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Rush - Vapor Trails Audio CD

A fair review of the Rush "Vapor Trails" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all Rush reviews here, or go back to the Rush tabs.

Rush Band: Rush
Title: Vapor Trails
Rating:
Release Date: 2002-05-14
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: One Little Victory 2: Peaceable Kingdom 3: Ghost Rider 4: Ceiling Unlimited 5: The Stars Look Down 6: How It Is 7: Vapor Trail 8: Out Of The Cradle 9: Earthshine 10: Sweet Miracle 11: Nocturne 12: Freeze (Part IV of 'Fear') 13: Secret Touch

remaster it yourself
Rush is not the Foo Fighters. Don't wait for Chycki to remaster it, he does not know what he is doing- he and Raskuinecz ruined snakes and arrows and the 2 remasters from this album.


Whiny, intolerant lyrics
I trust that those two do not share the drummer's ugly, ungrateful and immature nature. They can't do anything about his books, but Lee and Lifeson really, really need to start reining Peart in when it comes to his whiny, pissy lyrics before he alienates every fan they've ever made for good.


Another loosely conceptual Rush record
Although the songs and the playing are amazing if you listen closely, what really stands out is the unfortunately lousy mastering that makes everything sound compressed and claustrophobic. There's a lot of debate over this album, and one listen will tell you why. This is a very dense CD, and it deals with heavy stuff and conceptually its about rebirth and recovering from tragedy. It also happens to be one of my all time favorite CD's, probably my second favorite Rush album after Permanent Waves. I don't think there is a bad song on here, and I think Geddy's singing on this disc is well worth the price alone, he has such a mature sound and can create all kinds of sound scapes with his voice alone. There is a palpable sense of rejuvenation on the album, and there is a lot more imagery of nature through the songwriting. As a person who loves the outdoors, I can really relate to the kind of transformation this band has undergone, from primarily a band that talks only about philosophy to one that uses the natural world as a muse. Songs like "Earthshine" and "Vapor Trail" reflect this very well, it could be argued that this is Rush at their most spiritual, with songs like "Sweet Miracle" talking about rebirth and rejuvenation. I love this album and I would highly recommend it to anyone who is a Rush fan or has heard their stuff before.

The only reason I gave it 4 stars was because of the mastering, but there is talk that they might remaster it and re release the CD. If so, it might be better to wait and get the remastered version if it ever comes out. For a sample of what this could sound like, check out Retrospective 3 (1989-2008) (CD/DVD), which has remastered versions of "One Little Victory" and "Earthshine," sounding almost 1000% better than the original versions. .


A very high standard of songwriting and performance matched to terrible production values
Geddy Lee naively upped the volumes to the point where the whole album is crushed together with no dynamic range or spatial ambience. Thousands of reviewers have said it before, so I might as well start off by proclaiming my own unhappiness about the disastrous production of Rush's 2002 album VAPOR TRAILS. It's a casualty of today's "loudness wars". The terrible sound is especially unfortunate because in terms of the actual material, this is one of Rush's overall strongest albums. Had it only received the production of their 1970s work or even a more recent effort like COUNTERPARTS, and I'm sure a lot of people would be proclaiming this as a masterpiece.

Though they were pushing 50 when recording the album, the trio sounds here as if they were enjoying a second youth. After years of trying, Alex Lifeson finally succeeding in banishing synthesizers from the studio completely, allowing him to fully occupy the melodic spotlight with his guitars. While there is something to the accusation that Neal Peart's drumming has stagnated, covering only the same sonorities we've heard many times before, he nonetheless hands in a solid performance here (sadly the drums suffer the worst under this production). Geddy Lee's bass has become aggressive like never before; witness for example how in your face he gets towards the end of "Ceiling Unlimited" and "Freeze".

The songwriting is excellent, with some twists and turns that recall the band's 1970s prog rock, but with a succintness and maturity. A few of the songs touch on then recent events in Neil Peart's life, when he lost both his wife and his daughter, though only the tragic "Ghost Rider" really succeeds, while his proclamation of new love in "Secret Touch" just sounds sappy. "The Stars Look Down" and "Peaceable Kingdom" deal with predestined fate, the latter references September 11th after Peart encountered the disturbing Tarot card called The Tower. The title track is also a meditation on 9/11, mourning the senselessness of the deaths that day. What I think are the three strongest tracks, "Earthshine", "Nocturne" and "Freeze", are universal explorations of fear, loneliness and delusion.

Since the very day the album was released, there have been calls for a remastered version. That this never appeared might suggest that all the amplification damage was already done during the recording process itself. I'd hate for that to be the case.


Happily Surprised
On a lark, I bought this CD a week ago and was blown away. Although I LOVE Rush, I kind of gave up on them after "Hold Your Fire" was released and simply caught whatever was new on the radio. This is not the Rush of 20 years ago, but it is not the keyboard wimp stuff from their 90's era either. It is, dare I say, accessible and still rocks. I was impressed that Geddy has embraced old age and started using harmonies and a falsetto to reach high notes, which sounds great. Definitely a must have for any Rush fan and non-fan alike.


You can see a complete list of all Rush discography, or go back to the Rush tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.

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