CARESS OF STEEL

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2,5 stars really!!!

Rush trying to do their future classic music . Did not really get this one right, as this is sometimes sloppy . This has the markings of a band still learning their trade .

Two tracks hold the proghead's attention: The Necromancer is really dark but leaves me rather cold and Fountain of Lamneth, which is just a little pretentious only because they are trying too hard , too quick and too early. The rest of the tracks are normal early Rush tracks that you will find from their debut up to 2112. Lakeside Park is one of those many Toronto parks where the partying was simply great. Bastille Day was a concert favorite.

My rating must seem really low, but as a early Rush fan, I thought this was fantastic but with age creeping up on me, this album has obviously not aged as well as I have!

The first Rush release I bought, way back in '75. The sound and production is not the best, even on the cd. (I don't have the remaster, but it has to be better!) Musically, it is far superior to Fly By Night, but that isn't a hard thing to achieve! (See my review for that one!) The Necromancer is tremendous, very dark and disturbing, as is The Fountain of Lamneth. The best short song here, unnoticed by many, is - I Think I'm Going Bald. The guitar work is very impressive here, especially at the end, and the whole song is a refreshing change from bogged down 'serious' lyrics. For me, Bastille Day and Lakeside Park are only average, but the album as a whole is worth adding to your collection. But take a chance on the remastered version, it has to be an improvement!

This is the darkest of the RUSH albums. After the dynamic and lively "Fly By Night", it is surprising that they produced a so dark album. No keyboards! This album has varied songs, sometimes smooth and relaxing ("Panacea"), sometimes hard rock ("Bastille Day"), sometimes fast, progressive and experimental ("Necromancer"). The guitar is absolutely outstanding! How many different guitar sounds one can really appreciate here! The sound is pretty good too!

Here the focus shifts to epic fantasies, but is it a case of RUSH by-toring off more than they can chew? Both "The Necromancer" and the side-long "The Fountain of Lamneth" have their moments, even if the band hasn't quite figured out the best way to bridge their ideas into a single, cohesive whole. Is The Fountain's "Panacea" simply a standalone track like "Rivendell" encased in bookends, or a logical point along a continuous path? And does the dark narration between segments of The Necromancer constitute a clever plot device or a crutch? Fortunately, these questions are tangential to the task at hand, which is enjoying the good music that does appear on "Caress of Steel" (and there's plenty of that). The opening "Bastille Day" might be their most majestic moment yet, and the coolly delivered "Lakeside Park" is another positive sign of things to come. Separating sections of the longer works from their extended families yields similar highlights, including "Under The Shadow" (featuring a riff worthy of BLACK SABBATH) and "Bacchus Plateau." RUSH still hasn't found a way to spread the sounds of a bass/guitar/drum trio across prog rock's semi-classical structures, often leaning on ALEX LIFESON to "fill up" space by stretching chords into arpeggiated patterns of mesmerizing cloth, which approximates the sound of a keyboardist but often finds them short one lead guitarist. As a result, "Caress of Steel" sometimes feels like the work of two bands, half-committed to the music of BLACK SABBATH or LED ZEPPELIN while aspiring to the work of GENESIS. Like their next album (2112), this record may not achieve every thing it sets out to do, but ambition and conviction go a long way toward minimizing the potential downside. Also, any album that can overcome a lame track like "I Think I'm Going Bald" in its midst must be pretty damn good.

"Bastile Day" singlehandledly brought awareness of this tragically under-celebrated holiday to legions of hard rock fans across the world, and as a song it's notably hard and relatively adventurous for 1975 rock. "I Think I'm Going Bald" is funny the first time, and possibly thoughtful upon repeated listenings (same theme as CSN's "Almost Cut My Hair", really), but apart from some good guitar work is relatively forgettable. "Lakeside Park", however, is really quite good- a flowing and vivid feel that can take you on a ride. While the longer pieces don't really work yet, "The Necomancer" is more fleshed-out than "By-Tor" was, and "The Fountain of Lamneth" takes the progression even further, preparing us and the band for what was to come on the next album. They are refining their style and their chops here- it makes a more satisfying album than "Fly By Night" but the meal won't be quite ready to eat until "2112".

After heavily displaying their influences throughout their first two albums, Rush decided on Caress of Steel that it was time to break away from the pack. And seemingly at the same time, Neil Peart's lyrical genius really began to shine through for the first time. This is the first great Rush album, and I have no idea how so many people have overlooked it. As always, the band's playing is stunning (though it would get to be even more so in following years), and their great song ideas were really starting to come through. While the group's compositions would still get better with their next few albums, these were the first signs of their brilliance, and it blows away their first two records.

"Bastille Day" is a fantastic rocker with very meaningful and direct lyrics. The riffs are more powerful than anything they'd done up to that point, and Geddy's vocals are at their most agressive. "I Think I'm Going Bald' may have a catchy riff, but it's really somewhat of an unremarkable, goofy track. This is more than made up for by the mellow "Lakeside Park", which is extremely well performed, and really just a very enjoyable track. However, it's after these three songs that the record gets ambitious. "The Necromancer" is their first 10+ minute song, and while it has some great moments and does a fantastic job at establishing different moods, the narraration really causes me to lose some interest in the track. Still, some of Alex Lifeson's best early guitar work can be found on this track, and it's well worth the time it takes to listen to it. However, it gets blown out of the water by their first sidelong track, the stunning "Fountain of Lamneth". While it doesn't flow seamlessly like their later epics, the band is in top form for the entire thing, and never has Geddy's high pitched screaming worked so well. Add Neil Peart's brilliantly descriptive lyircs to the equation, as well as the always flawless guitar work of Alex Lifeson, and you've got yourself a hell of a song. It doesn't drag at any point, and it made it extremely obvious that Rush had great things ahed of them.

I'm one of the select few who actually preffers Caress of Steel to 2112. While 2112 has one stunning track and then a whole side of mediocre ones, Caress is fairly consistent, and really shows the band coming into their own in every sense. While I don't suggest making it one of your first Rush albums, don't be concerned that you won't like it either.

Its a great moment when you hear your favourite artist striving to reach greater heights in their creativity. COS was that moment for Rush, and although I didn't discover all the Rush albums in order its always a pleasure to listern to listern to COS immediately after 'Fly by night'. Fans tend to rate 'FBN higher, but I disagree. COS has 'The Necromancer' and 'The fountain of Lamneth' Two very strong conceptual tracks that form the blueprints for the bands future legthy works. The tracks I tend to avoid on this, their 'difficult' third album, are 'Bastille Day' - although most Rush fans seem to regard this as an anthem - and 'I think I'm going bald' 'Lakeside Park' is a pleasant 'ditty' with a fairly personal and reminiscent lyric, but little more.

I give this album 4 stars for 'The Necromancer' and 'TFOL' and the heady mixture of sensitivity and drama that make them. The musicianship on FBN was good enough to be getting on with, but Rush make a leap on COS, and in some ways the playing is 'cleaner' than on 'A farewll to Kings' which came out two years later. The production too is 'clean' allowing the woody organic sound of Neil Pearts drums to come through. The album has a natural and rather laid back feel to it that appeals to mea great deal, and is a sharp contrast to the screaming rock 'n' roll of FBN. A fine album!

I found this as an interesting album, including both good and some very bad moments. The shorter tracks I'm fond of here are the "Bastille Day" and "Lakeside Park", but "I Think I'm Going Bald" is a quite terrible joke rock song I fear. The longer epics have good parts in them, but the compositions seem to be done in a haste, and there are some poor parts included too. If you like 70's hard rock and structured epics, this might be a worthy album to check out! Warning: Some very high an mighty heavy screaming vocals of the 70's included!

his is the point in Rush albums where they were defining the sound that they would be known for throughout the seventies with more involved lyrics from drummer Neil Peart. A more hard edged guitar sound that would be more complete on the next one 2112, but compared with previous efforts A Caress Of Steel is more in line with how they would be perceived with a progressive like influence, although subtle as that may be, but it is still a worthy album that has taken a lot of stick from time to time. Personally it's my favorite Rush album and "Lake side Park" is one of the better songs from any Rush period, a song with memories of youth and drinking and simply hanging out with friends. The song is nicely juxtaposed with electric and acoustic guitar parts, something the band would work with on a few occasions if only to stamp an emotion on a song and it works a treat here with all the poignancy of the song. Some of the longer pieces are a bit experimental and lyrically can be a bit dumb but they are still listenable and surprizingly tight and even mesmeric at intervals, especially with the candid piece "Panacea" as the B side roll toward the end. All around A Caress Of Steel has a nice quality and a warm and fresh Terry Brown production.

This Rush album is the beginning of a long trend in their output of albums. It is the start of what some like to call their Progressive Era. I, for one, like to think of it as a warm up to 2112, for the two epics aren't fully fleshed out and are a bit abstract. Musically, this album is at a time when Rush were trying to expand their horizons, and many different tones and moods are heard. There's the heavy anthem of the album in Bastille Day, the bluesy rocker I Think I'm Going Bald, the soft modulated guitar tones on Lakeside Park, the quiet and somber tones of the Necromancer, and the alternating phased and acoustic sounds of The Fountain of Lamneth. All the right ingredients are there, but why was this album so unpopular when it came out? Frankly, I think it's because they took an unexpected turn and their fan base didn't like it.

Anyway, back to the music. The album opens with the rough and heavy Bastille Day. The drumming and bass on this track are well done, as well as the crunchy tone of Lifeson's guitar. Add in a bluesy, heavy guitar solo, and you have a masterpiece from Rush. The lyrics bring up images of a kingdom under fire, and the guillotine claiming the lives of many.

The next track, the weakest track on the album, I Think I'm Going Bald is more of a joke lyrically than anything else. The music also feels like a rehash of something from their first album, and the solo sounds similar to the one in Bastille Day, the weakest song on the album.

The final of the contemporary tracks, Lakeside Park, is a journey into the past of Neil Peart. With a introduction drum roll, the bluesy guitar shines throughout the vesres, and the clean and soft guitar shines through the choruses. This is one of my favorite Rush songs, mainly because of the modulations Alex Lifeson uses on his guitar, they are phenomenal.

The first of the epics, The Necromancer, is an abstract piece. Beginning with a very deep narrorator (Terry Brown I believe), he tells of a tale of three travellers who are greeted by misfortune when a necromancer takes them into the shadow. The music starts off quietly, with volume swells off of Lifeson's guitar. The ending is full of rejoice when old character Prince By-Tor comes and saves the day (unlike in the song off of Fly by Night, where By- Tor is the evil one). The music is rich and very well done.

The final track, The Fountain of Lamneth, is also a very abstract piece. Musically speaking, this was the most ambitious piece Rush had done to date. The riffing by Lifeson is very similar to what was going to be one of his staples later in Rush's career. It begins quietly, with acoustic guitars from Lifeson. Then one of the main riffs comes in, and it is the most memorable things on the album. It's a very rocking section that takes you straight into Didacts and Narpets. This section is a one minute drum solo from Peart and has only one line of lyric, "LISTEN!!!". The next part, No one at the Bridge, is easily the best riff Lifeson had come up with to date. The rest of the track is masterful, and it truly is one of the great Rush epics.

Overall, this is a great album. Not the best Rush album, but it has many likable qualities to it. The epics, while musically strong, are very abstract. It seemed like this album was the Prequel to 2112. Very solid effort by a very creative group. 4.5/5

Through this third studio album Rush had proved their existence as an excellent rock band with some exploration into more progressive style by creating a long duration epic with approximately 20 minute long of music. It's actually not the song duration that matters it's more on how diverse the music has changed from traditional mainstream rock music. And for this reason only, the band has proved even through its opening track "Bastille Day" (4:36) here I can sense that Alex Lifeson's guitar riffs are completely different with hard rock style. "I think I'm Going Bald" (3:35) is still dominated by heavy guitar riffs with excellent guitar solo. "Lakeside Park" (4:07) is an excellent track combining excellent acoustic guitar work, solid bass lines, good vocals and dynamic drumming. "The Necromancer" 12:30 is an epic that comprises three parts: I. Into the Darkness (4:20), II. Under the shadow (4:25), III. Return of the prince (3:51). The first part is ambient in nature and it has strong influence from blues. It's a very melodic part especially when it's combined with Geddy Lee's voice. At the end of first part there is a narration by a male voice followed with drum solo and guitar riffs that remark the music entrance into second part. The guitar solo is truly stunning. The music turns into a relatively complex arrangements followed with a sudden break to indicate the part 3.

The concluding track of this album is an almost 20 minute long epic "The Fountain of Lamneth" (19:50) that comprises 6 parts: I. In the valley (4:17), II. Dialects and narpets (1:00), III. No one at the bridge (4:15), IV. Panacea (3:12), V. Bacchus plateau (3:12)., and VI. The fountain (3:48). Even though the basic music is hard rock but this epic has demonstrated that Rush, since this album, embarked their musical journey into progressive style. This epic proves well on this. It perfectly combines rock and blues with good composition.

Overall, it's an excellent addition to any prog rock collection. If you are die-hard fan of Rush, owning this album is a must, I think. Keep on proggin' ..!

Peace on earth and mercy mild - GW

This album was almost Rush their swansong! Everything went wrong with the band, including the cover art because the chemical process turned it into too dark. The music can be devided into archetypical rock songs, progressive hardrock compositions ans tracks that are their time ahead featuring great experimental ideas. Instead of disbanding, Rush took their time and convinced everybody (including the worried record company, the fans and the musical press) with the innovative and acclaimed successor "2112". So "Caress of steel" was a kind of therapeutical experience!

I can't tell you how much I love this album. But I'll try anyway.

'Caress Of Steel' isn't very well-liked by many of the band's fans, and even the members of Rush generally dismiss it. I've never understood that. It's a bridge to the even better '2112', and the progression from 'Fly By Night' (released earlier that same year) is remarkable. It may be a transitional album, but what a fascinating listen.

Clearly there's a desire to stretch boundaries wider than ever, evidenced by the band's first side-long track, "The Fountain Of Lamneth". As quoted in Martin Popoff's 'Contents Under Pressure' book, Geddy admits that Rush was "influenced by Yes, Genesis, Van Der Graaf Generator, Gentle Giant and ELP" at this time. "The Fountain Of Lamneth" is a clear nod to their prog influences, an epic in six parts. It carries a lot of sadness, a grey melancholy heightened by the dry recording. It also features some of Neil Peart's best drumming up to that point (especially in first part "In The Valley"). And second part "Didacts And Narpets" offers some of the weirdest Rush ever. The different parts don't always link together seamlessly, but the individual pieces are all engaging.

It's interesting to note that keyboards hadn't yet come into the band's arsenal, so much of the progginess on 'Caress Of Steel' is achieved through ambitious songwriting, extended song-lengths ("The Fountain Of Lamneth" and "The Necromancer"), and the performances. Without keyboards filling up the sound picture, as they will do in most prog, Rush's sound (at this point) remains firmly in the early metal mode, with Alex Lifeson displaying an incredibly wide range of tones and techniques. His very individualistic style starts coming into its own all over this album.

The first half offers quite a variety of song styles. You get metal bludgeon (in that cool '70s style, of course, this ain't Napalm Death) with "Bastille Day". Self-deprecating humor in the straight rock of "I Think I'm Going Bald"--the last time anything approaching humor would be heard in a Rush song for quite some time. Fun, and a great solo from Lifeson, but the only less-than-excellent moment on the album. "Lakeside Park", lyrically and musically a better version of 'Fly By Night''s "Making Memories". And of course, album climax "The Necromancer", 12-and-a-half minutes of epic storytelling and magic-making. It stands right up there with the epic darkness of early Judas Priest and the proggier Black Sabbath material.

Maybe it's that weird downer greyness (sound and presentation) that keeps people at a distance? I like that aspect. There's certainly no other album that sounds like it. And if you, like I, love early metal as well as early prog, and prefer a good bit of darkness and drama in both, 'Caress Of Steel' is a joy. Frighteningly close to perfection.

I see this albums as a bit underrated. It's not just because of the lenghtly tracks that the album is good, but the songs are really good in my opinion. I like the use of synthesizers, and this album doesn't have them. But this is my favourite Rush album, the guitarwork is excellent, the songwriting too.

Bastille Day is and interesting song. It has some interesting guitar riffs and solos in the middle, good variations. The bass lines are interesting, as the drumming is good too. The main riff is powerful and creative, cause it contains some interesting variations. The last riff is different and beautiful

I think I'm going bald has funny lyrics, mainly if we think about having long hair at that time was a standard. The way Lee sings helps the funny mood. The song is ok, not so good as the first, but has interesting riff, variations and different short guitar solos, and a long solo with more than 1 minute, very good.

Then comes Lakeside park, with interesting bass riff and acoustic guitar, then good synth guitar and mellow singing in the chorus. The drumming is good too, and there´s good guitar solo and different riffs during the song, mainly in the end.

The next song is a three-part-song, The Necromancer. An excellent epic. The beggining, Into the Darkness is somber, with spoken lyrics by a somber voice, guitar noises and very dark bass riff. Then guitar noises come to long notes, some backwards, I think. The Lee starts singing and the riff continues, with the guitar notes, then a very slow and guitar solo with a great tone. Then some spoken words and guitar effects and the second part starts, Under the Shadow. Here, the riff is harder, the Lee's singing is harder too. There's a great guitar solo, accompained by Peart skilllfully drumming that turns into the riff, with some irregular rhythm breaks. Then some guitar effects and a great fast guitar solo over a good bass riff. The third part is Return of the prince, starting with spoken verses and a soft guitar passage with mellow tone. This part has nothing dark as the first two, singing is less aggressive, and contains a great and long guitar solo till the end of the song.

Then comes The Fountain of Lammeth, a 20-minute epic, my favourite Rush's epic. The first part is In the valley, with a good soft accoustic guitar riff and calm singing by Lee. Then comes the electric guitar, progressing in a good riff from the accoustic riff. Then the riffs becomes very hard and singing too, with a somewhat odd signature. And this riff alternates with a calm one. Then comes the second part, Dialects and narpets, very short, consists in a great drum solo and some guitar. Lee occasionaly says a word. Then comes No one at the bridge, starting with some effects, great bass line combined with drumming and then synth guitar comes to the riff. The riff changes in the middle, and Lee starts to scream the lyrics. Then returns the first riff. And a beautiful slow solo and then terminates with sound effects. The fourth part, Panacea, starts with a very beautiful slow riff, and soft singing by Lee, at his best, in my opinion (better than the screaming). Guitar riff is really beautiful, probably one of the most inspired riff of Lifeson. Then Bacchus plateau, the fifth part, starts like a progression of Panacea towards a harder song. The riff is interesting, with good bass and drumming, besides the good distorted guitar riff. Then comes a good guitar solo in the end of this part, fading out to the beginning of the last part The fountain, which starts with the strong riff of the first part, plus a rich flanger guitar effect. And this part has this strong riff alternated with a soft one, like in the first part.

So, this album comprises two among my 5 favourite Rush songs, The Necromancer and The Fountain of Lammeth. This album deserves five stars because shows how to make such intriguing, creative and beautiful songs using only guitar, bass and drums. No keyboards, complex guitar and bass pedals or different kind of percussion were used, and the result is impressing. This is the kind of music for trios that the young guys should inspire themselves, not 90's punk bands.

Very, very nearly there. Rush's prog flirtings would soon properly come to fruitition but they still had a hurdle or two to get over. This is one of the least popular 70s albums, and admittedly probably is one of the weakest, but that's not saying much seeing as at this time Rush were still owning left, right and centre.

These ones get slated by prog fans for their unwillingness to let go their hard rock roots, but this kicks off in fine fashion. "Bastille Day" was used to open their live shows with for years after this album was released and it's not hard to see why. It's an uptempo rocker that makes full use of the band's synergy and developing songwriting abilities. It maximises the turbulence of revolution into an almost epic structure with stellar instrumentation throughout.

"I Think I'm Going Bald" is the last gasp of the first album's heavy Zeppelin inspiration and as such isn't bad. It's Rush after all and it's funny to see this laid back and simple structure get set upon by Neil Peart, who brings strange OTT moments to it. "Lakeside Park" is really relaxed and breezy with it's gentle acoustic guitar lines and Geddy's carefree vocals. This one moves about the place in complicated Rush fashion but it's subtle and the feel is never lost within the changes.

"The Necromancer", in three parts, is probably their most flaccid attempt at an epic. Each section is musically fine but shockingly unmemorable as a whole. It's underwhelming placed next to the might of "2112" and the cheesy narration really kills it off. "The Fountain of Lamneth" follows with twice as many parts and being almost twice as long (very nearly a whooping 20 minutes!) to boot. It's much better than the previous but lacks the natural flow from one part to the next that "2112" perfected. Now, both really were in essence 6 and 7 little songs plastered together, but "2112" just felt right in it's moves from one to the next and even felt, if abstractly, like it was a perfect whole. They explore their British symphonic prog fixations a bit further here, and the Yes-isms are loud and proud. They never forget to break out the hard rocking groove and I can't fault any of the performance. It's just very tame in comparison to what they'd let loose in the next few years. That said, "Panacea" and "Bacchus Plateau" are the highlights of 6 parts that move between light and dark moments very often.

Geddy once said of this period: "You could just smell the hash oil coming off us" or something like that. Well I don't know if they were taking too much or too little but this album could might have benefitted one way or the other. Anyway, any prog fan can add this to the collection, at least for the historical value and to hear how one of the biggest and most influential prog bans in the world progressed.

Album rating: 7.5/10 points = 76 % on MPV scale = 4/5 stars

point-system: 0 - 3 points = 1 star / 3.5 - 5.5 points = 2 stars / 6 - 7 points = 3 stars / 7.5 - 8.5 points = 4 stars / 9 - 10 points = 5 stars

This album obviously follows the path of "Fly By Night", still very rooted in the 70's hard rock, but increasing the progressive elements...

The main difference is that the band assumed their prog condition, and they offered us two long epics: The Necromancer and The Fountain of Lamneth, with a little irregular results sometimes. Both songs have great parts, but some flaw moments too. The most enjoyable fact is the use of the acoustics and the excellent bass lines... Nevertheless, this two tracks should not be missed by any 70's Rush fans. At the moment of the realease of this album, Rush had not yet the complete abilities to write long tracks with totally satisfactory results... But I'm sure that they learned with this experience, and after "Caress of Steel" came "2112", with the first great Rush's epic.

The short tracks are a little irregular too. Bastille Day is really good, in the same style of the best rocker songs of the two first releases, and the only real classic of this album. But I Think I'm Going Bald it's just forgettable, really silly track... Nevertheless, Lakeside Park is another good song.

Best songs: Bastille Day (good Rush's rocker...), Lakeside Park (I love the acoustic guitar work...) and The Necromancer (it's long, but not boring like The Fountain of Lamneth...)

Conclusion: good transition album, strongly linked with "Fly By Night" but showing an indication of what the band will make in a future. The whole album is a little irregular, but it deserves a good listening.

My rating: ***

Rush begin their plunge into full fledged prog waters in this kind of build up to "2112". "Caress Of Steel" is much the same as "2112" in terms of sound and style, but it lacks the finesse and elaborate sound of the following album. However, what it lacks in finesse it seems to make up for in it's sense of naivety. "Caress Of Steel" still carries the sound of a young band trying to find it's niche. Rush seem to be treading the middle ground between their early Zeppelin sound and that which would come forth on "2112". The result in itself is very interesting.

Lifeson creates some of his most memorable riffs on this album especially in the epic Fountain Of Lamneth where he resembles the style he would be using on "2112" and onward. His lead work still carries the aggression of heavy metal player at this point rather than the melodic style he would adopt later. With that being said his solos are fantastic most notably the lead work in Bastille Day which would be so powerful as to inspire the band name Majesty (pre-Dream Theater) which refers to Mike Portnoy's description of the track.

All songs on the album have their own appeal to them. The two epics have the progressive rock sound we've come to love from Rush, and the remaining tracks carry the Zeppelin sound of their first two albums. I Think I'm Going Bald is really more of a joke track, and really the only noticeable fault on the album besides a less than perfect, though not marred, production job.

Caress of Steel marks Rush's leap into prog. The last album showed hints of where the band was headed with songs like By Tor and the Snow Dog, but this album sped up the slow evolution with two monolithic numbers. Neil Peart by now established himself as lead songwriter, replacing Lee's and Lifeson's admittedly shoddy lyrics. His fascination with sci-fi would later result in the band's triumphs, but here he tried just a lttle too hard a little too soon.

"Bastille Day" opens the album with Peart's musings of the French Revolution processed through the philosophical viewpoint of Ayn Rand. The song is a great opening rocker and it's the highlight of the album.

"I Think I'm Going Bald" is the standard Rush filler. It's a silly tune that ruins the severity of the rest of the album. Now, I love humor in music, but Rush has never once succeeded in making these kinds of songs work. The humor fails miserably. This is what prevents me from ever giving Rush album five stars.

"Lakeside Park" is a poppy song tha the band pulls off quite well. Rush always was good at crafting little pop gems amidst the prog.

"The Necromancer" is the first of two proggy songs that would point in the direction of future releases. The song has the darkness that would later result in the great 2112, but here it lacks the emotion of that great piece. Also, for such a gifted band, the compostion is horrible. This track is a long letdown. The only pro is Alex's solo.

"The Fountain of Lamneth" shows real promise. Peart is in top form on drums, and Lee and Lifeson give their strings a pretty good workout. However, the song drags and Peart reached beyond his grasp with the lyrics. Overall, a pretty good song but nearly as good as later epics.

Caress of Steel is an important record for Rush, but it's a bit banal. The two satndout tracks are Bastille Day and Lakeside Park. I recommend 2112 over this album, since they hammered out all the flaws in their epics for the title track.

Grade: C-

"Caress of Steel" has to be the most underrated RUSH album.I think this is an upgrade from the first two records as RUSH takes things in a new direction.This record would set the tone for the next one "2112".Although record sales for "Caress of Steel" and the tour that went with it proved unsuccessful(although it sold 100,000 copies just like their first 2 records did),i give the band a lot of credit for sticking with this same formula when they recorded "2112".Peart said "It was weird.We loved it so much when we made it,and we were flush with the excitement of making it.Then when it didn't do well,we were kind of stung." He goes on to say "We see it as a bridge,though.We wouldn't have made "2112" if we hadn't made that.I can trace the roots of all our material fom our previous experiments." "Bastille Day" was a concert opener for years,and for good reason, as it got the crowd in the mood you could say for the whole show."I Think I'm Going Bald" is a funny song about getting old.Love it when Geddy screams "I think i'm going bald".This one rocks out pretty good. "Lakeside Park" is a place in Neil's home town, and it has a lot of meaning for me growing up in a tourist town also watching fireworks on the 24th of May and doing crazy things at the midway and on the beach.The lyrics hit home with me of a time gone by."The Necromancer" opens with the "Into the darkness" section, with monologue to begin the slow paced song before we are treated to some scorching guitar,and the main melody is great!"Under the shadow" features outbursts of heavy drums and guitar as Geddy spits out the lyrics.The drums are really good and the guitar is fantastic.The final section "Return of the prince" is an upbeat song,like light causing the dark to flee.The second epic is "The Fountain Of Lamenth"RUSH's first side long song.Divided into 6 sections starting with "In the valley" with acoustic guitar and reserved vocals to open before things get loud and Geddy lets it rip 2 minutes in."Didacts And Narpets" features some amazing drum work and chaotic vocals."No one at the bridge" is a great section,with nice guitar melodies and incredible vocals."Panacea" is a good song with acoustic guitar and gentle vocals."Bacchus plateau"opens with guitar, with vocals and drums to follow.And finally the last section "The fountain" with a heavy intro and intense vocals that give way to a pastoral climate.This contrast of light and heavy continue throughout the song. This really is the start of an amazing stretch of records where RUSH could do no wrong.So yes this is raw and certainly not perfect,but this is where the monster starts to rise.

Following the artsy dabbling done on "Fly by Night", Rush upped the ante with two extended songs on their next album which show their burgeoning experimentation-- both of which don't really pay off. Instead of a tight, solid album like "FBN", we have a somewhat messy smattering of songs with the band playing well, but seemingly confused with what they're playing.

The chugging opening of "Bastille Day" withstanding, there really isn't much to get excited about with this release. "...Going Bald" and "Lakeside Park" don't offer anything new and are actually somewhat regressive when juxtaposed to prior awesomeness. As for the epics themselves, "Necromancer's" fantasy-inspired lyrics and goofy voice-overs are redeemed by some excellent guitar work by Alex and the central instrumental section, but "Fountain of Lamneth" can't sustain its almost 20-minute length. Its movements don't flow together very well and its themes are difficult to grasp; however, it isn't without its instrumental merits, and Geddy does have a few beautiful vocal moments as well.

All in all, "Caress of Steel" remains one for the fans, and holds up to an occasional listen every now and again.

A commercial flop for Rush. Not only do I think the band were ready at that point to write extended passages, but I think that they didn't have good musical ideas overall: whatever they had were wasted on the two long songs here. The short songs range from mediocre to decent, there is a typical energetic rocker which fails to grab my attention, an ok pop song, and a kind of irritating hard rock tune that tries to be funny "I think I'm Going bald".

Why do the long songs fail as being good music? They are very poorly constructed, incoherent and some passages feel way too long. "The Necromancer" is the better one of those, starting with a dark slow section full of electric guitars, then having two sections which seem to have no musical connections and some unintentionally funny narration that hurts the song. "The Fountain of Lamneth" is the longest one, and the songwriting is awful. It starts with a bit of potential with a good hard rock riff, but then goes a drum solo and the singer randomly shouting lyrics and when music turns decent again, you have a very dull and overlong acoustic section and the rest is all hit and miss, making it hard to listen to it. Overall, it has its moments but is very inconsistent and ends up leaving me cold and unsatisfied. I can't believe how poor their songwriting skills were at this point and I'm glad they proved the world wrong with 2112, containing a classic hard rock epic of excellent musicianship and songwriting.

Recommended for hardcore Rush fans and completionists. There's no reason to get this album when you could buy their next set of albums, which are superior.

1. Bastille Day (D+)

2. I think I'm Going Bald (D-)

3. Lakeside Park (C-)

4. The Necromancer: (C)

5. The Fountain Of Lamneth: (D)

There are great bits here. The classic anthem Bastille Day and the D&D Necromancer. My favourie is Lakeside Park.

The album is at time frustrating and this is exemplified by The Fountain of Lamneth: the side long epic. At times it's great, and then a drastic transition ends up a blind alley and you're left going Oouch that's gotta hurt!

The band is pushing its limits at the time and is suppose that is what prog is about. It just doesn't come off here with the majesty that later albums possess.

Rush trying to do their future classic music, and the result is a good one but non essential. Still one of Rush albums that i listen with pleasure but when i descovered other albums from different bands from that period i realized that is not so fabulous album as i thought in my early discoveries, just a good one. Maybe nothing more to add, just if you want to listen to the early sound of Rush this is the album that you may purchase first. 3 stars and an underrated Rush album that still needs to be descovered, and maybe a classic of prog after all.

Not the most cohesive or memorable RUSH album but shouldn't be written off - well worth a listen.

I've been listening to RUSH for about 3 years and had listened to the 2 epics on the album 'the necromancer' and 'the fountain of lamneth' extensively and quite enjoyed them and wondered why people dismissed this album as rather mediocre for RUSH, only recently have a listened to the album in it's entirety and now I'm inclined to agree with their opinion.

The album starts out fairly well with the relatively straight up rock on roll track 'bastille day', not bad but not particularly prog or interesting. Next up 'I think I'm going bald' is a joke really, the song is substandard straight up bluesy rock'n'roll with silly subject matter and some generic pentatonic solo. 'Lakeside park' is similarly unenthusiastic, pretty much straight up rock as for as RUSH goes, the first 3 songs are easily forgettable and really bring this album down.

'The Necromancer' is a fantastic song, easily the best on the album, it starts out with an admittedly cheesy spoken word intro about the necromancer and a group of heroes which is easily forgiven once the song takes flight first into a mellow slowly building jam. The song continues on and gains steam moving into a sensational riffy and funky jam with some great soloing before reaching the climax of a fast driving section ending with a mellow acoustic section. This is a great precusor to the song writing featured on their classic next album '2112'.

'The fountain of lamneth' the side long epic finishing the album is a bit hit and miss, there is a lot to like here but it does get a bit boring and simply isn't as interesting or cohesive as RUSH's later sidelong masterpieces '2112' and 'Hemispheres', well worth a listen though it is on the whole a good song.

Overall Caress of Steel is a decent album, not nearly RUSH's best nor nearly their worst, recommended for fans of RUSH's earlier more progressive song writing (just skip the first 3 tracks), 'the necromancer' and 'the fountain of lamneth' make it well worth the listen.

Probably the most uncommercial of all the Rush albums. To the point where the resulting tour was nicknamed the Down the Tubes tour. But along with Hemispheres & Grace Under Pressure, this is a fave of mine. And not just among Rush albums, but among my whole collection. My brother had picked the Archives 3 Lp set (Rush, FBN, & CoS). Our gang had already gotten into All the World's a Stage, and I was curious to see what else this band had in 'em. Side one starts off with a winner, an all-time Rush classic - Bastille Day. It gave off the same exhilarating bang that Anthem had on FBN. Big chords, riff after riff, it still gives me chills when I listen to it, and I still love playing it on guitar. I THink I'M Going Bald is rightly described as Rush's last real Rock n Roll song. In a way it brings back for one last time Lifeson's big Les Paul tone from their debut. Lakeside Park, though sounding thinner than on All the World's a Stage, was an early example of Lifeson's propensity for using unsual chordings, suspended, 12th fret ... why play the G here, if I can get this effect by playing it at the 7th fret. Necromancer, however, is where Rush goes prog big time. Yes, FBN had its' moments of progginess. But you could still argue that Rush was a hard rock / heavy metal band. Necromancer took them beyond just Zep & Blues riffing. Atmosphere, multi-part suite, narrative, instrumental swings from moody dark backing to overwhelming riffage. Now they were starting to put words & music working together. OF course, the second side (for those old enough to remember vinyl) is where Rush stake their first prog claim to glory. Having immersed themselves in bands like Genesis, Gentle Giant and other prog giants of the day, you can see Rush taking the first steps in establishing their own style. Changing tempos, abrupt chord changes, quiet to loud, back to quiet, riffs that sounded like the metal equivalent of Genesis's Watcher of the Skies, with the same arrangement matching the lyrics' message to the musical backing. As with many developing bands (another 70s relic, nurturing a new act until they hit their stride), Rush would learn to better edit themselves, concentrate on establishing the melody or riff beyond the 4 bar section. Indeed, 2112 is the result of this album's experimentation. So if you love 2112, CoS is a perfect match if you're looking for more.

I believe this is one of the most special albums by Rush, mainly because of the two long ones. I come to those in a minute. The first three songs are nice, almost funny (especially I think I'm going bald) but they are not really rocking my boat. Then it's the turn to The Neckromancer. This song is the main reason why I think this album is special. I mean have you ever heard a song like this ? This is truelly unique: a very gloomy song a bout a medieval wizard that really makes you get the feeling you're in the middle ages. How do they do that ? It's amazing ! And that's not all. I sometimes make a list of the best guitar solos ever and I can say that the solo at the end of this song ends up always in the top three ! This is such a great performance by Alex Lifeson, he is one of the very best in the business. To conclude we have the final epic: The Fountain of Lamneth. A song that actually consists of six shorter parts. It's a good composition but personally I favour The Neckromancer as the best of this album.

That's why I can't go for the ultimate score. One song is not really enough but it's a very good album. 4 stars

This is how early into rush discography I have dared to wander. Caress of Steel has some of the trademark progressive elements of early Rush, but they are certainly not developed into the sophisticated sound they would have on later albums yet. There is something of a heavy metal feeling to this album. But come on! Rush would and will never sound like Black Sabbath or Uriah Heep, which is something they aim at with Caress of Steel. I´m a bit confused with this album, because they seem to want to play their more heavier riffs but a the same time develop their progressive angle. It just doesn´t work very well. Thank God they ditched the heavy metal leanings on later albums.

The musicianship is of course flawless as always and the production is ok for the time.

Like the dwarfs in Lord of the Rings, I have dug too deep. I should have stopped while the game was still funny ( A Farewell to Kings). This will never be a favorite of mine. Maybe I will listen to this again in 10 years, but I will probably feel the same as I do today.

Things were changing in the Rush camp. After two albums of solid Heavy Rock, Rush were now starting to experiment more and venturing into their more Fantasy based Prog period. First signs of this could be seen on the previous Fly by Night album with By-Tor and the Snow Dog but on Caress of Steel they went all the way.

Fans on listening to the album for the first time would think nothing much had changed with opener Bastille Day which is a straightforward slice of Heavy Rock which would have fitted in nicely on the previous albums and very good it is too. I Think I'm Going Bald is a bit of fun but it's okay and Rocks along well enough. The more laid back Lakeside Park is a lovely track, lyrics of course by Neil Peart written about a place he used to work.

It's the final two tracks that mark the real change into Prog territory though. The Necromancer, at twelve minutes and The Fountain of Lamneth, which at nineteen minutes took up the whole of side two of the original vinyl version. In hindsight the band looked on this album as a bit of a failure due to these two pieces and it's true that this is far from Rush's best. However, they do have a certain charm and are very good in places.

The Necromancer is divided into three parts starting off quietly and underwhelmingly with Into the Darkness. The use of narration with a silly voice is a little naff but hey, this was the seventies. Things pick up a bit with Under the Shadow which is mainly instrumental and has a fine Guitar solo from Alex Lifeson and features some fluent playing from the entire band. The track finishes with Return of the Prince which is pleasantly melodic with a riff reminiscent of The Who's Baba O' Riley.

The Fountain of Lamneth is divided into six parts starting off acoustically on In the Valley before the band power in. Didacts and Narpets is only one minute long mainly dominated by a short Peart Drum solo which is followed by No One at the Bridge which is more pleasing with a haunting guitar refrain from Lifeson. We're back into acoustic territory with Panacea which is pleasant enough without being stunning which leads into Bacchus Plateau which is basically straightforward Heavy Rock. The Fountain closes the piece which revisits where the track started with In the Valley. Where the track could have been improved would have been to make the parts flow more seamlessly from one section to the next rather than just pausing for a second or so; though perhaps this is the way they wanted it.

Overall then, a good album showing Rush finding their Prog feet and an important stepping stone for what was to come next with 2112.

2.5/5 to be honest

I find this album very hard to review. At the same time that I desperately want to play out my fanboy-ism for this album, it seems like highly unfair for all the readers at PA.

Fly by Night is much better than Caress of Steel is the first thought that pops up in my mind. Obviously, most of the previous reviewers disagree with that statement. Let me explain why they are wrong :).

Caress of Steel is where Rush made too much, too fast. I personally don't find neither the Necromancer nor The Fountain of Lamneth thoroughly enjoyable. Sure, they do fulfill the prog requirements, but I still don't think they are good prog. Both songs have some magnificent parts in them, with The Fountain of Lamneth being the best of the two in my opinion, but they fail in coherence. The connections between the different parts leave me feeling lost. It's like a collection of many parts cut out of many different songs, only loosely connected. And that's why I often find myself playing this album as background music, while studying or being involved with some other activity.

Bastille Day, I Think I'm Going Bald and Lakeside Park also feels strangely out of place alongside the epics. They're all fun rock songs (especially I Think I'm Going Bald!), but I'd want them on...perhaps their debut album? This isn't a good follow-up to Fly by Night, which has it's natural follow-up in the excellent 2112.

As stated earlier: too much, too fast and some misplaced good ol' rockin thrown in for good measure!

//Linus

Almost... there....

A strange album for Rush, really. This album represents Rush moving into progressive boundaries, while still clinging onto their hard rock roots. This album is the start of their classic 'Swords and Shields' era of music, capitalized on in later albums, but this album is also quite experimental and often has some missteps. It's easy to see where 'By-Tor and the Snow Dog' would have evolved into this album and this album would eventually turn into '2112', and in that transition it's stuck. Considered a commercial flop by their record label (even if it sold the same as the last two albums) Rush was put on the chopping block, the tour for this album was even called 'The Down The Tubes Tour'. Luckily they still had one album to their contract and that's where it all turned around.

Three shorts and two longs... how do they stack up?

The album starts off with the heavy BASITLE DAY, which could very well have been taken from either of the two prior albums. A rocking riff and political lyrics make this one a good head-banger. Also housed on side one is the excellent LAKESIDE PARK, a whimsical rock song that encapsulates the younger days of the band spent in their hometown of Toronto. Unfortunately there's one more short song to be had, I THINK I'M GOING BALD. Rush is often accused of being too serious with their music, and this song proves why. A quirky song without much substance, I THINK I'M GOING BALD is one that's better skipped (ironically, 33 years later and none of the band are bald at all!). A couple good short songs and one oddball, Rush definitely still liked to rock.

Onto the longer tracks and this is where everything gets... complicated. A mix of great and meh, the two longer tracks show Rush entering the new territory that is the progressive epic. Where their first epic 'By-Tor and the Snow Dog' excelled was it's mixture of heavy metal and progressive elements to create something completely new (and in hindsight, it's own genre), the problem with the two epics here is their speed. How can one describe the speed of these songs? Schizophrenic would be a good word, with the songs jumping back and forth between heavy and humble without mixing both. THE NECROMANCER is a good track when the volume is cranked, as it can be a bit quiet at times. The narrator describing the journey of some men across the labyrinth of the twisted Necromancer who traps them. The valiant By-Tor also reprises his role here in an excellent case of Deux Ex Machina as he comes out of the shadows to slay the necromancer at the end of the song. (Whoo, go By-Tor!). Good playing by the band, unfortunately the song is a bit too slow in parts. THE FOUNTAIN OF LAMNETH suffers from the same things in places. Granted, this song is longer and likely the better of the two with some great heavy moments, but it too is too quiet and indecisive about it's direction. One particularly excellent part of the song is 'Didacts and Narpets' as Neil hammers out the drums and Geddy lets out a shrill 'Listen!!'... just in case you were falling asleep.

In the end, what does this album get...?

Good, but not essential is the definitive way to summarize whether one should buy the album or not. 3 stars it is. Good for Rush fans and fans of early Rush, but not really for the average Prog-goer. A couple of good experimental epics and some good short rock songs make for an interesting album, but Rush has so much better stuff still to come.

Review 21, Caress Of Steel, Rush, 1975

StarStarStarStarStar My favourite Rush album, from the seven that I currently own, and likely to remain there. In good conscience, I can give it the full five stars. I can't really comment on the resemblance to Led Zeppelin, because I don't know Zep nearly as well as I should. What I can comment on is how the album affected me, and still affects me after quite a few listens. I was blown away from the first listen (I had only heard Snakes And Arrows previously), and still am. From the emotions of The Necromancer to the reminiscing of Lakeside Park to the rocking of Bastille Day, everything works for me. I can understand why some people would take issue with some of this album, but I love it anyway, and consider it perfect for me.

Bastille Day opens with a kicking bass riff, and Peart and Lifeson both come in neatly. The screaming, high vocals burst into life, carrying some enjoyable (if simple) lyrics from Peart. Great opener, with a very strong rhythm section, and I like the slightly softer instrumental break, with the occasional withdrawals of the other instruments to leave Lifeson alone. The concluding burst, however, is the highlight of the song, ascending with a great guitar-drums combination.

I Think I'm Going Bald is a great semi-sarcastic, riff-based (although it is varied, and done very neatly) song with a couple of solid short guitar solos from Lifeson. The lyrics are pretty decent, Lee's weird, not-quite-clear vocals work brilliantly, and the fade works very neatly, I think.

Lakeside Park is widely accepted as a Led Zep rip-off. I really don't mind. Nice subdued bass performance, a good example of Peart's softer percussion and I love the vocals and lyrics, with their nostalgic tone. The small escalation at the end to an almost-celestial guitar tap is perfectly done. Basically, a really good song, whether or not it's a rip-off.

Now we come to my joint-favourite (with Cygnus X-I) Rush song, The Necromancer. The division into three sections works pretty neatly, since while each section is a distinct entity, they flow very well and have a couple of constants that glue them together. Each of the musicians stands out perfectly, with Peart handling the transitions from fairly intense drumming to sparse drumming and vice versa very well. Alex Lifeson moves between soloing and rhythm neatly, and Geddy Lee provides his usual excellent bass-playing. The biggest criticism that I could give this one is the lyrics, which are unabashedly nerdy and inspired by Lord Of The Rings, even if I like them. Could have been worse... (*coughTheWhiteRiderbyCamelcough*)

Into The Darkness begins with a haunting atmospheric guitar, and develops slowly, with a hollow Lord Of The Rings inspired narrator, very sparing percussion from Peart and a developing bass part. The way it all comes together into a song, which retains all its elements and yet is a complete entity, is unforgettable and indescribable. Geddy Lee's entrance on the vocals is superb, and the strange guitar continues behind him, echoing the ideas in the vocals before turning into temperate solo that expresses the longing and mental breakdown of the travelers. Music as a form of expression. Post-perfect.

The second section (Under The Shadow) begins with a sort of swirling (presumably guitar) effect, that conveys some sort of distance and power, and then bursts out in with Peart's hard-hitting drumming and biting stabs of guitar and near-growly vocals before bursting into a heavy, rocking part with the first of two vicious solos from Lifeson. After a twisting, thick guitar effect, it moves onto the second part of the instrumental with a more pronounced bassline. Whereas the first part was travelling through a grey, soulless wood and succumbing to its destruction, this is a medieval dungeon of horrors and torture, and visions of terror and chaos. Another post-perfect. If the rest of the album was at the level of these two parts, it would never leave my CD player.

Out of this horror, the third section, The Return Of The Prince, comes with a gentle, uplifting guitar melody, bringing back the light and life to the Necromancer's dungeon. Peart contributes with a nice drum part, while Lee and Lifeson intertwine their bass and guitar. Uplifting, cheerful, potent and unassuming. Perfect as an expression of hope.

So, there you have it. Three emotions: sadness, fear and hope, three sections. A truly amazing song.

The Fountain Of Lamneth is not as strong as its predecessor, and there are admittedly some sections that people with a sense of cheese might look down upon. There are some repeats (verbatim) of the album's main parts (acousting opening echoed in the closer, The Fountain's theme and chorus are repeated a few times, and the other sections also haven't got obscene amounts of variation within them), however, no matter how hard I try, I can't bring myself to care. The main theme is an absolute killer, with a savage bass-drums combination, and the acoustic parts are very neat and back-up the lyrical themes. All the other themes work as intended, I think, even the Panacea section. The reason I love this song, though, is probably to be found in the ambitious lyrical exploration of the human condition (cheesy metaphors and all) and stunning, poetic lines ('My eyes have just been opened and they're open very wide/Images around me don't identify inside/Just one blur I recognise: the one that soothes and feeds/My way of life is easy and as simple are my needs'). I love this piece, though the criticisms of it are mostly fair.

The side-long suite begins with a gentle, hesitant, acoustic opening, accompanied by a soft vocals introducing the lyrical search and leading pretty neatly into the main, heavy Fountain riff with a drum battery from Peart and a tearing guitar part (accompanied by stunning, powerful lyrics [just my opinion, normal people may not like them]). Geddy Lee lays down a whirling bass part which hasn't grown old yet and provides his. Peart continues pretty neatly through this section of the song, having a semi-directed soft drumming style that reminds me of Bill Bruford's finest hour (Close To The Edge).

Didacts And Narpets is a weird section, beginning with a chaotic, hollow, rolling drum solo with shifting guitars and opposed vocals chiming in with an argument of sorts. The guitar returns and the whole group scream out 'LISTEN!'

The following section, under the melancholy title of Noone At The Bridge, complete with sailing metaphor, begins with a guitar part from Alex Lifeson that holds up almost the entire section, with Peart and Lee working around it very well. Peart is particularly stunning, and Lee does an impressive job holding up completely solo on vocals for a couple of moments, and giving life to the great 'SCREAM OUT DESPERATION, BUT NOONE CARES TO HEAR!' line (sorry for the capitals). At its end, Lifeson provides us with an interesting solo over a slightly morphing beat, and Peart fades the song out effectively with his percussion and some birdsong effect.

Panacea is perhaps the weakest section of the song, having more clichéd lyrics, even if I love them, and as an acoustic piece, it sounds poor and generic unless you pay attention to the subtleties, shimmering guitar (could be keyboards, I'm not sure) and throbbing bass, as well as Neil Peart's fairly nice drum additions at time.

Bacchus Plateau rocks in with a pretty standard guitar part, decent drumming and bass. The brief rhythm section solos are enjoyable, and Geddy Lee is perhaps taking a risk with his vocals, which sounds a little dubious if I try really hard not to like it. Lifeson's ending solo, while in keeping with the song, could probably afford to rock a little more. Nonetheless, the softness of this section is perfect as a lead up to the main theme driving in again.

A slight bulking up of the earlier Fountain theme slams in, with especially superb high vocals from Geddy Lee, and the guitar effect is very interesting. Alex Lifeson provides a solo (which feels more typical of him than the previous one) which works very neatly, and Peart's drumming is especially welcome. A minor escalation of the theme leads up to a reprise of the acoustics on the opening, continuing and rounding off the grand lyrical themes. A slow instrument hum concludes the song.

All in all, a much-loved song, with one of my favourite Peart performances (I'm not the greatest fan of his drumming elsewhere, but this is brilliant). The lyrics were really my thing, even if they might come off poorly with some listeners. Not a general epic masterpiece, but a masterpiece for me.

This is one of those albums that has a sort of personal resonance with me, which is fairly rare, and also not the most loved of Rush albums, but I feel that I can justify why I think it's so brilliant, and love it so much. What distinguishes this album, and 2112, from later Rush albums that I've heard, is that it is emotional, open and honest throughout, and conjures up images in a way that Moving Pictures never will. I can understand that this may not be the album for some people, but it's the album for me. Consequently, it gets the highest of ratings from me.

Rating: Five Stars

Favourite Track: The Necromancer (especially Into The Darkness)

The most underrated Rush album ever hands down. There is nothing about it I can criticize. Everything is perfect. The production, the musicianship, and the melodies are all perfect. While the last two tracks are the best, the 3 shorter tracks are incredible too.

The opening to the album, BASTILLE DAY, is an incredible Zeppelin- like song that has great singing by Geddy Lee.

That is followed by I THINK I'M GOING BALD, obviously about Neil Peart's hair situation. The lyrics are odd, but the music's still great.

LAKESIDE PARK is the last short song on the album, and is easily the best of the first three songs. I particulary like the drumming on this track, but Lifeson's guitars sound great here too.

THE NECROMANCER is arguably the best on the album. While it took me two or three times to love, it's great once you get there, and I look at it as a masterpeice.

THE FOUNTAIN OF LAMNETH is Rush first 20-minute epic. The acoustic opening contains Geddy Lee's best singing. I also love the solos by Lifeson.

Overall, this is just a superb album. Any prog, prog metal, or even hard rock fan will love this. Fans of Rush will love this, and this is a great place to start listening to Rush. A must own for anyone.

Caress of Steel: Rush fans reject it, Non Rush fans praise it.

My third Rush purchase, after buying 2112 and A Farewell to Kings, Caress of Steel showed me a early version of 2112, a proto-type of it; similar structure on the songs format.

This one showed Rush fans a change on direction, bringing a almost 20 minutes epic, and leaving the Zeppelin-influence they had been assimilating in their first 2 albums; which in this album and the next one, the Zeppelin-sound would appear blurry, with the finally achieved ''Rush sound'' covering on top of it.

Caress of Steel often rejected by Rush fans due to the loose conection between the different parts of The Necromancer and The Fountain of Lamneth, both songs which showcase some of Rush's most creative ideas, however they didn't manage to make them as succesful as they would with 2112, hence why one became popular and the other not.

The Necromancer demonstrates a solid three part song, in which each part shows Rush's characteristics in making long songs. Part 1 shows a haunting and spacey Rush with a excellent climax, similar to that middle part from By-Tor and The Snow Dog from their previous; Part 2 shows Rush heavy signature, with powerful drumming, great melodic bass playing and some fiercful guitar solos; Finally Part 3 shows Rush's acoustic up-lifting side, with a quite melancholic melody in which will finish with a fantastic emotional guitar solo. The Necromancer is probably one of Rush's finest Prog songs in the creative point of view, while on the musicianship side they would later shine on epics like Cygnus X-1 or instrumentals like YYZ.

The Fountain of Lamneth has a bigger set of characteristic compared to The Necromancer, which will make it obvious, that all of these characteristics won't shine as good as in The Necromancer did. Yet, this one shows a bit more of virtuosity and complexity, which will be one of the basics for Heavy Prog, to be more specific, for Rush later epics. This song is the obvious route which Rush would take to make the famou heavy epic, 2112. Pittily at this stage Rush wasn't that capable of connecting seperate parts, and as a result many fans rate it low. I simply find it spectacular, despite the flaw of being a bit loose, even sometimes better than 2112, since 2112 has a obvious heavy-light-heavy-light structure, The Fountain of Lamneth varies more through gentler rock parts and more interesting passages than in 2112 overall.

The short hard rock tunes could simply have been in Fly By Night or Rush(debut) or even in side-two from 2112. However the hard rock songs from here seem to be the weakest of the bunch, Fly By Night and 2112 has some killer heavy songs and hold up the potential of the longer songs from their respective albums, while the ones from here are definitely a step-down. This is really the only real flaw I can mention from Caress of Steel other than the loose conection between the long songs. This album ends up being a flawed masterpiece, as most masterpieces.

What is wrong in admitting Caress of Steel as a fine Rush album?

Released in the same year as Fly by Night, Caress of Steel introduce a considerable change of pace in the band's music so far. Until this album, the band released albums with straightforward hard rock alone, but, as i said before, that starts to change here with the suites The Necromancer and The Fountain of Lamneth.

Those two songs incorporate many progressive rock elements, such as the subdivision of the song in chapters, having each a different central theme from the other, though they all are connected by the overall song theme. Also, both suites have a completely different mood from the three initial songs, considerably inspired by space rock.

Bastille Day, I think I'm going Bald and Lakeside Park sound more like the other songs from Rush's first two albums, but, quite frankly, they are not very special. This, allied to the fact that the rest of the album is not easily absorbed, may be the reason why Caress of Steel is so badly considered among Rush fans.

The highlights go to The Necromancer and The Fountain of Lamneth.

By this point in their musical career, Rush was beginning to find their own unique voice. They were still clinging onto the blues-rock of the past, imitating many greats of the time, but it was pushing the envelope in several ways. One noticeable aspect of this album are the two lengthy tracks, a direction Rush would take for a few more amazing albums before contenting themselves to shorter fare indefinitely. Why this album is so maligned I do not know. Surely it is not as strong as what the band would do in the future, but for a fledgling Canadian trio, this is a step in best direction.

"Bastille Day" Heavy riffs with a solid low end and stupendous drumming from Neil Peart make up this excellent first track. Singing about a major event of the French revolution, Geddy Lee's voice shrieks and squeals, and Alex Lifeson's guitar is good and crunchy. The arrangement is a good one, particularly toward the end.

"I Think I'm Going Bald" A throwback to the blues-rock music Rush began with, this is a real weak point on this album. It tries to wax philosophical about aging, but comes across as goofy. Lee's vocals are at their worst here, screeching and sounding like a harpy as he does. Lifeson's lead guitar tone sounds just as bad.

"Lakeside Park" Here is a good standard rock song, nothing flashy and nothing ornate, but still solid. The acoustic guitar adds a much needed layer to what is otherwise very thin music. It's a more laidback track, simple in terms of composition, and so it's easy to follow and enjoy.

"The Necromancer" The opening narrative, spoken through a deepening effect, doesn't come across as silly as it might have. It does set the tone for a lengthy and Pink Floyd- like song. I can honestly hear David Gilmour and Roger Waters singing over this music (Animals and Dark Side of the Moon come to mind). In that respect, Lee's vocals seem unbecoming, but not terrible at all. After a second narrative bit, Lee shrieks over alternating stark emptiness and heavy blows from the band. The guitar solo erupts over one of Lee's most graceful bass lines ever- it is no doubt a highlight. A riff during the second half, especially with the subsequent soft clean guitar music, reminds me of "Heart of the Sunrise" by Yes. The acoustic music that follows is a victorious change from the heavier, darker music of before.

"The Fountain of Lamneth" Lifeson's gentle acoustic guitar with Lee's likewise soft-spoken singing begins this beautiful epic track. The main riff that comes next is one of the best parts of this work. Peart flies off the handle with a drum solo punctuated by strange vocals and guitar blasts. It's definitely one of Rush's stranger moments. The next bit that fades in is very similar to the "Nimrodel" introduction from Camel. Lee's vocals are at their most astringent, however. In the next part, Lifeson treats listeners to a pleasing classical guitar with electric guitar swells and Lee singing in a heartfelt way. After that, there's some heavier music (nothing particularly spectacular by this point but good nonetheless). Wonderfully, Rush returns to the main riff of the song, completely with the light, almost jazzy vocal section. The piecemeal song ends as it began, with gorgeous acoustic guitar, yet with one concluding swell.

Often discarded as a failure, I don't judge this album very far below the other early albums. The 20 minute song-cycle that made up side two of the original album is not in the same league as 2112, but still it has its fair share of interesting parts. Bastille Day is a very immediate and steady opening track, not of the roaring intensity of Anthem but still, fun enough. I never cared much for Lakeside Park or Going Bald, but immediately after, the high point of the album announces itself: "The Necromancer", a song that seemingly never made it into their live set or onto compilations but that I regard as one of their best of the early years.