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Rate the Rush album Vapor Trails


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Rate the Rush album Vapor Trails  

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  1. 1. Rate the Rush album Vapor Trails



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Yes, for all the critical opinions on the sound issues, with Vapor trails, I try to imagine this album with the pristine, perfect mix/mastering of say Presto/hyf.

It wouldn't suite Vapor trails, nearly as well.

 

Well, there's a lot of middle ground there. Something can be less polished and more powerful than Presto without being so noisy and harsh that it induces headaches and repels the listener.

I agree. Using frequency overlap as a deliberate tool to sound grungy (or whatever descriptive term you want to use)obviously wasn't their intention initially because otherwise they wouldn't have felt the need for the remix. There's only so much you can do when the base tracks are recorded too hot/distorted/clipped to start with.

 

Yes it wasn't their intention. This highlights the vulnerable time the guys were at(as I mentioned), making such anomalies. Its all the stronger for this for me, capturing a moment, or emotion, as art is supposed to . These qualities dont ditract for me, they enhance.

 

I don't get that. Bad recording technique is just that. Bad. There's really no excuse for it because honestly they would have had less to do with the base track distortion/clipping than Paul Northfield who would have set the parameters for recording it. Good production is supposed to enhance a piece of music, not make it sound worse.

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Yes, for all the critical opinions on the sound issues, with Vapor trails, I try to imagine this album with the pristine, perfect mix/mastering of say Presto/hyf.

It wouldn't suite Vapor trails, nearly as well.

 

Well, there's a lot of middle ground there. Something can be less polished and more powerful than Presto without being so noisy and harsh that it induces headaches and repels the listener.

I agree. Using frequency overlap as a deliberate tool to sound grungy (or whatever descriptive term you want to use)obviously wasn't their intention initially because otherwise they wouldn't have felt the need for the remix. There's only so much you can do when the base tracks are recorded too hot/distorted/clipped to start with.

 

Yes it wasn't their intention. This highlights the vulnerable time the guys were at(as I mentioned), making such anomalies. Its all the stronger for this for me, capturing a moment, or emotion, as art is supposed to . These qualities dont ditract for me, they enhance.

 

I don't get that. Bad recording technique is just that. Bad. There's really no excuse for it because honestly they would have had less to do with the base track distortion/clipping than Paul Northfield who would have set the parameters for recording it. Good production is supposed to enhance a piece of music, not make it sound worse.

 

But it doesn't make it worse, for me and for many others. Even if you "don't get it" you, must accept that. I accept others opinion that the sonic experience detracts from enjoying the album.

 

Art for me, as music is, is capturing an emotion, a time and place, expressing that, subconciously also. With foibles, mistakes vulnerability, all add to the

art. There is a strong argument Vapor trails does just that also, with these subconcious anomalies.

 

Seriously after 30 odd years of being in the music business and just after the recent events of Mr peart , its highly likely these bad recording techniques are a reflection of the state the guys were at. Thats my perception of vapor trails, sonically and songwriting wise, and I enjoy the album all the more for these points.

 

There are plenty of other Rush albums to enjoy. :)

Edited by condemned2bfree
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Yes, for all the critical opinions on the sound issues, with Vapor trails, I try to imagine this album with the pristine, perfect mix/mastering of say Presto/hyf.

It wouldn't suite Vapor trails, nearly as well.

 

Well, there's a lot of middle ground there. Something can be less polished and more powerful than Presto without being so noisy and harsh that it induces headaches and repels the listener.

I agree. Using frequency overlap as a deliberate tool to sound grungy (or whatever descriptive term you want to use)obviously wasn't their intention initially because otherwise they wouldn't have felt the need for the remix. There's only so much you can do when the base tracks are recorded too hot/distorted/clipped to start with.

 

Yes it wasn't their intention. This highlights the vulnerable time the guys were at(as I mentioned), making such anomalies. Its all the stronger for this for me, capturing a moment, or emotion, as art is supposed to . These qualities dont ditract for me, they enhance.

 

I don't get that. Bad recording technique is just that. Bad. There's really no excuse for it because honestly they would have had less to do with the base track distortion/clipping than Paul Northfield who would have set the parameters for recording it. Good production is supposed to enhance a piece of music, not make it sound worse.

 

But it doen't make it worse, for me and for many others. Even if you "don't get it" you, must accept that. I accept others opinion that the sonic experience ditracts from enjoying the album.

 

Art for me, as music is, is capturing an emotion, a time and place, expressing that, subconciously also. With foibles, mistakes vulnerability, all add to the

art. There is a strong argument Vapor trails does just that also, with these subconcious anomalies.

 

Seriously after 30 odd years of being in the music business and just after the recent events of Mr pearts , its highly likely these bad recording techniques are a reflection of the state the guys were at. Thats my perception of vapor trails, sonically and songwriting wise, and I enjoy the album all the more for these points.

 

There are plenty of other Rush albums to enjoy. :-)

 

Yes it does make it worse. Much worse. That's my point, but we will have to agree to disagree.

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Using frequency overlap as a deliberate tool to sound grungy (or whatever descriptive term you want to use)obviously wasn't their intention initially because otherwise they wouldn't have felt the need for the remix.

I I'm not certain that they felt the need for a remix. But certainly many fans had expressed a desire for one, so why not capitali$e on it?
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Using frequency overlap as a deliberate tool to sound grungy (or whatever descriptive term you want to use)obviously wasn't their intention initially because otherwise they wouldn't have felt the need for the remix.

I I'm not certain that they felt the need for a remix. But certainly many fans had expressed a desire for one, so why not capitali$e on it?

 

:goodone:

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Using frequency overlap as a deliberate tool to sound grungy (or whatever descriptive term you want to use)obviously wasn't their intention initially because otherwise they wouldn't have felt the need for the remix.

I I'm not certain that they felt the need for a remix. But certainly many fans had expressed a desire for one, so why not capitali$e on it?

 

If VT remix was brought about mainly from fan desire, we should've been inundating them with requests to remove the excess noise from CA for years now.

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Using frequency overlap as a deliberate tool to sound grungy (or whatever descriptive term you want to use)obviously wasn't their intention initially because otherwise they wouldn't have felt the need for the remix.

I I'm not certain that they felt the need for a remix. But certainly many fans had expressed a desire for one, so why not capitali$e on it?

 

If VT remix was brought about mainly from fan desire, we should've been inundating them with requests to remove the excess noise from CA for years now.

I think there's far less a fan consensus on that album.

 

Odd that sound-wise, the last four albums went from pristine (T4E) to noisy (VT) to pristine (Snakes) back to noisy (Clockwork), and that the noisier albums are the more cohesive efforts.

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I can blast Neil Young's Shots from Reactor ten times over and not get a headache.Not possible with the original VT.

I am going to mention the cover/booklet.The whole feel/look seems like the work of third rate punk/metal band.It seems that the band both visually and soundwise wanted to grunge/punk/metal it all out.Nothing wrong with that but for me it didn't work. :finbar: Anyway it was back to crisp clear artwork on the next two.

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I can blast Neil Young's Shots from Reactor ten times over and not get a headache.Not possible with the original VT.

I am going to mention the cover/booklet.The whole feel/look seems like the work of third rate punk/metal band.It seems that the band both visually and soundwise wanted to grunge/punk/metal it all out.Nothing wrong with that but for me it didn't work. :finbar: Anyway it was back to crisp clear artwork on the next two.

I thought the use of tarot cards was cool.
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I'd like it a lot better if they did some editing and left filler/mediocre songs like Freeze and Nocturne and Out Of The Cradle off the final cut. They also make the album too long. It shouldve ended after Sweet Miracle if not sooner because that's not a very good song either.
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Gave it an 8, which is really good as I try to resist grade inflation. VT is my favorite post-MP Rush album. Much of it is amazing. "Too many notes" though; a lot to take in on one listen, would have really been helped if a third of it had been broken off for a companion EP.
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Using frequency overlap as a deliberate tool to sound grungy (or whatever descriptive term you want to use)obviously wasn't their intention initially because otherwise they wouldn't have felt the need for the remix.

I I'm not certain that they felt the need for a remix. But certainly many fans had expressed a desire for one, so why not capitali$e on it?

 

Geddy said they were never happy with the mix on the album. And when did they ever do anything that we wanted? ;)

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Using frequency overlap as a deliberate tool to sound grungy (or whatever descriptive term you want to use)obviously wasn't their intention initially because otherwise they wouldn't have felt the need for the remix.

I I'm not certain that they felt the need for a remix. But certainly many fans had expressed a desire for one, so why not capitali$e on it?

 

Geddy said they were never happy with the mix on the album. And when did they ever do anything that we wanted? ;)

:LOL:
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Using frequency overlap as a deliberate tool to sound grungy (or whatever descriptive term you want to use)obviously wasn't their intention initially because otherwise they wouldn't have felt the need for the remix.

I I'm not certain that they felt the need for a remix. But certainly many fans had expressed a desire for one, so why not capitali$e on it?

 

If VT remix was brought about mainly from fan desire, we should've been inundating them with requests to remove the excess noise from CA for years now.

I think there's far less a fan consensus on that album.

 

Odd that sound-wise, the last four albums went from pristine (T4E) to noisy (VT) to pristine (Snakes) back to noisy (Clockwork), and that the noisier albums are the more cohesive efforts.

 

What is amazing to me is that the same guy engineered Snakes and CA. I think he lost his hearing after Snakes.

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I'd like it a lot better if they did some editing and left filler/mediocre songs like Freeze and Nocturne and Out Of The Cradle off the final cut. They also make the album too long. It shouldve ended after Sweet Miracle if not sooner because that's not a very good song either.

 

I like Nocturne and Sweet Miracle both, a lot.

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Using frequency overlap as a deliberate tool to sound grungy (or whatever descriptive term you want to use)obviously wasn't their intention initially because otherwise they wouldn't have felt the need for the remix.

I I'm not certain that they felt the need for a remix. But certainly many fans had expressed a desire for one, so why not capitali$e on it?

 

If VT remix was brought about mainly from fan desire, we should've been inundating them with requests to remove the excess noise from CA for years now.

I think there's far less a fan consensus on that album.

 

Odd that sound-wise, the last four albums went from pristine (T4E) to noisy (VT) to pristine (Snakes) back to noisy (Clockwork), and that the noisier albums are the more cohesive efforts.

 

What is amazing to me is that the same guy engineered Snakes and CA. I think he lost his hearing after Snakes.

It is strange. But then again, Broon followed Moving Pictures' sound with Signals.
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Using frequency overlap as a deliberate tool to sound grungy (or whatever descriptive term you want to use)obviously wasn't their intention initially because otherwise they wouldn't have felt the need for the remix.

I I'm not certain that they felt the need for a remix. But certainly many fans had expressed a desire for one, so why not capitali$e on it?

 

If VT remix was brought about mainly from fan desire, we should've been inundating them with requests to remove the excess noise from CA for years now.

I think there's far less a fan consensus on that album.

 

Odd that sound-wise, the last four albums went from pristine (T4E) to noisy (VT) to pristine (Snakes) back to noisy (Clockwork), and that the noisier albums are the more cohesive efforts.

 

What is amazing to me is that the same guy engineered Snakes and CA. I think he lost his hearing after Snakes.

It is strange. But then again, Broon followed Moving Pictures' sound with Signals.

 

But it's not noisy like CA, at least you can hear all of the instruments clearly.

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...there is a lack of tangible riffs and songwriting chops - after two songs, you've heard just about all they had to offer ...the songs just aren't fleshed out or developed .

I could copy and paste this to the A Farewell to Kings thread.

 

oh c'mon goose, like it or not, the diversity on A Farewell is there in spades

 

Cygnus and Xanadu are about as perfectly fleshed out as any songs ever ... Closer To The Heart ??

Closer to the Heart and Xanadu are solid. Cygnus I has very cool musical moments, but the story and some vocal parts I find completely ridiculous. The title track and Cinderella Man also have good moments, but as a whole seem really disjointed. And then there's Madrigal...

 

The love for AFTK is a much a mystery to me as I'm sure my appreciation of Vapor Trails is to Eagle Moon. That's really part of the beauty of RUSH, I think.

 

:cheers:

 

I think one of the issues with Vapor Trails - and definitely Clockwork Angels - is that the band / production team felt that in order to achieve heaviness, every spot on the sound spectrum needed to be saturated .. and the songs suffered

 

Whether that was an attempt to make mediocre songs sound better or more full, I don't know ..

 

Paul Northfield was there in the studio with Permanent Waves and Moving Pictures - but perhaps he wasn't the producer they needed at that time . . I really think that as their career progressed, Rush began overstepping their limitations as far as making albums ... regardless of how successful they became, they still needed someone in there to crack the whip and direct them

 

Rush has always been about "overstepping their limitations." Part of their charm really.

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Gave it an 8, which is really good as I try to resist grade inflation. VT is my favorite post-MP Rush album. Much of it is amazing. "Too many notes" though; a lot to take in on one listen, would have really been helped if a third of it had been broken off for a companion EP.

I think VT, S&A and CA all suffer from that. I truncate all three when I listen to them, but VT is the only one of the three where the shortened listening version is based solely on time rather than songs that i deliberately chop. I really like every VT song, but the full-album experience is, as you note, a bit much.
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This thread would benefit from a remix :LOL: :madra: :LOL:

 

Wait a few days.....

"I'm new here, and maybe this has been done before, but what does everyone think of Vapor Trails...?"
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