Rush Test For Echo

After flirting (albeit mildly) with alternative rock on Counterparts, Rush returns to classic progressive rock on Test for Echo. Cutting back many of the AOR production flourishes that hampered most of their late-'80s and early-'90s releases, the band concentrates on the sounds and styles that made albums like Moving Pictures huge successes in the late '70s and early '80s. Test for Echo is all instrumental gymnastics and convoluted song structures, all of which demonstrate each member's skills. And the key to the album is the individual performances, since each song isn't particularly memorable as a song, only as a way to showcase the solos. With Rush, such a tactic isn't necessarily a bad thing, since they have always been better at playing than writing, and they have rarely played better in the past ten years than they have on Test for Echo.

After flirting (albeit mildly) with alternative rock on Counterparts, Rush returns to classic progressive rock on Test for Echo. Cutting back many of the AOR production flourishes that hampered most of their late-'80s and early-'90s releases, the band concentrates on the sounds and styles that made albums like Moving Pictures huge successes in the late '70s and early '80s. Test for Echo is all instrumental gymnastics and convoluted song structures, all of which demonstrate each member's skills…

Rush was a Canadian rock band formed in Toronto in 1968, consisting of Geddy Lee (bass, vocals, keyboards, composer), Alex Lifeson (guitars, composer), and Neil Peart (drums, percussion, lyricist). After its formation in 1968, the band went through several configurations before arriving at its classic power trio lineup with the addition of Peart in 1974, who replaced original drummer John Rutsey right after the release of their eponymous debut album, which contained their first highly-regarded song, "Working Man".

2014 marks the 40th anniversary of the release of Rush's eponymous debut album. This deluxe collector's box set brings together live performances by Rush from each decade of their career. It includes 'Rush in Rio,' 'R30,' 'Snakes & Arrows Live,' 'Time Machine 2011: Live in Cleveland,' and 'Clockwork Angels Tour,' plus a spectacular bonus disc of previously unseen and unreleased live material stretching from 1974 to 2013…

On their fourth live album since their inception in the early '70s, Rush's three-CD Different Stages: Live is similar in approach and feel to their first in-concert release, 1976's All the World's a Stage…

Any discussion of the Top 100 '90s Rock Albums will have to include some grunge, and this one is no different. A defining element of that decade, the genre (and the bands that rose to fame playing it) was given credit for revitalizing rock at a badly needed moment. That said, there's far more to the story. Our list of the Top 100 '90s Rock Albums, presented in chronological order, takes in the rich diversity of the period.