I never really cottoned to Freewill, or Permanent Waves in general.
Isn't Natural Science among most beloved Rush tunes in your book?
Good not great. Jacob's Ladder is by FAR the best song on that album. Then Different Strings, then Entre Nous.
"[M]ost beloved . . . in your book"? Sometimes I think WR intentionally phrases stuff in this way.
I would say that, among Rush fans in general, TSOR and Freewill are generally the favorite/"most beloved" songs on PEW. Among folks on this forum, however, Natural Science and Jacob's Ladder are at the top. In the recently completed Rush survivor, the rankings for PEW turned out as follows:
1. Natural Science (never received a single vote until the final round
2. Jacob's Ladder (received 14/20 votes in round 5)
3. The Spirit of Radio (received 13/22 votes in round 4)
4. Freewill (received 13/21 votes in round 3)
5. Entre Nous (received 15/18 votes in round 2)
6. Different Strings (received 11/19 votes in round 1)
In the finals, Natural Science finished in the #1 spot, and Jacob's Ladder finished in the #6 spot. Somewhat surprisingly, The Spirit of Radio finished ahead of Jacob's Ladder in the #5 spot. PEW and MP were the only albums to get three songs in the finals, and only PEW placed all three songs in the top 10.
My personal rankings are the same as above, except that I would flip TSOR and Freewill, and NS and JL are a 1a/1b sort of thing.