RUSH — Test for Echo (review)

RUSH — Test for Echo album cover Album · 1996 · Hard Rock Buy this album from MMA partners
3/5 ·
AtomicCrimsonRush
Power blackout for Rush on another non-essential album.

"Test For Echo" is the last album I bought to complete the entire collection and I did not expect anything close to their classic of the 70s, but it is rather disappointing how the band lost the power of that era and shed their prog tendencies to embrace a cliched AOR hard rock vibe. The guitars clang and resound in a similar vein to "Presto" and "Roll the Bones", and the synth is kind of dominant sucking the power out of the band. There are ballads and mod tempo commercial sounding tracks, and the album does not have many heavy tracks, it all seems to follow a kind of mid range radio sound, the band had sold out again. The booklet is quite nice with some weird but fascinating art work.

"Counterparts" previously had shown how heavy and innovative the band could be and this followup should have taken this to heart and maintained the heavy complex approach. Sadly there is little on this that grabbed my attention and it is one of the most forgettable albums for Rush. As always there are highlights that save the album from complete obsolescence.

Test For Echo is a killer opener with a very cool riff and Lee sounds great. Driven is a solid rocker, and had a quirky amusing promo clip to go with it at the time. Half The World is not too bad with some inventive lyrics and catchy chorus. The next few songs are all very much the same structure and are very AOR in style. Resist is another standout track and Limbo is a great instrumental that always works well for the power trio.

Nothing else to say except I am glad the band branched out for a heavier sound on their next albums, in fact "Vapor Trails" buries this album for sheer quality and driving blasting rock, the band at their best. The fact that the album is way better than "Presto" or "Roll the Bones" earns it a 3 star rating, but only just by the skin of its teeth. It really is not one of Rush's greatest hours.

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