11. Time Stand Still (1987) 12. The Trees (1978) 13. Red Barchetta (1981) DMDB Top 20%: 14. Working Man (1974) 15. Overture (Part I of “2112”) (1976) 16. Presentation (Part IV of “2112”) (1976) 17. Distant Early Warning (1984) 18. Discovery (Part III of “2112”) (1976) 19. In the End (1975) 20. Roll the Bones (1991) 21. The Body Electric (1984) 22. Grand Finale (Part VII of “2112”) (1976) 23. A Passage to Bangkok (1976) 24. Force Ten (1987) 25. Nobody’s Hero (1993) 26. Dreamline (1991) #1 AR 27. Xanadu (1977) 28. Soliloquy (Part VI of “2112”) (1976) 29. Finding My Way (1974) 30. Oracle: The Dream (Part V of “2112”) (1976) 31. Lock and Key (1987) 32. Driven (1996) 33. Show Don’t Tell (1989) #1 AR 34. Bravado (1991) 35. Manhattan Project (1985) 36. One Little Victory (2002) 37. Stick It Out (1993) #1 AR 38. Mystic Rhythms (1985) 39. Far Cry (2007) 40. Entre Nous (1980) 41. Vital Signs (1981) 42. Secret Touch (2002) 43. Red Sector A (1984) 44. Test for Echo (1996) #1 AR 45. By-Tor and the Snow Dog (1975) 46. Lakeside Park (1975) 47. Marathon (1985) 48. In the Mood (1974) 49. YYZ (1981) 50. Ghost of a Chance (1991) 51. Territories (1985) 52. Prime Mover (1987) 53. Animate (1993) 54. La Villa Strangiato (1978) 55. Something for Nothing (1976) 56. Half the World (1996) 57. The Analog Kid (1982) 58. The Pass (1989) 59. Mission (1987) 60. What You’re Doing (1974) 61. Presto (1989) 62. Cold Fire (1993) 63. Between the Wheels (1984) 64. Bastille Day (1975) 65. Resist (1996) 66. Countdown (1982) 67. Superconductor (1989) 68. Headlong Flight (2012) 69. The Wreckers (2012) 70. Circumstances (1978) 71. Cygnus X-1 Book Two (1978) 72. Different Strings (1980) 73. The Twilight Zone (1976) 74. Workin’ Them Angels (2007) 75. Caravan (2010) 76. Anthem (1975) 77. I Think I’m Going Bald (1975) 78. BU2B (2010) 79. Losing It (1982) 80. Not Fade Away (1973) 81. The Weapon (1982) 82. Second Nature (1987) 83. Natural Science (1980) 84. Leave That Thing Alone (1993) 85. Cinderella Man (1977) 86. The Anarchist (2012) 87. Clockwork Angels (2012) 88. Cygnus X-1 (1977) 89. Witch Hunt (1981) 90. A Farewell to Kings (1977) 91. Return of the Prince (1975) 92. Afterimage (1984) 93. Jacob’s Ladder (1980) 94. The Camera Eye (1981) 95. The Garden (2012) 96. The Larger Bowl (2007) 97. Spindrift (2007) 98. Earthshine (2002) 99. Beneath, Between, and Behind (1975) 100. Broon’s Bane (live, 1981) Rush Albums Ranked Dave’s Music Database lists are determined by albums’ appearances on best-of lists as well as chart success, sales, points in the Dave’s Music Database of songs, and awards. This is a ranking of all the studio albums, compilations, and live albums released by Rush from 1974 to 2015. DMDB Top 1000 Albums: 1. Moving Pictures (1981) 2. 2112 (1976) DMDB Top 1000 Albums: 3. Permanent Waves (1980) 4. Hemispheres (1978) 5. The Spirit of Radio: Greatest Hits (compilation: 1974-1987, released 2003) 6. A Farewell to Kings (1977) 7. Chronicles (compilation: 1974-1989, released 1990) 8. Exit…Stage Left (live, 1981) 9. Retrospective I (compilation: 1974-1980, released 1997) 10. Archives (box of first three albums: 1974-75, released 1978) 11. Rush (1974) 12. Signals (1982) 13. Retrospective II (compilation: 1981-1987, released 1997) 14. In Rio (live, 2003) 15. Retrospective III (compilation: 1989-2007, released 2009) 16. Snakes & Arrows (2007) 17. Icon (compilation: 1976-1988; released 2010) 18. Grace Under Pressure (1984) 19. Time Stand Still: The Collection (compilation: 1974-1987; released 2010) 20. Power Windows (1985) 21. All the World’s a Stage (live, 1976) 22. Hold Your Fire (1987) 23. Fly by Night (1975) 24. Clockwork Angels (2012) 25. Counterparts (1993) 26. Roll the Bones (1991) 27. Feedback (covers EP, 2004) 28. Different Stages (live box set: 1978-97, released 1998) 29. Caress of Steel (1975) 30. Presto (1989) 31. Snakes & Arrows Live (live, 2007) 32. Grace Under Pressure Tour (live: 1984, released 2009) 33. Working Men (live compilation: 2002-08, released 2009) 34. Test for Echo (1996) 35. Vapor Trails (2002) 36. A Show of Hands (live, 1989) 37. Time Machine (live, 2011) 38. Icon 2 (live: 1974-88, released 2011) 39. Clockwork Angels Tour (live, 2013) 40. R40 Live (live, 2015)

Rush “New World Man” released

New World Man Rush

Writer(s): Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson, Neil Peart (see lyrics here) Released: August 2, 1982 First Charted: September 4, 1982 Peak: 21 US, 35 CB, 25 RR, 11 AR, 36 UK, 12 CN (Click for codes to singles charts.) Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 1.3 video, -- streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: While it may sound absurd, Rush can technically be called a one-hit wonder. How, you ask? Well, if one uses the Billboard top 40 as the means of measuring hit status, the only song by the Canadian trio to reach those lofty heights was “New World Man,” peaking at #21 in 1982. They did have seven other songs reach the Billboard Hot 100, but the highest was 1981’s “Tom Sawyer” at #44. Of course, Rush were never really about singles anyway. They were always more of an album band. They built their following at radio stations more apt to play album cuts, generating staples such as “Fly by Night,” “Closer to the Heart,” “The Trees,” “The Spirit of Radio,” “Freewill,” “Tom Sawyer,” and “Limelight.” The release of 1982’s Signals became the band’s third straight top-10 album, thanks to more classic-rock staples like “New World Man” and “Subdivisions.” The former was the first of five #1’s on the album rock chart. Rush would surely have had even more if the chart existed prior to 1981. The song was also their only one to reach the pinnacle in their native Canada. “New World Man” was the last song composed for the album. It only took a day to write and record. SF It grew out of a suggestion by Terry Brown, the producer, to round out the lengths of the two sides of the cassette version of the album. WK As singer Geddy Lee said, “It wouldn’t have been on the record if we didn’t have four minutes space available…Our shortest albums are about 18 minutes a side…I couldn’t see us going below that.” SF The song is about a young man who could have it all. However, the same circumstances that could lead to success are the same ones which could cause him to lose it all and cost him the world. Resources: DMDB encyclopedia entry for Rush SF Songfacts WK Wikipedia Related Links: First posted 7/28/2022.