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Writer's pictureMichael Curzan

The Worst and Best of Caress of Steel and 2112

After I ranked the songs on Fly by Night, I decided to rank some more albums. So, here are two more Rush albums, ranked in my personal opinion, from worst to best. The first one is Caress of Steel. This one is regarded as one of their worst albums, so ranking it was difficult. But here is what I came up with. I am considering the songs "The Necromancer" and "The Fountain of Lamneth" to be three and six separate songs, respectively, to make the ranking easier, because some parts of those songs are better than others.


#12: "Didacts and Narpets" (The Fountain of Lamneth) -- it's just so weird. Once you listen to it, you'll know what I mean.

#11: "Panacea" (The Fountain of Lamneth) -- it's also weird. They could have done something with this one, but they didn't, and it turned out pretty forgettable.

#10: "The Fountain" (The Fountain of Lamneth) -- they could have ended The Fountain of Lamneth with something better than this. Also, at some points you think it's over, but it isn't.

#9: "Into the Darkness" (The Necromancer) -- I liked the visual lyrics, but other than that it was forgettable.

#8: "No One at the Bridge" (The Fountain of Lamneth) -- this is somewhat memorable, and it feels like an early prototype for something from their next album. Other than that, it doesn't stand out very much.

#7: "Return of the Prince" (The Necromancer) -- this one was all right. It concludes the song rather well, and it is sometimes released as a single. The weird part was that it randomly brings back By-Tor from the previous album, but he's the hero now.

#6: "In the Valley" (The Fountain of Lamneth) -- this was a nice way to start off this extended track.

#5: "Under the Shadow" (The Necromancer) -- I really liked the guitar and the powerful vocals in this one. It sounds a bit like something from their next album.

#4: "Bacchus Plateau" (The Fountain of Lamneth) -- this is the catchiest part of the Fountain of Lamneth, and it feels like the song is going to end here. However, it doesn't.

#3: "I Think I'm Going Bald" (Short Song) -- this one could easily go nearer to the bottom if I were ranking these based on how much they made sense. This song is just weird, but it also has some moderately good sounds in it, and there is a nice message of sorts, about that it is good to go bald.

#2: "Bastille Day" (Short Song) -- this one is genuinely good. It is very powerful and straightforward.

#1: "Lakeside Park" (Short Song) -- this one has to take the cake, especially because of the theme being about good memories and childhood fun. What could be more fun to a kid than a theme park or carnival sort of place?


Well, that was Caress of Steel, so here is 2112, one of their best albums of all time. The song "2112" will be counted as separate songs for this list, as the quality varies slightly.

#12: "Tears" -- this one is just really slow and boring.

#11: "Soliloquy" (2112) -- this one is like Tears, but at least it's part of a story and it contributes something to it.

#10: "Lessons" -- this one just feels boring and not so memorable.

#9: "Something for Nothing" -- this one is similar to Lessons, but it sounds better and it is more memorable.

#8: "The Twilight Zone" -- this one is also sort of boring in places, but at least it has interesting lyrics that are based on the TV show.

#7: "Oracle: The Dream" (2112) -- this one has nice lyrics and good guitar sounds, but there is just so much competition that it has to be resigned to the lower half of this list, just barely.

#6: "Grand Finale" (2112) -- this is mostly an instrumental, but there are some spoken words at the end. It does a wonderful job of concluding the song.

#5: "Discovery" (2112) -- this does a great job of building up from tuning a guitar to actually playing it, and it also links up with the next song in one of the smoothest transitions ever, much smoother than anything from Caress of Steel.

#4: "Overture" (2112) -- this introduces the main themes of the extended track, and it is one of the most iconic intros of any song Rush has made, right up there with the likes of Tom Sawyer.

#3: "A Passage to Bangkok" -- this is not part of the 2112 extended track, and it is the only other song on this album to surpass much of 2112 itself in terms of quality. It is just a really good song.

#2: "Presentation" (2112) -- I like how it goes back and forth between the calm style of the protagonist, and the rough style of the priests, as well as how smoothly it begins from the ending of the Discovery portion of the song.

#1: "The Temples of Syrinx" (2112): this just had to be the number one song. It is so loud and powerful, and it really sets up the rest of the song perfectly. This is the one part that could encapsulate the entirety of the 2112 extended track, or indeed the entire album.


Well, those were my choices. Maybe you can let me know what your ranking would have been. That's all for today.



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