Moving Pictures
by Rush

Album
Moving Pictures by Rush
Year: 1981
Release date: 1981-02-12
Overall rank: 161st   Overall chart history
Average Rating: 
83/100 (from 1,309 votes)
  Ratings distribution   Average rating history
Accolades:
Award Best album of 1981 (1st)
Award Top 50 albums of of the 1980s (21st)
Award Top 200 albums of all time (161st)

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Rush bestography

Moving Pictures is ranked as the best album by Rush.

Rush album bestography « Higher ranked
- This album (161st)
Moving Pictures Lower ranked (473rd) »
2112

(N.B. Bestographies include all albums by an artist (and their variations), but do not include albums ranked outside the top 100,000).

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Moving Pictures track list

  Track ratings The tracks on this album have an average rating of 86 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).

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#
Track
Rating/Comments
1.
Track pick (900 - 413 votes)
Tom Sawyer
Average Rating: 90 (413 votes)Comments: View 7
2.
Red Barchetta
Average Rating: 87 (320 votes)Comments: View 6
3.
Track pick (880 - 352 votes)
YYZ
Average Rating: 88 (352 votes)Comments: View 12
4.
Track pick (890 - 369 votes)
Limelight
Average Rating: 89 (369 votes)Comments: View 6
5.
The Camera Eye
Average Rating: 83 (272 votes)Comments: View 7
6.
Witch Hunt
Average Rating: 81 (263 votes)Comments: View 6
7.
Vital Signs
Average Rating: 82 (255 votes)Comments: View 5

Track pick (1000 - 100 votes) Top-rated track as rated by BestEverAlbums.com members.

Moving Pictures rankings

Moving Pictures rankings summary
Overall rank: 161st | 1980s rank: 21st | 1981 rank: 1st  Overall chart history
Calculated from aggregate positions across 60,000 charts (2 million album rankings).Help Click to see how the rankings are calculated (Last updated: 6 hours ago)

Moving Pictures collection

Moving Pictures ratings

Average Rating: 
83/100 (from 1,309 votes)
  Ratings distribution Help Average Rating = (n ÷ (n + m)) × av + (m ÷ (n + m)) × AV
where:
av = trimmed mean average rating an item has currently received.
n = number of ratings an item has currently received.
m = minimum number of ratings required for an item to appear in a 'top-rated' chart (currently 10).
AV = the site mean average rating.

Showing latest 3 ratings for this album.  | Show all 1,309 ratings for this album.

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RatingDate updatedMemberAlbum ratingsAvg. album rating
 
85/100
 !		2 hours ago Siromynian  Ratings distribution  1,72076/100
 
100/100
 !		09/24/2026 01:45 Yurls  Ratings distribution  2287/100
 
100/100
 !		08/31/2026 19:50 xhitmanx  Ratings distribution  1,60475/100

Rating metrics: Help Outliers can be removed when calculating a mean average to dampen the effects of ratings outside the normal distribution. This figure is provided as the trimmed mean. A high standard deviation can be legitimate, but can sometimes indicate 'gaming' is occurring. Consider a simplified example* of an item receiving ratings of 100, 50, & 0. The mean average rating would be 50. However, ratings of 55, 50 & 45 could also result in the same average. The second average might be more trusted because there is more consensus around a particular rating (a lower deviation).
(*In practice, some albums can have several thousand ratings)
This album is rated in the top 1% of all albums on BestEverAlbums.com. This album has a Bayesian average rating of 82.6/100, a mean average of 81.4/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 82.7/100. The standard deviation for this album is 16.3.


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Moving Pictures favourites

Showing latest 10 members who have added this album as a favourite  | Show all 295 members

epiph030
barrski67
abbolton
MagicSix
Exist-en-ciel
AbsurdCheesecake
Iglou2981
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Moving Pictures forum mentions

This album has been referenced 84 times on the forums, Explore the wider forum discussion to see what members have said about it.
From BestEverAlbums 09/24/2026 08:00 in Chart of the day (#5445): By MW19704U
“Today's chart of the day Top 100 Greatest Music Albums by MW19704U () 1. by (1973) 2. by (1967) 3. by (1972) 4. by (1998) 6. (1970) 7. by (1968) 8. by by (1969) 10. by by by (1994) 15. by (1982) 16. by (2003) 17. by (1968) 19. by (2002) 20. (1966) 21. by by (1979) 23. by (1970) 24. by by by (1980)…”
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From BestEverAlbums 09/17/2026 08:00 in Chart of the day (#5438): By luigybetis
“Today's chart of the day Top 100 Greatest Music Albums by luigybetis () 1. by (2015) 2. (1977) 3. by by (1975) 5. by by (2015) 7. (1997) 10. by by (1973) 12. (2005) 13. by (1996) 14. by by (1969) 16. by by (1995) 18. by (1968) 19. by (2018) 20. by (1969) 21. by (2003) 23. by (2017) 24. by by by by…”
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From BestEverAlbums 09/07/2026 08:00 in Chart of the day (#5428): By ExTeaSea
“Today's chart of the day Top 100 Music Albums of the 1980s by ExTeaSea () 1. by by (1982) 3. by (1980) 4. (1981) 5. by (1981) 6. by by (1981) 8. by (1980) 9. by by (1985) 11. by (1983) 12. by (1987) 13. by (1986) 15. by (1988) 16. (1986) 17. by by (1982) 20. (1982) 21. by by by by by (1981) 27. by…”
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Moving Pictures comments

Showing latest 5 comments | Show all 87 comments |
Top Comments First | Newest First | Positive Sentiment First | Longest Comments First
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Rating:  
80/100
From 06/12/2016 04:34 | #168502 | TOP COMMENT Help Vote up your preferred comments and the comments with the most votes will be flagged.
Moving Pictures was a last hurrah for prog rock, which was falling out of favour by the early 80s. Rush had never, and would never again, achieve the greatness they did on Moving Pictures. Perfectly balancing their hard rock and softer electronic sounds. Featuring some of their best know hits in "Limelight", "YYZ", and "Tom Sawyer", as well as other highlights "Red Barchetta" and "The Camera Eye", as well as the also great "Witch Hunt", and "Vital Signs". Not a weak track or lull on the album, it's what Rush will be best remembered for, and that's ok by me.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) · 8
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Rating:  
100/100
From 11/07/2011 17:18 | #30009 | TOP COMMENT Help Vote up your preferred comments and the comments with the most votes will be flagged.
I don't listen to Rush much anymore these days but I used to like them a lot - when they were playing my age. This is their most commercial non-commercial album. I gave up on them when they introduced rap into their repertoire, they never won me back.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) · 6
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Rating:  
85/100
From 06/22/2016 15:38 | #169469 | TOP COMMENT Help Vote up your preferred comments and the comments with the most votes will be flagged.
Possibly the best place to start for anyone curious, this is probably the most consistant album by Rush, it includes Tom Sawyer which is a regular on the radio. Although I would prefer Limelight which has a very subtle riff and powers along very nicely.
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From 06/30/2009 13:06 | #4988 | TOP COMMENT Help Vote up your preferred comments and the comments with the most votes will be flagged.
My faves on this album are the non-hits: Camera Eye, Red Barchetta, And YYZ. I just love the imagery in Red Barchetta. I dug up the original short story that inspired that song, and I gotta say they improved on it greatly. (However, my mental video is much better than the one they showed in concert for that song...)
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) · 5
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Rating:  
100/100
From 12/24/2015 00:07 | #155011 | TOP COMMENT Help Vote up your preferred comments and the comments with the most votes will be flagged.
Astonishing arrangement and musical interplay from the Canadian trio. 1 complaint: it needs a longer run-time, or so it seems.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) · 6
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Best Albums of  1981
1. Moving Pictures by Rush
2. Computerwelt by Kraftwerk
3. Discipline by King Crimson
4. Juju by Siouxsie And The Banshees
5. My Life In The Bush Of Ghosts by Brian Eno & David Byrne
6. Time by Electric Light Orchestra
7. Faith by The Cure
8. Damaged by Black Flag
9. Dare by The Human League
10. Fire Of Love by The Gun Club