"Caress of Steel" is my all time favorite Rush album!!!

I like Caress Of Steel but it's probably 4th on my favorites list.

I'm betting Detuned has the same problems with the album that I do.

We shall see...

Didn't know we were doing Rush. I like the first album but the second is so awesome and started a great run of incredible albums.

"I've lost a few more hairs, I think, I think I'm going bald"

CARESS OF STEEL (released September 1975)

1975 was a busy year for Rush, they were in a state of constant touring behind Fly By Night and were also under pressure by the label to deliver another record. Enlisting Terry Brown to co-produce again, they went back into the studio with the intent of creating a "statement record".

The resulting album, Caress of Steel, has been a state of constant debate by Rush fans ever since.

Opening with another Zep-esque assault in the form of Bastille Day, the record starts out with a bang. The main riff to Bastille is a real monster and one of my favorites from that era.

However, the momentum created by the opening track is sidetracked by "I Think I'm Going Bald"....an attempt at humor that manages to completely miss the mark. This is the song that always stuck out on this record like a sore thumb, because it just doesn't fit the proceedings at all.

Lakeside Park was the leadoff single and continues in the vein of Fly By Night, a pleasant song that became a concert favorite.

The Necromancer, here Rush continues to explore the possibilities of the mini-epic they began to toy around with on By-Tor. Another fantasy-tinged effort, this song is one of the most memorable on the album and contains some absolutely killer playing/arranging by the group. The only downside to this track is the poorly-recorded narraration...the goofy vocal effect distracts from the words and has always sounded muffled.

"The Fountain Of Lamneth" is a sidelong song suite, the first of three Rush would record over their early career. Fountain really functions more as separate songs tied together (the original cassette release messed up the track order, adding to this confusion). There are some great moments scattered thoughout this piece, especially the opening segements and the ballad "Panacea". However, in the grand scheme of things it really doesn't succeed as creating a unified statement. The hurried state of the recording sessions probably didn't help, it sounds like it could have used some more development time.

That actually kind of sums up my feelings about the entire album. It has always sounded to me like demo recordings that weren't quite finished, it's a little flat overall in the production and it just doesn't have the heft required to make it a complete success. A good album to be sure, but not the defining event the band was hoping for.

The album flopped upon release, there wasn't a single to rival either Working Man or Fly By Night and it was basically ignored by radio and the press. The record company was unhappy and the band thought their career was over. They called the tour for Caress Of Steel...the "going down the tubes tour". Alex Lifeson has stated in interviews that they were really shocked by the failure of Caress upon release, the band was extremely proud of it and thought they had really nailed it.

In a very short time, Rush would channel that frustration they felt into a real masterpiece....

I actually sort of like I Think I'm Going Bald although I agree that it's painful lyrically speaking.

My faves off here are Bastille Day and Lakeside Park. The rest is pretty blah to me.

My favorite Rush album and one of my favorite albums period is coming up next.

Not as good as the one prior or the one about to come. This one kind of gets lost in the shuffle. It is not a bad album, not a great album, but a good album. The band flexed their progressive muscles on this one.

This albums always seemed directionless, the band was trying mini epics but as detuned stated, the muffled narration kind of sidetracks the enjoyment of the track. I do think there are some great songs on the album but the production of the album leaves a lot to be desired. It does point to the direction they would explore brillantly in the future.

I do like the album, and when I play the album I enjoy it but it is the ugly step child in their discography.

I don't know how I missed the RUSH THREAD !!!!!!! Well three albums in and HERE I AM!

Caress of Steel was the FIRST Rush album I ever heard and I loved IT!... Opening with Bastille Day (which became their concert opener for years to come) this album is THE transitional disc. Alex has said "Bytor was our first experimental piece which led the way to 'Necromancer', and the 'Fountain of Lamenth' led to '2112'". The first of their gatefold sleeve releases, which I've always thought were excellent. Hugh Syme was brought in to do his first cover art for the band.

Song wise every track here I have fond memories of. Whether it's the blistering Bastile Day, the boogie sound of 'I Think I'm Going Bald' (really about aging which according to Geddy 'We had no right to talk about those things yet'). Lakeside Park is the rock 'single' if you will, "Neil wrote it about a place not to far from where he was born." According to Geddy on 'All the Worlds a Stage' and Neil discusses it briefly in his book 'Ghost Rider' if I remember correctly. The Necromancer tears it up powerfully and extensively, this time Bytor is a good guy in the song!

Personally I dig the Fountain of Lamenth.(played one time live January 10,1976 at Massey Hall in Toronto.) It's long 'Floydian' style which weaves in an out of Rockin sections to acoustic bits is superb mood music. "No One at the Bridge" is a favorite of mine with it's metaphor of going through the storms of life. Great stuff. So many good things here.

The album was dedicated to the memory of Rod Serling, who passed away earlier that year. This tour for this album was dubbed 'The Down the Tubes' tour. They supported KISS, Ted Nugent, some shows with Lynyrd Skynyrd, Mott, Leslie West, Artful Dodger and Mendelson Joe. It was only two months long and not much positive was happening for the band on the business side. They were in debt, struggling and drowning. The dream was still there but it was collapsing as they were in danger of losing their deal with Mercury.

All this led to the angst taken out on their next release.......


I still love this disc, I was stoked behind belief when they played Bastille Day as part of the R30 overture a few years back. AWESOME!

This album is neither the forgotten masterpiece some claim nor is it the complete flop that others claim it is. The album, for me anyway, is simply a slightly mixed bag with I think the good more than outweighing the bad material. It has a few of my favorite tracks, Bastille Day, Lakeside Park and The Necromancer, with the rest of the album being good to forgettable.

I could never get into this one, feels uneven. I like Bastille Day but the rest seems forgettable, especially in light of what's to come.

Mr. Electric said it best, a transitional album.

It has the same problem that Priest's Point Of Entry would have, that is sandwiched between 2 classics.

One of the most interesting lp covers from a band that did interesting lp covers. Great lp to put on when ya have to do some wrencthin' on the motorcycle or something like that. I played it too much as a pup to ever notice how it flowed And to be honest folks......... who back in 75' was really concerned about production Sure one can look back in hindsight 20 something years later and go "the production was this or that"
but did it even matter when ya first sliced the plastic and took the vinyl from the jacket and placed in on the turntable ? I can hear it now as "Bastille Day" begins to play on the record player.... "I sure hope the production is good on this new Rush record" especially as it is being played on the TG & Y record player. Unless you had a killer component home stereo to play records on, the production was as noticable as the address of the record company on the label in the middle of the record.

I don't really agree on the production aspects. When you put Dark Side Of The Moon on the turntable it's an "experience"...part of that experience is the production of the album. It SOUNDS amazing, which makes the songs even more impressive.

Thusly, a poorly produced album can actually detract from the songs included theirin. If we're talking about an AC/DC record it's probably not that much of an issue...but when we're talking about a concept record that is geared to be a larger than life experience...you need the technical polish it help sell it.

At least that's the way I've always looked at it. Caress of Steel doesn't sound as good as the record before or after it...not just in the compositions...but in the actual sound of the album.

Hey Shawn did you really notice back then, really ?

How many of us understood the concept of production at 10 years old

I personally did not understand the concept of production, heck I was not even sure what a producer was, but I do remember wondering why some albums sounded better then other albums.

One of the few Rush albums I don't have yet.

Fly By Night is one of my favorite Rush records, where it truely started to flow along for them, and Terry Brown's production is amazing. Plus some great riffs, solos and interplay in Anthem, the epic By-Tor & The Snow Dog, Fly By Night, Making Memories. Really aside from Rivendell every song on the album works well. I also like how Peart enters the band here, might not of been as heavy as before, but its still an awesome record.

Caress Of Steel I dont like anywhere near as much as the first two, it rates near the bottom of my Rush favorites. Bastille Day is an awesome opener with a monster riff, but their lame and unfoucsed attempt at humour in I Think Im Going Bald crashes it right into the mountain before it gets off the ground. The side closes with Lakeside Park, which is a more friendly but still good Rush song. The Necromancer is a good mini epic by them, which features awesome instrumentation, but the vocals sound terrible. Fountain Of Lamenth sets back whatever progress they had made in their epic writing with By-Tor and Necromancer. Isolated parts are ok, but overall it doesnt fit well. Overall, this sounds bad too, almost like an unfinished take of an album, aside from it being quite unfocused.

I love this album. Like I stated above, it's my favorite from the band. It might even be their 'heaviest'. Not that that makes it any better.

Anyway ... as far as it being my favorite, there is a good possibility that nostalgia is clouding my judgement. This album was one of my first Rush albums, and it served as an entry point into the band for me (along with "Presto").

So ... it's quite possible that I might actually like "Fly By Night" better nowadays. I'll have to listen to both again soon. Anyway ... carry on.