| Caress of Steel | ||||
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| Studio album by Rush | ||||
| Released | September 24, 1975 May 6, 1997 (remastered CD) |
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| Recorded | June–July 1975 | |||
| Genre | Progressive rock, hard rock, heavy metal | |||
| Length | 44:51 | |||
| Label | Anthem (Canada) Mercury |
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| Producer | Rush and Terry Brown | |||
| Rush chronology | ||||
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| Professional ratings | |
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| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic | [1] |
Caress of Steel is the third studio album by Canadian rock band Rush, released in 1975. The album shows more of Rush's adherence to hard progressive rock, as opposed to the blues-based heavy metal and hard rock style of the band's first two albums. Long pieces broken up into various sections and long solo passages are two prominent elements of the album. It is often considered notable for the inclusion of the band's first two epic pieces, "The Necromancer", and "The Fountain of Lamneth"; the latter runs 20 minutes total and comprised the entire second side of the original vinyl release.
Though it was intended to be Rush's breakthrough album, it sold fewer copies than their previous record and was considered a disappointment by their record company. Eventually, the album would be certified Gold by the RIAA in 1993. The subsequent tour became known by the band as the "Down the Tubes" tour because of the album's poor initial sales which lead to decreased audience sizes at shows. At this point, the band felt that their career may have been over. Their next album, 2112 would pave the way for Rush's commercial success, despite including the opening 20 and a half minute conceptual title track. Geddy Lee admitted in the documentary film Rush: Beyond the Lighted Stage that he thought Alex, Neil and himself were "pretty high" during the making of this album.[2]
Originally, the album cover was supposed to be in silver hue to give it a "steel" appearance. A printing error resulted in a copper color for the album cover.[3]
Some cassette printings of this album had "Didacts and Narpets" and "I Think I'm Going Bald" switch places (possibly because of cassette tape length and to balance out both sides), and all of the movements of "The Fountain of Lamneth" listed as separate songs.
Contents |
All songs written by Alex Lifeson, Geddy Lee and Neil Peart, except where noted.
Rush's Led Zeppelin influence is still prominent on this record, most obviously in the song "Bastille Day" (which discusses the storming of the Bastille in the French Revolution), though it is apparent on all three of the shorter songs on the album. "Bastille Day" reappeared on the "R30" CD and DVD as part of the instrumental "R30 Overture".
Reportedly, Dream Theater's core members John Petrucci, Mike Portnoy and John Myung named the first incarnation of the band Majesty after a comment by Portnoy suggesting this song's ending was "majestic".
"I Think I'm Going Bald" was written for Canadian rocker Kim Mitchell, who at the time was the frontman of the band Max Webster and a close friend of the members of Rush. It is also stated in the book Contents Under Pressure, that the song "I Think I'm Going Bald" was written as a homage to KISS's "Goin' Blind".[4]
Mentioned in the song "Lakeside Park", May 24 is Victoria Day, a Canadian holiday. Lakeside Park itself is a park in Port Dalhousie, St. Catharines, Ontario, where drummer and lyricist Neil Peart grew up and worked during the summer as a teenager.
A necromancer is one who practices necromancy, a type of divination involving the summoning of Operative Spirits to discern information about the future. "The Necromancer" starts with heavy influence from J.R.R. Tolkien's literary mythology. The Necromancer was a pseudonym used by Tolkien in The Hobbit for the character Sauron. The song departs from the story of the book as Part III sees the return of By-Tor from Fly by Night, this time as a hero and not a villain. "Return of the Prince" was also released as a single in some countries. Also in the introductory prologue to the song, the "three travellers, men of Willowdale" is a reference to the band itself, an allusion to the Toronto suburb of Willowdale where Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson grew up and formed the first incarnation of the band.
On the inside gatefold of the album, just below the lyrics to "The Necromancer", the Latin phrase "Terminat hora diem; terminat auctor opus" appears. This translates (loosely) to:
The final song on the album, "The Fountain of Lamneth", predates epics like "2112" and the Cygnus X-1 series, and is only 34 seconds shorter than "2112". It also forms a complete story, this one about a man in search of the Fountain of Lamneth, and chronicles the individual occurrences of his journey.
Regarding "Didacts and Narpets" (which consists mostly of a drum solo), in the October 1991 news release from the Rush Backstage Club, Neil Peart said: "Okay, I may have answered this before, but if not, the shouted words in that song represent an argument between Our Hero and the Didacts and Narpets - teachers and parents. I honestly can't remember what the actual words were, but they took up opposite positions like: 'Work! Live! Earn! Give!' and like that." A didact is a teacher, and "narpet" is an anagram of "parent".
| Country | Organization | Sales |
| U.S. | RIAA | Gold (500,000)[5] |
Album - Billboard (North America)
| Year | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|
| 1975 | Pop Albums | 148 |
| Information |
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"The Necromancer: Return of the Prince"
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"Lakeside Park"
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A remaster was issued in 1997.
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