Can I give Alex a shout out? He gets overshadowed by Neil and Geddy, but he did more for showing rock guitar players what extended harmonies mean and the proper use of a chorus effect... his vibrato style was akin to the great Jeff Beck, real fluid and vocal-like.
I was going to do the same but figured people didn't want to get bored with the technical aspect of it.
Supreme use of the chorus effects, and those suspended chords he hits just hang there forever. So lush. I always tell people, if I could be on an island and only have one group's library of music to listen to for the rest of my life, it would be Rush. No doubt about it.
You know I had this sick fucking experience that really put me over the top with them back when I was in 7th or 8th grade I believe. You ever fall asleep and wake up in a bout of sleep paralysis? You know, when you can't move no matter how hard you try, but you can still see? A lot of people confuse this with being abducted by aliens, or don't they...
Anyway, I used to have my little boom box on my bed next to me and one night fell asleep to one of the Chronicles CDs, I believe the second one. And woke up in a bout of sleep paralysis and it was during the climax to Distant Early Warning, talk about an awesome and haunting experience! I couldn't fucking move but "the world weighs on my shoulders, but what am I to do? RED ALERT RED ALERT" was pumping from right behind me. And over the music I just heard this laugh like the Joker's laugh. I have been one with Rush ever since.