It's all cool to me. And by that I mean both the different periods with the band and peoples opinions on them. That's the way music works: it's different things to different people.
I don't know if Freddie Mercury and Brian May actually said the phrase from the Movie "Bohemian Rhapsody", but it's certainly applicable: "True poetry is for the Listener. (followed by Brian May) It ruins the mystery if everything's explained"
Rush started out as a hard rock band and developed into a "progressive" rock band fairly early on. If you like Geddy "raw", give the "ABC" bootleg album a listen. that's two weeks after Peart joined the band and Geddy is as raw as he's ever been. It's a boot leg rip, so there's the infrequent artifact like a feedback squeal you get in concert settings, but it's about as raw and unprocessed RUSH as you'll ever hear. It's been called a broadcast rip, but it sounds more like a soundboard rip to me. There's two songs on that recording that RUSH has never played again. That tour only, not even on the studio album. Well, they did sort of do "the garden road" on Clockwork Angels, but I think that was because they knew Neil was "done" and were book-ending their career together as RUSH.
Sometimes they hit gold, other times......not so much.
Geddy has said in a couple interviews Peart's lyrics were often challenging. But what's life without challenge? To be challenged lets you grow, it all things. Geddy enjoyed the it and achieving the precision required to meet the bar. It wasn't as much as "making it work" as it was meeting the challenge. Ged always seemed to rise to it, so well done.
Personally, I like it when bands step outside their comfort zone. It gives them "staying power". Some fans will stay with them, some fans move on and new fans are picked up. I feel it's like that in everything with life: challenge yourself. Without challenge, we stagnate. Whether that's in my previous field (SAR) or in music.
Geddy wanted to add the synth's/keyboards and they did. LIfeson got to a point where he wanted guitar to take more center stage and drop the synths/keyboards. They discussed it and eventually dropped keyboards to go back to the more traditional "power trio" composition.
I appreciate the early years for the hard rockin' period it was, I appreciate the synths in the 80's as an experiment in growth (and some iconic RUSH songs resulted) and I appreciate the rebirth as a "power trio". Each period has it's own "uniqueness", yet all still from the same band. That's a rare thing in this world. Not many musicians can go through all that and still be "popular".
Then Peart's daughter died at 19 in a car crash on her way to her first day of university. Messed him up pretty bad. Then his wife died within the next year of cancer and he was emotionally ruined. Withdrew from everything, including the band. Ged and Alex thought it was over. Neil had just gotten on his bike one day and essentially disappeared for a couple years. Turned into a "Ghost Rider" and wrote a book with that title.
He came back (mostly because he didn't want life to force him to end RUSH that way) and then came "Vapor Trails", which was often commented on as being cathartic for him. Then "Snakes and Arrows", and lastly; "Clockwork Angels". You get a small flavor for his pain and "rebirth" in those three albums. Despite what the sound engineers did with them, the lyrics are all mighty.
Then Peart passed after a 3 year battle with glioblastoma and RUSH died with him. Ged and Lifeson have said as much. I'd wager it's a "respect thing" as much as anything else for thier friend and brother.
I appreciate all RUSH's periods of evolution and experimentation for just what they are: different.
I also can't do what they did, so I don't feel (personally) it's appropriate for me to critique the choices (and reasons for those choices) they made. I just try to appreciate it all as it's presented.
I also appreciate that doesn't appeal to some people and that certain periods may appeal to certain people, the same as other periods may appeal to other people.
The world would be a pretty boring place if we all liked the exact same things.
Vive le Difference!