Their most unique album.

[Segue Myles]

Vapor Trails stands out to me.

 

It is in most ways my favourite Rush album. It's abrasive, it's heavy, it's angular and sharp and at times really venomous (at least for a Rush album). It sounds primal, angry, ticked off and at other moments optimistic and forward thinking. I feel, having gone through great emotional pain, mental breakdowns, suicidal tendencies and all that drama, that I have a real way of "getting" this album. It feels strained and yet wild with fury, hurt and hope.

 

I have felt much like how this album comes across to me. There is a real sense of emotion and power to this album that I have not heard in any other Rush album. It feels like a make or break moment, not in the sense that the band needed this to be a hit, but in the sense that an album as discordant as this needed to be realised and unleashed.

 

This could only have been a product of that moment in time. It's so very special to me, and for all its apparent flaws, I love it exactly as it is and personally, this is the Rush album I most need.

 

It's also, to my ears, the Rush album that sounds the least like Rush. This is turn of the century hard rock/metal. For all the talk of Counterparts being the bands "grunge" moment (nonsense I say), Vapor Trails for me most strongly sits alongside the likes of Superunknown, Dirt, Core or Ten to my ears. I don't think "grunge" is a definable sound, but their is something in Vapor Trails that evokes the same feelings in me as those key albums/bands. The grunge era took a lot of inspiratiom from what many to refer too as a "classic rock", early seventies sound/feel. Grunge was back to basics. Well, Rush was a key seventies band, and Vapor Trails was back to basics musically. This album did not need to be embellished with post production quirks, layers of synths, glossy choruses etc. It needed to be pure and to the point. This album had to be ugly and monstrous and raw and emotional.

 

And it was. All the troubles with the mixing and mastering worked in the favour of the music if you ask me. It sounds to my ears like it was purposely made to sound like this. It's just amazing to my ears.

Edited March 31, 2018 by Segue Myles

[vaportrailer]

Valid Trails stands out to me.

 

It is in most ways my favourite Rush album. It's abrasive, it's heavy, it's angular and sharp and at times really venomous (at least for a Rush album). It sounds primal, angry, ticked off and at other moments optimistic and forward thinking. I feel, having gone through great emotional pain, mental breakdowns, suicidal tendencies and all that drama, that I have a real way of "getting" this album. It feels strained and yet wild with fury, hurt and hope.

 

I have felt much like how this album comes across to me. There is a real sense of emotion and power to this album that I have not heard in any other Rush album. It feels like a make of break moment, not in the sense that the band needed this to be a hit, but in the sense that an album as discordant as this needed to be realised and unleashed.

 

This could only have been a product of that moment in time. It's so very special to me, and for all its apparent flaws, I love it exactly as it is and personally, this is the Rush album I most need.

 

It's also, to my ears, the Rush album that sounds the least like Rush. This is turn of the century hard rock/metal. For all the talk of Counterparts being the bands "grunge" moment (nonsense I say), Vapor Trails for me most strongly sits alongside the likes of Superunknown, Dirt, Core or Ten to my ears. I don't think "grunge" is a definable sound, but their is something in Vapor Trails that evokes the same feelings in me as those key albums/bands. The grunge era took a lot of inspiratiom from what many to refer too as a "classic rock", early seventies sound/feel. Grunge was back to basics. Well, Rush was a key seventies band, and Vapor Trails was back to basics musically. This album did not need to be embellished with post production quirks, layers of synths, glossy choruses etc. It needed to be pure and to the point. This album had to be ugly and monstrous and raw and emotional.

 

And it was. All the troubles with the mixing and mastering worked in the favour of the music if you ask me. It sounds to my ears like it was purposely made to sound like this. It's just amazing to my ears.

 

:goodone:

[Segue Myles]

Valid Trails stands out to me.

 

It is in most ways my favourite Rush album. It's abrasive, it's heavy, it's angular and sharp and at times really venomous (at least for a Rush album). It sounds primal, angry, ticked off and at other moments optimistic and forward thinking. I feel, having gone through great emotional pain, mental breakdowns, suicidal tendencies and all that drama, that I have a real way of "getting" this album. It feels strained and yet wild with fury, hurt and hope.

 

I have felt much like how this album comes across to me. There is a real sense of emotion and power to this album that I have not heard in any other Rush album. It feels like a make of break moment, not in the sense that the band needed this to be a hit, but in the sense that an album as discordant as this needed to be realised and unleashed.

 

This could only have been a product of that moment in time. It's so very special to me, and for all its apparent flaws, I love it exactly as it is and personally, this is the Rush album I most need.

 

It's also, to my ears, the Rush album that sounds the least like Rush. This is turn of the century hard rock/metal. For all the talk of Counterparts being the bands "grunge" moment (nonsense I say), Vapor Trails for me most strongly sits alongside the likes of Superunknown, Dirt, Core or Ten to my ears. I don't think "grunge" is a definable sound, but their is something in Vapor Trails that evokes the same feelings in me as those key albums/bands. The grunge era took a lot of inspiratiom from what many to refer too as a "classic rock", early seventies sound/feel. Grunge was back to basics. Well, Rush was a key seventies band, and Vapor Trails was back to basics musically. This album did not need to be embellished with post production quirks, layers of synths, glossy choruses etc. It needed to be pure and to the point. This album had to be ugly and monstrous and raw and emotional.

 

And it was. All the troubles with the mixing and mastering worked in the favour of the music if you ask me. It sounds to my ears like it was purposely made to sound like this. It's just amazing to my ears.

 

:goodone:

 

I haven't played this album in MONTHS! Today I played both the original and the remix. It's hard to say that the remix is weaker. Technically, it sounds sounds, more space, more clarity...its definitely the easier listen.

 

But...the raw and rust of the original still gets me right in the feels. It's not a flawless album...I do feel that the highs are significantly better than the lows...but then saying that...the lows for me are significantly higher than most of the best songs on many other Rush albums.

 

I prefer Vapor Trails to all the bands seventies albums. Arguably most of the eighties, most of the nineties, and whilst I like SA and CA, VT is just a standalone height surrounded by flat ground for two albums either side.

 

I won't say it baffles me how anyone could hate this album. I hear why this isn't universally praised. But music enjoyment is personal, and I happen to really enjoy this one.

[Rick N. Backer]

Vapor Trails stands out to me.

 

It is in most ways my favourite Rush album. It's abrasive, it's heavy, it's angular and sharp and at times really venomous (at least for a Rush album). It sounds primal, angry, ticked off and at other moments optimistic and forward thinking. I feel, having gone through great emotional pain, mental breakdowns, suicidal tendencies and all that drama, that I have a real way of "getting" this album. It feels strained and yet wild with fury, hurt and hope.

 

I have felt much like how this album comes across to me. There is a real sense of emotion and power to this album that I have not heard in any other Rush album. It feels like a make or break moment, not in the sense that the band needed this to be a hit, but in the sense that an album as discordant as this needed to be realised and unleashed.

 

This could only have been a product of that moment in time. It's so very special to me, and for all its apparent flaws, I love it exactly as it is and personally, this is the Rush album I most need.

 

It's also, to my ears, the Rush album that sounds the least like Rush. This is turn of the century hard rock/metal. For all the talk of Counterparts being the bands "grunge" moment (nonsense I say), Vapor Trails for me most strongly sits alongside the likes of Superunknown, Dirt, Core or Ten to my ears. I don't think "grunge" is a definable sound, but their is something in Vapor Trails that evokes the same feelings in me as those key albums/bands. The grunge era took a lot of inspiratiom from what many to refer too as a "classic rock", early seventies sound/feel. Grunge was back to basics. Well, Rush was a key seventies band, and Vapor Trails was back to basics musically. This album did not need to be embellished with post production quirks, layers of synths, glossy choruses etc. It needed to be pure and to the point. This album had to be ugly and monstrous and raw and emotional.

 

And it was. All the troubles with the mixing and mastering worked in the favour of the music if you ask me. It sounds to my ears like it was purposely made to sound like this. It's just amazing to my ears.

 

Good post. I agree about Counterparts and the suggestion its a "grunge" album. It seems that any band from the 70s or 80s who released an album in the early 90s was said to have released a "grunge" album. Def Leppard's Slang is another one that I just don't hear being grunge. Vapor Trails is not my favorite album. I'm not a audiophile, so the mixing complaints are really lost on me. But I do like it more than anything they released after GUP, up to that point at least.

[Segue Myles]

Vapor Trails stands out to me.

 

It is in most ways my favourite Rush album. It's abrasive, it's heavy, it's angular and sharp and at times really venomous (at least for a Rush album). It sounds primal, angry, ticked off and at other moments optimistic and forward thinking. I feel, having gone through great emotional pain, mental breakdowns, suicidal tendencies and all that drama, that I have a real way of "getting" this album. It feels strained and yet wild with fury, hurt and hope.

 

I have felt much like how this album comes across to me. There is a real sense of emotion and power to this album that I have not heard in any other Rush album. It feels like a make or break moment, not in the sense that the band needed this to be a hit, but in the sense that an album as discordant as this needed to be realised and unleashed.

 

This could only have been a product of that moment in time. It's so very special to me, and for all its apparent flaws, I love it exactly as it is and personally, this is the Rush album I most need.

 

It's also, to my ears, the Rush album that sounds the least like Rush. This is turn of the century hard rock/metal. For all the talk of Counterparts being the bands "grunge" moment (nonsense I say), Vapor Trails for me most strongly sits alongside the likes of Superunknown, Dirt, Core or Ten to my ears. I don't think "grunge" is a definable sound, but their is something in Vapor Trails that evokes the same feelings in me as those key albums/bands. The grunge era took a lot of inspiratiom from what many to refer too as a "classic rock", early seventies sound/feel. Grunge was back to basics. Well, Rush was a key seventies band, and Vapor Trails was back to basics musically. This album did not need to be embellished with post production quirks, layers of synths, glossy choruses etc. It needed to be pure and to the point. This album had to be ugly and monstrous and raw and emotional.

 

And it was. All the troubles with the mixing and mastering worked in the favour of the music if you ask me. It sounds to my ears like it was purposely made to sound like this. It's just amazing to my ears.

 

Good post. I agree about Counterparts and the suggestion its a "grunge" album. It seems that any band from the 70s or 80s who released an album in the early 90s was said to have released a "grunge" album. Def Leppard's Slang is another one that I just don't hear being grunge. Vapor Trails is not my favorite album. I'm not a audiophile, so the mixing complaints are really lost on me. But I do like it more than anything they released after GUP, up to that point at least.

 

I struggle to define "grunge". But if I were to pick a Rush album that suits the intensity and rawness of many of the principle "grunge" albums...it would be Vapor Trails, not Counterparts (honestly just a better sounding rock album in the same vein as the two that preceded it. It's up to you to decide if the actual material was up to snuff).

[vaportrailer]

Valid Trails stands out to me.

 

It is in most ways my favourite Rush album. It's abrasive, it's heavy, it's angular and sharp and at times really venomous (at least for a Rush album). It sounds primal, angry, ticked off and at other moments optimistic and forward thinking. I feel, having gone through great emotional pain, mental breakdowns, suicidal tendencies and all that drama, that I have a real way of "getting" this album. It feels strained and yet wild with fury, hurt and hope.

 

I have felt much like how this album comes across to me. There is a real sense of emotion and power to this album that I have not heard in any other Rush album. It feels like a make of break moment, not in the sense that the band needed this to be a hit, but in the sense that an album as discordant as this needed to be realised and unleashed.

 

This could only have been a product of that moment in time. It's so very special to me, and for all its apparent flaws, I love it exactly as it is and personally, this is the Rush album I most need.

 

It's also, to my ears, the Rush album that sounds the least like Rush. This is turn of the century hard rock/metal. For all the talk of Counterparts being the bands "grunge" moment (nonsense I say), Vapor Trails for me most strongly sits alongside the likes of Superunknown, Dirt, Core or Ten to my ears. I don't think "grunge" is a definable sound, but their is something in Vapor Trails that evokes the same feelings in me as those key albums/bands. The grunge era took a lot of inspiratiom from what many to refer too as a "classic rock", early seventies sound/feel. Grunge was back to basics. Well, Rush was a key seventies band, and Vapor Trails was back to basics musically. This album did not need to be embellished with post production quirks, layers of synths, glossy choruses etc. It needed to be pure and to the point. This album had to be ugly and monstrous and raw and emotional.

 

And it was. All the troubles with the mixing and mastering worked in the favour of the music if you ask me. It sounds to my ears like it was purposely made to sound like this. It's just amazing to my ears.

 

:goodone:

 

I haven't played this album in MONTHS! Today I played both the original and the remix. It's hard to say that the remix is weaker. Technically, it sounds sounds, more space, more clarity...its definitely the easier listen.

 

But...the raw and rust of the original still gets me right in the feels. It's not a flawless album...I do feel that the highs are significantly better than the lows...but then saying that...the lows for me are significantly higher than most of the best songs on many other Rush albums.

 

I prefer Vapor Trails to all the bands seventies albums. Arguably most of the eighties, most of the nineties, and whilst I like SA and CA, VT is just a standalone height surrounded by flat ground for two albums either side.

 

I won't say it baffles me how anyone could hate this album. I hear why this isn't universally praised. But music enjoyment is personal, and I happen to really enjoy this one.

 

:clap:

[Blue Barchetta]

Test For Echo. It's the only one where it sounds like the lyrics were written by a drunk high schooler.

[laughedatbytime]

Test For Echo. It's the only one where it sounds like the lyrics were written by a drunk high schooler.

Or in the case of Half the World, a fourth grader impressed with his newfound "understanding" of the world.

[Blue Barchetta]

Test For Echo. It's the only one where it sounds like the lyrics were written by a drunk high schooler.

Or in the case of Half the World, a fourth grader impressed with his newfound "understanding" of the world.

Half the world would rather be a tortoise with its tail between its ears.