TEST FOR ECHO

What the heck happened here? When I first listened Test for Echo, I could not believe what I was hearing. I was literally speechless. Was this Rush? Or was it a really bad solo project? I looked at over the insert and all three names were present. Yes, this was Rush... But what the heck happened to them??

What we have here is a group trying to regain their former hard rock days (before Rush turned progressive) and absolutely failing at it. Probably the worst thing about it is Geddy Lee is still singing in the style he perfected in the 1980s up through the Counterparts album. That just doesn't work with this album at all. The guitar is on overload, and even though I admire Lifeson's abilities, I think he just lost it here. From time to time it is muffled and often sloppy.

One could only guess what Rush was trying to accomplish with this album. Even though their die-hard fans enjoyed their endlessly formulaic approach which started with Signals (and I too admired much of what they have done since Signals), maybe Rush was tiring of this approach. The song structures were still short, but the musical composition skills seemed to have been thrown out the window. I'm shocked. Maybe that's the effect they were aiming for? It worked on me, but in a negative way.

This one should definitely be avoided. For collectors and die-hard fans only. Two stars. Even Hold Your Fire is better than this. It's only saving grace is the neat album cover featuring an inukshuk.