TEST FOR ECHO

This may not be Rush's progiest record ever, but its an alright rock album. The lyrics on this album range from stunning and majestic to incredible terrible. Its too mcuh range in this album with the lyrics to make the terrible ones enjoyable. Geddy Lees voice has gotten alot better with age, and his bass playing has gotten alot more fluid and louder since their debut back in 1974. This is much more modern rock than some other records by the band. One thing that stands out for me in this album is the awesome drumming and the great vocal harmonies on some of the songs. Alex's playing is always a highlight as he is great at making riffs and solo's, and its well showcased for this album.

"Test for Echo" is a great title tack, one of the best in years. It has some interesting drumming and some great and melodic basslines. The guitar solo is very interesting to me, not too fast, but it has some nice flow with the overall feel. The vocal harmonies are great, though not at the Yes standard, they are definatly excellent for Rush harmonies. The lyrics are very good for this the hard rocker type of song. "Driven" is the next track, and is by far and away my absolute favorite of all the songs on the album. Its very dark, though maybe not as dark as "Test for Echo," the lyrics are much more thought-provoking than the other tracks on this record. The bassline is excellent, and so is the very interesting drumming. Neil is really pounding. The guitar in this song is alright. The bass solo that Geddy plays is extended and much more interesting live. "Half the World" has a nice and smooth bassline, and the guitar is pretty much nice and upbeat, not much too it. The drumming is excellent. The lyrics are very odd to me, though they make sense to me. Half the world, and half the world is bad is much the moral of the stroy for this song. "Color of Right" is where I usually loose interest in the album. The music is too much alternative and grungy to me, though I really like the drumming. The lyrics are pretty much about love, which you don't hear Rush do too often, though on the first Rush album thats all you heard. The music is just uninteresting, as with the lyrics. Not a top cut of beef from the album. "Time and Motion" is a personal favorite of mine, nice keyboards and a very great riff. The lyrics are pretty good for the most part, much better than the last two songs on the album. "Totem" is probably my least favorite, its just got an odd vibe. The music is not very good, but I like the lyrics for song reason. Geddy sings really well on this track, despite it being a track that isn't great. "Dog Years" is terrible. The lyrics and the music are so wierd and stupid sometimes. It sounds too much like a metal track than a regular Rush track, even though Rush is heavy prog, they are not really prog metal. This is one of the tracks that Rush swears, the word "bitch" appears on this track. "Virtuality" has some nice riffing and some great much, though the lyrics are really wierd. Its not a favorite, but I love the way they play it live. Awesome basslines, by the way. "Resist" is an alright ballad, though maybe not as good as Rush's other ballads 'Rivendell" or "Tears" but, it has some nice keyboards and vocal harmonies. "Limbo" is a very good instrumental, not as good as some other instrumentals back in the past or in the future for Rush. Its got some great basslines, and some crunching guitar topped with some smooth and fluid drumming by Mr. Peart. "Carve Away the Stone" is terrible, not a great song at all. I wish it closed with "Limbo" because the lyrics are crunching my ears at times. The music good on this track, despite the bad lyrics.

Good music with bad lyrics dosen't always make a good album, thats why I can only give this album a 2 stars because of that reason.