I think some of the chatter illustrates a good point, which is that the strong preference of many for the 70s material goes back to them growing up on it or hearing it first. It is hard not love the most what we hear first. And I think that is why a lot of the later material is more highly-regarded now than it used to be, because newer fans are coming in fresh without any strong allegiance to "their" era or anything like that. Don't get me wrong, my five favorite Rush songs are still from the 1976-1981 years, but when it comes to consistent songwriting on a higher level, their 80s material runs laps around the 70s.
Stop it. That’s not true at all. Maybe your truth. Every 80’s album has clunkers. Especially Power Windows. And the newer fans are still beholden to their era, it’s just that it’s the 80’s.
I heard, and grew up on the 70s stuff first and foremost. The self titled thru Moving Pictures was my first love, and those 8 albums (well, 10 of you count the 2 live albums that were out at the time) were pretty much being constantly played over and over again for 4-6 hours a day every day between 1982-1984. Signals came out during that time, but at the time I didn’t feel it quite lived up to the perfection of the others. I was obsessed with Rush during this period.
When GUP first came out (my first new album as a full blown Rush freak) I initially liked that the guitars were more forward in the mix than Signals, and I jammed out to it a bit, but then Ride the Lightning came out, and kickstarted my obsession with thrash. From 84-86, it was all about how heavy and fast it could be and I briefly lost my interest in Rush, but maintained my love for the early stuff.
I didn’t even buy Power Windows when it first came out because I had heard Big Money on the radio and thought it was lame (I still think it’s the weakest song on the album, and a poor choice for a single, but it grew on me a bit). But eventually, I had a friend who had bought the album and didn’t like it, so he offered it to me for a buck just to complete my Rush collection, so I bought it from him.
I was completely unprepared for how much that album blew my doors off on the very first listen. And it was so 180 degrees different than anything else I was listening to at the time. But the songwriting was SO good, and the production was so bright, and warm and layered and interesting. And Neil’s drum work was so interesting to listen to. It’s amazing what adding a little flair can do for a poppier song. And the lyrics were Neil’s greatest ever. He’s never outdone his lyrical work on Power Windows.
Basically, I was an all 70s guy and that was my first love, and that is what shaped my fandom. But Power Windows was so exceptionally good that it rekindled my love of Rush when it had been waning a bit, and it did it during a time when everything else I was listening to was “if you use synthesizers, you’re a pussy!” The songwriting and the album itself were just so extremely good that it broke through all of that.
Now that I’m in my 50s, and no longer full off piss and vinegar, I find that I have warmed up to the 80s stuff quite a bit and I tend to reach for that more often than the early stuff.