Metallic Observer

Down The Tubes For every band that has a large and revered discography, there is always an album, possibly even a couple, that while not necessarily bad, are infamous. “Caress of Steel” falls into that category. Now for clarity, this is not a terrible album. There are many aspects to like about this record and even elements that are exhibited on this LP would help bring forth the high concept era of the band’s late seventies output.  However, the execution is misguided in many aspects. “Caress of Steel” is the band trying to do long progressive epics similar to bands such as Genesis and Yes and man, they were totally out of their element on this release. First, before I get into the flaws, I will acknowledge the strengths that this album does exhibit.  The opening track “Bastille Day”, oh my god is it terrific. Fantastic aggressive riffs by Lifeson, pounding drums by Peart and Lee’s vocals that have a majestic quality to them, depicting the turning point of the Fren

The trio is born This record marks the true beginning of Rush. While the band produced a strong debut that garnered valuable attention, this was a band that still didn’t have a solid identity.  Luckily, that potential problem would be ameliorated with the arrival of Neil Peart, a gifted drummer with a predilection for literature. Neil Peart’s gifts helped expand the band’s overall musicianship, and his abilities helped advance Geddy and Alex from being good musicians to absolutely fantastic musicians. Lifeson's solos are fiery and searing, Lee's bass lines are quicker, more rapid on the self-titled, and Peart's drumming is fast and unpredictable, but never messy, for the most part being in service to the tracks. The puzzle pieces were slowly coming together on this record, making “Fly by Night” a quantum leap forward from the eponymous release.   However, one crucial element was being implemented that would change Rush forever: Neil Peart’s writing.   On

The Workmen Have Arrived I have probably never seen a more fitting album cover than the debut studio album of Rush.  A white, empty background that is then heavily contrasted with the gigantic, bold purple of the band’s logo; Rush didn’t just arrive into the rock genre, but as the cover suggests, they exploded.  The one image I have when listening to this record is fire, and just like fire’s pure nature, the band on their debut are unrestrained, wild, and ferocious.  The trio of bassist and vocalist Geddy Lee, guitarist Alex Lifeson, and drummer John Rutsey were here to prove a statement on this release, and the combination of their aggression and sense of melody helped make them stand out in the early seventies hard rock scene. For around six years they were jumping from school dances, to clubs and now on this album all their experience up to this point is unleashed on their first record. The charm of Rush’s self-titled is that it is a non-complicated, fun h

As a hardcore metalhead such as myself, I have heard this statement a many an occasion: "God, the Big Four of thrash metal are so overrated, I mean there are just way better bands then them."  It's almost like a rite of passage if your to be a hardcore, true fan of metal in select circles.  And to be honest, it annoys the Lemmy piss out of me.  Now that isn't to say one cannot have this opinion, obviously everyone has the right to any opinion that they want (unless they say St. Anger is the best album, then we crucify them), but I see it so many times and it really seems like people are saying it just because these bands are too popular and that's about it. I will admit that it does slightly irritate me when some people talk about these bands constantly and have this attitude of disregarding the other plethora of bands that are in the genre and multiple subgenres of metal, but that isn't the bands fault that they have the fan base that they do.  Becau

Should an artistic goal be defined by standards? I was planning on waiting for a while before I do pieces such as theses, but to hell with it, this idea has been burning in my mind and I have to get it out there, at least in some fashion. For anyone who is decently familiar with music, specifically in the realms of rock music and the various sub-genres that it contains, you would have undoubtedly heard the term "progressive rock" bandied about numerous times.  Bands, primarily from the United Kingdom that formed around the late 1960s, early 1970s and whose purpose was to expand the genre of rock music beyond what the music industry and the public thought the genre was capable of.  Classic legacy acts such as Yes, Genesis, Pink Floyd, King Crimson, and on and on and on came forth, releasing records that were once reviled by critics but now have become cornerstones of the rock genre.  The influences of these types of bands can be heard far and wide, and even your favor

This Upcoming January The "World's Biggest Cult Band"; a band whose fans are compared to Trekkies on the level of their devotion; a band that made you want to read works of Ayn Rand.  Whatever the title they are given, they are one of my favorite bands of all time.  Complex but catchy, serious yet always with a sense of humor, a power trio unlike any other, Canada's most famous rock exports, the immortal titans: Rush! Starting off as a hard rock band that took major influence from bands the likes of Led Zeppelin and Cream, the band grew to heights that were thought impossible for a rock band of their type at the time.  They were never one to follow trends, never one to take the easy way out with their sound, always willing to expand and push their abilities while still remaining true to their identity. Terminally uncool was a popular insult to throw against the trio during their career but time has proved fatal to that notion.  Never has the band been

An Introduction Good afternoon dear readers.  I am aware that the blog at this moment looks ugly, and there will be improvements made to it in the coming weeks once my classes are concluded.  A little bit about myself; I am a fan of entertainment, not really something that is all that unique or mind blowing about a person.  However, I feel I have a lot to say about certain types of entertainment, whether it'd be music or comic books or films or a whole plethora of other topics.  I will describe myself as passionate, someone who knows a great deal about what he is talking but is always willing to open himself to new pieces of information or new types of genres or styles that he has not heard of or experienced. Some of you who will read this may know me as Professional Elite Overlord on Twitter; my real name is Ian.  A lot of you know that one of my biggest passions is music, especially metal, and that I have been doing retrospectives of bands on my profile (almost done with a