Great topic, I’m a big fan up until moving pictures. I have tried very hard to like their newer stuff and didn’t know why I could not accept it. The balance is different Then I realized as I was listening recently. Geddi’s voice changed, he started to sing in a lower octave. This changed the sound of the band that I new and what impacted me when I was 14 and first heard Caress of Steel. You need that upper octave in the sound triangle, otherwise everything is low.
Having said that, my most played Rush albums are :
2112
Hemiapheres
Caress of steel
Moving pictures
Exit stage left
But I own all their documentaries on video and their concert in Rio, I’m just stuck in the original Rush sound.
I feel the same way about pink Floyd, Toto and journey.