Bangster of Goats

The synth era albums are full of cool little synth noises and flourishes and "events" as Neil calls them... I couldn't begin to list them all. On the older albums, whenever they hit the Taurus pedals... THAT was an awesome sound. ;) On the studio version of Natural Science, in the last section (in between the "science like nature..." "the most endangered species..." etc vocals, while the band does that "choppy" riff), there's this low, gurgling synth noise panned over to one side and another synth to the other. Sadly missing from recent live versions!

Apparently, they didn't *have* to as the copyright had expired at that point, but Rush paid the estate anyway because they thought it was the right thing to do.

The "Schon thing" sounds like an excuse. Break away... Not an excuse, but nearly the final straw. The last 12 years of lackluster material, poor directional decisions (w/over-reliance on 3rd parties) and endless DVDs/cashgrabs. Then the shock of realizing Alex' trademark sound is anothers'. Maybe its time for me to evolve and retire from following the band. Nearly the final straw? Just let it end. Does it take you 12 years to break up with a woman? 12 years to decide you hate asparagus? Good god, be a man and just end it already! The "Schon thing" sounds like an excuse. Break away... Not an excuse, but nearly the final straw. The last 12 years of lackluster material, poor directional decisions (w/over-reliance on 3rd parties) and endless DVDs/cashgrabs. Then the shock of realizing Alex' trademark sound is anothers'. Maybe its time for me to evolve and retire from following the band. Nearly the final straw? Just let it end. Does it take you 12 years to break up with a woman? 12 years to decide you hate asparagus? Good god, be a man and just end it already! I was always hopeful they would turn it around eventually, but they've essentially been in the same vein, musically, for a whole decade, imo. Rush is lackluster, cashgrabbing and unturnaroundable. f**k hope and end it! Resign from TRF. That's your first step to your own personal salvation! Do it!! Done Did anyone else notice that this, possibly final, post is his 2112th post? :D

Yes' Fly From Here was the one that immediately came to mind. Whether it's better or worse than CA is purely subjective, but I think it's certainly the best Yes material in quite some long time, even taking into account the 10 year gap before its release. Ever since Tormato they've been extremely hit-or-miss.

I was there for the PoW and HYF shows. :codger:

Now, the La Villa Strangiato thing... Rush clearly nicked Raymond Scott's Powerhouse for that, but I'm guessing here that Al and Ged were sitting around getting high and watching Bugs Bunny cartoons and not knowing better, decided to use that phrase. ;) Anyway, that was all settled amicably... Rush realized their mistake and it was all taken care of.

It's just moving the open E major chord shape up and down the neck while letting the open high B and E strings ring out. That's it. That's one of the secrets to that classic late-70s Lifeson-o-phonic sound. It's not a hard thing to do at all, but Alex turned it into an artform, creating a nice big sound out of it. It's not the technique, it's what you do with it. And Schon certainly wasn't the first guitarist in the history of the universe to do that. Moving a chord shape around the neck while letting open strings drone is Beginner Guitar 101. But I guess he has to feel butthurt every time someone does a simple E-F#-E-F# that way.

I wouldn't remove any of the tracks... but I wouldn't mind adding a bunch of Sarah Carter. Err I mean, what was the question again?

*Theoretically* Digital audio (especially 24-bit or more) has greater dynamic range and better signal to noise ratio than analog. Rarely this is the actual case in finished musical works, especially with pop/rock CDs and *especially* in the last 10 or so years... It all depends on the hands using the tools. I still own CDs that I'd bought in the mid-80s and they haven't "rotted". To my ears though, vinyl sounds better. There's a very slight natural compression and "creaminess" to the sound that makes it all buttery good to the ear.

Presto has special nostalgic appeal to me, plus I just think it has better songs. Except for Stupidconductor. A friend once remarked that it sounds like a battery commercial and I tend to agree... Roll The Bones has too many weak or cringeworthy moments, plus they were trying to work in that pop-funk sound getting popular at the time and it just sounds flat to me. But I never was a fan of that pop-funk sound anyway, heh. Dreamline and Ghost of a Chance salvage the album somewhat.

That's intentional. It's distorted, effected bass guitar (think the "monster growl" in By-Tor and the Snow Dog). It's actually one of my favorite "new" parts of the remix! ;) It's a menacing growl that bubbles to the surface.

Like a few others, Vapor Trails because of the butchered original mixing/mastering job. I loved a lot of the songs right out the gate, but it was such a chore and pain to listen to the album. I also remember being a little disappointed with GUP. It was my first ever Rush album and I bought it because I loved DIstant Early Warning and its video. My first couple listens to the album, I was kinda "ehhh...." but it finally started clicking for me a few months later. ...and after GUP clicked for me, I started a binge of buying all the previous Rush releases. Loved them all from the start, but I must say 2112, for all its fame, underwhelmed me at first.

Yeah the first time I heard the solo I was all like "whoah whoah whoah WTF was that???" and I thought it was jarring, but that was just 11 years of hearing the song without it getting to me. My second listen, I was expecting it and it sounded fine. ;) I'm used to it now and I think it fits in nicely. Clearly, it was something Alex recorded at the time but ultimately decided not to use when doing the original mix as possibly he felt it violated the unofficial "no guitar solos" rule of the album. I know some people probably won't ever like it and this will probably be a continuing debate for the ages. Can't have a Rush release without a little ongoing controversy. ;)

I think all the songs benefited tremendously in the sense that they all have more space and depth. But Freeze, Nocturne, Sweet Miracle, and The Stars Look Down get special mention as sounding especially refreshing. I was always kinda 'meh' on Sweet Miracle and The Stars Look Down, but my opinion of those two songs has gone up with the remix.

Some people are complaining that this is Bottrill's "vision" of the album. Well, of course it is, but he just did what any mixing engineer on any album does. He did the mixes, and Geddy and Alex gave their approval of those mixes and signed off on them. It's that simple.

Out Of The Cradle has always been one of my favorites from VT. It seems like Rush album closers tend to be on the polarizing side ;)

If you were never a fan of the songs themselves, the remix *probably* won't change your stance (though my opinion of a couple "duffer" songs has gone up). You can just go on not liking it, it's cool. I despise Roll The Bones and I don't think any remixing or remastering could change my opinion of it. ;) If you like the old mix, yeah definitely go ahead with the HD Tracks or mastered-for-iTunes version. Everybody wins. One thing to keep in mind, though, is that David Bottrill was originally intended to be the producer of Vapor Trails before the band decided that an "outsider" being involved might be too much for Neil at the time. This VT remix could be considered a glimpse of what could have been 11 years ago.

I've always loved most of the songs on it, but of course I've always HATED the mastering. I've always had the notion that they had spent so much time working on the album, that at the end they got burned out and were like "screw it, let's just get this effing thing out... I'm sick of it." This remix/remaster makes me really happy. I would have been satisfied with a proper mastering job (and I was considering the HD Tracks version until I had heard that this remix project was finally a confirmed go), but the remix Botrill did has really brought the songs to life. He's peeled back the layers, revealing the hidden bits underneath, and the songs breathe, and they're just plain more interesting now that my ears aren't under constant assault from a maxxed-out mix. The songs I loved on the album, I love even more. The couple songs on there that I didn't care much about one way or the other (Sweet Miracle, The Stars Look Down) I actually like now.

Sweet Miracle had always been one of the "meh" songs on VT, an album that I otherwise generally always had liked despite the horrible original mastering job, but the remixed version really brings the song to life for me.

All I can say is, I was able to listen to this mere webstream of the VT remix a couple times in a row without feeling aural fatigue whereas CA starts tiring out my ears halfway through a whole-album listen. And I agree, the boys totally need to nab him for the next studio album (assuming there is one!)

Oh hell yes. When I heard he was remixing the album I was stoked. The other stuff I've heard where he's had a hand in producing or whatnot has sounded great. Robert Fripp's worked with the guy, and Fripp is one of the pickiest mofos around.

Yeah I had to go back and listen to CU again. The solo seemed to come out of nowhere unexpectedly on the first listen (because we've been hearing the original for 11 years!) but it makes total sense upon further listening, as it comes right after Geddy's hyper bass break in the jam section. Anyway, I'm extremely pleased with the remix. Heck even the songs I originally found less interesting (TSLD, Sweet Miracle) sound interesting now.

Well butter mah butt and call me a biscuit, VT sounds like a real album now! Seriously loving this. It's an actual pleasure to listen to instead of an exercise in trying to make my ears not bleed. Also ZOMG WTF GUITAR SOLO in Ceiling Unlimited?

I've always liked the stuff I've listened to that David Bottrill has had a hand in (various Tool and Robert Fripp/King Crimson albums) and it was revealed he was originally tapped as the potential co-producer of Vapor Trails. Good to see him come aboard finally, if 11 years after the fact. ;) I hope they get him for the next studio album (assuming there will be one...)

Good ol' Counterparts. I agree with the notion that it's the best of the 90s Rush (though it's not difficult to be a better album than Roll the Bones), despite the inclusion of Nobody's Hero and Speed of Love. ;) Good memories from this album... still hate the cover though. ;)