TEST FOR ECHO

Just like the band's third era and "Hold Your Fire", I find that Rush's fourth era finds a great closure in the fourth and last item from that particular time, in this case, the "Test for Echo" album. The band had never given up on their art-rock basic intentionality, but definitely they were apart from the progressive rock structures that had become abundantly essential in their 77-81 albums and had been gradually decreasing in their 82-87 efforts. From the days of "Presto", it seemed like Rush had just become another hard rock band with a slightly superior level of musical complexity than others (the early grunge bands, the remaining hair-metal and AOR bands), yet losing some of the muscle and nerve that had become a sort of Rush-trademark. But alas, their 1993 release "Counterparts" found the band recovering themselves into harder and more complex terrains in the realm of rock. The same goes for "Test for Echo", an art-rock effort with noticeable (if not dominant) prog leanings and yet sounding very contemporary. All in all, "Test for Echo" manages to introduce a higher dose of complexity and a more interesting series of musical ideas. Getting started with a powerful opener such as the title track, one can tell that the entry is effective: catchy riffs, intricate rhythmic development, full exploding dynamics and that special magic that can only come from a perfectly amalgamated power trio like this. 'Driven' follows, bearing what is arguably the album's highlight in terms of writing and arrangements: the succession of 15/8, 14/8 and 6/8 patterns is both compact and fluid for a song that remains a bit commercial while being, mostly, cleverly complex. 'Half the World' and 'The Color of Right' are less impressive, but properly retain the stamina installed by the first two tracks. 'Time and Motion' stands on a heavy psychedelic ground, rocking steadily through its constant alternations between 5/4 and 6/8 tempos. There is a sense of constraint in the guitar arrangements, which allows the synth ornaments stay clearly audible in the mix. 'Totem' and 'Dog Years' rock really hard, but only the former feels really appealing to me; the other one is just a pretext to keep on listening with relative pleasure. None of them I find great, bit I do find 'Virtuality' great: its drive is on the commercial note not unlike tracks 3 & 4, but there is more to it, an effective exercise on pop-rock with a heavy guitar- laden twist and Peart's clever management of the otherwise ordinary rhythmic pattern. The Rush fan can't have enough of those syncopations, rolls and intruding cowbells, all of them Peart-style, pure and simple. In terms of commercially oriented rock, the band really nailed it on this one. 'Resist' is an acoustic ballad that partially hints at the softer moments of the band's late 70s era: the use of dulcimer and mandola among the acoustic guitar and synth layers feels adequate for the sort of quiet solemnity that the lyrics provide about the idea of dealing with the negative side of life with grace and character. and love. The instrumental 'Limbo', just like the one in "Counterparts", is mostly a pretext to do some jamming and state a simplistic, expanded architecture around it. These rushing guys have always been good at it and this track is no exception. The album is closed down by 'Carve Away the Stone', a sort of epitome that combines the moods of tracks 2, 3 and 6: it is powerful enough, includes some tempo variations, and also some catchy riffs. "Test for Echo" is a very good prelude to what perhaps is the best Rush live effort ever - "Different Stages". 3 ¾ stars for this one!