For many prog giants the 1980s was a challenging era – and the same can be said for Rush, who endured mixed fortunes during the decade in which they released Permanent Waves, Moving Pictures, Signals, Grace Under Pressure, Power Windows, Hold Your Fire and Presto. In 2016 Prog listed the 12 best songs from those seven albums.
Ah, Rush in the 1980s. They began the decade as one of the biggest prog metal bands on the planet, and ended it with certain factions of their immense fanbase scratching their heads at a perceived lack of direction or over-reliance on synthesizers.
It’s worth noting that in 1980 the band were playing five nights at London’s Hammersmith Odeon on the Permanent Waves tour, then a year later is was three nights at Wembley Arena in support of Moving Pictures. Even on their final UK appearances of the 80s – for Hold Your Fire in 1988 – they were still packing them in at three Wembley nights.
Given that they kicked off the decade with the majestic Permanent Waves and followed it with the imperious Moving Pictures, it would have been easy to compile this list from those two albums alone. But in the spirit of fairness, and because the remainder of the band’s 80s output featured some stellar tunes, we’ve spread things out a little.
12. Time Stand Still (from Hold Your Fire, 1987)
Time has not been kind to 1987’s Hold Your Fire album. Geddy Lee once said he’d be a happy man if he never heard Tai Shan again, and Alex Lifeson is hardly a fan either. But powerful album opener Force Ten certainly hits the right note, pipped here only by the sheer songwriting finesse of the single Time Stand Still, which remains one of the band’s most accessible songs.
It also features a fine vocal performance from US artist Aimee Mann, duetting with Lee – a first for the band. Mann also appears in the horribly dated promo video, the less said about which the better…
11. The Body Electric (Grace Under Pressure, 1984)
Many didn’t take too fondly to Grace Under Pressure on its arrival, but time has proved the doubters wrong. True, it’s not on a par with the band’s first three albums of the 80s, but set against the Cold War backdrop of the period, the album’s dystopian themes and sound have aged well.
It’s also a tough call to take just one song from the record – but we’ve opted for The Body Electric’s story of a humanoid’s attempts to break from the structures of its robotic society. Inspired by a Ray Bradbury story, it perfectly sums up the feel of the whole LP.
10. The Pass (Presto, 1989)
From 1989's often overlooked Presto comes The Pass, a song Neil Peart wrote having shared a bicycle ride with a close friend as they discussed juvenile suicide. Despite the delicate subject matter – which the drummer later revealed was the hardest piece on the album to write – The Pass was a big band favourite. It was also the main reason Peart wanted to re-record the album in full, if they’d ever had the chance.
9. The Big Money (Power Windows, 1985)
Power Windows remains a big favourite among its creators, hitting the right note between the use of technology and crashing analogue chords. Never was that more prominent than on The Big Money, a single that also perfectly encapsulates the album’s themes of manifestations of power.
Rolling Stone once referred to the album as the link between Yes and the Sex Pistols. But then they’ve never understood Rush, have they?
8. The Analog Kid (Signals, 1982)
Reports that Alex Lifeson was angered by the increased use of synthesizers on Signals to the detriment of the guitar have abounded for years. But there was still much of his skilled six-string work to be heard all over the album as the band adapted to change – something now seen as a prime factor in the trio’s longevity and success.
This up-tempo rocker gives plenty to appease the hardcore rockers in the fanbase, and made a welcome return in the Clockwork Angels tour set list.
7. Marathon (Power Windows, 1985)
Amid the turmoil raging from 1982 to 1989 over the increased use of synths in Rush music, Marathon is a perfect balance of both sides of the band’s character, with both Lee’s keyboards and Lifeson’s guitar taking their respective bows.
Lee’s opening bass expresses the rhythm of the marathon runner; and the song depicts writer Peart as an allegory for life itself: keep going, tackle life’s obstacles – but don’t push yourself too hard and burn out on the way.
6. Jacob’s Ladder (Permanent Waves, 1980)
Just to prove they hadn’t entirely broken with the past, Rush provided a couple of epics on Permanent Waves. The best was Jacob’s Ladder, a song inspired by the natural phenomenon of sunlight breaking through the clouds – an allegory for the Biblical vision of angels seen by Jacob.
Weaving through a myriad of time signatures, the song also nods towards the band’s fondness for Led Zeppelin. And despite Geddy Lee’s assertion on the R40 tour that the song hadn’t been performed live previously, it featured in the 1981 live album Exit… Stage Left.
5. Red Barchetta (Moving Pictures, 1981)
Red Barchetta is here primarily because it highlights Peart’s abilities as a storyteller, which, as the 80s dawned, were taking on a more nuanced style. Inspired by Richard Foster’s 1973 short story A Nice Morning Drive, Peart tells the tale of a forbidden journey and high-speed chase; and the “gleaming alloy air car” always evoked memories of Luke Skywalker in his landspeeder.
Barchetta, Italian for craft, also refers to two-seated vehicles in the motor world. Oh, and it’s also got a killer riff.
4. Subdivisions (Signals, 1982)
The first two Rush albums of the 80s showed the band becoming more streamlined in their writing, then the third, 1982’s Signals, saw them dive headfirst into the heady waters of new technology sweeping the decade. Predictably it didn’t sit too well with those hankering for Fountain Of Lamneth Part Two, accusing the band of sounding like The Police on the single New World Man.
The pulsating synth sound that drives Subdivisions on became a staple of the band’s live shows, while the lyrics returned to themes of alienation present in Moving Pictures’ Limelight.
3. The Spirit Of Radio (Permanent Waves, 1980)
It might have been the album that signalled a shift to some shorter songs, but in Permanent Waves opener The Spirit Of Radio, Rush had a bona fide gem to kick things off.
Fired on by Lifeson’s crystal clear riff, the song – inspired by their hometown radio service Toronto CFNY – proved a hit on stations around the world, introducing the band to a whole new audience unaware of their 70s predilection for sword, sorcery and sci-fi epics. It became their most successful UK single, reaching No.13 in March 1980.
![Rush - Spirit of the Radio [Music Video] (HQ Audio) - YouTube](https://img.youtube.com/vi/F179XHVn8S8/maxresdefault.jpg)
2. Tom Sawyer (Moving Pictures, 1981)
“We had more trouble with that song than almost any other song. I had real doubt about whether the song was working at all,” Geddy Lee once told Prog about the making of Tom Sawyer. It was clearly worth it though as – the track is among the best-known tracks in Rush‘s impressive canon of work.
It was inspired by a poem entitled Louis The Lawyer, written by Pye Dubois of Max Webster, who co-wrote it with the band. “It went from being this immovable thing to the obvious candidate to open the record – that opening and then Neil’s drums,” recalled Lifeson. “But I do remember it being a real relief to tick off the chalkboard.”
And here's a curio for you: the song was used as the opening music to the Brazilian dub of the spy TV show MacGyver!
1. Limelight (Moving Pictures, 1981)
Alongside The Spirit Of Radio and Tom Sawyer, Limelight is one of Rush’s most memorable songs, and one of the most popular in broadcast media.
As every fan worth their salt knows, the lyrics deal with Peart’s increasing feelings of isolation as the band’s stature grew, encompassed in such emphatic lines like “One must put up barriers to keep oneself intact” and “I can’t pretend a stranger is a long-awaited friend.” The solo was always Lifeson’s favourite to perform live.
