When Rush finished their third album, Caress of Steel, the trio was assured that they had created their breakthrough masterpiece.
But when the album dropped off the charts soon after its release, it proved otherwise.
While it was Rush's first release that fully explored their prog rock side, it did not contain the catchy and more traditional elements of their future popular work -- it's quite often too indulgent and pretentious for a mainstream rock audience to latch onto.
And while Rush would eventually excel in composing lengthy songs, the album's two extended tracks -- the 12½-minute "The Necromancer" and the nearly 20-minute "The Fountain of Lamneth" -- show that the band was still far from mastering the format.
The first side contains two strong and more succinct tracks, the raging opener, "Bastille Day," and the more laid-back "Lakeside Park," both of which would become standards for their live show in the '70s.
But the ill-advised "I Think I'm Going Bald" (which lyrically deals with growing old) borders on the ridiculous, which confirms that Caress of Steel is one of Rush's more unfocused albums.
| Title/Composers | Performer | Listen | Time | Size | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bastille DayGeddy Lee, Alex Lifeson, Neil Peart | Rush | Play | 04:40 | 10 MB | 30 MB |
| 2 | I Think I'm Going BaldGeddy Lee, Alex Lifeson, Neil Peart | Rush | Play | 03:41 | 8 MB | 23 MB |
| 3 | Lakeside ParkGeddy Lee, Alex Lifeson, Neil Peart | Rush | Play | 04:10 | 9 MB | 26 MB |
| 4 | The Necromancer | Rush | Play | 12:32 | 28 MB | 71 MB |
| 5 | The Fountain Of Lamneth | Rush | Play | 20:00 | 45 MB | 107 MB |
| 45 mins | 103 MB | |||||
| 45 mins | 258 MB | |||||
| Artist | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Terry Brown | Arranger, Producer |
| 2 | Erwig Chuapchuadua | Guitar (Steel) |
| 3 | Geddy Lee | Bass, Composer, Guitar, Keyboards, Vocals |
| 4 | Alex Lifeson | Composer, Guitar |
| 5 | Neil Peart | Composer, Drums |
| 6 | Rush | Arranger, Primary Artist, Producer |
| Quality | Format | Encoding | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | MP3 | 320kps 44.1kHz | MP3 is an audio coding format which uses a form of lossy data compression. The highest bitrate of this format is 320kbps (kbit/s). MP3 Digital audio takes less amount of space (up to 90% reduction in size) and the quality is not as good as the original one. |
| CD Quality | FLAC | 16bit 44.1kHz | FLAC is an audio coding format which uses lossless compression. Digital audio in FLAC format has a smaller size and retains the same quality of the original Compact Disc (CD). |