Test For Echo (1996)
1.Test for Echo
2.Driven
3.Half the World
4.The Color of Right
5.Time and Motion
6.Totem
7.Dog Years
8.Virtuality
9.Reist
10.Limbo
11.Carve Away the Stone
By the time Test for Echo arrived, Rush fans were starting to notice a bit of a trend. Over the last decade or so, the band had a tendency to reinvent themselves with each new producer and fresh batch of songs, only to follow up that success with an attempt to replicate the previous formula. Unfortunately, that tactic hadn’t worked all too well. Hold Your Fire didn’t quite live up to Power Windows, and Roll the Bones fell short of Presto. The pattern continues here, as Test for Echo tries hard to echo (pun somewhat intended) the sound and structure of Counterparts, but comes up noticeably short.
One listen through the album, especially when placed side by side with its predecessor, reveals the same sonic textures and tonal approach—just with far weaker songs. The opening (and bafflingly, the lead single) Test for Echo is a textbook example of mid-level Rush. It doesn’t really move in any direction. Geddy chants through a series of rhyming words—"slow-mo," "vertigo," "what-a-show"—until you’re tempted to hit the skip button by the second "here we go." Then there’s Dog Years, which might very well be the nadir of Neil Peart’s lyrical career. It’s unclear what exactly he was aiming for, but the result is the stuff of headshakes and regret. (Trust me—don’t look it up.)
To be fair, a few tracks shine through. Half the World and The Color of Right manage to spark interest, although they don’t do much to distinguish themselves beyond being the “least problematic” entries on the record. They sound good, but there's a missing spark—something that separates solid craft from genuine inspiration.
There are, however, some proper gems hidden amongst the clutter. Resist is a slower piece, more restrained than most, but it carries a haunting beauty that gave it a second life as the band’s only “unplugged” live track for a few tours. Totem is one of the more playful and underrated numbers from this period—bouncy, melodic, and lyrically mischievous. It’s the kind of song you wish they’d include in a latter day setlist. Limbo, the now-customary instrumental offering, doesn’t disappoint either. Like most Rush instrumentals, it somehow manages to sound completely familiar while being completely different. And yes, that contradiction makes sense when you're dealing with Rush. Virtuality also has its charms, even if its lyrics—a clumsy salute to the growing Internet culture—age about as well as a dial-up modem. Still, it’s got a punch to it.
Yet, on the whole, this is a rare misfire. Not bad in a way that tarnishes the band’s legacy—but uninspired in a way that makes you wonder what might have been. One almost wishes the stronger material here had simply been folded into Counterparts, replacing a few of the weaker cuts, and turning that album into something truly special. As it stands, Test for Echo feels like the sound of a band treading water. And perhaps not surprisingly, the band themselves seemed to agree. Nearly two decades later, Rush had quietly abandoned this album’s material when constructing setlists. That, more than anything, probably says it all.
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