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What is the last great sounding Rush album?


ak2112
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All the recent talk about how bad the new album sounds got me to wondering what the last truly great sounding album the band released. I'd be interested to hear if we could come to any consensus on this?

 

Since I dont listen to it a lot, I cant say for sure, but I'd be willing to bet that T4E is probably the last album by them that isnt brickwalled and squashed to death, since it was released before the days of the loudness wars, but I cant say for sure. The last truly great sounding album that I own personally, is Power Windows, the Japanese 32.8P version. Although a fully digital recording at every phase (DDD), it has warmth and real dynamic range with great seperation of the instruments and vocals.

 

Anyone else want to chime in hear? Obviously VT is out, as well as S&A, although S&A was an improvement over its predecessor, but the bar was set pretty low. Clockwork Angels is better than VT as well, but just barely. I would really like to know where the guys are going wrong, but I put most of the blame on their producer. I like what he brings out in the band in terms of energy and arrangements, but he seems to lack the technical knowledge or will to make sure the recording and mixing are done in such a way as to preserve the dynamic range of the album. The mastering is out of the producers hands and its a crucial point of making an album, but even the best mastering engineer cant do squat with an album that wasnt recorded with sound quality in mind.

 

So.....what are the opinions on here. You can even be more general if you want: WHAT DO YOU THINK IS THE BEST SOUNDING RUSH ALBUM EVER RELEASED AND WHAT WAS THE LAST DECENT SOUNDING ALBUM?

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WHAT DO YOU THINK IS THE BEST SOUNDING RUSH ALBUM EVER:

 

"Power windows" Sound fantastik!!!

 

WHAT WAS THE LAST DECENT SOUNDING ALBUM?

 

"Counterparts" Every instruments sound great on that album! Bring back Kevin Shirley the caveman!

 

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QUOTE
WHAT DO YOU THINK IS THE BEST SOUNDING RUSH ALBUM EVER RELEASED

Hemispheres. I love the guitar tone in particular.

 

QUOTE
WHAT WAS THE LAST DECENT SOUNDING ALBUM?

Well, while it's far from perfect, Clockwork Angels is a decent-sounding album. But I don't have to dig deep into the Rush annals to find the last record that sounded really good. That would be Snakes & Arrows.

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Nothing on the earth will ever touch "Hemispheres" but the last greatest sounding Rush record is "Power Windows."

 

I love the polished "Presto" sound but the low end on that record sucks.

 

Signed,

 

"And Justice For All" wink.gif

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Clockworker Angels is the pinnacle of sonic brilliance for this band. I can't believe people are overtly critical of this effort in terms of sound quality and production. Listening through headphones I was b lown away.
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Production seems fine, the mastering is pretty bad though. S&A was better all round, VT sucked royally. None of the last 3 albums is even in the room with the likes of CP and T4E though. And they can't compete with PoW as has been mentioned above.
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Best sounding album: Counterparts

Last great-sounding album: Snakes & Arrows

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Interesting to me that several have mentioned Snakes & Arrows as one of their favorite sounding Rush albums. I wonder how much of that has to do with the fact that it was the follow up to the horrible sounding VT? Anyway, I love the sound of that album as well, although the original CD release beats the so called high-resolution MVI version by a mile. The 5.1 of the album is horrible.
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If I don't count Clockwork Angels, which sounds good to me, I'd be inclined to say Test For Echo. I think the whole mix sounds pretty good on that record.
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