I think it's fair to say that Caress of Steel is the heaviest album Rush released in the 70's. It may not be their heaviest overall as Counterparts and Vapor Trails have some decidedly heavy material that also takes advantage of the improvement guitar and amplifier technology had undertaken.
But as far as lighter moments go, you've got "Lakeside Park", and two parts of the epic-length tracks, "Return of the Prince" and "Panacea" (and maybe "Bacchus Plateau" as well, but that may be generous). So all in all, there is around 11 minutes (out of ~45) of lighter material to be found.
For 1975, that was probably quite the ratio of heavy-to-light. Contemporary standards are quite different, obviously. But for the time, it had to be one of the heavier records out there.
It was also one of the more ambitious. Still, the results lead me to consider it something of a transition album, one that moves the band from their formative material to one of their greatest triumphs with just a bit of awkwardness.
Caress of Steel was the second album to be released in 1975, seven months after Fly by Night. And although there are some similarities, the majority of Caress of Steel shows a band that is confidently moving forward.
"Bastille Day" is a potent opener. The transition between intro and main riff/verse is particularly scintillating; Peart plays a driving beat that forces the action and remains among the more intriguing that he's played. For me, there are only a few measures of the 2112 Overture that top it.
Side A ends with "The Necromancer". One of the more interesting parts of the song is the intro to the second part of the track "Under the Shadow", where Lifeson uses an octave riff that alternates the open 6th string with the seventh fret of the 5th string. It's reminiscent of a riff in "By-Tor & the Snow Dog", but with a different rhythm and somehow even more menacing. But to me, the highlight of the song will always be the two solos that are broken up by a couple of incredible rhythm parts.
"The Fountain of Lamneth" closes the record and takes up the entirety of Side B. If "By-Tor" was a stab at epic-length songwriting, then "The Fountain of Lamneth" is setting up a template which would be improved upon later.
The track is divided into six parts that roughly correspond to the life cycle of a man. This cycle is shown in the lyrics in an allegory that spans the protagonist's journey up a mountain to reach the legendary fountain.
It was the band's most ambitious song musically, encompassing acoustic and electric guitar accents, a fierce drum solo, and recurring themes. "In the Valley" and "The Fountain" (Parts 1 & 6) are marked by their sharing of the main riff of the song; for its reprise in the sixth and final part, it is given treatment with flanger. Another highlight is the solo to "No One at the Bridge", a short and simple statement that is no less effective for its relative simplicity compared to other Lifeson solos.
The less effective parts are "Panacea" and "Bacchus Plateau". "Panacea" attempts to be pretty while "Bacchus Plateau" is ineffective. This relative problem is another detail that would be ironed out and fixed in future epic-length tracks.
All in all, if there's such a thing as an underrated Rush record, this would be it. It wasn't much of a hit upon initial release, and the band called their tour for it "Down the Tubes" since they were hitting smaller venues as a result of lackluster sales.
But as I mentioned above, Caress of Steel is a transitional album of sorts. Ideas that had been explored on it and the previous record would be revisited and the band would make one of their most powerful statements.
***
Next time: a string of great albums begins.
