Caress of Steel

Caress of Steel is the third studio album by Canadian rock band Rush, released on September 24, 1975, by Mercury Records. It marked a development in the group's sound, moving from the blues-based hard rock style of their debut towards progressive rock. However, the shift proved to be a commercial and critical nadir for Rush as the album's darker sound and fantastical compositions initially failed to find an audience and confused some of the band's peers, while poor sales put the band in danger of being dropped by Mercury. Despite being more positively viewed by the band's fans in retrospect, Ultimate Classic Rock noted that the album is still considered "the black sheep of their catalog".[2]

Caress of Steel
Studio album by
Rush
ReleasedSeptember 24, 1975 (1975-09-24)
RecordedJuly–August 1975
StudioToronto Sound (Toronto)
Genre
Length45:04
LabelMercury
Producer
Rush chronology
Fly by Night
(1975)		 Caress of Steel
(1975)		 2112
(1976)
Singles from Caress of Steel
  1. "Return of the Prince"
    Released: 1975
  2. "Lakeside Park"
    Released: 1975

Background and recording

By mid-1975, Rush had stabilised with a line-up of guitarist Alex Lifeson, bassist and vocalist Geddy Lee, and drummer and primary lyricist Neil Peart, who had joined the group in 1974. They released Fly by Night (1975), which marked Rush's first foray into multi-part and conceptual songs with "By-Tor and the Snow Dog". The group were on a rise in popularity, and received a Juno Award for Most Promising Group.[3] In June 1975, they finished touring Fly by Night, which culminated in a Canadian leg that had them as headliners for the first time.[3]

While preparing their follow-up album, Rush took the extended and conceptual song elements that they had introduced on Fly by Night and made it the central focus for their new material. As a result, this marked a development in their sound from blues-inspired hard rock towards progressive rock. Peart recalled that the band approached Caress of Steel feeling "serene and confident" and that all three members were proud of the result. He considered the album a "major step" in their development with its variety of musical dynamics and original ideas.[4] Lee said that the band were "pretty high" while making the album.[5]

The album was recorded in July 1975 at Toronto Sound Studios in Toronto, Ontario. Mixing took place in the same studio.[3]

Songs

Side one

"Bastille Day" concerns the storming of the Bastille during the French Revolution.[6]

"I Think I'm Going Bald" was inspired by "Goin' Blind" by Kiss, for whom Rush had frequently been an opening act during their early period.[7][8]

"Lakeside Park" is about the park of the same name in Port Dalhousie, St. Catharines, Ontario, where Peart grew up and worked during the summer as a teenager.[9]

"The Necromancer" is a 12-minute track in three parts. It concerns a necromancer, someone who practices necromancy, a type of divination involving the summoning of spirits of the deceased. The song was influenced by the works of author J. R. R. Tolkien; the necromancer is an alias used by the character Sauron in Tolkien's novel The Hobbit (1937).

The introduction contains the lyric, "Three travelers, men of Willow Dale", a reference to the band itself, as Lifeson had formed the first incarnation of Rush in the Toronto suburb of Willowdale. The final section, "Return of the Prince", sees the return of the character By-Tor from the song "By-Tor and the Snow Dog" on Fly by Night, but in "The Necromancer", the character is a hero and not a villain.[10] "Return of the Prince" was released as a single in Canada.

Side two

"The Fountain of Lamneth" is the band's first of three side-long tracks, the others being the title track of 2112 in 1976 and "Cygnus X-1, Book II: Hemispheres" from Hemispheres in 1978. It consists of six parts and tells the story of a man in search of the Fountain of Lamneth as he chronicles the occurrences on his journey. The second part, "Didacts and Narpets", consists mostly of a drum solo. In 1991, Peart said that the shouted words heard are an argument between the central character and the Didacts and Narpets (the latter being an anagram of "parents"). He could not remember what the words were, "but they took up opposite positions like: 'Work! Live! Earn! Give!' and like that."[11]

Cover

The album cover for Caress of Steel was intended to be printed in a silver colour to give it a "steel" appearance. A printing error resulted in giving the album cover a gold colour. The error was not corrected on subsequent printings of the album.[12] The cover artwork for Caress of Steel was designed by Hugh Syme, the first Rush album to feature his work. Syme has designed the cover artwork for every Rush album since.

On the inside gatefold of the album, just below the lyrics to "The Necromancer", the Latin phrase "Terminat hora diem; terminat auctor opus" appears, which translates (loosely) to:

"[as] The hour ends the day; the author ends his work."

The source of this phrase is Christopher Marlowe's play Doctor Faustus (1592).

Release

Caress of Steel was released on September 24, 1975.[13] By March 1976, it had sold around 40,000 copies in Canada.[14] Although the band initially had high hopes for the album, it sold fewer copies than Fly by Night and was considered a disappointment by the record company. The album eventually became known as one of Rush's most obscure and overlooked recordings, consequently being considered under-rated by fans.[12]: 24 

Due to poor sales, low concert attendance and overall media indifference, the 1975–76 tour supporting Caress of Steel became known by the band as the "Down the Tubes" tour. That, in addition to the record company's pressure to record more accessible, radio-friendly material similar to their first album – something Lee, Lifeson and Peart were unwilling to do – made the trio fear that the end of the group was near. Ignoring their record label's advice and vowing to "fight or fall", the following year's 2112 album would ultimately pave the way for lasting commercial success, despite opening with a 20-and-a-half-minute conceptual title track.[12]: 24 

Caress of Steel did not attain gold certification in the United States until December 1993, nearly two decades after its release. It remains one of the few Rush albums to not go platinum in the United States.[15]

The complete album, along with the self-titled debut and Fly by Night, was included as part of the 1978 Anthem release Archives. [16]

Reception
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[17]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music[18]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[19]

Caress of Steel received negative reviews from professional critics. AllMusic's Greg Prato described the album as "one of Rush's more unfocused albums",[20] while Daily Vault's Christopher Thelen called it "a tentative step for Rush, one which would lead to their masterpiece in conceptual work", in reference to the group's next album, 2112.[21]

Remasters

A remaster was issued in 1997.

  • The tray has a picture of the star with man painting (mirroring the cover art of Retrospective I) with "The Rush Remasters" printed in all capital letters just to the left. All remasters from Rush through Permanent Waves (1980) are like this.
  • The remaster adds the album's back cover and gatefold (which included band pictures and lyrics) to the packaging which was not included on the original CD.

Caress of Steel was remastered again in 2011 by Andy VanDette for the "Sector" box sets, which re-released all of Rush's Mercury-era albums. Caress Of Steel is included in the Sector 1 set.[22]

Caress of Steel was remastered for vinyl in 2015 as a part of the official "12 Months of Rush" promotion.[23] The high definition master prepared for this release was also made available for purchase in 24-bit/96 kHz and 24-bit/192 kHz formats, at several high-resolution audio online music stores. These masters have significantly less dynamic range compression than the 1997 remasters and the "Sector" remasters by Andy VanDette.

Track listing

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

Side one
No.TitleLength
1."Bastille Day"4:34
2."I Think I'm Going Bald"3:41
3."Lakeside Park"4:09
4."The Necromancer"
  • I. "Into the Darkness" – 4:20
  • II. "Under the Shadow" – 4:25
  • III. "Return of the Prince" – 3:51"
12:28
Side two
No.TitleLength
1."The Fountain of Lamneth"
  • I. "In the Valley" – 4:18
  • II. "Didacts and Narpets" – 1:00
  • III. "No One at the Bridge" – 4:21
  • IV. "Panacea” (Lee) – 3:16
  • V. "Bacchus Plateau” (Lee) – 3:15
  • VI. "The Fountain" – 3:50"
19:57

Personnel

Rush

  • Geddy Lee – vocals, bass guitar
  • Alex Lifeson – 6 and 12-string electric and acoustic guitars, classical guitar, steel guitar
  • Neil Peart – drums, percussion, lyrics, spoken word on "The Necromancer"

Technical

  • Rush – co-producers, arrangements
  • Terry Brown – co-producer, engineer, arrangements
  • AGI – art direction
  • Hugh Syme – graphics
  • Terrance Bert – photography
  • Gerard Gentil – photography
  • Barry McVicker – photography

Charts
Chart (1975) Peak
position
Canada Top Albums/CDs (RPM)[24] 60
US Billboard 200[25] 148

Certifications
Region CertificationCertified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada)[26] Gold 50,000^
United States (RIAA)[27] Gold 500,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

Citations
  1. Prato, Greg. "Rush Caress of Steel - AllMusic review". AllMusic. Retrieved November 17, 2021.
  2. "When Rush Delved into Prog with 'Caress of Steel'". September 24, 2015.
  3. "Caress of Steel Press Kit". Power Windows. August 29, 1975. Archived from the original on January 11, 2020. Retrieved January 11, 2019.
  4. Peart, Neil. "Rush – World Tour 77–78 – Exclusive Concert Edition – "A Condensed Rush Primer"". Power Windows. Archived from the original on January 8, 2019. Retrieved January 9, 2019.
  5. Chaney, Jen. "A Rush documentary filled with 'The Spirit of Radio'". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on October 29, 2010. Retrieved February 15, 2010.
  6. Popoff 2020, pp. 204–205.
  7. "Power Windows...Caress of Steel". Power Windows. Archived from the original on December 23, 2008.
  8. Popoff 2020, p. 205.
  9. Popoff 2020, p. 206.
  10. Popoff 2020, pp. 207–208.
  11. Popoff 2020, pp. 208–209.
  12. Wagner, Jeff; Wilson, Steven (2010). Mean Deviation: Four Decades of Progressive Heavy Metal. Brooklyn, New York: Bazillion Points. ISBN 978-0-9796163-3-4.: 23 
  13. Reed, Ryan (September 24, 2015). "When Rush Delved Into Prog With 'Caress of Steel'". Ultimate Classic Rock. Archived from the original on June 22, 2020. Retrieved May 25, 2020.
  14. Harrigan, Brian. "RUSH by Brian Harrigan". Power Windows. Archived from the original on January 10, 2020. Retrieved January 10, 2020.
  15. "RIAA Database Search for Rush". Recording Industry Association of America. Archived from the original on June 26, 2007. Retrieved January 29, 2012.
  16. "Rush – Archives (1978, Vinyl)". Discogs. 1978. Archived from the original on February 20, 2021. Retrieved March 26, 2021.
  17. "Rush Caress of Steel Album Reviews, Songs & More". AllMusic. Archived from the original on April 26, 2020. Retrieved May 1, 2020.
  18. Larkin, Colin (2007). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (4th ed.). Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0195313734.
  19. "Rush: Album Guide". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on July 4, 2013. Retrieved February 21, 2013.
  20. "Caress of Steel - Rush". AllMusic. Archived from the original on December 26, 2016. Retrieved February 20, 2017.
  21. "Rush: Caress Of Steel". Daily Vault. Archived from the original on July 25, 2014. Retrieved February 20, 2017.
  22. "Andy VanDette On Remastering 15 Rush Albums". The Masterdisk Record. November 23, 2011. Archived from the original on August 23, 2014. Retrieved April 22, 2014.
  23. "12 Months of Rush: 14 Albums From Mercury Era for Release in 2015". Rush.com. Archived from the original on July 11, 2015. Retrieved July 10, 2015.
  24. "Top RPM Albums: Issue 4041b". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved February 6, 2022.
  25. "Rush Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved February 5, 2022.
  26. "Canadian album certifications – Rush – Caress of Steel". Music Canada. Retrieved July 3, 2020.
  27. "American album certifications – Rush – Caress of Steel". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved July 3, 2020.

Sources
  • Popoff, Martin (2020). Anthem: Rush in the '70s. Toronto: ECW Press. ISBN 978-1-77041-520-1.
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