TEST FOR ECHO

This is BARELY 3 stars material, almost a collection item. Rush went back from a 3 year vacation where they should thought harder to make a better comeback. Because you don't get charm new fans with that kind of job. Why Rush lowered their scyscraper standards at this point? CounterParts had a much rougher and dirtier edge, which was the basic trademark of the album. But for Test for Echo, even the concerts were lacking sparks and energy. Maybe they didn't believe in their product at that time.

But on the bright side, Hugh Syme did an immaculate job on the cover art. Rush became at Roll the Bones somesort of a "cool inside booklet" band. The theme was the Great North with lots of cool Inuit references. Winter theme is a nice way to describe the album despite the lack of creativity of the songs. The song Driven fits pretty well and so is the Test for Echo song. The wrapping of the record is far superior and creative than what's inside. Guys, the cool booklet and art work is giving me hope that someday, I won't look down so much on the album. Man, "Rush art" is certainly a nice voyage in extravagant and imaginative art...like the Floyd use to do. Cheers to Hugh Syme and the Boys for such exquisite and humorous job.

Anyway some songs are totally worth the try. Test for Echo for instance, is a nice post- prog exercise with cool toms rolls and bass subtilities. Driven, is for me, one of the best songs ever written by Rush. Driven is a great ride with tension and excellent guitar/ bass/drum interaction. Worthy of a definitive attention. It's catchy, heavy and satisfying. Check out also Time and Motion, it's a weird song and it's a heavy one also. My favorite would be Driven and Carve Away the Stone. Don't know why, that last song has all my sympathy an respect. It won't go through ages, but it will please your ears, I hope.

Anyway, do not start here for the 1990 and up period...you might regret an album with only 4 or 5 ncie songs....because Rush is more than capable of an album of total killer and no filler.