When Rush recorded "Caress Of Steel", drummer Neil Peart noted that "we went in serene and confident, and emerged with an album that we were tremendously proud of as a major step in our development". Unfortunately to him, the record sold poorly, mainly because of how they set out the whole procedure. The record companies urged them to record more "saleable"-like songs, i.e. shorter compositions which would garner them more airplay, and the ensuing tour became more known as the "Down The Tubes" tour.
But I believe that this album is truly a spectacular underestimated venture which displayed their sense of edgy hard rock with a fascination for science fiction out of Peart's hands. It did also produce such well-renowned songs like "Bastille Day" and "Lakeside Park", and other very complex projects like "The Necromancer" and "The Fountain Of Lamneth", which ultimately display Neil's keen interest in science fiction and ancient literature. "Bastille Day" is literally linked to the faults of the French Revolution, starting off with a phrase coined by Queen Marie Antoinette - "if there's no bread, let them eat cake". "Lakeside Park" is an actual place, located in St. Catharines next to Lake Ontario, where Neil spent his years of youth reaching adolescence, and attempts to transform the local events in the shape of a poignant ballad. "The Necromancer" is based on the works of Tolkien, where three travelers (Frodo, Sam, and Gollum) make their way south to the land of the Necromancer (i.e. Sauron), being rescued by the imaginary character of Prince By-Tor. "The Fountain Of Lamneth" is the longest piece, almost reaching the 20-minute peak, in which the unknown character seeks the way to the Fountain, and in the end he realizes that once he's reached it, he ultimately finds himself at the same spot from where he started.
The only song which looks at an otherwise direction is "I Think I'm Going Bald", which lyrically does not obviously deal with the central concept; it's more of like what would happen many decades later after experiencing all the previous ventures. Also the cover concept, designed by Hugh Syme, who since then has been responsible for designing all of their following album covers, attempted to use the graphic picture on a steel background, which instead became copper, which ultimately affected the nature of the title, which resulted in its selling poorly.
"Caress Of Steel", I presume, is their most underrated album of all time. Listeners of today might not get the original potential of the musical quality, yet anyway there would be some who'd simply fall in love with their sense of hard rock of the times then. Geddy, Alex, and Neil were really trying hard to make a name for themselves, which did not live that long with this venture, yet they did return "with a vengeance" with the outstanding "2112".
When Rush recorded "Caress Of Steel", drummer Neil Peart noted that "we went in serene and confident, and emerged with an album that we were tremendously proud of as a major step in our development". Unfortunately to him, the record sold poorly, mainly because of how they set out the whole procedure. The record companies urged them to record more "saleable"-like songs, i. e. shorter compositions which would garner them more airplay, and the ensuing tour became more known as the "Down The Tubes" tour. But I believe that this album is truly a spectacular underestimated venture which displayed their sense of edgy hard rock with a fascination for science fiction out of Peart's hands. It did also produce such well-renowned songs like "Bastille Day" and "Lakeside Park", and other very complex projects like "The Necromancer" and "The Fountain Of Lamneth", which ultimately display Neil's keen interest in science fiction and ancient literature. "Bastille Day" is literally linked to the faults of the French Revolution, starting off with a phrase coined by Queen Marie Antoinette - "if there's no bread, let them eat cake". "Lakeside Park" is an actual place, located in St. Catharines next to Lake Ontario, where Neil spent his years of youth reaching adolescence, and attempts to transform the local events in the shape of a poignant ballad. "The Necromancer" is based on the works of Tolkien, where three travelers (Frodo, Sam, and Gollum) make their way south to the land of the Necromancer (i. e. Sauron), being rescued by the imaginary character of Prince By-Tor. "The Fountain Of Lamneth" is the longest piece, almost reaching the 20-minute peak, in which the unknown character seeks the way to the Fountain, and in the end he realizes that once he's reached it, he ultimately finds himself at the same spot from where he started. The only song which looks at an otherwise direction is "I Think I'm Going Bald", which lyrically does not obviously deal with the central concept; it's more of like what would happen many decades later after experiencing all the previous ventures. Also the cover concept, designed by Hugh Syme, who since then has been responsible for designing all of their following album covers, attempted to use the graphic picture on a steel background, which instead became copper, which ultimately affected the nature of the title, which resulted in its selling poorly. "Caress Of Steel", I presume, is their most underrated album of all time. Listeners of today might not get the original potential of the musical quality, yet anyway there would be some who'd simply fall in love with their sense of hard rock of the times then. Geddy, Alex, and Neil were really trying hard to make a name for themselves, which did not live that long with this venture, yet they did return "with a vengeance" with the outstanding "2112".