Test For Echo - Rush (CD 1996)

Good old Rush.. you never hear much about these guys. While some bands get praised to high heaven and others get branded with such terms as "overrated", "superfluous" and "pretentious", Rush are just kind of there. Even now, though, you might still catch a classic rock station spinning some "Tom Sawyer" on an overcast brunch hour. And it has been my experience that Rush have the most devoted fan base of 'em all.

I would never have known about Rush if not for Curt, an old buddy who worked at the Golden Pantry with me (there's RATS in them thar stores, RATS I mean it!). He got so excited about Rush's 1996 album Test For Echo that I often had to decline his pleas to join in helping him harass the deejay into submission to play that song.

The first time I heard it, yeah, it rocked, but it wasn't anything spectacular. When I got the album, I didn't find it to be too terribly amazing either... but damn if it wasn't addictive. Nowadays, having learned just how hard it is to play a guitar, I have a much deeper appreciation for Test For Echo.

As far as how it compares to other work by Rush, I couldn't really tell you. The only other albums I have heard by the band are 2112, Moving Pictures and Counterparts. Of those three, Test For Echo sounds the most like Counterparts. There's not as much spontaneity as I'm led to believe the band once possessed, but even under the most stringent production, the guys still know how to rock and, for me, that's all that matters.

Rush don't wait around for no one. The moment you press that play button, you got about ten seconds of dark arpeggios to set the mood and warm yourself up. After that, its fierce guitar riffage and it doesn't stop all the way through. Drummer Neil Peart stays out of the way for the most part, but any true fan of Rush knows that he's saving it. Here, Peart simply throws in the beat and lets them wail.

"Driven" is like a rollercoaster ride from start to finish. A solidly flowing bass line bumps along this impossible beat. The band reverts to an acoustic sound for but a fleeting moment, then as quickly as they calmed down, they rev it up again. Here, Peart gets the chance to show off one of his cooler tricks -- 4/4 drumming in a 3/4 song. He ends up stealing the entire song for himself at the end. In a typical 3/4 song, one would expect the accent to come on 123456, 123456, but toward the end of this song, Peart changes it up and moves the accent to 123456123456 and repeat. It's kind of like a "shrouded" 4/4 beat. Once you loop over it a few times, especially when you hear it in the song, it's a lot easier to... well, "get". It just can't be said enough what a crazy and brilliant drummer this guy is.

"Half The World" was always one of my favorites, but here is where I start to take issue with the key changes. Although Rush do some outstanding melodies here, it gets to be kind of a chore having the rug pulled out from under your feet just when you are starting to get a "feel" for where the song is going. Otherwise, "Half The World" is a beautiful work of understanding. Half the world talks, with half a mind on what they say... Half the world walks, with half a mind to run away.

Up at the halfway point is where my favorite track lies -- "Dog Years". If you only know a few Rush songs and you're feeling the hunger for something new, this would be the one to check out. This has got to be one of the most brilliant melodies I've heard. It starts out like some kind of angry punk song, but don't panic -- that's just the bridge. When the first verse chimes in, it flows steadily and ascends a couple chords, repeats, then at a rhythmically climactic moment, it plummets way down, only to do the same thing from down there. It sounds stupid in words, but when you hear it, it's just so damn cool. I don't mind the key changes so much in a playful song like this. Peart, once again, nails this song to the wall like nobody's business. Lyrics are also particularly witty and so true. In a dog's eye, a year is really more like seven, out too soon the canine will be chasing cars in doggie Heaven.. Seems to me as we make our own circles 'round the Sun, we get it backwards, and our seven years go by like one. The chorus is way too ardent for its own good, but the surprise is more pleasant than dogged.

The only other two tracks that jump out at me are "Virtuality" and "Resist". The former boasts a guitar riff that not only plays throughout almost the entire song, but blows away some actual solos by.. shall we say, "lesser" bands. It also is the only song I've heard about playing with yourself at the computer. Net boy, net girl, send your impulse 'round the world, put your message in a modem and throw it in the cybersea. Meanwhile, "Resist" is the singular low-key track. It is, to this album, what "Nobody's Hero" was to Counterparts (or what "Witch Hunt" was to Moving Pictures.) It's a beautifully desperate melody, yet it has an odd confidence about it. Peart uses the exact same drumming trick toward the end of this song that he does on "Driven", just incase you missed it. A lot of the album's greatest lines appear in this song -- I can learn to resist anything but temptation, I can learn to co-exist with anything but pain, I can learn to close my eyes to anything but injustice.

Just because I fail to mention a track thus far does not by any means make it a skippable song. "Totem" is that one catchy thing that just begs you to drum along with whatever you're holding at the time (unless it's like, a cup of coffee or something). Wicked harmonies there. "The Color Of Right" is a nice anthem on its own, though I have no trouble imagining it coming out of any other rock band. The same could be said for the two others -- "Time And Motion" and "Carve Away The Stone". But the former does have an interesting bridge that transforms from euphoric to grungy half a dozen times over. Interesting stuff there. "Limbo" is the obligatory instrumental track that sounds like the music you would hear in a haunted mansion at Halloween. You might recognize a brief vocal in the background as a sampling from "Monster Mash". I must be the only one on the planet for whom it was the other way around -- I heard "Monster Mash" one day and recognized the vocal line and was like "Hey! That's from 'Limbo'".

My interest in Rush was ..well, "anywhere but here" when Vapor Trails came out last year. Needless to say, after feasting my ears on this slab of rock, I will be picking that one up real soon.

If you're looking for some good rocking music that isn't downright painful to listen to, Test For Echo is a surefire bet to help you find your second wind.

Track Listing
1.) Test For Echo - 8
2.) Driven - 7
3.) Half The World - 8.5
4.) The Color of Right - 5
5.) Time And Motion - 6
6.) Totem - 9
7.) Dog Years - 10
8.) Virtuality - 8
9.) Resist - 7.5
10.) Limbo - 7
11.) Carve Away The Stone - 4