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Album Details
- Artist: Rush
- Album: Caress Of Steel
- Label: Anthem/Mercury
- Year of Release: 1975
- ME Rating:
- Reviewed by: solitaryman on 2011-04-04
RecommendAround the time of Neil Peart's arrival and subsequent work on Fly By Night, the trio of Rush began to toy with various conceptual imaginings to work into their music. Indeed, the extended track "By-Tor and the Snow Dog" from the previously mentioned album could be seen as their first foray into this sort of lengthy prog-rock staple. On Caress Of Steel, an album that was a bit hurried and underdeveloped (admitted by the band themselves), they took their first major steps towards the fundamental basics that would eventually develop into monsters like 2112 and the Cygnus duality.
Leading off with three single-length tracks, Caress of Steel certainly contained a fair mix of the accessable and the in-depth. Opener "Bastille Day" is surely the most memorable track from the album, a concert staple and one of their early "hits". The influence of Peart, evolving from Fly By Night, can be heard in the higher tempo and energenic fills. "I Think I'm Going Bald" is the sort of track from Rush's early years that often goes unnoticed, a sort of odd-ball concept lyrically that I'm sure now could be seen as somewhat amusing to look back on for the band. "Lakeside Park", the last of the shorter tracks, is a nice and mellow ode to a fair some of the band attented regularly in their youth.
The rest of the album is devoted to two 10+ minute epics, "The Necromancer" and "The Fountain Of Lamneth". The former is the shorter of the two, and because of that is far more accessable. However, it is nowhere near as polished and defined as the latter. It does rock a bit harder, though, and has a memorable up-tempo section within it's latter half. A lot of the track is a touch ill-concieved, especially the darker narrated voice which just sounds silly. Much of what is needed most, flow, simply doesn't exist. It's more or less a few jagged ideas of songs forced together rather roughly, but there is enough to enjoy in each passage to avoid calling it a dud. If one makes particular note of it, it's easy to see how "The Fountain of Lamneth" laid a solid blueprint for 2112, in terms of progression between sections of the suite. The interchange between loud/soft/louder/soft again creates an element of surprise the first time you hear it, but frankly, the biggest highlight of this track is a short-and-sweet drum solo by Peart, however unfitting it may be within the suite. These songs were never reproduced live (to my knowledge, but I am probably wrong), and it's not hard to see why; these were little more than adventures by the band, experiments with a form of songwriting they were all very interested in at the time. Each suite is far from terrible on the strength of solid instrumental work and some interesting lyrical material, but pale in comparison to the larger numbers they'd pen in the future.
Caress of Steel is often seen as a low-mark in the Rush catalog, but most knowledgable fans can forgive this for the sake of the band's still-developing style and need to experiment in order to perfect. A stepping stone for the most part, the album can still be enjoyed in places but on the whole could possibly be seen as the least impressive in Rush's canon of material.
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Log In or Register to Rate Albumson 2011-08-01 DrewVics Said:
One of my all-time favorites. This album may have prompted their "down the tubes" tour, but it worked on my as an imaginative boy growing up listening to my sisters record albums. Great stories, incredible msuic, so many perfect moments captured on this one. I highly recommend this to anyone who says they like Rush but has never hear Caress of Steel. It's a damn masterpiece!
Rating: 8/10
Review:
on 2011-07-29 CharlesMartel Said:
This album marks the end of the transition of Rush from a heavy metal outfit to a prog rock one. By the time "2112" came out they would be fully fledged members of the prog rock genre. So, is it any good? I was mildly intrigued by the first album and loved the second one. Where does this fit? Well, I found this one almost by accident, without knowing it had been released, sandwiched between "Fly by Night" and "2112". It is surely their most under-rated and overlooked album.
Like "Fly by Night" it is a mixture of heavier rock tracks and more intricate progressive tracks. But lyrically, things have changed. While almost all of the tracks off the first album (and some on the second) dealt with the mundane in an almost blue collar sense of the word, even the rockers on this album depart from the ordinary. There is nothing ordinary about any of the tracks on this album they are all musically or lyrically detached from the everyday reality which characterised their debut. It is for that reason that I can justify the perhaps bold statement with which I opened this review.
The opener, " Bastille Day" , is a clear signal of that transition. As a rocker it deserves all the praise it gets. I just love it. But as a rocker it deals with a most un-rock theme - no hard toiling in the factories and coming home to a cool beer and a hot babe. No, this is about the French Revolution. Rush, through Neil Peart's lyrics, have romanticised a historical event and set it to a driving rock theme.
The change is even more striking as the album unfolds. " Lakeside Park" is another good track which harks back in some ways to the first album, with its heavy Led Zeppelin influences, though this is not the Led Zeppelin of the latter's blues rock era. I always think of " Down by the Seaside " off "Physical Graffiti" when I hear this and it marks a maturity in the bands songwriting.
However, much of the album is taken up with two long tracks, epics in the tradition of the prog rockers which Rush were to become and which, in some measure, followed on from "By-Tor and the Snow Dog " off "Fly by Night". However, I have to say I find the "Fountain of Lamneth" to be a bit dreary and dull and goes on for far too long. Whatever the message behind this mini-epic, it was lost on me. "No-One at the Bridge" is the best part of it. My favourite track off the album is "The Necromancer" . This reveals another struggle between the forces of good and evil, although this time By-Tor (the bad guy on " By-Tor and the Snow Dog ") is now the good guy on this, something which I do find to be a failing as I am pretty sure the band, Neil Peart specifically, could have come up with something more imaginative than rehashing characters from an earlier tale. What makes this is the glorious guitar work on the third part of the track, something which is genuinely uplifting.
Normally I am not into prog rock, but this has more emphasis on the rock than the prog and for that it deserves repeated listens. Sadly, the production is not that good, a bit heavy handed in my view. Someone seems to have decided that the lyrics might be the band's strong point. That is a sentiment I can share, but that does not equate to a need to bring Geddy Lee's vocals to the fore as much as happened on the album. Geddy is no Robert Plant, however much he might like to be, and his vocals are perhaps the weakest element of Rush as a whole.
Rating: 7/10
on 2011-04-07 SolitaryMan Said:
Haha, yeah, listening to all Rush has to offer is a bit of a challenge. The weirdest part is how much they've changed throughout the years. It is an experience of sorts, but for me I started very young, these were some of the first albums I ever listened to from my dad's collection.
Not Rated
on 2011-04-06 dscanland Said:
Good on ya. I don't think I could wade through the whole Rush catalog. I do like em but prefer the best ofs rather than full albums. Sure, maybe I'm missing out on the "experience" but it's a big catalog to digest. And most of it came out when I was still in Diapers!
Not Rated
