Permanent Waves (studio album)
by Rush
Rush bestography
Permanent Waves is ranked 3rd best out of 38 albums by Rush on BestEverAlbums.com.
The best album by Rush is Moving Pictures which is ranked number 164 in the list of all-time albums with a total rank score of 8,876.
(N.B. Bestographies include all albums by an artist (and their variations), but do not include albums ranked outside the top 100,000).
Upcoming concerts
Listen to Permanent Waves on YouTube
Permanent Waves track list
The tracks on this album have an average rating of 84 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).
Top-rated track as rated by BestEverAlbums.com members.
Permanent Waves rankings
ERadio
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flamingyesdeptPermanent Waves collection
Showing latest 20 members who have this album in their collection | Show all 298 members
Permanent Waves ratings
Average Rating = (n ÷ (n + m)) × av + (m ÷ (n + m)) × AVwhere:
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 5 ratings for this album. | Show all 626 ratings for this album.
| Rating | Date updated | Member | Album ratings | Avg. album rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ! | 12/16/2025 14:50 |  hoyquarlow | 523 | 76/100 |
| ! | 11/21/2025 22:24 |  JR | 1,085 | 81/100 |
| ! | 11/13/2025 07:14 | MaxStorm98 | 3,798 | 89/100 |
| ! | 11/12/2025 23:07 | NYAndreas | 1,432 | 43/100 |
| ! | 11/11/2025 14:18 | Exist-en-ciel | 4,685 | 70/100 |
Rating metrics:
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 80.4/100, a mean average of 79.4/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 80.6/100. The standard deviation for this album is 15.4.
Permanent Waves favourites
Showing latest 20 members who have added this album as a favourite | Show all 120 members
Permanent Waves comments
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(Only showing comments with -2 votes or higher. You can alter this threshold from your profile page. Manage Profile)
Spirit of Radio is an incredible and unique song, absolutely love it. Freewill is also good but I can pass on the rest of the tracks. I prefer this to their more critically acclaimed later album Moving Pictures.
First rush album to have listen to, and it is very good. I intend to listen to their five best albums according to this web site over next year.
One of Rush's best
Another solid Rush album with great opener and closer.
Squonk007 06/12/2022 12:20 | #286279
A superb album. This was my first real introduction to Rush. I immediately took to Jacob's Ladder, Entre Nous and Different Strings which are still amongst my favourite ever tracks by anyone. The only weak point for me is the closer which is a shame, I've never taken to it.
After going overboard with the previous album, we hear a more grounded Rush here. Still firmly rooted in progressive rock, the tracks don't beat around the bush and don't overstay their welcome. Not perfect, but highly recommended.
VictorVale 02/21/2021 21:52 | #266598
Grande álbum, já mais próximo de uma sonoridade radiofônica.
Great album by Rush. Entre Nous and freewill are my favourites.
llibnanoon 05/18/2020 14:32 | #251672
It's good
UofTBlues 12/12/2019 20:50 | #245638
2nd favorite Rush album next to Moving Pictures. Highlights are Spirit of Radio, Freewill & Jacob's Ladder.
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