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The best thing about a producer is when you don't realize they are producing. If the band has talent then a good producer simply coaxes as much of that talent out as possible given time and budget constraints.
Rubin is really, really good at taking a performer and making them sound more like that performer than would have been possible by just the performer themselves. Does that make sense?
I have worked with two semi-major producers in my life. Both with my current band. They both came to practices and gigs and offered ideas for tightening the songs. They both were very good at communicating their ideas with us. One of them "blew up" before we could get in the studio. I still see him around town but we run in majorly different circles now.
The key to a good producer for a rock band is their ability to set the ego aside. To be totally enamored of the project. George Martin still gushes about the Beatles to this day. In the last interview I saw him in he was still in awe of the talent he saw in them. Daniel Lanois can come across as an arrogant prick, but when he is discussing the records he produced he is almost reverant. (I just saw a short little interview with him from the Peter Gabriel "Us" days). I've never really seen an in-depth interview with Rubin but I'll bet it's pretty much the same.
Every generation has it's influential producers (and musicians). The REAL question is: who's going to be the next one? I for one am hoping it's the guy who produced my band's most recent record ...
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