A rare note about the cartoon... I love RUSH. Don't get me wrong... it's just that they kinda really let me down in terms of song quality a long time ago. Unfortunately that time was in high school when I was impressionable. I thought Hold Your Fire was a bad album. And every album since then has been boring as well. I genuinely felt let down that my high school years would be tainted with bad Rush albums... then came Presto and that pretty much sealed the fate of Rush as far as I was concerned. Sure, I have seen them in concert several times but the last couple tours I just did not even bother going. I did buy their most recent album - last month - when the MVI version was finally released. And you know what? I have listened to it several times and I like the album overall; it is pretty damn good (for a post-Moving Pictures Rush album).

So in fairness to a band I have held in exalted status for most of my life (based on their early work), I have been giving the last few albums another listen (with the exception of Feedback). So far so good. There are some genuinely good moments on the albums and I am excited to be hearing some songs with fresh perspective and, in essence, hearing lots of new (to me) Rush songs...

Just after high school, I honestly used to be able to name (and play on drums) every song on every album up through Power Windows. Time has passed, so I will get about 85% of them if quizzed today, but from Hold Your Fire on to their most recent, I can barely name off a single track from each album. I am looking forward to rediscovering these albums I bought hoping to hear another Xanadu... I was disappointed on my first listens but will now give them their due respect.

What's your favorite track from the last 8 Rush albums? Let me know!