I saw them 14 times over the years, many memorable shows and songs played. One of the top highlights was seeing Vital Signs played when they did the entire Moving Pictures album. To see a band perform a song better than the studio version takes a lot of things to make it happen. Energy, timing, sound system, trust, cohesion with each other, etc. They made it look easy.

It's missing some of the best work towards the later years as it only goes to 89. So technically, it only covers half of their career, but it's a starting point.

Yes. You never listened to Grace Under Pressure or Power Windows? You missed some of their best work.

I would guess the later albums will definitely get some representation on the machine. Far Cry for certain.

Mine as well. It's a truly perfect song. Just how the chorus re-arranges itself back into the main riff with Neil's drums is perfection.

Permanent Waves has the excellent Entre Nous.

Great freakin song - especially live. I bet Red Sector A will make it.

People marveled all over Neil, and I get it. He was one of the best.

But Geddy played bass (at a high level of musicianship), does all vocals, plays keys, and bass pedals. All in the same song and live too. He's a fucking boss!

It's a freakin great song! Probably one of the better from the latter period.

Was REALLY hoping Red Sector A or Mystic Rhythms would get a slot on there - something from the synth era which is my favorite. Although Big Money made the cut - so all is not lost.

I guess this is like the first true "prog" pin?

I thought YYZ was Morse code for the musical pattern of the song....

No - Abacab was named after the sections of the song bits Genesis was putting together. Another great band though!

Here is what I found about YYZ....

Title and composition

YYZ is the IATA airport identification code for Toronto Pearson International Airport, of Rush's native area of Toronto. It is common practice for air navigation aids to broadcast their identifier code in Morse code using VHF omnidirectional range (VOR). A plane using VOR equipment would then always know it's tracking the right station. The song's introduction, played in a time signature of 10/8 (not 5/4 as the eighth note clearly is receiving the beat, not the quarter note), repeatedly renders the letters "Y-Y-Z" in Morse Code using various musical arrangements.

You talk about an elite group of musicians that get no respect! Saw a few shows on their recent (last) tour in the states, and I was surprised at the crowd levels for a band that had not released any music for 29 years.

...and they should. That was some impressive and hilarious material. The best was probably the Alex segments from Snakes and Arrows - bizarre but interesting as well.

Wow! Would have loved to see some of those shows from the 80's! I first saw them on the Presto tour - having missed Hold your Fire. If only I could have seen Hold your Fire or Power Windows (isn't Mystic Rhythms one of the best songs ever?)

I might have missed it - but any word on who is doing the art?

The first DLR album is way better than it ought to be. Some damn fine songs on it.

My parents dropped me off as well back when I was 16. There is no way in I would do that today with my kids. Hell - my 20 year old went to a metal show a few weeks back and I was nervous as a dog in a Chinese restaurant. With age, comes experience and the knowledge of how full of shit the world (people) really is.

I'll take YYZ and Red Sector A.

It's a masterpiece.

Nice list there.

I used to love The Pass when they did it live for a few years back in the late 90's. They also pulled it out for the Vapor Trails tour.

Speaking of Vapor Trails - I forgot how insane this was.....

I don't think any of their re masters are worth it. Only one I would upgrade on is vapor trails.

Rush in rio is the best.

Sounds good to me.

Animate would be kick ass.

And Alex.

Impressed with what I see so far. Having the band be that involved is a huge bonus. Thanks to Ed for making that happen.

Leaning towards the Premium art package -although the album covers on the cab on the LE are a nice touch.

While they didn't really have hit singles, their newest videos were played on MTV pretty regularly and they sold out a lot of indoor arenas. Many bands from that era were not single makers, but had deep followings, KISS is another example. Not every video with high airplay was a top ten single and vice versa.

For radio - the classics were always played and the newest single here and there, but the deep cuts never made it. I used to hate Rush - all I heard was Freewill (still hate the song with a passion), Tom Sawyer, Subdivisions, etc.

When I was hanging out one day at my friend's house (I was 17), we always listened to music (albums). I heard Distant Early Warning, Afterimage, and Red Sector A together - in a row. Those 15 minutes changed my (musical) life. I was dumbfounded when I found out it was RUSH.

The rest is history as they say.

Gene and Paul have many times talked about their friendship with Rush - even mentioned in their books a few times, including Neil's books.

There was a photo of Paul and Geddy and Alex on an airport tarmac a few years ago - they were passing through and caught up briefly.

Bravado is a great song BTW - just sayin.

In high school - there were two kinds of people. Those who "got" RUSH, and those who didn't.

Don't worry about - just go spend some time on ACDC, GNR, MET, etc. Those bands are much more accessible and easier to digest.

It's interesting, we all love the same band but have different tastes. My favorite era is the synth era(79-89), but also love the later period including Presto, RTB, Counterparts, etc. Vapor Trails has some great stuff on it, but Headlong Flight does nothing for me, nor does A Farewell to Kings or Hemispheres. But a lot of people love that era and it's awsome. We don't have to like the same songs - long as we love the composers right?

If you really want to see a civil war, go wander into a Genesis forum some day.

I never saw that before. Beyond words.....

Ordered a Pro - but one thing that concerns me is what appears to be the constant changing of songs with shots. I need to hear one song or most of one song all the way through, and not have a medley of 20 seconds of each song at a random pace. KISS and MET did this nicely. Hope this isn't an issue.

That's not cool at all. One of the reasons I sold Maiden was because of that.

We're going to get 15 seconds of Cygnus at a time? Hopefully this is changed on a later update. Again - MET and KISS got it perfect. LZ is pretty good too - can totally rock out to the songs, find the rhythm and grove playing pinball.

Speaking of perfection.....

Not bad at all. The Grace Under Pressure set list is even better.

Animate is the shit. Many others are good as well. It’s like Sgt Peppers... not many singles but a whole album of great songs.

Between the Sun and the Moon, Cild Fire, lots of great tracks. Best of the pre Vapor Trails/post synth era.

no zodiaks or almanacs or maniacs in polyester slacks...

Good points. I love most of their material - each of it has a little bit of something different. They had to change as to do the same type of music over and over and over gets boring as hell.

While I like RTB (the music, not the phiolosophy behind it) as I look back on it, the last of the complete albums were Counterparts and Vapor Trails. Everything else has a few good tracks on it, but a lot of filler.

Someone mentioned Hands Over Fist recently - loved that song!

Listen to this baby. I think it's a federal crime to treat a bass like Geddy is on it.

It has a few good songs on it, with Bravado being the best which includes his trademark double speed roll at the end. They played Dreamland WAYYYYY to long on tours after the album. They must have liked the song a lot.

I fundamentally disagree with the album's philosophy, but luckily able to separate it from the musical creativity on it.

Can’t be. We’ve been told RUSH is unknown outside the US.

Listen to Cold Fire.

Pretty cool that Lyman loved Animate. Probably one of my top 5 RUSH songs.

One album not to overlook is Vapor Trails. Yes the original mix was piss poor, but Ghost Rider, Secret Touch, Earthshine, and Peaceable Kingdom are all great songs. Secret Touch and Earthshine were great live tracks with a lot of energy behind them (see Rio).

Remix is much better, but find live versions - such as on Rush in Rio, or even R30. Neil gave everything he head on Secret Touch live - the intensity and complexity of the drums is amazing.

Hand Over Fist is my favorite track on that album.

You don't like Hand Over Fist but like Madonna?

Besides Get Into the Groove, Madonna's music is shit. Just like Culture Club - Just sayin.

I can't believe I missed that reference, and I love the movie Heavy Metal. Consider me schooled and I apologize.