Test for Echo

Test for Echo
Studio album by Rush
Released 10 September 1996 (1996-09-10)
31 July 2007 (2007-07-31)[1](remastered CD)
Recorded January - March 1996 Bearsville Studios, New York & Reaction Studios, Toronto
Genre Hard rock
Length 53:25
Label Anthem (Canada)
Atlantic
Producer Peter Collins and Rush
Rush chronology
Counterparts
(1993)
Test for Echo
(1996)
Different Stages
(1998)
Singles from Test for Echo
  1. "Test for Echo"
    Released: 6 September 1996 (1996-09-06)
  2. "Half the World"
    Released: 1996 (1996)
  3. "Driven"
    Released: 1997 (1997)
  4. "Virtuality"
    Released: 1997 (1997)

Test for Echo is the sixteenth studio album by Canadian rock band Rush, released in 1996. The album marks the final Rush work prior to the events in Neil Peart's life that put the band on hiatus for several years. Peart recorded a majority of his drum tracks for the album using traditional grip, after receiving drum lessons from jazz instructor Freddie Gruber.

The cover denotes an inuksuk, native to the band's home country of Canada, which is a stone figure in the shape of a human used to mark a food cache or hunting ground.

The title track reached #1 on the Mainstream Rock chart. "Driven" became a bass showcase for bassist Geddy Lee during live performances, while "Resist" was rearranged as an acoustic song on the Vapor Trails and R30 tours.

Contents

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Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
Allmusic [2]
Entertainment Weekly B[3]

Allmusic reviewer Stephen Thomas Erlewine gave Test for Echo a rating of 3 out of 5 stars, saying that Rush has "rarely played better in the past ten years than they have on Test for Echo."[2]

Track listing

All songs written by Alex Lifeson, Geddy Lee, and Neil Peart except where noted.

  1. "Test for Echo" (Lifeson, Lee, Peart, Pye Dubois) – 5:56
  2. "Driven" – 4:27
  3. "Half the World" – 3:41
  4. "The Color of Right" – 4:48
  5. "Time and Motion" – 5:04
  6. "Totem" – 5:00
  7. "Dog Years" – 4:56
  8. "Virtuality" – 5:43
  9. "Resist" – 4:22
  10. "Limbo" – 5:28
  11. "Carve Away the Stone" – 4:05

Personnel

Sales certifications

Country Organization Sales
U.S. RIAA Gold (500,000)[4]
Canada RIAA Gold (50,000)[5]

Charts

Album - Billboard (North America)

Year Chart Position
1996 The Billboard 200 5

Singles

Information
"Test for Echo"
  • Released: September 6, 1996
  • Written by: Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson, Neil Peart & Pye Dubois
  • Produced by: Peter Collins and Rush
  • Chart positions: #1 US Mainstream Rock
"Half the World"
  • Released: 1996
  • Written by: Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson & Neil Peart
  • Produced by: Peter Collins and Rush
  • Chart positions: #5 US Mainstream Rock
"Driven"
  • Released: 1997
  • Written by: Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson & Neil Peart
  • Produced by: Peter Collins and Rush
  • Chart positions: #3 US Mainstream Rock
"Virtuality"
  • Released: 1997
  • Written by: Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson & Neil Peart
  • Produced by: Peter Collins and Rush
  • Chart positions: #16 US Mainstream Rock

References