I can say that as I matured I have listened less and less to Rush's 70's output. I had always loved their 80's material (by age 17 I had all of their cds up to the time, Counterparts being brand new), and by age 17 - 19 I was listening to the '80 - '91 albums a lot more than earlier ones. This "era preference" has not changed since.
I haven't always liked their later albums as much as their earlier ones (Counterparts and Test For Echo are, besides the original album--which I don't really even consider Rush since there is no Neil--my least favorite albums despite the fact that they have some of their best tracks), but I could always tell that they had developed as song writers/performers (including Geddy's vocal performance). The overall music direction may not resonate with me as much (partly due to me just not liking post early to mid 90's rock as much as earlier eras), but I was always impressed with their ability to adapt, advance, and grow...and take risks (no trying to recreate endless new versions of Moving Pictures for decades since that is the formula that was most popular/sold the best: that's for boring bands with less integrity...and less musical ability). On each subsequent album new musical heights were achieved, and best of all they were always interesting (they were constantly experimenting) and at least worthwhile/good even if, again, I may not have liked them as much as their earlier material.
Ftr I like Vapor Trails and Snakes and Arrows (much more than Counterparts/Test For Echo), but recognize them as flawed, and I think Clockwork Angels may be their best/most accomplished work ever. I figured when it came out it was their swan song, and I was more than ok with that as what a hell of a high note to go out on! It's a culmination of everything they developed and learned throughout their whole career, perfected as much as possible, packed into one epic album. Simply magisterial.
He's said that many times; even that they weren't very good when they first started/on their first few albums. There was a request list posted on the internet for songs to be played at later (post 2002) Rush shows the band knew about and did consider/pick from, but Geddy did say that some songs were simply a no-go. Uncharacteristically, iirc, he once said (paraphrased from memory) something like "I don't care how many fans want us to play that song, I won't perform it". He was simply embarrassed by many of their earlier songs (and I think Alex/Neil were too) and felt strongly that they were simply not worth the effort of relearning/tweaking to play live at that point in their career.
Faves:
The one that started all the now 30+ years of of madness for me; came out in the Fall of my freshman year of high school (and it was actually quite popular at my school even given the great grunge/alt albums of the time for competition) and I've been hooked since!
2011 Audio Fidelity Gold Disc Remaster with a DR of 16!
I knew I was getting old in my early 30's when I first listened to this "parent rock" album in full, recognized many songs from it from growing up hearing them on my parent's local soft rock station on their stereo, and...liked it. And then it quickly became a favorite album.
2012 vinyl ripped to FLAC
The first of a 5 album run of some of my favorite Maiden albums.