CARESS OF STEEL

The general theme regarding Caress is that this is the album where Rush finally start to sound like Rush. The operative word here is "start".

And that is being generous.

Going by my own subjective opinion, this may be a 3-star album. However, going by the rating anchors, I would have to say that this is mostly for collectors/fans only. I'm not a Rush fanboy, and by extension, I don't think I would buy this album again if given the chance. So...2-stars from me, for whatever that may or may not be worth.

First off, it would be hard to characterize the A side as "bad" music. Grating (particularly Geddy's delivery), uncreative, or simple, perhaps, but not bad. In fact, Bastille Day clearly rocks hard, and most of us can agree on that. In addition, the Necromancer has some very good jams and grooves, although it could have benefited greatly from some simple editing.

Lamneth is simply and completely forgettable to my ears. If this were 5-10 years earlier, or a debut album, I could give it some major slack (ala Sabbath's first shot), but this is 1975 and Rush's 3rd crack at this. They had plenty of good inspiration to draw from! More was clearly expected, and Lamneth failed to deliver. It's repetitive, simplistic, and just rather difficult for me to make it through.

If you can't get enough heavy prog, this album may sound downright awesome to you. If you like some variety and symphonic build-ups, then don't expect a whole lot.

It would be do or die for Rush after this, and clearly, they did, and then some. Just not yet.