Rush Retrospective: Album 03- Caress of Steel

 

Album:  Caress of Steel

Year Released:   1975

Lineup:  

• Geddy Lee – vocals, bass guitar
• Alex Lifeson – 6 and 12-string electric and acoustic guitars, classical guitar, steel guitar
• Neil Peart – drums, percussion, lyrics, spoken word on "The Necromancer"

Overall Thoughts:

The third album was not a charm for Rush.

With Caress of Steel, the band fully embraced the mixture of harder rock with progressive rock they had started with Fly By Night- and it was a commercial disappointment.  

There are only five songs on the album- "The Necromancer" clocks in at 12 and a half minutes, and the entire second side of the album is one song:  "The Fountain of Lamenth", which is just short of 20 minutes in duration.  Both songs are epic in length, but neither is friendly to radio, and during this time radio play could make or break a band.  

The "Fountains of Lamenth" sounds, in retrospect, like a first pass of the band writing an epic.  It's not bad, and there are moments that work- but it's not cohesive.  Instead of the band working together, it seems like everyone is taking turns in the spotlight.  With their later albums, the teamwork seems more natural.

The other three songs- "Bastille Day", "Lakeside Park", "I Think I'm Going Bald"- were shorter in length.  The first two songs were released on radio, but neither were a huge hit.  

This is the band experimenting- while none of the songs on the album are considered classics, they laid the groundwork for their future hits.

Ranking of Rush Albums (adding as more albums are reviewed):

1. Fly By Night
2. Rush
3. Caress of Steel

Top 10 Rush Songs (adding as more albums are reviewed):

1. "Working Man", Rush
2. "Fly By Night", Fly By Night
3. "Making Memories", Fly By Night
4. "Here Again", Rush
5. "Finding My Way", Rush
6. "Anthem", Fly By Night
7. "Bastille Day", Caress of Steel
8. "Rivendell", Fly By Night
9. "By-tor & the Snow Dog", Fly By Night
10. "The Necromancer", Caress of Steel