Rush : Caress of Steel

HEAR THE ECHOES OF CENTURIES

POWER ISN'T ALL

THAT MONEY BUYS

 Caress of Steel 

 is the third 

studio album 

by Canadian

 rock band 

Rush 

released on 

September 24, 1975,

 by Mercury Records.

 It was recorded immediately 

after the band concluded

 touring in support

 of their previous album, 

Fly By Night, 

and marked a

 development in 

the group's sound, 

moving from the 

blues-based hard rock style 

of their debut

 towards progressive rock.

 Caress of Steel

 is considered Rush's 

first progressive rock album. 

Songs such as

 "The Necromancer" 

furthered Rush's 

advancement into 

narrative-driven, 

fantasy-based compositions, 

while

 "The Fountain of Lamneth" 

was their first prog-rock

 "epic". 

Other tracks like 

"Bastille Day" 

and

 "Lakeside Park" 

became staples 

of the band's 

live setlists.

Though the band members 

were initially proud 

of their work on

 Caress of Steel, 

the album proved to be a

 commercial and

 critical low point for 

Rush 

as the album's darker sound 

and fantastical compositions

 failed to find an audience 

and confused some

 of the band's peers; 

further,

 poor sales put the band

 in danger of being dropped

 by Mercury. 

The mediocre reception

 impacted the band's 

gigging opportunities, 

leading them to dub 

the supporting tour the

 "Down The Tubes Tour". 

Despite being more 

positively viewed

 by the band's fans

 in retrospect, 

Ultimate Classic Rock 

noted that the album

 is still considered 

"the black sheep of their catalog".

Background and Recording

By mid-1975, 

Rush had stabilised

 with a line-up of

guitarist

 Alex Lifeson, 

bassist and vocalist 

Geddy Lee, 

and drummer 

and

 primary lyricist

 Neil Peart, 

who had joined

 the group in 1974. 

They released 

Fly by Night 

(1975), 

which marked 

Rush's first foray

 into multi-part conceptual songs 

with

 "By-Tor and the Snow Dog". 

The group were on

 a rise in popularity, 

and received a 

Juno Award for Most 

Promising Group. 

In June 1975,

 they finished touring 

Fly by Night, 

which culminated in a 

Canadian leg

 that had them as 

headliners

 for the first time.

While preparing their 

follow-up album, 

Rush

 took the extended

 and 

conceptual song elements

 that they had introduced on

 Fly by Night 

and made it the

 central focus for their 

new material. 

As a result, 

this marked a development

 in their sound from

 blues-inspired

 hard rock 

towards progressive rock. 

Peart recalled that the band

 approached 

Caress of Steel feeling 

"serene and confident" 

The album was recorded in 

July 1975 

at Toronto Sound Studios

 in Toronto, Ontario. 

Mixing took place in

 the same studio.

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