Rush-Test For Echo (1996)

With the end of their third era and the beginning of their fourth, the Canadian band Rush had become a sophisticated hard rock band with a high level of compositional and instrumental skill. Their hard rock, progressive rock, and techno rock phases were behind them, and with the start of this new era, they attempted to fuse all those styles to forge a distinctly artistic rock sound. In this context, they released the albums "Presto" (1989), "Roll the Bones" (1991), "Counterparts" (1993), and the one we're analyzing here today: "Test For Echo" (1996). In all of these previous albums, the trio managed to create excellent material, though it still kept them far removed from their heyday. In this latest album, the progressive tendencies, or at least a much more complex sound with a distinctly contemporary feel, are even more prominent. The powerful title track showcases the tremendous instrumental dynamism that the Canadian trio is known for, with intricate rhythmic developments and their characteristic explosive force. The complex "Driven", an intelligent composition of perfect musical structures, the psychedelic "Time and Motion", or the somewhat sophisticated hard rock tracks "Half the World", "The Color Of Right", "Totem" or "Dog Years" lead the album down paths already explored by the group, but with an added complexity that had not been seen since the days of the album "Moving Pictures" in 1981.