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Found 5 results

  1. Hey there good people of TRF! I haven't posted here in a while, but the new Vapor Trails remix opened up my eyes to how great this record really is. Songs like Secret Touch, Nocturne, Freeze sound incredible now instead of the muddy ear destroying sound they had earlier. I now like this record more than almost all of their 90's/millenial output. I have found however that the album is way too long for one comfortable sitting and I've dumped a couple of songs from the itunes playlists I've made. 10 track album: SIDE ONE One Little Victory Secret Touch Ghost Rider The Stars Look Down Vapor Trail SIDE TWO Earthshine Sweet Miracle Nocturne Freeze Out of The Cradle I've found that an 8 song album works also if you ditch Ghost Rider and Freeze, which are the songs I think drag the most. So what are your thoughts? Are there any songs on VT you can't stand or have you done something similar with your track listings?
  2. It's that time... I'm gonna write notes in a kind brick wall of text since it's VT ;) General extraneous distortion = eliminated vocals = clear, but not too loud like I expected. I can hear some parts of lines I never heard before subtle/cleaner guitar parts = unveiled, and powerfully rendered rhythm guitar = calmed down but not muted except in certain places, it's still a ballsy, angrily powerful riff machine extra guitar solos = good, I've no problem with this aspect bass = sharper, crisper, more available to your ear drums = they sound like drums now and not tupperware, I can hear fills that I didn't notice on the 2002 edition Geddy gang vocals = they've finally been translated harmonically speaking One Little Victory = this one sounds nice and clear but not that different to the original overall, I was kind of like eh?? for a sec Power guitar riff in the middle of Ceiling Unlimited = almost gone, that's a downer, it's more balanced overall though, nice guitar solo Ghost Rider = sounds f***ing excellent, this was always one of the meh tracks on the album for me, it's definitely good now Peaceable Kingdom = Not sure about this track but then I never was, it's got an unusual main riff, the power riff in the middle of this one though is intact, hurrah! The Geddy gang vocals make more harmonic sense here I think. The Stars Look Down = seems heavier, so much for fear of the lack of VT balls. I like this song better too, the cleaner guitars really benefit from this remix, these songs from Ghost Rider through to How it is were my least faves on here but I like them way better now How It Is = this seems heavier too! Cleaned up doesn't automatically mean no balls-muted! The main riff here is definitely more powerful. The bass part really works better to my ears now as well. Vapor Trail = seems like there's more time on this track. Less brick wall = the illusion of more time. Again the bass is revealed telling it's story, that got lost in aural translation last time. The vocals in the verse again make more sense, they're more evident, guitar solo = good, and there seems a lot of "new" guitar parts on this one Secret Touch = here's one where the bass already worked brilliantly, it sounds just like it did. The guitars don't overpower the vocals now, but still have that rasping roar especially when the vocals aren't present but are not lost when they are. There's some cool clean ringy guitar on here that I never heard before, is there weird effect here too around 2.20? Almost like a synth or guitar synth? Earthshine = the oooooohs in the chorus aren't as prominent, hmmmm I like the ooooooos. This song sounded good on the original edition, here it's just clearer, though ironically the "old" ringy clean guitars don't quite reach me the same, but the new "new" clean ringy guitars do, is that a new guitar solo too? Sounds good. The riff right after the guitar solo sounds good and chunky and gravelly. Sweet Miracle = This sounds ballsier in the riff department at the beginning and after each verse, but those guitars don't fight the vocals like before. The "middle eight" with Geddy scatting like an opera singer gone to the jazz side is much clearer and melodic. Nocturne = it's gonna sound boring but this tune is clearer and sharper especially in the vocals and bass, this one always seemed to have the most extraneous noise on it, but I always liked it anyway. The guitars are still dirty but the land rover isn't going right through the puddles and splashing distortion all over the windows this time. We can "see" where we're going. Freeze = Listening to this reminds me again that removal of noise can actually make a song more powerful not less, that's the case here. Drums and bass work much better here than the original. Again the Geddy gang vocals make more sense. in fact the all the vocals make more sense on this now. The other edition could be called VT Lost in Translation Out of the Cradle = on this we get the cleaner guitars and the new wavey guitars working in a much clearer way with the bass, I hear cool guitar amp feedback around 1.40, that I never heard before, fits in nicely. Was it there before? The new wavey guitars at the 3 minute mark are funky chicken neck dance worthy! Overall verdict = I always liked this album, now I like it better. It's not a no-balls muted too-loud vocals disappointment like I feared it could be. To be succinct for a second, it's f***ing good! It still has it's power, it still has it's balls, the guitars are still fierce, they don't get drowned or lost, they're in your face, they're just not strangling you. Dream Theater = I'm not doing one of these for that album :banana: I'm listening to it now though! :yay: :guitar: :hi: :hi: :hi: :hi: :hi: :hi: :hi: :hi: edit: I missed out the word "meh" on the Ghost Rider bit.
  3. Ted: Before we get into the thickets about Vapor Trails Remixed, let’s clarify the difference between a mix/remix and a remaster in audio recording. David: The difference between mixing and mastering is the following: To mix a song, you take all the raw material and alter the tone and volume in order to balance the tracks. [Then you] blend each element to make a pleasing mix. Mastering is taking that stereo balance and doing a final tone and volume adjustment. Ted: Got it. Chris: The fan reaction to the remix I’ve read so far on the Internet has been overwhelmingly positive. Have you poked around to see what the fans are saying, or do you avoid reading that sort of thing? David: I’ve read a few things. You can’t please everybody, but mostly, I think people are happy with it. If it were just a remastering, I think it wouldn’t have satisfied all the desire from the fans to have something new. I’ve heard some say it’s like getting a new Rush album. That feels like a great compliment and I’m just happy to have helped the band complete this project to their liking. Ted: Geddy Lee spoke to Rolling Stone about your potential involvement with Vapor Trails 11 years ago. They were going to ask you to produce, but didn’t want to introduce anything new or potentially uncomfortable for Neil at the time. So, they worked on the album with Paul Northfield. Did you know that they were interested in working with you back then? David: Yes, we spoke a few times and had some dinner to discuss that possibility. I spent a day with them in the studio, but that’s as far as it went. In retrospect, as much as I would have loved to work with them at that time, I think it was probably the correct decision not to throw another new element into their working environment. I would not have wanted to be part of the reason that this great band was unable to revitalize. Chris: Were you aware of the groundswell of fan support for a remix of Vapor Trails, going pretty much back to when it was released? David: I was aware that [the album] wasn’t the favorite sounding record for the fans of Rush. I hope I have been able to correct that for some of them. But, like I said, you can’t please everybody. Ted: When approaching an album for a complete remix, it’s like you’re dealing with a painting that needs restoring. As you stripped away the layers to begin the remix, however, it seems you found that there were colors and hues that the band originally included, but because the mastering of the album was so “overcooked,” those elements were buried. As you heard the layers the band had recorded, what sort of ideas did that give you for the remix? Were you divided between enhancing what was already there? Or did you want to present an entirely different mix of the songs? How many iterations did you go through before the Geddy and Alex said, “Sounds great!” David: When I approach any mix, I will reference any rough or previous mix lightly, to find balance or tones that the client might like. But in this case, I was aware that the band weren’t happy with the final mixes they had, so I just approached it fresh with little referencing to the originals. My philosophy was that they didn’t like what they had, so I would just work with the material they gave me and do what I thought would work best for each song. The first mix took the longest to complete, but that was only a couple of days. Once we were into the groove, the band usually only had little tweaks or suggestions and went mostly with what I presented them with. Chris: Did Geddy or Alex give you any specific direction or guidance either before the project started, or as it progressed? David: There was very little direction prior to starting. I did a test mix for them as did some other engineers and producers. They liked most of them, but I think that they had wanted to try to work with me for some time, so perhaps that swayed their opinion towards my mix as opposed to others. Andy Curran, who works with the band, is also a friend of mine and I think he was pulling for me to do the remix as well — and this may have had an influence. Ted: I noticed that you really worked on separating Geddy’s vocals so the double and triple vocal tracking could be heard more clearly. I’m not sure if I’m hearing things, but did you add different vocal takes for some of the songs? David: Nothing new was added. The band weren’t present for the mixes as they were mostly on tour, so there would have been no opportunity to do any further recording. When I mix, clarity is a priority to me. I always want the creations and performances that the musicians make to be heard. Chris: How did you approach this project as opposed to producing or mixing a record where you’ve been involved from day one? David: When I’m hired to mix something I didn’t produce, there is no attachment to any performance or sound that the artist has created. This allows for a freedom that is difficult to have when you work on it from day one. I can use performances that were there before but unused, or I can change fundamental balance without any preconceptions I have had from the production. Ted: I noticed is that you really brought out some buried guitar parts and featured an omitted lead break in “Ceiling Unlimited.” Alex and Geddy left out that break in the original version, why did you include it? David: It sounded good to me. As I said, I just worked with the material they gave me. I didn’t really check the originals to see what they used or didn’t use. I liked that solo and put it in. I don’t think many people have complained about that one so far. When a record is made, often times there are things that are recorded that are left out of the final mix. I had no attachment to the older mixes or what was left in or out. I just put in all the mixes what I thought worked the best. I don’t think I left much out from the tracks they gave me. There was no really grand plan for the mixes. I just tried to make the songs all shine as much as I could. There was some talk in the fan press that the tracks were distorted in the recording process or that there have been new recordings done. Neither is true. The source recordings are top quality and we didn’t add anything new from those early recordings. Chris: Are you aware of there being a precedent for something like this, where a band and their fans express enough unhappiness with the sonics of a record to take the time and re-do it? David: I think this is a pretty unique situation, but it does speak volumes as to how much the band care about their fans and want them to be satisfied. I also think that they themselves were not as happy with the final result as they could have been. These are great songs and I was just trying to help them realize them as they would have wanted at the time. Everyone has to remember that it was a very stressful time for the band and it’s really a tribute to their resilience that they were able to continue as a band at all. At the time this project was done, there were well known “volume wars” going on and this project suffered from that recording and mixing philosophy. Mercifully, I think we are beyond that now. http://popdose.com/the-popdose-interview-david-bottrill-on-rushs-vapor-trails-remixed/
  4. I certainly did. Best record ever to start the day. PS: if you take the train or the bus or the subway or walk, still counts.
  5. So if during Christmas time some n00b comes here and asks: hey, I hear there are 2 versions of VT, which one should I get? What would your answer be?
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