Been reading this thread a lot lately, but haven't had a chance to reply so here are my thoughts on a few topics that have been brought up:
-Grace Under Pressure is pretty good, not great, but not awful. Sure, the production is a bit cold and the overwhelming synths give the album a certain sound that is quite different than what came before or after it, but I think given the nature of the lyrics on the album, the sound performed and produced fit the album quite well. It definitely took awhile for me to warm up to the album, but I've grown to really like it and enjoy almost every song. I think it also says something that the band themselves have played every song on the album live (though "Afterimage" didn't get played very long on the GUP tour - I would LOVE an official GUP Tour show that was full-length, and filled out with all the alternate songs mixed throughout the tour, especially a decent soundboard recording of "Afterimage").
-Counterparts is one of my favorites, definitely top-half of the pile, and probably my favorite album of the band's fourth phase. It just rocks, plain and simple, and has my favorite post-YYZ instrumental on it ("Leave That Thing Alone"), and some great drumming songs (which appeals to me, of course). Test For Echo is...good, but not great. It's not as great as CP but it does have some great song-writing on it. Whoever said "Time And Motion" is good - I totally agree. It's a shame that it wasn't played more on the TFE tour (nor is there a decent soundboard recording of it that I've found). "Virtuality" is extremely dated, but still pretty quirky, and songs like "Dog Years" and "Totem" are pretty out-there, but the rest of the album is still listenable. I think having the Neil Peart "A Work In Progress" 2-VHS set that details his drum parts on the album really made me appreciate the album more. I watched that video set all the time when I was in high school, back when I started getting into Rush just after 2000/2001.
Interesting point that was brought up, though - the band hadn't played any TFE songs on their last four tours, when they even performed a song from Presto (another often-neglected record). Maybe the songs just reminded them/Neil of a time that was just before their hiatus/his tragedies, or perhaps they just don't find the material that interesting to play? That would also explain why they hadn't played many songs from HYF/Presto/RTB, though I always said that newer songs would've worked well given the deepening of Geddy's voice.
-Snakes & Arrows is another "just good" album for me. I think I liked it a lot when it first came out, especially the opening run of the first 6 songs, but "Far Cry" has since grown a bit stale for me, and I just don't find myself spinning this one as much as VT or CA, and of those three, I consider it the weakest of them. I'd rather listen to the original Vapor Trails than S&A these days, but that isn't to say there aren't good songs on S&A. "Spindrift" is a favorite, as is "The Main Monkey Business" and "Malignant Narcissism". I also enjoy the pairing of "Hope"/"Faithless", but I can sort of see how some fans find the album to be full of "filler".
And to end my long post, I wanted to see if you guys would rank the albums within each phase, rather than the whole discography! It should provide an interesting and different challenge for everyone.
2112
Caress Of Steel
Fly By Night
Rush
Permanent Waves
Hemispheres
A Farewell To Kings
Moving Pictures
Power Windows
Signals
Grace Under Pressure
Hold Your Fire
Counterparts
Presto
Test For Echo
Roll The Bones
Clockwork Angels
Vapor Trails
Snakes & Arrows
-Marc.
Poll