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.
“...inducting Madonna is an absolute joke...”
In a way, I feel that it almost perfectly reflects the legitimacy of the place itself. Jann’s Record Collection in the flesh. Madonna is a Pop icon, not a musical one. And, as the RRHOF is an extension of Rolling Stone Magazine and the pop-ishness of that rag, it fits. They belong together.
G.U.P. to me was a fine record, even if Geddy detoured off the beaten path with that goofy Steinberger. Enemy Within is still a fine tune.
Bass Player did a cover with Geddy and had a good article within covering the S&A recording. Seems that the producer interviewed strongly for the job but didn’t let on that he was a big fan. When they began working, he had the guys dragging out all their old effects and re-listening to old materiel. Call it a revival, but it works!