Caress of Steel.. Rush

Artist: Rush
Released: September 24, 1975
Recorded: June–July 1975
Length: 44:51 Label Anthem (Canada) Atlantic (Japan) Mercury
Producer: Rush and Terry Brown
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Ok so Im pretty sure everybody knows Rush from the song Tom Sawyer... as well they should, Rush is a great band (also Canadian). But they have more than Moving Pictures to be an awesome band. Take Caress of Steel which by the way is one of my favorite Rush albums, the last 2 tracks The Necromancer and The Fountain of Lamneth are EPIC beyond anything that had been seen before.

Obviously The Necromancer is a dark sounding name for a song, it is till you spend the time to follow the story laid out in sound and word. All the words give the feeling of death till you get to Act III Return of the Prince song and it just rises high and gives you a happier feeling that isn't hokey. I love that part of the song, to me I hear something similar in The Talking Heads song Heaven, something about it being an ending sound that seems proper.

And with The Fountain of Lamneth life is one of the most obvious themes in the beginning Act I In the Valley, the optimism and the excitement of what is to come behind the next sunrise. The part that comes at the end of Act I around 4:02 reminds me of The Kills song Monkey 23 (which is also a great song). Its a great break for the next Act.

Ok I can go on forever on how much I love this album, but I want you to enjoy the discovery of these tracks and what they later influenced.

So with that I need to say to PASS IT ON and to remember to listen to my buddy Lee @ The Pinata Hour also I would like to give a shout out to my homegirl Mindee of The Hot Box
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All songs written by Alex Lifeson, Geddy Lee and Neil Peart, except where noted.

1. "Bastille Day" – 4:37
2. "I Think I'm Going Bald" – 3:37
3. "Lakeside Park" – 4:08
4. "The Necromancer" – 12:30
   • "I. Into the Darkness" – 4:12
   • "II. Under the Shadow" – 4:25
   • "III. Return of the Prince" – 3:52
5. "The Fountain of Lamneth" – 19:58
• "I. In the Valley" – 4:18
• "II. Didacts and Narpets" – 1:00
• "III. No One at the Bridge" – 4:19
• "IV. Panacea" (music: Lee) – 3:14
• "V. Bacchus Plateau" (music: Lee) – 3:16
• "VI. The Fountain" – 3:49

Charles Mingus... The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady

Released: 1963
Recorded: January 20, 1963 in New York City

Length: 39:25
Label: Impulse!, A-35
Producer: Bob Thiele
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One of the Sexiest and Sleaziest sounds that I've ever has got to be "Track A – Solo Dance". It almost sounds like it could be the intro song to Taxi Driver. There is true grit in this song, like walking in the hot sun hung over as hell, looking for an ice cold drink. It really feels like a soundtrack to me in this track, its very blunt and sharp at the same if that makes any sense.

All that aggression of the first track is taken down a bit with "Track B– Duet Solo Dancers". To me this one is more of a closer that ends the night, you know maybe at an after party with a someone over a few drinks, a night cap you know what I mean. Yeah it picks up around the middle but it still feels like an epic that eases the night away.

Jazz has an affect on me, the music has a way to shape my emotion and I think most peoples perception on most subjects(that's probably why its used in movies allot). "Track C - Group Dancers" sounds like getting up in the morning and rushing through the hustle of life. There's always a story in these songs

"Mode D – Trio and Group Dancers" has a good mix in it, the horns blaze and set a mood of action like a big climatic scene in a movie and the guitar gives a real sense of tense. At 18:39 long a whole story could be told in the time it takes to listen to this one playing the background its just that good, it hits all the point in the band that lend to the imagination.

Before I let you go this week I want to say what I always say because there is soo much good music out there that have to listen to it and share it so I say it again PASS IT ON

Remember kiddos to listen to the Pinata Hour Wednesday's @ 7pm to 9PM on Skidrow Studios... you'll enjoy it

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1.Track A– Solo Dancer
"Stop! Look! And Listen, Sinner Jim Whitney!" 6:39
2.Track B– Duet Solo Dancers
"Hearts' Beat and Shades in Physical Embraces" 6:45
3.Track C – Group Dancers
"(Soul Fusion) Freewoman and Oh, This Freedom's Slave Cries" 7:22
4.Mode D – Trio and Group Dancers
"Mode E – Single Solos and Group Dance"
"Mode F – Group and Solo Dance"
"Stop! Look! And Sing Songs of Revolutions!"
"Saint and Sinner Join in Merriment on Battle Front"
"Of Love, Pain, and Passioned Revolt, then Farewell, My Beloved, 'til It's Freedom Day" 18:39