I've spent most of this week listening to 1993's Counterparts, so i wanted to listen to the stuff before it: 1991's Roll the Bones and 1989's Presto. They both lean heavily towards pop rock - bright synths, simple riffs, prominent vocal melodies. Rush was aiming for radio play with them.
I filled my ears with pop listening to Roll the Bones and Presto back to back, and I liked Roll the Bones a lot more than I did Presto. Roll the Bones starts with three songs I love—the energetic Dreamline, the somber Bravado, and the peppy Roll the Bones (which throws in a 'rap' that's just Geddy's speaking voice pitched down). I like other moments, too—Where's My Thing? has some funky guitar, You Bet Your Life has a big chorus, and Heresy has both the closest thing to profanity in Rush's music ("crap") and some cascading tom work.
Meanwhile, Presto is filled with songs I'm not interested in. I don't like a lot of the album's thin, sparse, poppy rock, especially since I found it a lot more subdued than Roll the Bones. I did feel something during parts of Anagram, though—maybe I'll like it with a few more listens.
But there's one exception to my dislike of Presto, and that's the final song. My goodness, the final song. Available Light is fantastic. The moment I heard it, I knew it was something different. I love the big dramatic piano chords and the harmonised prechorus! It changes things up with a proggy chorus and it builds to the highest notes Geddy hits on the album. I wasn't completely sold on the album, but after this song, I'm going to at least give it another listen.