Musical opinion is a toughie. Generally there are absolutes in opinion that are non-changeable between people.
I grew up in a musical household, learned to play a variety of instruments and listened to a lot of music. I grew to enjoy Yes early on (early 70’s) and have never lost that admiration. They display a depth of harmony, chordal variation, interesting meter and individual virtuosity that few other bands have ever approached. I would encourage you to go back and listen to the tunes of theirs that are not played on the radio. Rhino Records has re-issued quite a bit of the Yes catalog, and they have done an outstanding job.
Of course, a keyboardist I know tends to growl “Use your left hand” anytime he hears Wakeman play.
Rush is made up of virtuoso talent as well. Neil Peart recently hosted and was the feature player at the Tribute to Buddy Rich. Geddy Lee is among the better bassists both from a technical and performance standpoint and Alex Lifeson, while not a showy player, is a master at interesting chordal structures and layering that few other guitarists can even come close to.
I strongly recommend listening to their latest recording, Snakes and Arrows. It is not sterile by any stretch!
Cheers!
heythere...well, in a rock band, keyboardists need to lay off the left hand or else clash with the bassist.
geddy lee is technically proficient on the bass as far as speed/dexterity is concerned, and can certainly handle time changes, odd times, etc.
all the players are proficient at their instruments. as a band, they have a loyal following and a long career. But hall of fame? nope.
To be sure, Rush did go through a longish period there, where their music had largely become rather boring techno-synth stuff. Power Windows, Hold Your Fire, Presto, Roll the Bones, Counterparts, and Test for Echo, while each containing a couple of worthy tracks, were rather weak in my opinion. I wouldn’t include Grace Under Pressure with those - in my opinion it was quite strong, although nostalgia might be colouring my feelings about it.
Vapour Trails, OTOH, was quite good in my opinion, and Snakes and Arrows is excellent. I was fairly amazed at the S&A concert I attended in October to see that the acoustic instrumental tune from that album was played (almost?) entirely by Alex alone. No, he’s not one of those flashy “notes per second” players, but he has great tone and is quite technically proficient.
I really don’t care if Rush gets in the HOF or not, but inducting Madonna is an absolute joke - what kind of music did she ever do that you could apply the words “rock” or “rock and roll” to? Pop, all the way.