Rush's Clockwork Angels Named Best Album of 2012 -- So Far

Rush Clockwork Angels Album Cover
As we enter into the second-half of 2012, Jeremy Thomas' The 8-Ball feature from 411mania.com has posted his list of the top 8 albums of 2012 thus far. Coming in at the top spot is Rush's Clockwork Angels:
#1: Rush - Clockwork Angels

Honestly, at this point in the year there wasn't much of a choice. Rush had not released an album in over five years and while the band has never been bad or even remotely mediocre, I felt that Snakes & Arrows was a little bit uninspired compared to the rest of the band's work. As such, I was looking for the venerable Canadian rock gods to deliver and to say they did so is an understatement. To me Clockwork Angels is, without any exaggeration, the band's best album in at least a couple decades. The group delivered a more focused and impressive effort here, loosely written around the idea of a man on a quest to follow his dreams. Neil Peart's lyrics are some of my favorites of his pretty much ever and the band's sound is just as good as they've ever been. There are a lot of bands who have lost their way well after they reach the ten year mark or even fifteen, buried under the weight of their back catalogue and impossibly high expectations. Rush has been rocking for over forty years and is still going as strong as they ever have before.
Other albums on the list include Slash's Apocalyptic Love, Jack White's Blunderbuss and Halestorm's The Strange Case Of….

You can check out the entire list at this LINK.

Comments

  1. I would disagree that Snakes & Arrows was "uninspired" - densely layered & heavy on the overdubs, but the spirit and energy were there. I can't stop listening to Clockwork Angels, I discover something new every time, and not a dud song in the pile. Such a variety on the CD - each track can stand on it's own, but together tell a nice story. Definitely in the Rush top five. Well, pretty sure. Top ten. Or twenty....

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  2. Interesting.... So where would you actually rank it? What would be your top ten albums (in order)....? Anyone? Anyone?.....

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  3. Yeah ok....Top 10.
    - A Farewell to Kings. - Fly by night
    - Pictures. - Caress of Steel.
    - 2112. - Snakes.
    - Hemispheres. - Clockwork.
    - Permanent Waves. - Rush.

    As above I've growing more towards loving Clockwork each day. In the beginning I wasn't sure at all.

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  4. Aw Man! What a toughy, but here is my list in no particular order. I have the entire studio collection on a thumb drive and I listen to it almost daily!

    Moving Pictures - Entire Album Rocks!
    Hemispheres - Fantastic on the Road!
    A Farewell to Kings - Awesome
    Fly By Night - Awesome
    2112 - Killer
    Rush - Working Man Baby!!
    Permanent Waves - Sexiest Rush Cover Art, and the songs are awesome!!!
    Power Windows - My first Rush tour what can I say! Cranked up with a good subwoofer and it is awesome!
    Signals - Underrated album, but I like it a lot!

    Snakes/Clockwork - I really like both, but too soon to say they are classics wind/anarchist are my faves!

    Honorable Mention!
    Caress of Steel - Bastille day Riff, going bald is funny, Lakeside park(sentimental)!
    GUP - Sounds keyboard heavy now, but I like the angst in it
    Hold Your Fire - lyrics are good, I like the intimacy of it
    Presto - Nice groove and fun tour!
    Roll the Bones - Bravado is a classic
    Counterparts - I like the bass line and groove in Animate
    Test for Echo - Driven is a good song, another good tour!
    VT - Sweet Miracle was heavenly live, so was Earthshine!

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  5. What is it about Farewell that puts it on everyone's list? It is such a "non-traditional" rock album.... But is always in the top few for most true fans....

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  6. Theres something about Farewell that is just irresistable. For one the cover with the puppet king. Just a great cover.The liners are great also.
    The tunes are mostly all classics. Xanadu, Closer, Cygnus are all crazy good compositions.

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  7. Prior to the release of VT, this was my view of the top Rush albums...

    http://cygnus-x1.net/links/rush/review-misc-top10rushalbums.php

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  8. Maybe I'm the only fan who writes from Cuba. I've never seen them live... and hope someday i will. To me each period is different and they're all are great in their own ways. However, the 70s highlight for the complexity and inspiration, therefore 2112, Hemispheres and Farewell to Kings definitely excel, close to them Moving Pictures, Permanent Waves and Fly by Night, then the rest. Hold your fire was very inspired and Power Windows extremely powerful. From the 90s nothing that can beat the mentioned ones, although I love listening to all Rush albums.

    Regarding CWA, great concept album, still not a classic...

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