TEST FOR ECHO is the sixteenth studio album by Canadian rock band Rush, released in 1996. The album marks the final Rush work prior to the events in Neil Peart's life that put the band on hiatus for several years. Peart recorded a majority of his drum tracks for the album using traditional grip, after receiving drum lessons from jazz instructor Freddie Gruber.
The cover denotes the Inukshuk which is a stone figure in the shape of a human used to mark a food cache or hunting ground. The word is taken from Inuk meaning human and Shuk meaning substitute.
The title track reached #1 on the Mainstream Rock chart. Like the album before it, TEST FOR ECHO showed "alternative" influences (e.g. "Test for Echo," "Driven," "Time and Motion"). "Driven" became a bass showcase for bassist Geddy Lee during live performances, while "Resist" was rearranged into an acoustic folk song on the VAPOR TRAILS and R30 tours.
In 20-plus years together, Rush has rarely varied from its basic formula -- two parts musical chops, one part lyrical smarts, and one more part musical chops. This power trio knows its strengths. Drummer Neil Peart writes intelligent lyrics here about global subjects ranging from the Internet ("Virtuality") to comparative religion ("Totem"). But it keeps coming back to the trio's musical interplay, and Rush's ever-ready willingness to experiment with it. Alex Lifeson adds a nice touch to "Half The World" with a mandola, while Geddy Lee's synthesizer flourishes and off-kilter rhythm on "Time And Motion" are vintage Rush. The most exciting demonstration of Rush's group synchronicity is on the instrumental "Limbo." It starts with the sounds of clinking chains and a bubbling cauldron, before charging forward -- occasionally soaring -- on waves of guitar, synth and disembodied voices (including a sample from "The Monster Mash"). This is the sound of an intellectual band smart enough not to take itself too seriously.
Rush: Geddy Lee (vocals, synthesizer, bass guitar); Alex Lifeson (acoustic guitar, electric guitar, mandola); Neil Peart (hammer dulcimer, drums, cymbals).
All songs written by Alex Lifeson, Geddy Lee and Neil Peart. Recorded at Bearsville Studios, Bearsville, New York and Reaction Studios, Toronto, Canada from January to March 1996. Produced by Peter Collins & Rush.
Track Listing:
1. Test for Echo - 5:55 2. Driven - 4:27 3. Half the World - 3:42 4. The Color of Right - 4:48 5. Time and Motion - 5:01 6. Totem - 4:58 7. Dog Years - 4:55 8. Virtuality - 5:43 9. Resist - 4:23 10. Limbo - 5:29 11. Carve Away the Stone - 4:07
Test For Echo (1996)
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Album Description:
TEST FOR ECHO is the sixteenth studio album by Canadian rock band Rush, released in 1996. The album marks the final Rush work prior to the events in Neil Peart's life that put the band on hiatus for several years. Peart recorded a majority of his drum tracks for the album using traditional grip, after receiving drum lessons from jazz instructor Freddie Gruber.
The cover denotes the Inukshuk which is a stone figure in the shape of a human used to mark a food cache or hunting ground. The word is taken from Inuk meaning human and Shuk meaning substitute.
The title track reached #1 on the Mainstream Rock chart. Like the album before it, TEST FOR ECHO showed "alternative" influences (e.g. "Test for Echo," "Driven," "Time and Motion"). "Driven" became a bass showcase for bassist Geddy Lee during live performances, while "Resist" was rearranged into an acoustic folk song on the VAPOR TRAILS and R30 tours.
In 20-plus years together, Rush has rarely varied from its basic formula -- two parts musical chops, one part lyrical smarts, and one more part musical chops. This power trio knows its strengths. Drummer Neil Peart writes intelligent lyrics here about global subjects ranging from the Internet ("Virtuality") to comparative religion ("Totem"). But it keeps coming back to the trio's musical interplay, and Rush's ever-ready willingness to experiment with it. Alex Lifeson adds a nice touch to "Half The World" with a mandola, while Geddy Lee's synthesizer flourishes and off-kilter rhythm on "Time And Motion" are vintage Rush. The most exciting demonstration of Rush's group synchronicity is on the instrumental "Limbo." It starts with the sounds of clinking chains and a bubbling cauldron, before charging forward -- occasionally soaring -- on waves of guitar, synth and disembodied voices (including a sample from "The Monster Mash"). This is the sound of an intellectual band smart enough not to take itself too seriously.
Rush: Geddy Lee (vocals, synthesizer, bass guitar); Alex Lifeson (acoustic guitar, electric guitar, mandola); Neil Peart (hammer dulcimer, drums, cymbals).
All songs written by Alex Lifeson, Geddy Lee and Neil Peart.
Recorded at Bearsville Studios, Bearsville, New York and Reaction Studios, Toronto, Canada from January to March 1996.
Produced by Peter Collins & Rush.
Track Listing:
1. Test for Echo - 5:55
2. Driven - 4:27
3. Half the World - 3:42
4. The Color of Right - 4:48
5. Time and Motion - 5:01
6. Totem - 4:58
7. Dog Years - 4:55
8. Virtuality - 5:43
9. Resist - 4:23
10. Limbo - 5:29
11. Carve Away the Stone - 4:07