10 Sellout Albums That Don't Suck

Even for a genre as wide open as prog rock, Rush has tackled much more territory than most bands could hope for. When they weren't delivering some of the most blistering riffs of the late '70s, they were making multi part epic songs that would bleed into other albums along the way. So when you have that much range in your playing, why the hell would anyone be surprised if you put a synth into the mix?

Aside from the mega hit Moving Pictures, Grace Under Pressure comes from the period where these Canadian icons were pulling from new wave music, which manages to be a far better fit than it sounded like on paper. Since these guys actually knew how to play their instruments, this is some of the most interesting forays into synthpop of the decade, with songs like Distant Early Warning turning the dial up to 11.

For as nervy as this genre was in the first place, there's also a tremendous amount of heart on this record, with Afterimage being about the death of a longtime friend and Red Sector A detailing the struggles that were felt by prisoners in Nazi concentration camps. Even when they weren't deafening you with prog rock bombast, Rush was still damn good when stripping all the distortion away.