GUP sounding like the prior Rush albums would take away some of the character of that record that makes it what it is. It might have been fine like that, but I think the sound they got was perfect for the themes of the album and the time period. It would be boring if all the Rush albums sounded the same (which the Brown albums all generally did, with some notable improvements in quality over time).
For me, I'm with you all. I really am. I don't want all the Rush albums to sound the same. And they don't. And it's not the synths, or the Police-like (being kind) guitars. I kind of really came to appreciate Alex on those records because it showed a real creativity to his playing, the way he adapted so completely to the music around him.
But p/g is the ONLY record in the Rush catalogue that utterly and completely emasculated the second best drummer in rock history. For me, that is an unforgivable sin. I get it when Bill Bruford did the electronic drum thing; it suited his style. I never thought of Bruford in the same way as I thought of Peart, Collins, Bonham or even his successor, Alan White. I still always point to that one fill in Red Sector A before the "I hear the sound of gunfire at the prison gates..." FOR ME, that should have been EPIC. I get it, artistic choices, and I wouldn't have that any other way, but that doesn't mean I have to love them.