Rush Discography Discussion 2: Caress of Steel (1975)

Not the best from the decade, but also not the worst, and definitely also not worse than Caress of Steel and Hold Your Fire, which are each for different reasons (see earlier pages) more unbearable. Also I can't imagine that I find the next album better, but more on that later.

The title track suffers from the La Villa/Natural Science syndrome. Starts great, but in the end it's too long and it kinda starts to plod. Still one of the better tracks. Driven is a stand-out song but I'd like to mention some others.

Time and Motion is awesome and strangely overlooked. Great rhythms and heavy guitars. It is heavy (just turn up the volume if you disagree ;-).
And there's a certain tension in the clean guitar parts, that is hard to describe. Eerie stuff. Nice how this alternates with the heavy stuff.

Totem, Dog Years and Virtuality have enjoyable melodic music. I have heard worse. Much worse. So I'd say this album has a strong middle imo. And the musicianship is of a higher level than on the next two albums.
 
Last edited:
For the first time ever, I agree with Foro on the so called "La Villa/Natural Science syndrome". The title track definitely suffers from being too long, starts great and then goes into some (seemingly) directionless tangent.

But that's about all I agree with Foro on here. Caress Of Steel and Hold Your Fire are definitely in my bottom 5, but they have a few songs I really love. Bastille Day, Lakeside Park, Time Stand Still, Force Ten and Turn The Page are all favorites of mine.* Test For Echo doesn't have anything I hold in very high regard, Driven is pretty great and Virtuality has some good stuff but after that there's not much I care for. Rio's version of Resist is great but even that doesn't boost its rankings too much for me.
One thing the three albums have in common is that I have a hard time getting through these albums in one sitting.

But I have heard worse. While Test For Echo is the worst Rush album, it still isn't terrible. Even at their worst, Rush is still pretty good.

*And for a little foreshadowing: Vapor Trails also has some really great stuff, despite being one of their weaker albums. But we'll get to that later.
 
There's no way I could call Test For Echo the worst Rush album, not when there is just one song I actively dislike on the album (that drooling, farting, leg-humping mastiff Dog Years). At the same time there is just one song that might threaten to earn a spot in the band's top 30 (the title track, which has the requisite mix of melody, progressiveness and heaviness.)

The rest is all various degrees of OK:
Resist is a fine composition. Except we only know this because of the live acoustic version. On here it's mildly pensive and pretty.
Virtuality has a catchy chorus, some changes and a vintage Rush riff, but it also seems overlong.
Driven and Time in Motion are two of the better tracks. They have nice progressive elements, some atmosphere and enough thud. The vocal melodies however are fairly mediocre.
Totem has better melodies and some of the same qualities as the two above, but with less changes and no heaviness.
Even though it might be slightly more interesting than the band's two previous vocal-less songs, Limbo is just another solid instrumental.
I really like the lyrics of The Colour of Right and its melodies are pretty solid as well. But musically, it's just another rock song.
And Chip Away The Stone, and Half the World are lesser versions of The Colour of Right.

One other general observation: I usually like acoustic guitar mixed into heavy music, but during my re-listen I started to wonder if it was used effectively here — too much layering and not enough dramatic counterpoint.
I also think Mosh's comment is probably bang on: after years of finding new ways to challenge themselves, they were at a point here where they were not really certain what to do next.
 
Feels like the best songs are criticized (or ignored/ underrated) harder than the weaker ones on the previous album.
Another act of defense: I really can be annoyed by bad vocal melodies (you'll see on the next album; it's full of these) but I hardly find them on this one. Driven and Time and Motion don't have superb vocal melodies but to call these fairly mediocre I find that gravely exaggerating. And it takes away the attention from what's really going on in these songs.

I also miss your (plural) appreciation of the musicianship and the progressive elements and the changes in some of the songs.
 
Last edited:
Forostar said:
Feels like the best songs are criticized (or ignored/ underrated) harder than the weaker ones on the previous album.
Another act of defense:I really can be annoyed by bad vocal melodies (you'll see on the next album; it's full it these) but I hardly find them on this one. Driven and Time and Motion don't have superb vocal melodies but to call these fairly mediocre I find that gravely exaggerating. And it takes away the attention from what's really going on in these songs.
Click to expand...
I agree that there are a lot of bad vocal melodies on the next album, but there aren't any great ones on this one either.

I also miss your (plural) appreciation of the musicianship and the progressive elements and the changes in some of the songs.
Click to expand...
It's there, but it isn't really very good. I don't automatically like something with good musicianship and progressive elements. Caress Of Steel has all that stuff and we're not praising that album, why does this get special treatment?
 
There is no overkill this time. The distribution of the elements is better. Besides, the progressiveness is combined with better melodies. It's not pure playing, there's direction (imo of course). At least the aspect itself is there. Since it's part of "the unexpected" that I often crave for in music, I missed it a bit on some of the previous albums (Hold Your Fire & Counterparts). With you guys it's almost the opposite. Like there's a little intolerance for these elements. Perhaps it has to do with its predecessor (would you have liked to see a Counterparts 2)?
 
Those elements are there, sure. But the music isn't very good (IMO) and that's what comes first for me. Has nothing to do with its predecessor, in fact I often forget the order of these later albums anyway.
 
Forostar said:
Feels like the best songs are criticized (or ignored/ underrated) harder than the weaker ones on the previous album.
Another act of defense: I really can be annoyed by bad vocal melodies (you'll see on the next album; it's full of these) but I hardly find them on this one. Driven and Time and Motion don't have superb vocal melodies but to call these fairly mediocre I find that gravely exaggerating. And it takes away the attention from what's really going on in these songs.

I also miss your (plural) appreciation of the musicianship and the progressive elements and the changes in some of the songs.
Click to expand...

I know you aren't speaking only to me, but I think I like this album better than you think I do (If that makes any sense at all:D)
I quite like the playing and progressive elements of Echo, Driven, Time (your "eerie" description of this one is bang on) and Virtuality. My criticisms of the latter three were basically my attempt to explain why they are 7/8s, rather than 8/9s. Vocal melodies are a matter of taste.

Generally speaking, I'd take pretty much all of Counterparts, over most of the rest of this album.
But I'd take pretty much all of this album over most of Roll The Bones and Hold Your Fire.
And I'd say its more consistent than Presto and I like the feel better than Power Windows.
It's got good songs. It lacks elite songs.
 
Different Stages (1998)
Rush_Different_Stages.jpg


Different Stages was dedicated to the memory of Neil Peart's daughter, Selena, and his wife, Jacqueline. The sleeve reads lyrics from Afterimage, "Suddenly... You were gone... from all the lives you left your mark upon. In loving memory of Jackie and Selena,"

Shortly after the tragedies in Neil Peart's personal life, Alex and Geddy went to work on compiling what might've ended up being a posthumous Rush release. With that in mind, Different Stages is an appropriate album, acting as a retrospective of sorts. It includes recordings from the latest Test For Echo tour, the 1994 Counterparts Tour, and a full length performance from the 1978 A Farewell To Kings tour. As expected, this album contains all sorts of goodies and rarities, from recent material like Driven and Animate, to classics like Cinderella Man and a full length performance of 2112! The 1997 tour was the first time Rush had ever played the entire piece live, so this monumental event had to be captured on a live album.

At a whopping three discs, this would be Rush's most expansive live album yet. A fitting way to close not only the decade, but really the entire first 25 years of their career. The first two discs cover the gamut of material, with a slight (understandable) focus on the 90's, but the older material also get quite a bit of attention. All the classics are there, but we also get debut live recordings of classics like Limelight, 2112, The Analog Kid, and Natural Science, on top of all the 90's songs that hadn't been represented yet.

Obviously the 2nd disc doesn't have a wide variety of material, being as it is from early in the band's career. But don't let this fool you, there are many setlist gems here too. A Farewell To Kings, Cygnus X-1, and Cinderella Man are all songs that had never seen a live release before. It's also interesting to hear early recordings of those songs anyway, as the only 70's live album before was All The World's A Stage.

Despite all the good qualities and being a wealth of live Rush material, Different Stages is not without its flaws. It seems like none of these shows were actually planned on being released on a live album and seem to be taken from a soundboard recording. The result is something comparable to a high quality bootleg. It's definitely the most raw Rush live release, but perhaps this is appropriate as the band was heading in a more raw sounding direction.

Different Stages might not be the greatest live album or a classic that will forever be remembered (or win a live album survivor), but I can't think of a more appropriate way to celebrate this band's career. It really seems like a thank you to the fans for all the support over the years. Had the band really called it quits back in the 90's, this would've been the perfect swan song. But of course, here we are 15 years later discussing it as the band wraps up yet another tour for a highly successful album.
 
Last edited:
This album got me into Rush. I heard it, and after that I bought most of their discography as fast as I could.

Although I do not like Pearts' drum sound (especially snare; too hard; difficult to describe, but I find it too dominant), I loved the beautiful layers of synth e.g. in the chorus of Analog Kid. Great "counterpart" vs the roughness of the rest of the musical instruments. I discovered a whole bunch of beautiful songs, Limelight being the most impressive. But also disc three opened the door the past. Especially Cygnus was a revelation.
 
The only real beef I have with this album is the recording quality. But it's totally understandable as they probably weren't planning on releasing an album of this magnitude when recording these shows.
Anyway, once I get past that it's a pretty great album. Not much to say beyond that really.
 
This is already for the next album: Alex Lifeson speaks about Vapor Trails
http://www.classicrockmagazine.com/...record-our-return-after-a-horrible-nightmare/
Lifeson: Vapor Trails is an important record – our return after a horrible nightmare
Rush guitarist Alex Lifeson has explained why the band’s 2002 album Vapor Trails is being reissued in a remixed form – and why, 11 years on, drummer Neil Peart still can’t bear to listen to the record.
 
Vapor Trails (2002)
Rush_Vapor_Trails.jpg


In 2002, something amazing happened: Rush had returned with a new album! They began the 00's on hiatus. As the years went on it seemed less likely that they'd ever get back together, making Vapor Trails the album that almost never was. Yet in 2001, Neil Peart decided he was ready to make music again, and with that, production on Vapor Trails began.

Not being released until May 2002, this was the longest time Rush had spent working on a studio album. Musically it wasn't too much of a step away from Test For Echo and is a logical step in the band's evolution. Perhaps their heaviest record, this is the first (and) time since Caress of Steel that absolutely no keyboards or synthesizers are present. The band took a unique approach to recording this album, making songs out of one off jams.
Neil Peart said:
Eventually Geddy began to sift through the vast number of jams they had created, finding a verse here, a chorus there, and piecing them together. Often a pattern had only ever been played once in passing, but through the use of computer tools it could be repeated or reworked into a part. Since all the writing, arranging, and recording was done on computer, a lot of time was spent staring at monitors, but most of the time technology was our friend, and helped us to combine spontaneity and craftwork. Talk was the necessary interface, of course, and once Geddy and Alex had agreed on basic structures, Geddy would go through the lyrics to see what might suit the music and "sing well," then come to me to discuss any improvements, additions, or deletions I could make from my end.
Click to expand...
The result is a stripped down, spontaneous and heavy hitting album.

As expected, the lyrics for this album mainly deal with Peart's personal life. Ghost Rider, for example, is about his motorcycle travels across North America. The band also created a new installment of the Fear series for this album. Freeze being about the choice between facing tragedy or letting it consume you. It is by no means a stretch to call Vapor Trails Peart's most personal album, lyrically.

Unfortunately, this album didn't come out quite as planned. Rush found themselves as victims to the growing "loudness wars". Distorted mastering created an unnecessarily loud album with clipping and no dynamics. The band, particularly Geddy, always regretted the sound of the album and in 2013, a remix by Richard Chycki was finally released. You can listen to it here.
Vapor_Trails_Remixed.jpg


Despite the blemished production, Vapor Trails marked the return of Rush, better than ever.
image_4.png


Rush In Rio (2003)
Rush_in_Rio.jpg

Shortly after the release of Vapor Trails, Rush embarked on a massive tour. This included the band's first shows in Brazil and some of the largest in their career. To celebrate this, they released a live album/DVD of their Rio show. This is the first live album to contain a complete Rush concert and also breaks the pattern of releasing a live album after every 4 studio albums.

 
OK, I'm five songs into the remix and am really liking what I'm hearing.

My basic take on Vapor Trails has always been:
Somewhat lacking in the hooks department
Not at all lacking in emotional heft department
Best Rush lyrics ever
Worst Rush production ever

I'm going to take some time to digest the remix because I am hearing nuance I never heard before.
 
Last edited:
I really like the improvement on the sound on Vapor Trails. The album indeed breathes way better. Not sure if I would run to the shop. Although I probably would feel a connection when I urge myself to focus on the lyrics, I remain not very satisfied by a number of songs that have not so nice vocal lines (I am being polite here). And the repetition is annoying. If this
Mosh said:
The band took a unique approach to recording this album, making songs out of one off jams.
Click to expand...
is true then I am not surprised that the songs turned out this way.
Mosh said:
Rush In Rio (2003)
Click to expand...
This album has such a different mix from the previous live record, Different Stages. I remember I was surprised about the lack of guitar compared to more prominent bass and drums. Lifeson was responsible for the mix, so I guess he was being generous. It also sounds a bit more mono, let's say the sound spectrum is less wide.

Unusual observation: Some parts in a few songs sound like they were played too slow. Especially Tom Sawyer comes to mind. The DVD is very impressive. It was the first time that I "saw" this band doing new stuff since I became a fan. The audience is involved as hell and I am spellbound when I see Peart handling his instrument.

A very important and confident milestone for the band.
 
Last edited:
I've always felt there was a flawed, painful, heartfelt work of art cradled in Vapor Trails that was never able to properly articulate itself foundering in a wall of sonic mud.

It is so gratifying to be proven correct by this remix. The space in this new mix creates a balance that allows previously unheard nuance to surface in all the appropriate places. No longer is the album something you have to slog through to appreciate.

My further discussion of this album will be based on the remix. Listening to this one on the headphones is like peeling off the faded wallpaper and pulling up the ratty shag carpet in your worn family home to discover intricate tile, fine hardwood and the hidden treasures of your grandfather.

Really curious to hear what our audiophiles @Yax and @Cornfed Hick think of this.

How the band ever allowed this to be released in its previous form is beyond me. It's like they took some of the bands most subtle, fragile material and slapped it on with a hammer.
 
Last edited:
Given what happened the previous five years, I appreciate the bands intention of opening Vapor Trails with its two most upbeat, positive-sounding songs.

For all of its power, One Little Victory, however, comes across as somewhat hollow and forced - brittle even. Rationally this new album was certainly a victory, but emotionally I don't think they were all the way to the point they wanted to be. Like most of the songs, this one benefits from the remix (is that a bass, I hear?). But that doesn't obscure the fact the vocal melodies are lacking and the song tends to drag.
Not a bad track but among the weaker openers from a band that usually nails them.

Ceiling Unlimited fares better, probably because it more readily acknowledges the self-doubt underpinning it's hopeful lyrics. Musically, it's a song with good melodies, a good measure of power and a lot of different parts within a fairly conventional structure. The remix really brings all the subtleties out that were lost in the original version. Foro, if you we're looking for musicianship, I think you should find some here. The back half of the band's career is full of catchy tracks in the number two slot (Analog Kid, Afterimage, Time Stand Still). I think this one measures up quite well.
 
I played Ceiling Unlimited again and it felt good. That solo section is worth mentioning as well. Pretty cool part.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top