Caress of Steel

By mid-1975, Rush had stabilised with a line-up of guitarist Alex Lifeson, bassist and vocalist Geddy Lee, and drummer and primary lyricist Neil Peart, who had joined the group in 1974. They released Fly by Night (1975) which marked Rush's first foray into multi-part and conceptual songs with "By-Tor and the Snow Dog". The group were on a rise in popularity, and received a Juno Award for Most Promising Group.[2] In June 1975, they finished touring Fly by Night which culminated in a Canadian leg that had them as headliners for the first time.[2]

While preparing on their follow-up album, Rush took the extended and conceptual song elements that they had introduced on Fly by Night and made it the central focus for their new material. This marked the development in their sound as a result, from their blues-inspired hard rock towards progressive rock. Peart recalled that the band approached Caress of Steel feeling "serene and confident" and all three members were proud of the result. He considered the album a "major step" in their development with its variety in musical dynamics and original ideas.[3] Lee said that the band were "pretty high" while making the album.[4]

The album was recorded in July 1975 at Toronto Sound Studios in Toronto, Ontario. Mixing took place in the same studio.[2]

The album cover for Caress of Steel was intended to be printed in a silver colour to give it a "steel" appearance. A printing error resulted in giving the album cover a copper colour. The error was not corrected on subsequent printings of the album.[6] The cover artwork for Caress of Steel was designed by Hugh Syme, the first Rush album to feature his work. Syme has designed the cover artwork for every Rush album since.

On the inside gatefold of the album, just below the lyrics to "The Necromancer", the Latin phrase "Terminat hora diem; terminat auctor opus" appears, which translates (loosely) to:

"[as] The hour ends the day; the author ends his work." The source of this phrase is Christopher Marlowe's play Doctor Faustus (1588).

Caress of Steel was released in September 1975. By March 1976, it had sold around 40,000 copies in Canada.[7] Although the band initially had high hopes for the album, it sold fewer copies than Fly by Night and was considered a disappointment by the record company. The album eventually became known as one of Rush's most obscure and overlooked recordings, consequently being considered under-rated by fans.[8]

Due to poor sales, low concert attendance and overall media indifference, the 1975–76 tour supporting Caress of Steel became known by the band as the "Down the Tubes" tour. Given that and record-company pressure to record more accessible, radio-friendly material similar to their first album – something Lee, Lifeson and Peart were unwilling to do – the trio feared that the end of the group was near. Ignoring their record label's advice and vowing to "fight or fall", 2112 ultimately paved the way for lasting commercial success, despite opening with a 20-and-a-half-minute conceptual title track.[8]

Caress of Steel did not attain gold certification in the United States until December 1993, nearly two decades after its release. It remains one of the few Rush albums to not go platinum in the United States.[9]

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[10]
The Daily Vault	C+[11]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide	[12]

Caress of Steel has received poor reviews from professional critics. AllMusic's Greg Prato described the album as "one of Rush's more unfocused albums",[13] while Daily Vault's Christopher Thelen called it "a tentative step for Rush, one which would lead to their masterpiece in conceptual work", in reference to the group's next album, 2112.[14]

A remaster was issued in 1997.

• The tray has a picture of the star with man painting (mirroring the cover art of Retrospective I) with "The Rush Remasters" printed in all capital letters just to the left. All remasters from Rush through Permanent Waves are like this.
• The remaster adds the album's back cover and gatefold (which included band pictures and lyrics) to the packaging which was not included on the original CD.

Caress Of Steel was remastered again in 2011 by Andy VanDette for the "Sector" box sets, which re-released all of Rush's Mercury-era albums. Caress Of Steel is included in the Sector 1 set.[15]

Caress of Steel was remastered for vinyl in 2015 as a part of the official "12 Months of Rush" promotion.[16] The high definition master prepared for this release was also made available for purchase in 24-bit/96 kHz and 24-bit/192 kHz formats, at several high-resolution audio online music stores. These masters have significantly less dynamic range compression than the 1997 remasters and the "Sector" remasters by Andy VanDette.[17]

All lyrics are written by Neil Peart; all music is composed by Alex Lifeson and Geddy Lee except where noted.

Rush

• Geddy Lee – vocals, bass guitar
• Alex Lifeson – 6- and 12-string electric and acoustic guitars, classical guitar, steel guitar
• Neil Peart – drums, percussion

Production

• Rush – production, arrangements
• Terry Brown – production, engineer, arrangements
• Howard "Herns" Ungerleider – roadmaster
• Ian "Rio" Grandy – roadcrew
• Liam "L.B.L.B." Birt – roadcrew
• J.D. "Kool Mon" Johnson - roadcrew
• AGI – art direction
• Hugh Syme – graphics
• Terrance Bert - photography
• Gerard Gentil – photography
• Barry McVicker – photography
• Ray Danniels – management
• Moon Records – executive production
• Dedicated to the memory of Rod Serling