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Call me crazy, but I prefer the old Vapor Trails.

Coltonz

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Coltonz

Coltonz

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Well it's certainly been a loooong time since I've last been online here, but I just felt I had to say this. I prefer the pre-remix Vapor Trails. I think a lot of the people who were disliking it may have been blinded by their own expectations of what Rush should sound like. Relatively it's the most different sounding album they've made. It's a little harsh sounding at times, but I love it. Alex's tone is pretty rough but I think it adds a certain emotional grit to the songs that work well with the themes of loss and pain. Listening with my nice wrap-around headphones now, I honestly think it sounds good, and that the songs are well crafted with some of the best rhythms and melodies Rush has written.

 

When I listen to the remix it feels like a lot of the dynamics have been taken out. You used to be able to hear the energy of the songs shift as certain parts swelled, exploded, and soared between the changing parts, and now it just all feels flat to me. And I don't like changes to the vocals and lead parts. Anyone else feel this way?

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Coltonz
Coltonz

Well it's certainly been a loooong time since I've last been online here, but I just felt I had to say this. I prefer the pre-remix Vapor Trails. I think a lot of the people who were disliking it may

LedRush
LedRush

You're crazy. :D     The remix may be a little less impactful at times, but it seems far more dynamic to me.     And it doesn't hurt my ears.

x1yyz
x1yyz

I am glad others are feeling the love for Vapor Trails. I think it is a fabulous album full of strong songs—not a clunker in the bunch.

MMCXII

MMCXII

Posted
Posted

Agree 100%.

I even respect the fact that Alex did no solos on this album because he didn't feel comfortable putting himself out there in the spotlight in their time of emotional healing. Neil's most emotional lyrics ever.. The fact that it doesn't sound like "Rush should sound like" has more to do with just the mixing.. It's not a typical Rush album. Its a very special one!

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Snyder80

Snyder80

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I haven't heard the remixed version and I probably never will. I've always enjoyed this album the way it is. The lyrics are emotional and powerful and the mix I think, albeit by accident, is a good representation of that period in their career. It's tumultuous and sporadic and not always together in the best way. For something that obviously wasn't delibrate, I think it carries a lot of weight. Great record, by the way.
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YYZumbi

YYZumbi

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Vapor Trails is Rush only bad album, I hate it, it hurts my head and ears when I listen to it, and I dont hear what Geddy is singing, just awful...

 

Vapor Trails Remixed is one of my favorite albums! It is so great! Sounds perfect, and dosent hurt anymore when I listen to it.

 

I dont understand how someone can like Vapor Trails more before Vapor Trails Remixed!

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bri-tor

bri-tor

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In effect, the original and remixed CDs are two completely different albums. Depending on what one brings to the experience of listening to Rush, one is perhaps going to be swept away but the sheer emotional impact of the sound of the original. Tats rough, raw, arguably capturing what the band was feeling during the process of finding their way again. If one approaches Rush as pristine textures, expert balancing, mutlilayered music in which every part is clearly audible, them the remixed version will more than satisfy.

 

Familiarity breeds comfort, in many cases. I would take the originals raw expressivity over the cleanliness of the remix. I too feel that the songs lose so much of their emotional impact with the added polish

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lifeson90

lifeson90

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The remixed version of ghost rider is sensational once you get over the harmonies being brought forward in the chorus, ged's bass really strong on this remixed album. OLV a major highlight too the changes working brilliant as is out of the cradle. Secret touch, although very interesting, still suffers from too many major alterations for me the original was perfect, although geds bass again at the end of the track is so sexy :)

 

Not sure about earthshine remixed i love the acoustics brought forward but the track maybe suffers from loss of impact i dunno still very good. Sweet miracle much better remixed as is freeze but nocturne suffers at times

 

The one major disappointment for me was peaceable kingdom which overall is much better but has a goddam awful crackling in it at various points where the guitars get heavy. Absolute production tragedy for me takes a lot of the shine off a great re-working.

 

Overall though im listening to nothing else rush at the moment remixed my goto album on headphones when out walking, mainly for the added clarity fof ged's sexy bass in ghostrider and secret touch in particular. How It Is very much better too.

 

Great album, but to the uninitiated id still recommend the original first.

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Rod in Toronto

Rod in Toronto

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I think the remix has improved the album A LOT, but it can´t disguise the fact that some of the songs written for the album are not that good. For me, Ceiling Unlimited, How it Is, Out of the Cradle and Peaceable Kingdom would sound bad even if Terry Brown produced them. In summary, the remix improved the good songs, but did nothing for the bad songs. At least that´s my take.
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Narps

Narps

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Vapor Trails is Rush only bad album, I hate it, it hurts my head and ears when I listen to it, and I dont hear what Geddy is singing, just awful...

 

 

Agreed. I don't think its their only bad album but you are on the right path this time... :cheers:
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lifeson90

lifeson90

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I haven't heard the remix yet. It makes no sense to me to buy an album I've already paid for. :|

 

worth it for the much improved one little victory alone imo, some of the changes made in the album arent quite my cup of tea to be honest but one little victory is substantially better in my view. i already mentioned in a previous post in this thread ged's bass in ghost rider especially is markedly brought out in the remix, although using original background harmonies for the chorus is a matter of taste ive finally grown into after a few months of play. VT remixed is a great album and quite different i cant listen to the original now although still slightly prefer the original secret touch (although once again the bass at the end of secret touch is worth getting the album alone for)

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Lorraine

Lorraine

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Well it's certainly been a loooong time since I've last been online here, but I just felt I had to say this. I prefer the pre-remix Vapor Trails. I think a lot of the people who were disliking it may have been blinded by their own expectations of what Rush should sound like. Relatively it's the most different sounding album they've made. It's a little harsh sounding at times, but I love it. Alex's tone is pretty rough but I think it adds a certain emotional grit to the songs that work well with the themes of loss and pain. Listening with my nice wrap-around headphones now, I honestly think it sounds good, and that the songs are well crafted with some of the best rhythms and melodies Rush has written.

 

When I listen to the remix it feels like a lot of the dynamics have been taken out. You used to be able to hear the energy of the songs shift as certain parts swelled, exploded, and soared between the changing parts, and now it just all feels flat to me. And I don't like changes to the vocals and lead parts. Anyone else feel this way?

 

I think the original is better than any remix too.

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clem

clem

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Agree 100%.

I even respect the fact that Alex did no solos on this album because he didn't feel comfortable putting himself out there in the spotlight in their time of emotional healing.

 

Really?? This is the first I've heard of this. This is one of the reasons I never liked it. Where did Alex say this?

 

I give the original version a "4". I give the remix an "8".

 

clem

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savagegrace26

savagegrace26

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Agree 100%.

I even respect the fact that Alex did no solos on this album because he didn't feel comfortable putting himself out there in the spotlight in their time of emotional healing.

 

Really?? This is the first I've heard of this. This is one of the reasons I never liked it. Where did Alex say this?

 

I give the original version a "4". I give the remix an "8".

 

clem

 

"I didn't feel like doing [guitar solos]. I got a little bit of pressure from Geddy, he thought that I should probably do more than I chose to do. But it seemed to me to be more interesting to do instrumental passages that we all kind of soloed at the same time. I didn't want there to be a focus on a guitar solo in a song that had this kind of emotional content that a lot of these songs had, it just didn't seem right to me." - Alex Lifeson, "Rockline", May 13, 2002

 

"In a way [not having guitar solos] gave us an opportunity to stretch out and jam as a band, and a lot of the middle section of our songs are quite complex and go through lots of different changes on this record. So we're all kind of soloing together in a way, and I think it created a kind of modern and unique approach to the middle sections of songs. It also gave me an opportunity to layer some vocals in some very unusual ways in the middle of some of these songs." - Geddy Lee, "Rockline", May 13, 2002

 

Edited by savagegrace26
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savagegrace26

savagegrace26

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http://www.cygnus-x1.net/links/rush/Alex-Lifeson-On-Making-Of-Vapor-Trails.php

 

Q: How different was the methodology in making "Vapor Trails" from earlier Rush albums?

 

A: We are very much into routines and scheduling. In the past, we always allotted six weeks for writing. Write two songs a week. Finish all the writing. Two weeks for pre-production and re-arranging and any of that stuff. And then go into the studio and start recording.

 

With this record, we decided no deadlines. It would take as long as it would take. We would not push ourselves in that sense. And we made a point of getting good sounds from the beginning, so everything we recorded was useable.

 

Consequently, a lot of the record is from those early jam sessions. Geddy and I would jam for a couple of days and then sift through and cull the best bits. And then we would start song construction after that.

 

We spent the first two weeks just communicating. Talking. Getting to be comfortable with each other again. We didn't play much in that time. Exploring some sounds. But we just talked a lot. Then we started writing after that two weeks.

 

A couple of months after that, we took a break. And when we came back to it, everything was clear to us. In that initial period, we wrote a lot of crap. We wrote a lot of junk on disc. It was important for us to play and get stuff out of our system. A lot of stuff we were writing was boring, predictable, unoriginal.

 

There were a few gems in there, but most of it was garbage. When we got back to it, we could clearly see where we needed to go with it.

 

 

Hmmmm

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