CARESS OF STEEL

This is Rush, as they interpret their idea of progressive music. That is to say hardly complex hard rock, with boring moments that rely way too heavily on their hard rock influences.

To be fair, this album shows more of what was to come than Fly By Night, but the musicians are still in their fledgling stage, and this translates poorly. The album opener Bastille Day is almost a direct replica of Anthem, only with more emphasis on guitars and the solos they play. This is hardly progressive. No, this is more of the same, only longer.

I Think I Am Going Bald is dirty hard rock, and I don't much care for it. Geddy is not a great vocalist, and neither Pert nor Lifeson tap into the deep breadth and array of possibilities their respective instruments could offer. Not only that, but I feel like the lyrics are weaker than before, even without open references to Lord Of The Rings to make me frown. The entire first side is made up of a collection of competent rockers that slightly showcase Alex over everyone else. I remain unswayed by Pert as he relies on basic and simple rock patterns to get the rhythm across.

Lakeside Park is up next, and is an example of what I mean when I say that Rush haven't fully come together as a band mesh, yet. The players don't contour to each other fully, nor do they even seem to care about each other when it comes to facile fills or weak frills here or there. The songs are slightly more complex than before, but there lacks a real blazing standout like Fly By Night had. the Necromancer is just too long. End of story. It plods along, and hardly goes anywhere.

The album again feels the need to muddle itself with a boring moistening of atmosphere instead opting to weight the listener down with rather repetitive hard rock, that guises itself as real progression. They still cling so very tightly to their influences, and nothing is overtly memorable, and oddly interchangeable. Some interesting moments within the two epics conjure enjoyment, but I still am unable to tap into any real emotional movement. The spoken word segments are gimmicky, and I dislike it.

The Fountain Of Lamneth is perhaps the only shining moment, and even it is terribly bloated and full of meandering musical ideas that never build tension or superlatively release in an enticing fashion. I do enjoy the first couple of minutes, and it is the most noticeable sign of what was in store for Rush in the very near future. A lot of the riffs don't evolve, and many of the melodies are second rate. Pert seems to think he has mastered the drum kit, so he decides to add some banal drum "solos" and fills incoherently throughout the final track. This irks me, and damages the song's flow. The song, which is already choppy and amateurishly sloppy to begin with.

The material is of a more consistently enjoyable rate than before, but there is a lack of any real highlight moments. The band hasn't become a mesh, yet, and this is the latter period of their formulation stages. Still lacking in a valid atmosphere, and relying on that simplistic hard rock. Rush concede to their influences one last time.

Best Moment - The Fountain of Lamneth

Worst Moment - All of it is consistently mediocre

**1/2 Steely stars

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