Musical Musings From the Wild: Ranking the Rush Epic-Length Songs!

Join Pete Pardo as he ranks some of Rush's epic-length songs. #rush
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[@seaoftranquilityprog]

7 minutes and up!

[@garyjoyce2160]

Don’t lie now Pete. 6.59. The GARDEN. lol. By the way, for the assignment I played all 16 selections ( two times each) today. Damn, I know like my top 3 ( which I love) but there is some “ bangers on this list. Great stuff/ looking forward to it. No RIGHT answer anyway !! 👍💯

[@JaredRobbins2]

Hey Pete. You should rank the Iron Maiden epics next! Lots of epics there.

[@Shawn-1971]

Rime #1​@@JaredRobbins2

[@DavidRold-pt3ng]

Pete, Rush did do Cygnus Books 1 & 2 live. I'm pretty sure it was on the Hemispheres tour. Either that tour or Permanent Waves tour. I've seen them so many times. But it was really cool. They had a screen in back of them with the Rocinante going into the black hole, it was really cool. I've been a Rush fan from the very beginning & I love all these songs. So here's my list. 1. 2112 2. La Villa Strangiato 3. The Garden (I absolutely love this song. I think it's so different for them & such a beautiful song) 4. Xanadu 5. By-Tor & The Snow Dog 6. Cygnus X-1 Book 1: The Voyage 7. The Necromancer 8. Natural Science 9. Cygnus X-1 Book 2: Hemispheres 10. The Fountain Of Lamneth 11. The Camera Eye 12. Here Again 13. Jacob's Ladder 14. Working Man 15. Headlong Flight 16. Clockwork Angels

[@commonman317]

Can't argue about "By-Tor". The live version is so good. Especially, Alex's solo in the middle, which sounds loud and raw.

[@georgelamie7001]

16. The Necromancer 15. The Fountain of Lamneth 14. The Garden 13. Working Man 12. Here Again 11. Clockwork Angels 10. Headlong Flight 9. By-Tor and the Snow Dog 8. 2112 7. Cygnus X-1 6. Jacobs Ladder 5. Xanadu 4. The Camera Eye 3. La Villa Strangiato 2. Natural Science 1. Hemispheres

[@michaelbenz8092]

1. Xanadu 2. La Villa Strangiato 3. By Tor and the Snowdog 4. Cygnus X-1 5. Necromancer 6. Working Man 7. 2112 8. Hemispheres 9. Here Again 10. Jacob's Ladder 11. Natural Science 12. The Camera Eye 13. The Fountain of Lammeth 14. Headlong Flight 15. The Garden 16. Clockwork Angels

[@usmcfutball]

Fans unite for 'Xanadu'!

[@camwatters-iz5bs]

The camera eye and Xanadu are my 2 favourite rush songs

[@marcusguinn1157]

Being five years older than Pete, I was so blessed that my teenage years were 1974 thru 1980, and Rush was an amazing early discovery and hugely popular amongst my friends down here in SE Tennessee. Their sound was freshly unique and instantly grabbed your heart, mind, and attention. We would routinely pile into our friends’ cars with only the best car stereos just to listen to Rush cranked up to “11”. What an awesome topic tonight, Mr. Pardo!!! Here is my list: 1 The Necromancer 2 By-Tor And The Snow Dog 3 2112 4 La Villa Strangiato 5 Xanadu 6 Working Man 7 Cygnus X-1 Book II: Hemispheres 8 Cygnus X-1 Book I: The Voyage 9 The Camera Eye 10 Natural Science 11 Jacob's Ladder 12 Here Again 13 The Fountain Of Lamneth 14 The Garden 15 Headlong Flight 16 Clockwork Angels

[@webbvandiver9139]

Love you having Necromancer at #1! I think it’s the first progressive metal song ever recorded.

[@donaldkennedy9573]

I became a teen in 1974 too. By-Tor and The Snow Dog is at my top Rush Epics.

[@dsallen7914]

I'm pulling for Xanadu. Possibly my favorite Rush track from the whole catalog.

[@jonholland6067]

It is incredible!

[@knightvisioniixv]

"Xanadu" is definitely my personal favorite track from the catalogue.

[@greenygreen5308]

Yep I agree

[@Rmesick-hm6yq]

I agree. Xanadu is my favorite Rush song as well

[@rogertemple7193]

Rush is a really great Canadian power trio from hard rock to prog with a lot of awesome songs and popular albums thanks Pete.🎶📻🎶

[@joseantoniomarmol6324]

Loving this series Pete, beyond cool! I would love to see IQ featured here… BTW, new album coming soon!! Cheers

[@markandersen5187]

Good timing for this show after choosing Caress on your morning show of albums celebrating 50yrs...also Geddy speaking in Charlotte tonight for Holocaust Remembrance day✌️

[@Baz63]

Natural Science is my favourite of their epics but The Garden is so emotive and the most magnificent song for this great band to sigh off.

[@justinkooijman1716]

Hi Pete, La Villa Strangiato live is not on All the world’s a stage, it’s on Exit Stage left but who cares 😅

[@gaznathemoon1128]

Geddy slices Mercury in half with those vocal cords in Here Again..love that song!!

[@markandersen5187]

1. La Villa 2. Natural Science 3. Xanadu 4. 2112 5. Hemispheres 6. By-Tor 7. Camera Eye 8. Jacob's Ladder 9. Cygnus X-1 10. Working Man 11. Necromancer 12. Fountain of Lamneth The final 4 will bounce around for me....🤘

[@RickNBacker]

They did play Book 1 and 2 back to back on the Hemispheres tour! I saw it at Nassau Coliseum.

[@michaelfavreau7617]

My 2 favorite Rush songs are Natural Science and the Camera Eye. I can`t decide which I prefer

[@damiankarras]

The Camera Eye always reminded me of School or Fool’s Overture from Supertramp.

[@damiankarras]

Rush did perform Cygnus x1 both songs back to back. It’s included on the Permanent Waves special edition live cd from London. Pretty much the whole thing

[@patrickhogue8790]

I was waiting for the Farewell to Kings title track. It seems more epic than 5:51. Great list!

[@lovelacetunes]

2112, DSOTM, Genesis LLDOB. 3 albums we absolutely loved while trying not to burn our fingers or burn a hole in the carpet!

[@justamops]

Off the top of my head: 16. Here Again 15. The Fountain of Lamneth 14. The Necromancer 13. Clockwork Angels 12. Headlong Flight 11. The Camera Eye 10. By-Tor and the Snow Dog 9. The Garden 8. Cygnus X-1 Book 2: Hemispheres 7. Jacob’s Ladder 6. Natural Science 5. La Villa Strangiato 4. Cygnus X-1 Book 1 3. Xanadu 2. 2112 1. Working Man There, I said it. I admire Neil’s lyrics tremendously, but even though he didn’t write it, Working Man is to me one of the greatest of all Rush songs. Its lyrics don’t need to be better than they are - they say everything that needs to be said, in an ideal fashion. And, it’s one of the all-time great guitar songs. It had to be at the top for me.

[@christianhaynes1954]

Love Rush , thanks Peter 👍you da man brother 🤟

[@Shawn-1971]

My favorite band thank you! My #1 is Natural Science

[@daanthing6002]

Hard to rank but By-Tor is definitly the one i play most. Awesome song with great production.

[@Princess2112-e5d]

I really enjoyed listening to your video. I'm a huge Rush fan and have been lucky to see them 7 or 8 times. I havent made up my top 20 songs but my top 3 are Number 1 WORKING MAN, number 2, 2112 and number 3 BY-TOR AND THE SNOWDOG.

[@joebesta78]

Its funny after looking at all of the comments lists, that most either have 2112 at the top or way down the list. Some people just think the album is overhyped I presume. Great job Pete..... I love them all !! I listen to 2112 on the 21st of every month at 12 o'clock (fReAk)

[@dusty3913]

Headlong Flight was sooooo good live! Ged’s bass was thunderous and the song kept building, seemingly getting louder every minute. Amazing live. This and Natural Science are my all time favorite epic LIVE tracks. I know that’s not really the category here, but I wanted to share.

[@nicholasrosebush6182]

The Garden is a masterpiece. So beautiful

[@johnw706]

An excellent ranking . Here's my top 5 : La Villa Strangiato 2112 Xanadu Jacob's Ladder Working Man Cheers !

[@commonman317]

Some of Neil's best hi-hat work is on the "Hemispheres" album.

[@randyhenderson6166]

1) La Villa 2) The Garden 3) Jacob's Ladder 4) By-Tor 5) Working Man 6) Natural Science 7) Xanadu 8) Cygnus Book II 9) Camera Eye 10) 2112 11) Cygnus Book I 12) Clockwork Angels 13) Necromancer 14) Headlong Flight 15) Here Again 16) Fountain of Lamneth

[@lateramae]

This may sound strange, but "Before and After" reminds me of "The Necromancer" because both take listeners on a musical journey with a peaceful and melodic beginning, then kicks butt with the heavy bits!

[@markrichardson8378]

My top 3 all time favourite rush songs are on this list. 1st,xanadu 2nd,la villa strangiato 3rd,the camera eye.

[@ProggiestMinnesotan]

Been a huge Rush fan forever and The Camera Eye to me has to be their most underrated song.

[@thomasvarady1210]

My absolute favorite Rush track…

[@mse1576]

“We have assumed control!”

[@davidkahler2053]

hemispheres number 1 in my book

[@pemberley6431]

Rush are on my shopping list when i go to Sydney next. There is a great metal/Rock shop in Sydney called "Utopia Records".........Thanks Pete:)

[@RickNBacker]

C'mon, how do I rank these?! They're all great! Xanadu Cygnus X-1 Book 2 La Villa Stangiato Natural Science 2112 Bytor & the Snowdog Jacobs Ladder Headlong Flight Cygnus X-1 Book 1 Camera Eye Working Man The Garden Necromancer Fountain of Lamneth Clockwork Angels Here Again

[@jasonb328]

When I listen to Cygnus X1 Book 1, I hear the seeds of Meshuggah.

[@tonyslupe3828]

1) The Camera Eye 2) The Fountain of Lamneth 3) Xanadu 4) Natural Science 5) Hemispheres 6) Jacob’s Ladder 7) Here Again 8) Headlong Flight 9) By Tor….. 10) Clockwork Angels Mix up the last five. Just make sure Working Man is 16. Never understood the love.

[@daveycretin664]

Too bad this video’s running time wasn’t 21:12.

[@b.g.5869]

So close too...

[@christianhaynes1954]

Haha nice

[@carlgibbons5777]

1. The Camera Eye 2. Jacob's Ladder 3. The Garden 4. Natural Science 5. Xanadu 6. LaVilla Strangiato 7. Cygnus Book 1 8.Working Man 9.Headlong flight 10. Cygnus Book 2 11. 2112 12. Clockwork Angels 13. The Necromancer 14. Fountain of Lamneth 15. By Tor and Snow Dog 16. Here Again

[@mikemoniz4441]

I watched the video with in trepidation. So many times I have watched you and your lists wondering how you pick one song over another. All these songs can go in any order, depending how someone connects to it. But "THERE CAN BE ONLY ONE" at number one and you nailed it this time. In my mind, nothing Rush did before or after 2112 comes close. Not to say that any of their other music is not great, it's just the "Sistine Chapel" of rock to me. Nice video.

[@jonholland6067]

I hope the fountain of lamneth and the necromancer are included! Perhaps By Tor and the Snow Dog as well!

[@garyjoyce2160]

Jon. Pete said. The GARDEN at 6.59. He will include !! 👍💯

[@jonholland6067]

@@garyjoyce2160 awesome!!!

[@markandersen5187]

LA Villa will be #1

[@aaronsteelman4732]

My third favorite band of all time behind Floyd and Genesis. This list was particularly hard for me. But “The Camera Eye” keeps rising. So good. “2112” still can’t be displaced on my list, though.

[@lubbertwestra7452]

Thank YOU Pete for this episode. Being my fav band of all time, its special to me.

[@habovay3]

Thanks, Pete. The live "La Villa Strangiato" of which you speak is on "Exit...Stage Left" (1981), not "All the World's a Stage" (1976). Speaking of ESL, I've always felt its track of "Xanadu" far outperforms the studio version, especially the opening-instrumental segue from "The Trees."

[@thomasvarady1210]

Strongly agree…

[@mikeychrisanthus9948]

If we’re doing recommendations, I would really like to see Renaissance at 9+ minutes. They’ve also got 16 songs I believe for that criteria.

[@peterhopewell9431]

No 1 always Xanadu for me. First song by Rush I ever heard, actually by accident as I'd put a late night uk music show on to see Talking Heads play Pscho Killer! Video came on of a band I'd never heard of (I was 16) playing Xanadu and I was hooked. A fan ever since.

[@fitfaststrong5380]

1. Xanadu 2. La Villa 3. Hemispheres 4. 2112 5. Natural Science

[@matthewmarois235]

The Camera Eye is one of my favorite Geddy vocals. Great tune. So hard to pick the top 5...La Villa, Xanadu, 2112 could all be my #1. Camera Eye and Working Man fill it our

[@andreasb4202]

1. Cygnus Book II 2. Cygnus Book I 3. Xanadu 4. By-Tor 5. 2112 6. Natural Science 7. La Villa 8. Camera Eye 9.Necromancer 10. The Fountain

[@ChonkyMIG-15]

My top 10: 1. Xanadu 2. La Villa Strangiato 3. By-Tor And The Snow Dog 4. 2112 5. Cygnus X-1 Book 2 Hemispheres 6. Natural Science 7. Cygnus X-1 Book 1 8. Jacob's Ladder 9. Working Man 10. Fountain of Lamneth

[@brucedickinson12]

Love the fountain of lamneth

[@iceclimbers22]

I couldn’t agree more with your number 1 Pete. It’s been my favorite Rush song and album for a long time. The ‘Temples of Syrinx” stands toe to toe with the heaviest metal ever written and I will die on that hill.

[@greenygreen5308]

1. Xanadu 2. Jacob’s Ladder 3. la Villa 4. 2112 5. Working Man 6. Cygnus X1 7. By -Tor 8. Hemispheres 9. Camera Eye 10. Necromancer 11. Here Again 12. Natural Science 13. the Garden 14. Fountain of L 15. Clockwork Angels 16. Headlong Flight. The top 4 here competes with the best of Yes, Genesis, Floyd. Etc as the best that prog rock has to offer IMO.

[@rickmolen7977]

The Camera Eye is the checkmate song in Moving Pictures. The Camera Eye is why Moving Pictures is their best release.

[@thomasvarady1210]

My absolute favorite Rush track…

[@Claymore5]

Epic doesn't do that list justice......unbelievable!

[@krom9897]

1. Xanadu 2. La Villa Strangiato 3. 2112 4. Jacob’s Ladder 5. The Camera Eye 6. The Fountain of Lamneth 7. By-Tor and the Snowdog 8. Cygnus X-1 9. The Necromancer 10. Natural Science 11. Working Man 12. Hemispheres 13. The Garden 14. Clockwork Angels 15.Headlong Flight 16. Here Again Very hard to rank all of these epics and my rankings can easily change fairly often.

[@brandonbelt5055]

1) Jacob's Ladder 2) Xanadu 3) La Villa Strangiato 4) Cygnus X-1 Book One 5) Cygnus X-1 Book Two: Hemispheres

[@coachplyoguy2637]

Clockwork Angels is a beautiful song!

[@philip-edwardphillis4313]

Oh man it hurts to see camera eye so low but fair enough! Tough to rank Rush songs admittedly

[@donhadfield2835]

1. 2112 2. Xanadu 3. La Villa Strangiatto 4. By Tor 5. Working Man 6. Cygnus Bk 1 7. The Garden 8. Cygnus Bk2 9. Clockwork Angels 10. Fountain of Lamneth 11. Jacobs Ladder 12. Headlong Flight 13. Natural Science 14. Camera Eye 15. The Necromancer 16. Here Again

[@R2Zmedia]

Xanadu, By-Tor & Jacob's Ladder would be my top 3.

[@CoreyArsenault-c8t]

I always found it strange that they hard stopped making them after the camera eye would have been cool if instead of a few of the lesser songs on counter parts or test for echo they did a dream theater type epic

[@markwilburn4962]

Xanadu off of Exit...Stage Left was my initial gateway to Rush so I definitely have a soft spot for that. Both Cygnus tracks are phenomenal along with 2112. Camera Eye has moved up my list over the years along with Jacob's Ladder. La Villa Strangiato is one of the best instrumental tracks ever. And they finished their career so strong with The Garden and Clockwork Angel's too. Great list and gotta say with just a couple of exceptions, I'm not too far off of your rankings.

[@GilesScrott]

I haven't heard some of the recent ones and am not a great fan of Natural Science era so I have done a top 10 which seems to be from the first six albums only: 1 - Xanadu 2 - 2112 3 - La Villa Strangiato 4 - Hemispheres 5 - Here Again 6 - Working Man 7 - By Tor and the Snowdog 8 - Voyage 9 - Fountain of Lamnath 10 - Necromancer

[@augustgeary5538]

Natural science (my fav rush song) 2112 The necromancer Working man Here again Xanadu By tor and the snow dog Jacob’s ladder Hemispheres The camera eye Cygnus x-1 La villa strangiato Clockwork angels Fountain of lamneth The garden Headlong flight

[@knightvisioniixv]

"Xanadu" is #1 for me. "Cygnus X-1 (Book I)" is easily my #2. "La Villa Strangiato" is probably my #3, and the title track to 2112 my 4th. The rest I'd really have to think about.

[@usmcfutball]

Xanadu...talk about musicianship! Glorious. Neil has a hundred percussives to choose from yet my favorite moment is that simple, direct, two-measure snare fill in the verse. WOW!

[@utvf68]

1. Xanadu 2. La Villa Strangiato 3. Jacob’s Ladder 4. 2112 5. Cygnus X-1: Book 2 6. The Camera Eye 7. Natural Science 8. Working Man 9. Cygnus X-1: Book 1 10. By Tor and the Snow Dog 11. Headlong Flight 12. The Fountain of Lamneth 13. The Garden 14. Clockwork Angels 15. The Necromancer 16. Here Again

[@josh-v2h]

What's the best Rush song and why is it Xanadu?

[@ykmgeedee]

Clockwork Angels 120 The Fountain of Lamneth 84 Here Again 73 The Necromancer 67 The Garden 53 Headlong Flight 46 By-Tor and the Snow Dog 33 The Camera Eye 24 Working Man 21 Cygus X-1 18 Hemispheres 14 Jacob's Ladder 12 La Villa Strangiato 11 2112 10 Natural Science 9 Xanadu 7

[@oy6793]

La Villa Strangiato no 1 for me ,hemispheres being my favorite album

[@frank215n]

Headlong Flight is the best Rush song since the early 80's. Production was a little muffled and Geddy's voice was a little strained but this is song would have fit in with Hemispĥers,Permanent Waves or Farewell

[@strangeways75]

1.) 2112 / 20.33 2.) La Villa Strangiato / 9.35 3.) Natural Science / 9.17 4.) Headlong Flight / 7.20 5.) The Garden / 6.59 6.) Working Man / 7.10 7.) By Tor & Snow Dog / 8.37 8.) The Camera Eye / 11.01 9.) Cygnus x 1 / 10.25 10.) Cygnus x 1 II / 18.08

[@SeriouslyLarry]

The narration in The Necromancer is actually Geddys voice slowed down, not Neil. Oh & it's LamNeth not Lammeth.

[@seaoftranquilityprog]

I did say Lamneth…

[@rexsmetzer]

Very nice Pete!!! ⭐️⭐️⭐️

[@mandydog1962]

Hey Pete, great ranking episode! By the way, both Books of Cygnus X-1 were played on Rush’s ‘Tour Of The Hemispheres’. I saw it in January 1979 in Louisville, Ky. Toto was the opening band.

[@Bernie-musiclover]

Great episode, Pete.

[@craigburgess7105]

Great episode. Similar age to you Pete. I was into music from very early (my folks had a lot of 60's 7" singles which would play a lot on an old drop down gramophone/record player when I was wee) started buying music from the age of 11 onwards ( some bought for me some from pocket money) and got into all sorts of music (late 70's early 80's a fertile genre time) including rock and metal. First metal album I bought was Iron Maiden 1st on release and the second was 2112 in 1980. The 2112 epic blew me away when I played it ( had never heard it until I bought it - as was the way back then ). This led me into loving Rush and going to see them in 81or 82 (Exit Stage left period). Next was Sabbath Bloody Sabbath then House of the Holy and then I reckon 5th might have been Praying Mantis or Tigers. Love the pods.

[@C_Melvyn_James]

It is almost ironic that you chose Working Man and By-tor, one after the other. If you have a good listen to Rush Live at Electric Ladyland Studios, which they recorded not more than a few weeks after Neil joined the band, they have a few songs written for Fly by Night, which they performed that day. When they play Working Man, they do a balls-out, bust up the furniture jam-session in the middle which is obviously (I think it's safe to say) the beginnings of what would become By-tor and the Snow Dog. I remember when I realized that. It hit me like a brick in the face.

[@magnuswettermark8293]

The Camera Eye..

[@hopey65]

Thanks Pete, great show, one of the best ever. Love Rush, my favorite band, hard to disagree with those rankings.Cheers

[@nicholasscott7860]

This show is so amazing!! Thank you oh Canada!

[@davej9228]

Next challenge rank the songs under 4 min. Hint #1 is Circumstances

[@markjohnson4217]

Either Xanadu or 2112 belong at the top of the epic list for Rush. Okay lets go with this: 2112 Xanadu Hemispheres Natural Science The Necromancer By-tor and the Snow D Jacob's Ladder La Villa Strangiato Cygnus X1 The Fountain of L The Camera Eye

[@markjones4451]

2112 😂, so good

[@commonman317]

Rutsey's drum work on "Working Man" are top notch, and should get recognized. Neil is my drumming hero. But, when Neil did "Working Man" on the "ATWAS" live album, I really didn't like his choppy, start and stop drumming approach to "Working Man". Rutsey kept the groove moving, and served the song better on the studio version. Just my opinion.

[@iceclimbers22]

Huge missed opportunity not making this video 21 minutes and 12 seconds!

[@rightchordleadership]

Natural science makes my top 5 easily.

[@tedmallar4049]

Sweet has a prog song over seven minutes called The Healer from Give us a Wink. great song! ~ 🎶

[@damiankarras]

Dream Theater have 33 songs that are over 10 minutes long

[@1oriss]

I think my luggs must be defective. Been a Rush fan since the 70's and while there are very few Rush songs I don't like, one of the songs on this list that gets a regular high rating Jacobs ladder I have never cared for, and would be dead last on my list. But as Pete says we all here things differently.

[@neugey]

I love this series!

[@Matty0923]

2112, Hemispheres, Xanadu, Cygnus X-1, La Villa Strangiato, Natural Science, Camera Eye, By Tor & The Snowdog, Working Man, Jacob's Ladder, Necromancer, Fountain Of Lamneth, Headlong Flight, Clockwork Angels, Here Again, The Garden.

[@webbvandiver9139]

Tried to type this in live chat kept messing up - Attention all planets of the solar federation- 7 words said 3x = 21 We have assumed control - 4 words said 3x = 12 Coincidence? 🤘🏻🤔

[@ScottBerry-yn8rw]

Great episode Pete! No bad songs here. My own personal ranking of these incredible epic length tracks: 1. Xanadu 2. 2112 3. Cygnus X-1 Book I: The Voyage 4. Cygnus X-1 Book II: Hemispheres 5. The Camera Eye 6. La Villa Strangiato 7. Jacob's Ladder 8. Natural Science 9. Working Man 10. By-Tor And The Snow Dog 11. The Fountain Of Lamneth 12. The Necromancer 13. The Garden 14. Headlong Flight 15. Clockwork Angels 16. Here Again

[@tonyslupe3828]

Love you Pete, but La Villa is not on All The Worlds…. But this was a great show!!!

[@seaoftranquilityprog]

Obviously, I meant Exit Stage Left...

[@usmcfutball]

1) Xanadu / Every day of the week and twice on Sunday. 2 and 3) Cygnus X1 and Hemispheres / Mention must be made of the "...to be continued" teaser in between albums. Genius! 4) 2112 / The Professor's drumming changed my life. 5) Working Man / Alex front and center but Rutsey more than holds his own!

[@dusty3913]

Great topic and list. There’s no wrong order.