Your favourite Rush albums?


Started as a side discussion on another thread so thought I would just make a thread for it.

Pretty simple really, your favourite Rush albums and why?

To keep it simple, studio albums ONLY, no bootlegs, live albums etc.
128x128uberwaltz
Might not count as I did say in OP not to count live albums or bootlegs but lots have mentioned live albums so.....

Just picked up a live bootleg vinyl this morning.
Recorded 1980 in St. Louis.
6 track album.

Right about the era I saw them live so great memories.

SQ not bad at all for a bootleg and cost was not astronomical.

It's now up there in my top ten at least.
Signals, due to my two fav. rush songs, subdivisions & new world man. Both were significant predictions of the 80's to come, and well beyond.
So, my favorite Rush albums and why ...

(1) Moving Pictures - More than 20 or so years ago, I attended Cornell as an undergraduate in English and Physics.  Around my junior year, I started grabbing lunch at one of the graduate student dining halls.  The dining hall was a beautiful room - hardwood floors, solid oak tables, vaulted ceilings, and cathedral windows with a fantastic view of the surrounding countryside.  They also had a jukebox, with a relatively nice sound system for the space.  However, it only had about five albums, but one of those albums was Moving Pictures.  The first day I was there, after sitting down to eat, I heard "Tom Sawyer" blaring out of the jukebox, which I had never heard before.  It was a "Holy Cow" moment.  I had always been a fan of classic rock -Zeppelin, Who, Doors, Cream, Stones, etc - but this was something new.  I asked my friends about the song, but none of them recognized it.  To date myself, I then ran a search on something called "Gopher," and learned about Rush and this album - which is solid from beginning to end.  I have been a fan ever since.

(2) Self Titled (1974) - Before they eventually degenerated into self indulgent, prog rog pablum, there was the first album - hard core, blues inspired rock.  This was Rush at its minimalist best, with a shoestring budget.  Full of energy and intensity.  "Working Man" is still a go-to song of mine to this day.
Just bought "Through A Window" which appears to be a semi official bootleg.

Do not usually buy too many of these type but it is classic early 80,s Rush hopefully at their best.

We shall see......
Not my favorite, but I’m listening to my new copy of the remastered version of "Presto" now. I think it’s pretty good. Yes, it is more poppy than their previous releases, but still very good. Some of my favorite cuts are "Show, Don’t Tell", "The Pass" and "Available Light". The musicianship is awesome, even if the songs are not as memorable as some of their stuff.