Here's what I wrote a long time ago. I still think this holds true. By muddled I mean:
It's primarily Alex's guitar sound. On pretty much every track, he's got the overdrive going, some distortion, and too much sustain. And, he does more strumming on this album than maybe anywhere else. All this combines to make all the songs sound like a muddled mess, with no dynamics. No volume, intensity, or rhythm dynamics. Because of this, it's pretty hard to appreciate Neil's drumming. You've got one of the best rock drummers ever, and you've pretty much taken him out of the mix. Same thing with Geddy's synthesizer colorings - you just miss them unless you're listening for them.
I have a few other minor complaints (Geddy's vocals are uninspired, and Neil's lyrics just don't click).
but I was just trying to bring a little levity into the post. No need to debate this opinion again...
