Does Rush Deserve to Be in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame?

From Randall Roberts, at the Los Angeles Times:

... And then there's Rush, one of the most prominent groups of the 1970s and '80s prog rock movement whose fans have been screaming at the proverbial windmills for the 13 years that the band has been eligible. Forty-four years after it formed, the band responsible for songs such as “Tom Sawyer,” “The Spirit of Radio,” the epic concept album “2112” and dozens of gold records has made the first cut on its way to the theoretically hallowed walls of the Cleveland historical institution.

It couldn't come too soon for the group's very vocal fan base, which has waged campaigns over the years to have Rush — singer-bassist Geddy Lee, guitarist Alex Lifeson and drummer Neil Peart — acknowledged. With each denial, Rush's fans had become more embittered. Petitions had been signed. Fans on Twitter raged nearly every day. The frustration is understandable.

The Hall of Fame's indifference to progressive rock is akin to the literary establishment's relationship to science fiction. With bands such as King Crimson, Yes, Jethro Tull and Emerson, Lake & Palmer unrecognized (Genesis is the exception, having been inducted in 2010), Rush's inclusion suggests a committee begrudgingly willing to acknowledge prog rock as creatively valid — but ultimately unimportant when discussing greatness and the “canon.”

Me? I respect Rush's vision way more than I actually like its music, and it's for a single inarguable reason, one that I suspect is true of many others: I can't stand Lee's voice. It's silly, annoying and detracts from the band's ideas and lyrics. “The Spirit of Radio,” the band's best pop song, would be perfect were it sung by someone singing in an octave (or four) less ridiculous.

And here's the playlist from yesterday afternoon's drive time, at The Sound L.A.:

3:02 - Refugee by Tom Petty

3:05 - Rock 'n Me by Steve Miller

3:08 - Show Me The Way by Peter Frampton

3:13 - Hey You by Pink Floyd

3:17 - Born To Be Wild by Steppenwolf

3:27 - Silly Love Songs by Paul Mccartney And Wings

3:33 - Gimme Shelter by Rolling Stones

3:38 - Down On The Corner by CCR

3:40 - Tom Sawyer by Rush

3:45 - I Hear You Knocking by Dave Edmunds

3:54 - Spirits In The Material World by Police

3:57 - Riders On The Storm by Doors

And here's a shout-out to Linkmaster Smith, at The Other McCain, "World’s Youngest Blogger Dances to Muse."