TEST FOR ECHO

Ok guys, I hate to break it to you, but in Geddy Lee's own words, Rush have ****never considered themselves a prog band**** so why should they ****try**** to write a prog album? If you step back and listen to this album with prog out of your mind, this is really an awesome listen. The riffs, in addition to being very appropriate for the 90s, are catchy, complex, and evolve flawlessly. Driven and Limbo are most worthy of note (a common mention among reviews, but worth mentioning again) for musicality and rhythms (oh man, the time changes of Driven blow me away!) and the lyrics for Totem and Half The World are very insightful and unusually political (sort of) for Neil Peart.. This album stands out from all the other Rush albums mostly for it's production. Alex Lifeson's parts especially have shed all their gloss from Counterparts, and have an almost grungy quality to them, which makes for interesting repeat listens. I listened to this album three times in a row after buying it. The only issue I faced was that Neil Peart at moments (especially Dog Years) seems to be running out of motifs, which sometimes distracts the listener. As far as a hard rock album is concerned, this is the crème de la crème, and has progressive tendencies, but should not be confused as a progressive rock album. I would love to give this album five starts, but I'm still giving it four stars because Geddy actually says "chasing cars in doggy heaven". I hope that was an inside joke :P