CARESS OF STEEL

Caress of Steel is without a doubt the must unjustly underrated album in Rush's discography. Critics hate this album with a passion, but I never understood why. There are plenty of good songs on here, one of which inspired the original band name of Dream Theater (Majesty was inspired by the outro of "Bastille Day"). This was Rush's first attempt at an epic over 10 minutes long, with "The Necromancer" and "The Fountain of Lamneth", and both are much better songs than they got credit for. "Bastille Day" shows some of the magic from the first two albums, and "Lakeside Park" is quite a pretty tune. The only song on there that is not really my cup of tea, at least lyrically, is "I Think I'm Going Bald". It's not a bad tune at all, but it's still my least favorite on the album. Nevertheless, Caress of Steel does not deserve all the criticism that it got all these years. It's not as good as 2112, but it's certainly not as bad as the critics make it out to be.