Some of Neil's drumming is just a bit too over the top, and the loud noise that kickstarts "The Battle" is one of the most laugh inducing sounds in my entire music collection. Secondly we have the bands usual problem of a lack of subtlety. I do kinda like it (because it has become so iconic) but it really is quite cheesy. Firstly we have the heavily distorted voice of the narrator (whom I suspect is Neil Peart) which ruins any chances that this song had of being taken seriously, and adds a large wedge of cheese into each section. "The Necromancer" is an epic fantasy tale, and while it's hard to fault it if you want to feel like you're listening to someone else's D&D adventure, it contains several ridiculous elements which hold it back from being perfect. The two longer songs offer the most to love, but also the most to dislike. In fact, for good and ill, a lot of Caress Of Steel could be described that way for different reasons: imperfectly perfect. "Lakeside Park" paints a picture of days gone by in the same way that an Impressionist painting by Monet conveys the lily pond of yore imperfect on details but perfect on atmosphere. "I Think I'm Going Bald" is lyrically goofy, but also shows profoundly deep thoughts on ageing for men so young. "Bastille Day" is a crunchy opener, worthy of cementing Rush's place amongst the heaviest of 70's bands. It's not always the most well written Rush, and certain members still struggle with differentiating between times to be subtle and times to show off, but Caress Of Steel is joyously nerdy Dungeons & Dragons prog rock mixed with phenomenal playing by all, epic yell-singing by Geddy, and heavy metallic guitar tones by Alex.Ī solid majority of the time this album gets it right.
There's no mistaking which band you are listening to. While there are still a few moments of blatant Yes worship (including "The Battle" section of "The Necromancer" which sounds like the beginning to "Heart Of The Sunrise" from Fragile) overall this album finally contains a unique Rush sound pretty much throughout. It takes the more unique Rush sound which emerged on Fly By Night in tunes like "Anthem", "By-Tor." and "Fly By Night" and expands on it whilst shedding the leftover hard rock sound from the band's debut. It's a lot like the former in that it contains uneven song quality, and a lot like the later (except in reverse order) with a run of short songs followed by long epics. Caress Of Steel is the logical step from Fly By Night to 2112.
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