Music / Caress of Steel

Caress of Steel is the third album by the Canadian Progressive Rock band Rush, released in September 1975 through Mercury Records. It marked the band diving headfirst into their Progressive Rock style after dabbling in it on their previous album, Fly by Night; the final two songs last for nearly twelve and a half and nearly twenty minutes, respectively, with the last song taking up the entire second side of the album. Drummer and lyricist Neil Peart also delved further into the Heavy Mithril that became a hallmark of this era of the band's material.

At the time, it received a somewhat muted reception, selling poorly compared to their first two albums (it took until the mid-'90s for it to make gold record status, uniquely among their albums from the time) and getting mixed critical reviews. (Also, perhaps tellingly, it was the band's final album to receive a page on this wiki.) However, it has been subject to somewhat of a reappraisal in recent years, as it's becoming commonplace for fans (and sometimes critics) to call it one of Rush's most underrated albums (which raises the familiar question of how often an album can be called underrated before it no longer qualifies as underrated).

Side One

1. Bastille Day - 4:39
2. I Think I'm Going Bald - 3:42
3. Lakeside Park - 4:10
4. The Necromancer - 12:34
   1. Into the Darkness – 4:20
   2. Under the Shadow – 4:25
   3. Return of the Prince – 3:51

Side Two

1. The Fountain of Lamneth - 19:57
   1. In the Valley – 4:18
   2. Didacts and Narpets – 1:00
   3. No One at the Bridge – 4:21
   4. Panacea - 3:16
   5. Bacchus Plateau – 3:15
   6. The Fountain – 3:50

Caress of Tropes

• Antagonist Title: "The Necromancer" is named after Sauron.
• Continuity Nod: By-Tor from "By-Tor & the Snow Dog" returns in "The Necromancer".
• Epic Rocking: "The Fountain of Lamneth", at nearly twenty minutes, marked the band's first side-length epic ("2112" and "Cygnus X-1 Book II: Hemispheres" being the other two) and second-longest studio track. "The Necromancer", at 12:34, also qualifies; it is the band's fourth-longest studio track.
• Fake-Out Fade-Out: Unlike many of the band's later epics, "The Fountain of Lamneth" fades out at certain points, though there are musical (and to a lesser extent, lyrical) motifs repeated throughout the song.
• Horrible History Metal: "Bastille Day", based on the storming of the Bastille during the French Revolution.
• Musical Pastiche: Lifeson has admitted that his solo on "No One at the Bridge" is "almost a steal from" the style of Genesis guitarist Steve Hackett, and that Hackett was a major influence on his playing overall.
• Necromancer: We'll give you three guesses.
• The Revolution Will Not Be Vilified: "Bastille Day" takes a positive view of the subject, noting in particular that the population were starving.
• Wanting Is Better Than Having: Having spent the entire song chasing after the titular fountain, the protagonist of "The Fountain of Lamneth" is disappointed upon actually finding it, because he no longer has a quest.

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