Test for Echo [Original recording remastered, Import]

 

 

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'Test For Echo' features a gorgeous sound. It is full, hard, loud, and yet clean. It has a great presence, particularly on better systems, which tend to reveal audio limitations the best.

The title track, "Test Four Echo" is like the new "Tom Sawyer". Like that classic track, it features lyrics with attitude and some creative and very cool riffs. There are some fantastic changes in the complex arrangement. Like the best songs on 'Counterparts', the title track here features straight ahead Bass/Guitar/Drums. Alex seems to have laid down thick layers of guitars--although with his inventive playing, this may only be an illusion. It has great tempo and mood changes. This is the first time that we get to hear Neil let loose with his new big band drum style. The song tells a great story, both musically and lyrically. This is one of their all time best.

Everytime that I hear "Driven" I say Wow! It features a great bass driven riff. I love the mix of acoustic and electric guitars--these remind me of The Who. There is also a definite King Crimson influence. It is so nice to have the bass solo (duet, really since a second bass is overdubbed). And, of course, Alex does a great job of creating counterpoint with his sound layers on top of Geddy's solo. This is one of my all time favourite Rush songs. To me, songs with complexities of prog with the intensities of metal are Rush at their best. Rush are not known for making good music videos, but "Driven" is an exception; it is perhaps Rush's best music video.

"Half the World" provides a nice contrast to the intense energy of the two opening tracks. Here we have hard rock with a melody. Alex layers fantastic string sounds with all the guitars and the mandola. I never realized how layered this song was until I really turned it up on a better than average sounds system. The guitars are extremely dense.

The "Color of Right" always makes me think of "Spirit of Radio". The bass and drums really punch hard in this song. It's a protest song, both musically and lyrically. Surprisingly, Geddy takes another solo spot. This album is rich with little bass solos and flourishes.

"Time and Motion" gives us the first taste of synths on the album. They are efffective in that they have been absent up until now. Their conservative use makes their statements more vital. I like the minor tones that they use. This song is reminiscent of great songs like "Chemistry", "2112", and "Cygnus X-1", but played so much better.

I love "Totem" mainly for the lyrics, which really catch my atheistic fancy. This is "Freewill" for the '90's. The music seems simple, but in fact they are all playing quite furiously. This is part of their genius. Making the complex seem simple. Fitting in as many notes as they can, yet making it seem like they are playing slowly. Alex's solo on this one always blows me away. It's just perfect. The "Red Barchetta" harmonics are back to great effect.

"Dog Years" is a musical comedy. Everything about this song is funny: The lyrics, the arrangement, the playing. This song is meant to be hilarious, but most fans don't seem to get the joke.

"Virtuality" is a cool hard riff rock song with a very quirky B section. You can tell that they feel very skeptical or unconvinced about the behaviour of people on the Internet, and of the promise of the computer revolution. The music is as tongue-in-cheek as the lyrics. This is yet another surprisingly overlooked Rush song.

"Resist" is truly a fantastic work. The arrangement is gorgeous. The lyrics are so poignant and true. Acoustic guitar, piano, and a beautiful flow of short pieces blended together beautifully. This is one of those rare songs from Rush that just makes you burst into song. It is the "Closer to the Heart" of the '90's.

The title of "Limbo" suggests the ethereal, but this is anything but. Alex just GRINDS on the guitar and the others burn along to keep up. Then the mood shifts and shifts. Where is it going? Where are we being taken? The song is like being trapped in an eddy filled votex. This is one groovin' toe tapper!

The album closes with "Carve Away the Stone"--an oddball song. It is a clash of ideas that is both brilliant and awkward. Perhaps this would have been stronger if it was positioned somewhere in the middle of the album to allow "Limbo" to be the powerhouse closer.

Any true Rush fan should be able to realize the sheer genius contained in this album. Any person who thinks that they understand Neil Peart's lyrical genius, or the band's musical ingenuity and also thinks that this album is anything short of amazing needs to have a brain scan. I don't believe that you can understand Neil's lyrical styles and the band's musical talent and still think that this is a bad album. It starts strong, and goes hard right til the very last track.
Track 1-Test for Echo, is a strong opening title track. It features some moving guitar riffs and a couple of very tribal drum grooves to back them up.
Track 2-Driven, a strong competitor for my favorite song of all time, the odd time signature changes and excellent acoustic guitar riffs along with very powerful lyrics relating to determination, and success make for an exceptional Rush song.
Track 3-Half the World, a good song that I find to be more and more true the more I think about it and listen to it. Strong musical passages mix with another set of winning lyrics from Neil.
Track 4-The Color of Right, Another song that I find to be more and more true the more I hear it. Lyrics pertaining to making good decisions and things of that such creates a catchy song that I find myself humming from time to time.
Track 5-Time and Motion, starts out with a driving guitar riff, and some excellent synth action(almost all of the synth you'll hear on this entire album occurs during this track), and I think that this is one of the best songson the album by far.
Track 6-Totem, a song that is slightly difficult to understand at times both musically and lyrically, but once you figure it out, atleast I found it difficult to stop listening to it.
Track 7-Dog Years, a somewhat amusing track that features very clever lyrics using multiple play on words(clever for them to make this track track number 7, eh?), this is definitely a song that puts me in a very good mood. Also shows that the band hasn't lost all its good humor, and fun.
Track 8-Viruality, a poetic track relating to the swift moving nature of technology. Very poetic lyrics combined with the perfect musical passages makes for another excellent song.
Track 9-Resist, Another strong competitor for best Rush song ever, this deep, moving ballad is in my opinion among the greatest demonstrations of lyrical genius of all time. I saw them perform this song live, and it was just after Neil's solo, so it was just Alex and Geddy each on an acoustic guitar, and it was one of the single greatest moments in a live concert that I can remember. I can not help myself from listening to this song over and over and over again. The bridge alone from this song is one of my favorite quotes of all time.
Track 10-Limbo, An amazing instrumental song guaranteed to get your head bobbing and your feet tapping. The different passages are strung together flawlessly throughout this keen display of musical mastery.
Track 11-Carve Away the Stone, Another song with very powerful lyrics, and the perfect musical phrases to compliment it. Another song that I find myself quoting time after time.

So, all in all, this album is definitely some of the band's most outstanding work both muscially, and lyrically. In my opinion, this is possibly the single best cd ever made for driving to, and whenever I drive chances are that I have this cd playing. I just can't get enough of this exceptional album.

Rush's album Test For Echo was released in September of 1996. The album was the band's first album since 1993's Counterparts. In between albums, bass player/vocalist Geddy Lee and his wife had their second child, daughter Kyla(son Julian was born in 1980). Guitarist Alex Lifeson released his first solo album under the alias Victor. Drummer Neil PEart relearned how to play drums. The band then reconvened in January of 1996 in Bearsville Studios in New York to record Test for Echo once again using Peter Collins as co-producer. The first taste of this album for me was the title cut and was pumped that the new album would use even less synths. They don't even appear on the album to my ears. Aside the killer title cut, my other favorites on this album are Driven, the rocking Half the World, the excellent Time and Motion which had one of Alex's best guitar solos ever recorded on a Rush album ever. Other standouts are the instrumental Limbo which was the first instrumental Geddy, Neil and Alex wrote together since La Villa Strangiato in 1978. Resist is superb as well and was written after Neil saw the movie Braveheart and how Scotland fought resistance to gain freedom. When Test was released, it quickly went Gold and debuted at #5(not bad when competing against REM's flop and the return of a six-piece New Edition which hit #1). If you liked Counterparts or Rush in general, this album is for you. If not, go watch TRL.

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3.0 out of 5 stars Rush's weakest 90's album
When Rush started out in the seventies, it was a running joke among critics that the band was far better at playing their instruments than they were at writing songs. Read more

Published on May 5 2004 by J. GARRATT

1.0 out of 5 stars I'm sorry....
I just didn't like this album....and I had been a fan for about 5 years when I bought it. To this day, I still just can't get into it... Read more

Published on April 19 2004 by irnmtn25

5.0 out of 5 stars My Eyes Reopened and Awareness Returned!
It is sooo very good to know RUSH is still at it. My sincere condolences go to Neil Peart for the loss of his wife and daughter. I too am a devoted drummer. Read more

Published on Jan 24 2004 by Robert Wesley

4.0 out of 5 stars "Here we go, vertigo!"
After hearing the over-produced slop that made up their previous album, "Counterparts," I was seriously thinking of holding a funeral for these prog-rock dinosaurs... Read more

Published on Jan 14 2004 by D. Knouse

5.0 out of 5 stars A MATURE AND DIVERSE RUSH ALBUM
If you are new to Rush, I would suggest starting off with an album other than Test for Echo. Not because this album is not good, but because it may be more understandable in the... Read more

Published on Jan 8 2004 by Sam Bhattacharya

5.0 out of 5 stars Different, yet just as excellent!
This album expresses what is so great about RUSH: They push musical limits and try to generate a special mix of rhythms and sounds on each and every song! Read more

Published on Dec 10 2003 by J. Brown

3.0 out of 5 stars Not as bad as I thought it was
I found "Test for Echo" extremely disappointing when it was first released in 1996, and put it away for 6 years. Read more

Published on Dec 2 2003 by Eddie Konczal

4.0 out of 5 stars Like Counterparts, but more musically explorative
Test For Echo(1996). Rush's sixteenth studio album.

Starting in the early 90s, Rush opted to change themselves into more of a modern hardrock sound dominated by Alex's chugging... Read more

Published on Nov 6 2003 by M. B. Link

3.0 out of 5 stars Rush Test For Echo
After a successful return to a more rock infused style of playing on 1993's Counterparts, Rush continue to roll forward with Test For Echo. Read more

Published on Oct 28 2003 by Wil

4.0 out of 5 stars "A Work in Progress" will help you appreciate this!
Watching Neil deconstruct his drum parts for this album on his video definitely lends a greater appreciation to this album, since he was reinventing himself at the time. Read more

Published on Oct 24 2003 by D. Hawkins

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