Celebrate, AZ Soup 2 Rush

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Must be a new record, certainly for Rho-Xs, the Genesis page was taken down within 2 days, seems EMI is not having anyone comprimise their exorbitandly priced Genesis Box or fully priced remaster. They likely have someone scouring blog world for any infringement of their percieved cashcows. ..They still don't get it, if anything, hearing one of the boxsets remasters would stimulate interest...

Here's the original Alphabet Soup intro

Hello, Alphabet Soup delivers some seventies favourites of mine, first up Foxtrot, the remastered one, the album was a big part of my first holiday with friends, singing along with Suppers Ready halfdrunk, oh well Rome and Florance were inspiring aswell and the sambuca very cheap. Rush was another band i bought all albums from until the early eighties. Caress of Steel was the album where they found their path to enduring collaboratiuon and stardom, ironically that album didnt sell as much but it prepared the way for their 2112 breakthrough...Finally a last minute switch , i had prepared World Record by Van Der Graaff Generator ..its still availble btw..but i decided to switch to Peter Hammill's solo album Over. It's hard to say what grabbed me at the time because thematically it wasnt something i connected with-at the time, however 10 years later when i was his age when he recorded it i understood, anyway i have his first 11 albums so posting one makes sense

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Rush - Caress Of Steel (75 ^ 100mb)

Never the critics favourite and rare recipients of mainstream pop radio airplay, Rush nonetheless won an impressive and devoted fan following while their virtuoso performance skills solidified their standing as musicians' musicians. Rush formed in Toronto, Ontario, in the autumn of 1968, and initially comprised guitarist Alex Lifeson (born Alexander Zivojinovich), vocalist/bassist Geddy Lee (born Gary Lee Weinrib), and drummer John Rutsey. In their primary incarnation, the trio drew a heavy influence from Cream, and honed their skills on the Toronto club circuit before issuing their debut single, a rendition of Buddy Holly's "Not Fade Away," in 1973. A self-titled LP followed in 1974, at which time Rutsey exited; he was replaced by drummer Neil Peart, who also assumed the role of the band's primary songwriter, composing the cerebral lyrics (influenced by works of science fiction and fantasy) that gradually became a hallmark of the group's aesthetic.

With Peart firmly ensconced, Rush returned in 1975 with a pair of LPs, Fly by Night and Caress of Steel. Their next effort, 1976's 2112, proved their breakthrough release: a futuristic concept album based on the writings of Ayn Rand, it fused the elements of the trio's sound -- Lee's high-pitched vocals, Peart's epic-length compositions, and Lifeson's complex guitar work -- into a unified whole. Fans loved it -- 2112 was the first in a long line of gold and platinum releases -- while critics dismissed it as overblown and pretentious: either way, it established a formula from which the band rarely deviated throughout the duration of their career.

When Rush finished their third album, Caress of Steel, the trio was assured that they had created their breakthrough masterpiece. But when the album dropped off the charts soon after its release, it proved otherwise. While it was Rush's first release that fully explored their prog rock side, it did not contain the catchy and more traditional elements of their future popular work -- it's quite often too indulgent and pretentious for a mainstream rock audience to latch onto. And while Rush would eventually excel in composing lengthy songs, the album's two extended tracks -- the 12½-minute "The Necromancer" and the nearly 20-minute "The Fountain of Lamneth" -- show that the band was still far from mastering the format. The first side contains two strong and more succinct tracks, the raging opener, "Bastille Day," and the more laid-back "Lakeside Park," both of which would become standards for their live show in the '70s. But the ill-advised "I Think I'm Going Bald" (which lyrically deals with growing old) borders on the ridiculous, which confirms that Caress of Steel is one of Rush's more unfocused albums.

A Farewell to Kings followed in 1977 and reached the Top 40 in both the U.S. and Britain. After 1978's Hemispheres, Rush achieved even greater popularity with 1980's Permanent Waves, a record marked by Peart's dramatic shift into shorter, less sprawling compositions. As the 1980s continued, Rush grew into a phenomenally popular live draw as albums like 1982's Signals, 1984's Grace Under Pressure, and 1985's Power Windows continued to sell millions of copies. As the decade drew to a close, the trio cut back on its touring schedule.

At the dawn of the 1990s, however, Rush returned to the heavier sound of their early records and placed a renewed emphasis on Lifeson's guitar heroics; consequently, both 1991's Roll the Bones and 1993's Counterparts reached the Top Three on the U.S. album charts. In 1996, the band issued Test for Echo and headed out on the road the following summer. Shortly thereafter, Peart lost his daughter in an automobile accident. Tragedy struck again in 1998 when Peart's wife succumbed to cancer. Dire times in the Rush camp did not cause the band to quit. Lee took time out for a solo stint with 2000's "My Favorite Headache". It would be five years until anything surfaced from the band. Fans were reassured in early 2002 by news that Rush were recording new songs in Toronto. The fruit of those sessions led to the release of Rush's 17th studio album, Vapor Trails, later that spring. In 2004 the band embarked on their 30th anniversary tour, and in 2006 they returned to the studio to begin work on a new album. The resulting Snakes & Arrows was released in May 2007, followed by Snakes & Arrows Live in early 2008.



01 - Bastille Day (4:37)
02 - I Think I'm Going Bald (3:38)
03 - Lakeside Park (4:07)
04 - The Necromancer (12:29)
p1 - Into The Darkness (4:12)
p2 - Under The Shadow (4:25)
p3 - Return Of The Prince (3:51)
05 - The Fountain Of Lamneth (19:58)
p1 - In The Valley (4:13)
p2 - Didacts And Narpets (1:02)
p3 - No One At The Bridge (4:18)
p4 - Panacea (3:14)
p5 - Bacchus Plateau (3:14)
p6 - The Fountain (3:50)