Side 2 of 2112 is kinda funny to me.
You know that story that they give about how Caress of Steel tanked because of this side long track and no viable singles? And then they re-evaluated and decided that they were NOT going to cave to the record company's demands...if they were going down, they were going down *THEIR* way? Ya....not buying it. And Side 2 of 2112 is my exhibit A.
I believe that Rush actually compromised a bit. Side 1 was their personal statement, but side 2 was their "plan B"...a way to give the record company some potential singles. It sounds like 5 attempts (in differing styles) of something that someone might be able to play on the radio. I don't mean to say that they are bad. I like every single song. I just notice that those short, tight, "verse/chorus" songs stand in stark contrast to side 1, and 80% of anything from CoS.
That being said, I really do like most of the songs themselves. Bangkok was a novelty when I was 13 (ooooooo...they're singing about POT). I LOVE The Twilight Zone. Lessons is underrated and fun and enjoyable. Tears is....better than Rivendell. (I kid...I like Rivendell too). And I agree with the earlier sentiment that I used to thing Something for Nothing was an amazing song, but there's not really much to it. It's the same chord progression over and over again, and it gets really old, really fast. The lyrics are pretty cool, but once I revisit it, I don't feel like doing it twice.
Twilight Zone is my favorite. But as a whole, Side 2 of 2112 is mostly just OK and overshadowed by most of the other (far better) material from the first 12 albums.