Test for Echo | 
 enlarge | Artist: Rush
Label: Warner Spec. Mkt. UK
Category: Music
Buy New: $14.98
Rating:  180 reviews
Format: Import
Media: Audio CD
Discs: 1
UPC: 075378373926
EAN: 0075378373926
ASIN: B000WS4PNS
Release Date: January 13, 2008
Shipping: Eligible for Super Saver Shipping
Availability: In stock soon. Order now to get in line. First come, first served.
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| Tracks:
| • | Test for Echo | | • | Driven | | • | Half the World | | • | The Color of Right | | • | Time and Motion | | • | Totem | | • | Dog Years | | • | Virtuality | | • | Resist | | • | Limbo | | • | Carve Away the Stone |
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| Customer Reviews:
 Absolutely awesome June 29, 2008
echoman
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
In my opinion, this cd is equal to Moving Pictures. the quality of the song writing....Great guitar work, cutting edge and positive vibe on the sound style. I've been listening to this cd on an almost weekly basis since i purchased it 12 years ago, I can't recommend it enough!
By any other band... May 28, 2008
K. Parsons (Idyllwild, CA USA)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
By any other band, this would be a highlight CD. For Rush it is not in their top 50%, but that doesn't mean it is a poor offering at all. There are some very strong tracks here, and for me they are "Time & Motion", a throwback to the time-signature experimentation of pre-Moving Pictures Rush, with a slamming bottom end; "Test for Echo" which is a hint of a brooding, almost eerie sound the band would return to with "Spindrift" on Snakes & Arrows; "Driven", a flat-out blast of a song; and "Limbo", another in Rush's very strong library of instrumentals. Nothing against Geddy's vocals, which I generally like, but it would be cool to see Rush come out with a compilation of all instrumentals (adding a few new ones of course).
There are a few tracks that break with the sound usually associated with Rush, like "Resist", which has some of Neil's tightest lyrics and a gorgeous guitar line, and "Dog Years", with a grinding heavy sound that is a harbinger of the chunky thunder of their next CD, Vapor Trails. "Carve Away the Stone" is an underrated track with classic cheeky Neil Peart lyrics "You can roll that stone to the top of the hill...", and of course there is "Virtuality", which sounds dated now - but in 1996 was pretty spot-on as the internet was just finding its legs in millions of homes.
Unfortunately, there are a few quite forgettable tracks as well, and I don't care for "Totem" at all, and "The Color of Right" has a great lead guitar line but otherwise feels flat to me. T4E is a CD that is hard to listen to straight through, but overall it is a sharp, technically brilliant album that sounds better every couple years or so.
 Oh Dear, more middle-of-the-road-drivel May 17, 2008
A. J. Davies
0 out of 4 found this review helpful
Yet more inane nothingness. Rush was the only band I would listen to as a teenager in the late 70's early 80's and it's been a long, slow, sad decline since their last decent album which was Moving Pictures. I can remember with absolute horror, the release of Signals and GUP. Forever lost is the majesty and raw spirit of 2112. So, so, sad. I feel truly cheated.
 Three strong musicians betrayed by poor songwriting and muddy production May 13, 2008
Christopher Culver
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
After their "synth era" of the mid-to-late 1980s, Rush turned back to their hard rock roots. COUNTERPARTS (1993) was their new triumph, but on 1996's TEST FOR ECHO the band went even further in reducing the role of keyboards and preferring cutting riffs to melody.
Looking at the individual performances, TEST FOR ECHO shows three performers maintaining their immense talent. Drummer Neil Peart adopted two bass drums and an arsenal of new techniques for the album (which he explains on the VHS/DVD release A Work in Progress), with the title track and parts of "Carve Away the Stone" featuring especially strong work. Guitarist Alex Lifeson sounds thrilled to reclaim the territory once occupied by synths, flaunting this return to the spotlight in "Driven" and "Dog Years". Geddy Lee thankfully favours his bass more than his keyboards. In the instrumental "Limbo", we hear three musicians still on top of their game in their mid-40s.
Unfortunately, the album is fatally disappointing from other angles. Neil Peart's songwriting here is grating instead of thought-provoking. In "Half the World", nearly every line begins with precisely those three words, and the effect swiftly becomes annoying. The Internet-themed song "Virtuality" is dated now, but was widely panned even when it appeared due to the risible chorus "Net boy, net girl, send your signal around the world. / Put your message in a modem, and throw it in the cyber sea." "Dog Years" similarly has a lame chorus. The other weak aspect of TEST FOR ECHO is the production, a "loudness war" casualty that packs everything into a miniscule dynamic range and doesn't allow the music to breathe. Strangely, however, "Limbo" sounds to me like it came from a completely different producer.
All in all, I'd rate even Rush's controversial following album VAPOR TRAILS higher than this, since the strong songwriting there makes up for the digital distortion. Looking at the band's whole career, TEST FOR ECHO seems one of their very minor releases.
Solid and unremarkable April 27, 2008
G B (Connecticut)
0 out of 2 found this review helpful
This is the sequel to Counterparts, with an even heavier sound. There aren't many memorable melodies and after a while the crushing guitar riffs get a little monotonous. There's still good stuff on here -- The frantic "Dog Years" may be the first (intentionally) funny Rush lyric, while other highlights are "Driven", "Carve Away the Stone", and "Resist". This is not one of the band's better albums, though fans of Counterparts may enjoy it.
[This review is based on the 1996 original release, not the 2004 remaster. I have no problems with sound quality on the original.]
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