Listening Post

Let's just get this out of the way: Rush is the single most talented rock band to ever have existed on this Earth.

There isn't a former uncool kid alive who won't admit -- even to this day -- to worshipping at the altar of Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson and the man the word "incomparable" was created for, Neil Peart.

When I was in my pre-to-early teens, Rush was my favorite band. Period. No question. I may have eventually become a slave to punk, alternative and metal, but Rush was a constant. They were the first band I saw live (the Signals tour, 1982). They were the band I played drums to in my bedroom. They wrote the songs that spoke to my heart and my head. They just ruled in every possible way.

And what's astonishing is that after more than 30 years, they still do. I recently started going back through my Rush catalog, and son-of-a-bitch if I don't love those songs -- from almost every stage of the band's evolution -- as much now as I did the first time I heard them.

Here now, two of my favorite off-the-beaten-path tracks from the mighty Rush.

First up, from 1987's Hold Your Fire album, this is Lock and Key.



Next, one that the band even admitted was an obscure choice to pull out for their 30th anniversary tour. From 1984's Grace Under Pressure, it's Between the Wheels.