Rush through Time

Hmmm... "The Synth Trilogy?"  Not so sure about that.  The following two albums (Power Windows and Hold Your Fire) are much more synth-forward.  Those five '80s albums, though, could be called Rush's "Synth Era."

In any case, this poll was a tough one for me.  I've enjoyed every Rush album, and appreciate the differences between them.  I had to go with the middle period, though, because they really seemed to hit their stride during that span.  The music was sophisticated, yet accessible.  Some of my favorite Neil Peart lyrics come from this epoch, as well ("Entre Nous," "Territories").

Unfortunately--and this deserves its own thread--I feel that the band might have run their course.  I loved Snakes & Arrows, but Clockwork Angels was a letdown, by comparison.  I heard too much self-plagiarism and not a whole lot of new ideas.  Additionally, Geddy's voice deteriorated significantly in the time between the release of S&A and CA.  He sounds fairly glorious on S&A, with minimal audible pitch correction, but quite strained and heavily pitch-corrected on CA.  I'm really glad I saw them on the S&A tour, because I don't think I would enjoy seeing/hearing them perform live anymore.  To those of you who don't hear the strain or notice the pitch correction: I envy you.  I really wanted to fully enjoy CA, and I just couldn't.