Hud wins the prize for getting it. Some of you guys are waaaay too ****ing serious. I don't know if you have ever seen the Triumph the Insult Comic Dog bit where he visits the Star Wars geeks waiting to see Episode 2, and he has Spock come by and give the Star Wars geeks the finger. If you've seen that, you'll get what just transpired here.
As far as Rush's songwriting goes, from a harmonic context, it's pedestrian. The song "A Farewell To Kings" is a great example of that. It's like a bunch of triads chasing a melody around. No diminshed chords, no augmented chords, no major sevenths or anything that might support that melody and take the song from pedestrian to elegant. These guys are just not great songwriters. And no, stealing Ayn Rand and using polysyllabic verbosity in your lyrics does not make you a great lyricist.
And no, Neil Peart is not the greatest drummer ever. Hey, Kenny G plays lots of notes too, and boy are they clean and his technique is perfect! Does that make him the greatest sax player? Put on John Coltrane's "My Favorite Things" with all it's honks and squeaks, and tell me that Kenny G's technique and chops make him a better player. Then Put on the Beatles "I Saw Her Standing There". Really. Download it and listen to it. If you can't understand why Ringo and Paul are one of the greatest ****ing rhythm sections ever after listening to that, you'll never ever get what is so lame about Neil and Geddy. You ever heard Neil shuffle? Me neither. On instruments, the abilty to communicate more with less is my measure of greatness. Ringo, Hal Blaine, James Gadson, John Bonham, Jim Keltner, Mick Fleetwood ... these guys can play four on the floor and it just ****ing kills. Once you take away the flamadiddles and the blistering single strokes, there's just not much there to Neil Peart. Sorry, I know your head probably just exploded. Go listen to some Gentle Giant and you'll feel better.