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 “Subdivisions” released

Subdivisions Rush

Writer(s): Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson, Neil Peart (see lyrics here) Released: October 22, 1982 First Charted: September 25, 1982 Peak: 8 AR, 53 UK, 36 CN, 2 DF (Click for codes to singles charts.) Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 22.8 video, -- streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: After pulling off their only top-40 hit with “New World Man,” the lead single from Signals, Rush went right back to familiar territory. “Subdivisions” was released as the second single from the album but failed to dent the Billboard Hot 100. The song did reach the top 10 on the album rock chart. In fact, it hit that chart a month before it was released as a single. Rush would place 42 songs on that chart with 20 of them reaching the top 10. The number would have been even more impressive had the chart existed prior to 1981. Lyrically, the song explores “how narrow-minded and judgmental people can get when they are confined to certain groups.” SF It deals with “the pressure to adopt certain lifestyles,” WK specifically for teenagers “dealing with a ‘cool’ culture and a comfortable yet oppressively mundane suburban existence in housing divisions. Anyone who does not obey social expectations is regarded ias an outcast; the lyrics flatly describe a choice of ‘conform or be cast out.’” WK Drummer and lyricist Neil Peart said it is “an exploration of the background from which all of us (and probably most of our audience) have sprung.” SF This was a turning point for Peart as Rush lyrics had typically been based in fantasy. He said, “I didn’t believe yet that I could put something real into a song…’Subdivisions happened to be an anthem for a lot of people who grew up under those circumstances, and from then on, I realized what I most wanted to put in a song was human experience.” SF Musically, Peart said, “It was an important step for us, the first song written that was keyboard-based. The upside of that: people don’t realize is that it made Alex and I the rhythm section. So the first time he and I tuned in to each other's parts was when Geddy was playing keyboards. It was a great new way for us to relate.” WK Peart is the one who says the title of the song during the chorus although the video portrays guitarist Alex Lifeson saying it. The video interspersed shots of the band playing live with images of suburbs in Scarborough, Ontario, and high school scenes shot at L’Amoreauex Collegiate Institute in the same area. WK The lead character was played by Dave Glover, a student there. WK Resources: DMDB encyclopedia entry for Rush SF Songfacts WK Wikipedia Related Links: First posted 7/28/2022.