Caress yourself as you click on this link to go to the main Rush page... Caress of Eels Overall Album Score: 7.4 out of 10 You get the feeling that this group chose the name "Rush" because they wanted to release albums as quickly as possible. This is the group's third album and easily their shoddiest work so far. The first three songs are relatively short hard rock songs. There's the OK "Bastille Day," the utterly goofy "I Think I'm Going Bald" and the dismally boring "Lakeside Park." These take up about one-fourth of the album. It's obvious they cared more deeply about the two songs to follow. The sprawling 12-minute "The Necromancer" is easily the better of the two. It showcases all the instrumentalists' virtuosity without resorting to aimless drum solos and shallow electric guitar piddling. Naturally, "The Necromancer" has electric guitar solos, but it actually RULES in the sense that it has me drooling like some wide-eyed fan boy. Unfortunately, the follow-up "The Fountain of Lamneth" doesn't do its predecessor justice. Sure, I'll take that over any of the three opening tracks, but it's an unfocused suite with poor transitions. Some of the sections are pretty good (notably the "Stairway to Heaven" rip-off in the middle of it), but others are totally lackluster. I normally dismiss drum solos as unneccessary, but Peart's little moment to shine in that song is among the highlights. Anyway, I think I'm being pretty nice to that song considering it's like a bad joke when you compare to the great epic songs of Genesis, Jethro Tull and Procol Harum. I should also mention that lead singer Geddy Lee achieves a new level of annoyingness in his singing. That, along with the general decline of quality songwriting compared to Rush's previous two albums, is what forces me to give this album a big kick in the pants. I appreciate the effort, and I do admire the instrumentals much of the time, but they're not brilliant enough to write great material that was tossed-off. Overall Album Score: 7.4 out of 10 (A disappointing beginning, a cool middle and a botched but OK ending. Yes, this is probably Rush's weakest album to this point, but at least they're trying a few new things.) Average Song Score: 7.6 (The longer songs are the better ones. That was a pleasant and unexpected surprise!) Album Tilt: 7.5 (It has its moments!!) Artist Rating: 7.0 (Points deducted for sheer laziness.) Track Reviews Bastille Day 8/10 This is an entirely decent hard rock song even though Geddy Lee sounds like he overdid it with the helium the day they recorded this song. There's some nice instrumental work (obviously influenced from pre-punk bands like The Who) that manages to bump up this song's merit. In particular, Lifeson's guitar solo is pretty fun!! Nonetheless, I'm a bit bummed out that the melody is so trite. I mean, this is worse than they usually are from Rush. I Think I'm Going Bald 7/10 This one rings of Spinal Tap! It's an ode about going to the mirror and seeing that your hair is falling out! Trust me, I had that revelation about two years ago, but I didn't have the inclination to write a heavy metal song about it! This is a goofy and probably embarrassing song for them. But in its defense, it's an entirely well played song featuring some well-played guitar crunches. Geddy's voice sounds it came out of the toilet. Lakeside Park 5/10 Oh, goooooooosh, this is just boring! And the song is structured strangely. Well, I guess this isn't such a cliche song, but it's not an enjoyable one either. It's a slowly payed song. Not that there's anything wrong with it, but this is one of those songs that doesn't grab my attention whatsoever. There's these awkward "pick-ups" of instrumentation that fix some of that problem, but ... they're awkward. There's not even any reason to pick out any great instrumental virtuosos in here, although I'm sure only drumming fans can pick out something over Peart's performance. The Necromancer 18/20 Alright, here's the thing about "The Necromancer." It's a 12-minute prog-rock epic. I would have expected to hate this song more than the three hard rock songs that came before this (which, combined, pretty much equals this song in length). It begins atmospheric, but they don't appear to be using synths to create this. Just waves going in an out from the electric guitar. Peart soon chimes in with some sparse drumming and more and more guitars start flowing in and out of the speakers. Peart gets a bit more excited. It all stops and gets more atmospheric. Somebody doing a voice over talks as if he's in some interdimensional void! Peart starts to play a weird though truthfully innovative drumming as some choppy chords begin playing. They tried doing this sort of thing in Fly By Night, but this one seems more purposeful. It isn't until the 5 minute 30 second mark when they start playing some real rock and roll (with Geddy providing a nice bass-line) and Lifeson goes gloriously nuts with his guitar! I would say he was making love to his guitar, but that always sounds stupid when people say that!! Everything stops for a bit as Lifeson (as it was put by a critic) shreads the universe apart with his electric guitar. By the seven minute mark, mayhem ensues, and Lifeson REALLY goes crazy. And so does Peart. By the eight minute 30 second mark, they start going more pop rock. The voice over says something weird, and a Beatles-esque riff starts playing. This part is particularly pleasant. The melody is even pretty good though it's a shame that it's basically only a three chord song. Nonetheless, they end it with a smile. ... One thing that's obvious to me about this song is that their hearts were into it. It shows. The Fountain of Lamneth 15/20 Just to prove that they are even bigger nerds than any of us would have supposed, "The Fountain of Lamneth" is 20 minutes long!! I believe the appropriate words are: "Wowie Zowie!" Well, it may be no consequence that much of this sounds like they've been listening to a lot of Genesis, but they don't like mellotrons. The beginning of the song shifts between a well-done but kinda boring folkie song between a more hard-rocking jam thing. The transition between these parts were OK but not expertly done. At approximately the four minute mark, Neil Peart gives every other drummer in the world the middle finger and brags exclaiming, "Look at me!" The fortunately brief drum solo stops when Geddy Lee screams. (That part wasn't crazy enough in my opinion ... and I'm not being sarcastic.) They start playing a more quiet section after that. It's not bad but it's too easy for me to tune out. Geddy Lee starts scream-screaming like a lunatic in the middle of this, and it's not particularly appealing on the artistic and aethetic level. It isn't until the 10-minute mark when they start doing something pleasant. A good little folk-pop song (for once) and Lee actually gives a constructive vocal performance. This section is more or less entrancing and a good way to pick up things after the previous few minutes. OK, maybe they're ripping off "Stairway to Heaven" a bit too closely, but I don't care at this point. I like it. At the 13 minute mark, an electric guitar led pop rock song starts to play. It was just a fade in after the folkie bit was over. Couldn't you come up with an actual transition? ... Whatever, guys. Anyway, this section is fine though it comes off as pretty sterile. At the 15 minute 30 second mark, Lifeson gives the sterile thing some life with a rather playful electric guitar solo. Then, it fades out. (What's with the fade-outs, guys??? How about some real transitions?) Then, the beginning section starts up again. They would have been better off just lopping off this last three minutes in my opinion since it adds nothing to the song unless you count the lyrics. (Who cares about Rush lyrics, anyway?) ... Just the same, this wasn't a bad song at all. It was heavily flawed and they didn't spend enough time developing it (or maybe they just didn't have the songwriting talent), but it's all in all a decent listen. Giveth thee thy comments, m'lord here.

All reviews are copyrighted by the author, Michael Lawrence. He was the 5,674th scientist to discover oxygen.