Test for Echo

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title: "Test for Echo" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["rush-(band)-albums", "1996-albums", "progressive-rock-albums-by-canadian-artists", "atlantic-records-albums", "anthem-records-albums", "albums-produced-by-peter-collins-(record-producer)"] topic_path: "arts/music" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Test_for_Echo" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::data[format=table title="Infobox album"]

FieldValue
nameTest for Echo
typestudio
artistRush
coverRush_Test_for_Echo.jpg
borderyes
released
recordedJanuary–April 1996
genre
length53:32
labelAnthem
producer
prev_titleCounterparts
prev_year1993
next_titleRetrospective I
next_year1997
::

| name = Test for Echo | type = studio | artist = Rush | cover = Rush_Test_for_Echo.jpg | border = yes | released = | recorded = January–April 1996 | studio =

Test for Echo is the sixteenth studio album by the Canadian rock band Rush, released on September 10, 1996, by Anthem Records. It was the final Rush album to be co-produced by Peter Collins. The band supported the album with a world tour in 1996 and 1997, after which they went on a five-year hiatus following the deaths of drummer Neil Peart's daughter and wife, and would not record again until 2001.

The title track reached No. 1 on the mainstream rock chart. The song "Driven" became a bass showcase for Geddy Lee during live performances, while "Resist" was rearranged as an acoustic song on the Vapor Trails and R30 tours. The band did not perform any tracks from the album on subsequent tours. Test for Echo was remastered and reissued twice: in 2004 as a continuation of "The Rush Remasters" set and in 2013 as a part of the box set The Studio Albums 1989–2007. In 2015, it was reissued after being remastered by Sean Magee at Abbey Road Studios following a direct approach by Rush to remaster their entire back catalogue.

Background and pre-production

In May 1994, Rush finished their Counterparts Tour of the United States and Canada in support of the band's 15th album Counterparts (1993). The group then took a usual break in activity, but this went on to last 18 months as bass guitarist and vocalist Geddy Lee wanted to be at home for the first year of his daughter's life. With their free time, guitarist Alex Lifeson recorded his first solo album Victor and drummer/lyricist Neil Peart released a Buddy Rich tribute album Burning for Buddy and spent time on his technique, receiving formal instruction from the jazz drummer Freddie Gruber. For the majority of the album, Peart plays with a traditional grip.

In October 1995, the band decided to start work on the next Rush album and, as with their previous three albums, retreated to Chalet Studios in Claremont, Ontario, to write and rehearse. They had reserved the studio for around ten weeks, but the productive sessions resulted in the writing finishing three weeks early. Lifeson said the group were in particularly good spirits throughout the album's production and put it down to the break they had taken.

The band adopted its usual method of Lee and Lifeson working on the music with Peart working alone on the lyrics, but the music was written in a different way than before. In the past, the writing had Lee and Lifeson form songs by matching pieces of music to verses and choruses as they went and all three would listen to what was put down and exchange ideas to develop them further. This time, lyrics were matched with suitable sections of music, after which they were recorded and Lee and Lifeson would work on something else. As Peart wrote: "They didn't want to get bogged down in the 'jigsaw puzzle' of assembling whole songs, but rather keep the momentum going with a flow of fresh ideas." After a collection of songs were worked out, the group started to refine their individual parts. In November 1995, the group were faced with heavy snow at Chalet Studios which led into the North American blizzard of 1996 in early January. The snow continued through the recording of the album, which inspired the album's artwork.

Almost all of the tracks were written, arranged and put onto a demo tape by December 1995, and the band was then joined by Peter Collins who they chose to resume his role as their co-producer. Collins was their co-producer on Power Windows (1985), Hold Your Fire (1987), and Counterparts and offered what Peart described as "small-but-critical improvements" to what they had already recorded. The album continued to display the group's change in sound, which had started on Presto (1989), towards guitar-oriented music and the reduction of keyboards.

Recording

The album was recorded from January to March 1996 at Bearsville Studios in Bearsville, New York. The studio was chosen because the band wanted to capture "more size" from Peart's drums and the facility was more suited to his kit. Additional recording took place at Reaction Studios in Toronto, where it snowed for 40 consecutive days. Test for Echo was the first time Rush worked with American engineers and mixers, having only worked with English or Australian personnel before. They chose the recording engineer Clif Norrell, a longtime fan of the band who once performed Rush cover songs in his own group.

The album was mixed in April 1996 by Andy Wallace at McClear Place in Toronto.

Songs

"Test for Echo" features lyrical contributions from Pye Dubois who had also written lyrics for three Rush songs prior.

"Driven" was written entirely on Lee's bass guitar and features three separate bass tracks. Lifeson said that Peart played "a little bit back on the beat" which gave the song a "heavier character" and caused Lee and himself to adjust their parts to fit his drums.

"Half the World" features Lifeson playing a 10-string mandola which he had played to get a feel for the instrument, but found it changed the song's personality completely. He presented it to Lee who expressed initial doubts as it displayed an unusual texture, but grew to like it.

"Time and Motion" originated from a set of lyrics that Peart had written, after which Lee and Lifeson worked on music for it which developed quickly. They wanted to dramatise the first lyrical phrase by incorporating major chords, but Lee said a first version of the track was put together some years prior, but never used.

Lee described "Dog Years" as "a bit punky".

"Limbo" is an instrumental track that was pieced together from different bits of ideas that the group had sketched out but remained unused.

Lifeson picked "Resist" as one of his favourite tracks, and among the best Rush had ever recorded.

Artwork

The cover displays an inuksuk, native to Canada. Created by the Inuit, an inuksuk is a stone figure in the shape of a human used to mark a food cache, hunting ground or a place where someone lost their life.

Release

The album was premiered in its entirety during a two-hour syndicated radio special on WRCX in Chicago, on September 5, 1996.

Reception

| title = Contemporaneous reviews | rev1 = The Buffalo News | rev1Score = | rev2 = Detroit Free Press | rev2Score = |rev3 = Entertainment Weekly |rev3score = B | rev4 = Express News Service | rev4Score = A | rev5 = Edmonton Journal | rev5Score = | rev6 = The Grand Rapids Press | rev6Score = | rev7 = The Indianapolis Star | rev7Score = | rev8 = Pittsburgh Post-Gazette | rev8Score = | rev9 = The San Bernardino County Sun | rev9Score = 5/10 | rev10 = Southam Newspapers | rev10Score = | title = Retrospective reviews and music guides | rev1 = AllMusic | rev1Score = | rev2 = The Encyclopedia of Popular Music | rev2Score = | rev3 = The Essential Rock Discography | rev3Score = 5/10 | rev4 = MusicHound Rock | rev4Score = |rev5 = The Rolling Stone Album Guide |rev5score = |rev6 = Sputnikmusic |rev6Score = 3.0/5 | rev7 = The Virgin Encyclopedia of 80s Music | rev7Score = The AllMusic reviewer, Stephen Thomas Erlewine, gave Test for Echo three out of five stars, saying that Rush has "rarely played better in the past ten years than they have on Test for Echo". Rolling Stone argued, "the buffed guitar and synthesizer contours of Test for Echo are welcome relief from the bland din of modern-rock celebrities like Dishwalla."

Track listing

| all_writing = Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson, and Neil Peart except "Test for Echo" by Lee, Lifeson, Peart, and Pye Dubois | headline = | title1 = Test for Echo | length1 = 5:56 | title2 = Driven | length2 = 4:27 | title3 = Half the World | length3 = 3:43 | title4 = The Color of Right | length4 = 4:48 | title5 = Time and Motion | length5 = 5:01 | title6 = Totem | length6 = 4:58 | title7 = Dog Years | length7 = 4:55 | title8 = Virtuality | length8 = 5:44 | title9 = Resist | length9 = 4:23 | title10 = Limbo | note10 = Instrumental. Contains samples from Monster Mash. | length10 = 5:29 | title11 = Carve Away the Stone | length11 = 4:06

Personnel

Credits taken from the album's liner notes.

Rush

Production

  • Rush – production, arrangement
  • Peter Collins – production, arrangement
  • Clif Norrell – recording
  • Andy Wallace – mixing
  • Simon Pressey – project assistant engineer
  • Chris Laidlaw and Paul Marconi – recording assistants at Bearsville Studios
  • Tom Heron – recording assistant at Reaction Studios
  • Bob Ludwig – mastering
  • Hugh Syme – art direction, design, digital illustration
  • Andrew MacNaughtan, Anthony Frederick, Dimo Safari, Eugene Fisher and Richard C. Negus – photography

Charts

::data[format=table title="Weekly chart performance for ''Test for Echo''"] | Chart (1996) | Peak position | Japanese Albums (Oricon) | |---|---|---| | 50 | | | ::

Certifications

References

Notes:

References

  1. "Test for Echo".
  2. (2015). "The 100 Greatest Bands of All Time - A Guide to the Legends Who Rocked the World". ABC-CLIO.
  3. Verna, Paul. (1996-08-03). "Rush Aims For New Generation".
  4. "Abbey Road - Engineers - Sean Magee".
  5. Peart, Neil. (1996). "Official Guidebook and User's Manual".
  6. Verna, Paul. (August 3, 1996). "Rush Aims for New Generation".
  7. Butner, Christopher. (November 1996). "Geddy Lee: The Reluctant Rockstar".
  8. Marshall, Wolf. (September 1996). "Alex Lifeson: The Making of a Guitar Legend".
  9. Batten, Steven. (October 31, 1996). "Testing for Echo: Rush Return After Two Years in Hiding".
  10. (October 31, 1996). "Interview With Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson".
  11. Weiss, Wieslaw. (November 1996). "Rush - Moving Pictures: A Conversation with Geddy".
  12. Robinson, Jill. (September 5, 1996). "'Test For Echo' World Premiere on WKSC-FM".
  13. Violanti, Anthony. (October 4, 1996). "The Sound of Revenge". [[The Buffalo News]].
  14. McCollum, Brian. (September 10, 1996). "Rush in no hurry anymore". [[Detroit Free Press]].
  15. Jim Farber. (October 4, 1996). "Test for Echo Review".
  16. (September 26, 1996). "Rush Test for Echo (Anthem)". [[Windsor Star]].
  17. Ohler, Shawn. (September 21, 1996). "Deliverance from Rush limbo". [[Edmonton Journal]].
  18. Newman, Josh. (October 23, 1996). "Rush goes mainstream". [[The Grand Rapids Press]].
  19. Slosarek, Steve. (October 6, 1996). "Rush". [[The Indianapolis Star]].
  20. Collins, Tracy. (September 13, 1996). "It's still a Rush". [[Pittsburgh Post-Gazette]].
  21. Foster, Jason. (September 15, 1996). "Rush's 'Test for Echo' is muddled". [[The San Bernardino County Sun]].
  22. Muretich, James. (September 22, 1996). "New Releases". [[Calgary Herald]].
  23. {{AllMusic. Stephen Thomas. Erlewine
  24. Larkin, Colin. (2007). "The Encyclopedia of Popular Music". [[Oxford University Press]].
  25. (2006). "The Essential Rock Discography". Open City Books.
  26. (1999). "MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide". Visible Ink Press.
  27. "Rush: Album Guide".
  28. Schroer, Brandon. (May 21, 2015). "Review: Rush - Test for Echo".
  29. [[Colin Larkin. (2003). "The Virgin Encyclopedia of 80s Music". [[Virgin Publishing]].
  30. (December 17, 1996). "Test For Echo".
  31. "Test for Echo". Anthem Records.
  32. "テスト・フォー・エコー ". [[Oricon]].

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rush-(band)-albums1996-albumsprogressive-rock-albums-by-canadian-artistsatlantic-records-albumsanthem-records-albumsalbums-produced-by-peter-collins-(record-producer)