Rush album out of one song from each album

If you could make a Rush album out of one song from every Rush album, how would you do it?

Think about making it flow logically - have a reason for each song you put in the beginning, the middle, and the end.

I guess you don't have to go in the same order as the albums, so you could start with 2112. I like the idea of going in album order, though, so I'm doing that.

My masterpiece will be a two-CD set.

SIDE ONE:

Rush - Before and After - Finding My Way or Working Man both work great as an opener for this album. Before and After would be incredibly interesting. It's a great song, and a smooth, dreamlike way to drift into an incredible album. I love the way it transitions into the "After" section of the song, it's like the curtain rising. It ends on an open note, which means it connects well with any song that would come after. Before and After is my choice.

Fly By Night - BB&B - Beneath, Between, and Behind fits extremely well after Before and After. BB&B is also just one've those songs that I'll never get sick of.

Caress of Steel - Bastille Day - This is tough, but I think I have to go with Bastille Day. At this point, the album is starting to feel too heavy, I need to find something lighter.

2112 - The Discovery/Presentation - Honestly, 2112 does not fit here. You can't just drop in an epic after Bastille Day, it makes no sense. On top of that, Epics never fit well in the middle of the album, it makes the epic seem unimportant, and an unimportant epic is just awkward. However, "The Discovery" fits well after the note that Bastille Day ends on, and it answers the need for a release of the tension. Plus, presentation fills the current void of wicked bad-ass guitar solo.

AFTK - Xanadu - Presentation's ending is just BEGGING for some ambience, as found in the opening of Xanadu.

Hemispheres - Circumstances - Xanadu kind've ends the way Cygnus II does, so I think it fits.

Perm Waves - Entre nous - Kicks ass.

Moving Pictures - Red Barchetta - provides some ambience after 2 powerful songs.

Signals - Losing It - Basically used as a way to bridge to the next song, that will end the half of the collection.

GUP - Between the Wheels - A good way to close the first half of an epic tale. I like the idea of having two sides, because if it was just one, then there would be a huge middle section, and there would be little room for tension and release. Between the Wheels closes out great, and leaves you DYING to move on to the next CD for more.

SIDE TWO:

Power Windows - Manhattan Project - Continues with the air of desperacy that we were left with with Between the Wheels.

HYF - Mission - This is where the album decides to take a stand and fight, and struggles its way out of hopelessness. A spirit with a vision, a dream with a mission.

Presto - Red Tide - thus begins the tenuous back-and-forth as war breaks out, determined to end all injustice, once and for all.

Roll the Bones - Bravado - They were forced to eat one of Robin's minstrels.

Counterparts - Animate - Our heroes attempt a risky mission into the heart of the the necromancer's fortress. They will lose their lives, but in the end, this one last strike allows mankind to triumph over evil.

Test for Echo - Limbo - the spirits of the heroes realize that their story is over. They've fulfilled their life's duty, and they feel at peace. Their spirits ride off, never to be heard of again. WHATEVER HAPPENED TO MY TRANSYLVANIA TWIST??

Vapor Trails - Out of the Cradle - Represents the end of the movie/opera/musical, this song plays while the credits roll; the audience stretches, and exits the theater.

S&A - Hope - You get in your car on the way home, the story still deep in your mind. "Hope" represents this lingering effect of the album as a whole.

End of side 2.