Different strokes for different folks, but it's a song I love. And I think because it's not only one of the longer songs from the 80s, but also one that has never been played live has helped it build up its "legendary" status. I think a fair comparison would be to Rush's The Camera Eye, which IMO is a decent song, but really nothing exceptional and perhaps a bit bloated. But before Rush brought it back in 2010, it seemed to top all the wish lists that were compiled of what fans wanted to see them play. I'd say the way you guys view AtG is similar.
That's all true, of course, but I bristle at that stuff generally. Things get a sort of reputation after a while, and I find it... puzzling. It's the same thing that happened back when Flying Colors was coming out, and they released the song titles, and durations. Within about eight minutes, without hearing a note of music, there were all these people saying "OOOOOOOHHHHHHH! BLUE OCEAN IS GOING TO BE AWESOME!" and "CAN'T WAIT FOR INFINITE FIRE, BITCHES!" (yes, they said that!
). And it was nothing more than the time of the song. Wha? The Beatles Revolution 9 is their longest song by far, and it's not even a song! It's a sound collage! And one of the greatest songs ever written in the history of music (at least evidenced by it's sales and cover versions) is "Yesterday", 2:05 of near perfection.
I don't begrudge anyone from liking the song; hell, my list shows that I'm my own man when it comes to liking songs by bands. But to project that on others, or the band... I don't get it.