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Vapour Trails Remixed As A Whole - Your Verdict?


GeddysMullet
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Fanfreakingtastic.

Finally received the cd via Amazon and I must say.... it's elevated VT on my rankings.

I can hear the songs cranked up on headphones, without ear fatigue. David Bottrell worked magic!

SOMETIMES I FREEEEEEEZE.... UNTIL THE NIGHT COMES............... SOMETIMES I FLYYYYYYY INTO THE NIIIIIIGGGHHT

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Having now listened to them back-to-back this has gone from an album I rarely listened to due to the bassiness of it to one that will be in the rotation for a while to come. The sound on Remixed is easier to listen to and the vocals a lot brighter. While this may not be how the album was originally meant to sound it is easier on the ear.
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As pained as I am to say it, I actually hate the remix. I loved the download-only "remaster" of the original mix (I could actually hear the different instruments! I didn't get a headache twenty minutes in!) and expected the remix to get even better, but there's no edge or energy to this version at all - it sounds like frickin' Test for Echo or something! Buried under all that clipping in the original was the most aggressive, pissed-off sound that Rush ever recorded, and that emotional atmosphere charged the whole album, even with the terrible mastering. But the remix is too slickly equalized, has too much space between the instruments, and often has Geddy's voice mixed too loud like a pop album; it's subdued and sterile in a way that doesn't suit the songs at all. I don't mind slickness if it's appropriate - I love Power Windows, for example - but here it just cancels out the album's mood and leaves the whole thing sounding weak and unsure of itself. I wish that they'd give the remaster an actual CD release like the remix, but it doesn't look like that's going to happen. :(
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I'm falling more and more in love with this record every time I listen to it. It's amazing to listen to in the dark on headphones. There's a tremendous amount of subtlety in this record that lends itself very well to the kind of close and completely absorbed listening that I love to do to find my centre. Neil is quite subdued on this record, audibly still re-finding his feet, but Alex is doing his magic in all kinds of intricate, subtle and adventurous ways all over it, and Geddy's bass positively dances underneath it all, unifying the relationship between the guitar and the drums in that indescribable way he has, like the sphere that unites the heart and the mind. So many cool sounds in these songs, textures in the music weaving in and out. Busy and a little impenetrable, yes, but in that way it's a bit like an old antique shop that to the casual glance appears cluttered and chaotic and surely filled with junk, but reveals itself to be a storehouse of treasures when the glancer pays close enough attention to actually look.

 

I love :rush:

Edited by GeddysMullet
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I realize that this is not a popular opinion but I just don't like either version. I listened to the remix twice today all the way through. Gonna listen to it again tomorrow. I really get the sentimentality of the music and I am thrilled beyond belief to have them back in a great place now. I just do not like it. We will see what tomorrow's listen brings.
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I guess this is as good a place as any to give my final opinion. Lot's of Vapor Trails threads to choose from but here goes. I have had it for a few days and listened all the way through twice yesterday. Today I listened again. I wanted the mood to be just right to give it every chance of being a positive representation of the band. I went for my daily 4 mile hike and turned it up. A hint of fall in the air and not a cloud in the sky. Just me, mother nature and the best band in the world. Much to my chagrin, it still didn't really impress me. It begins with such promise. One Little Victory, Ghost Rider, and Ceiling Unlimited stand up well to everything I love from from the past. I even think How it is works in a sweet kind of way. Honestly during the rest, all I can hear in the back of my head is Natural Science, Cinderella Man, Circumstances and (even moving into the 80's) Subdivisions, Between The Wheels etc. I listen to Clockwork Angels all the time under similar conditions and this doesn't happen. It's a spiritual and emotional experience. It pulls me in and Halo Effect and The Garden provide the goosebumps. Like I have said before, I am glad it was recorded and the band is back and better than ever. I can understand why a newer fan might have an emotional attachment to it and even the later 80's and 90's stuff. It just doesn't work for me. Doesn't make you a better fan or worse one. My mother always said " if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all ". I am going to try to focus as much energy on the Forum to the stuff I like and less on the negative. Just my opinion for what it worth.
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A little late to the party...

First off - amazing how so many people can listen to the same thing and hear such different results.

After getting in several good run-throughs of the whole new VT, I'm not all that impressed. There are definitely some improvements in reducing the harshness and adding some space for all the sounds to come through - especially Geddy's bass. But I'm really surprised that it is still quite harsh and loud. The highs in the vocal and the cymbals still burn a little too hot.

 

So there is the 'master' (levels, clarity), and then there is the 'mix' (new stuff to hear). And some areas of the mix really killed this thing for me. Overall, the in-your-face guitars have been pushed back and softened. The bass overwhelms many parts - the outro of Vapor Trail, much of Secret Touch, parts of Earthshine. Ironic how I originally pined for more guitar solos in the original version, and then they add one in the ONE place where they shouldn't - right over that awesome 'band' solo and huge guitar chords in Ceiling Unlimited. Anywhere but there guys!

One other thing is some poppy/happy vocal harmonies that were added. Really didn't fit the mood of most of the album. Especially hurts Ghost Rider.

 

So... an interesting release. Some new stuff to listen for via headphones. But I'll still be cranking the original!

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No amount of better mastering of mixing can improve bad music. VT is easily my least favorite Rush album. It sounds boring and tired. I can never make it through the whole album, bad mastering not withstanding. I'm not going to waste my money on the remix, but that's just my opinion.
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tell ya what, by far the best improvement on the album imo is ged's bass in parts... like the end of secret touch (awesome) and the beginning of ghost rider, the more pronounced kinda twang to it is so sexehh

 

BUT

 

i really cant get my head around the distortion in background of peaceable kingdom in parts, i've mentioned it before but honestly i cant see why a bigger fuss isnt being made of it is bloody awful we should get our money back and they should do something about it.

 

gonna draw attention to it one more time by pinpointing one example of the distortion between 2.34 - 2.58 put your headphones on its loud and clear in background like ripping paper or something and totally outa order, i mean it isnt on original album and shouldnt be in any music recording. this is last time gonna mention it but im just so amazed given they had another chance to remix the album they actually made it much worse on this particular track.

Edited by lifeson90
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tell ya what, by far the best improvement on the album imo is ged's bass in parts... like the end of secret touch (awesome) and the beginning of ghost rider, the more pronounced kinda twang to it is so sexehh

 

BUT

 

i really cant get my head around the distortion in background of peaceable kingdom in parts, i've mentioned it before but honestly i cant see why a bigger fuss isnt being made of it is bloody awful we should get our money back and they should do something about it.

 

gonna draw attention to it one more time by pinpointing one example of the distortion between 2.34 - 2.58 put your headphones on its loud and clear in background like ripping paper or something and totally outa order, i mean it isnt on original album and shouldnt be in any music recording. this is last time gonna mention it but im just so amazed given they had another chance to remix the album they actually made it much worse on this particular track.

 

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.

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I do find myself listening to songs I used to skip. Im really starting to settle into the mix better. Although I still really like some of the roughness of the orig mix. But the spereation from a drum standpoint is better now Edited by ucsteve667
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i really cant get my head around the distortion in background of peaceable kingdom in parts, i've mentioned it before but honestly i cant see why a bigger fuss isnt being made of it is bloody awful we should get our money back and they should do something about it.

I'm still pissed about that ripping static noise when DEW starts up. I've been waiting for my p/g refund for almost 30 years. :rage:

 

 

 

 

 

 

:joker:

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I remember one complaint by many, no solos... I guess thats been solved
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I remember one complaint by many, no solos... I guess thats been solved

 

But that gives rise to new complaints: (1) the solo covered up the part of the song I liked; and (2) they should have soloed more. Rush fans will always find something to complain about.

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I remember one complaint by many, no solos... I guess thats been solved

 

But that gives rise to new complaints: (1) the solo covered up the part of the song I liked; and (2) they should have soloed more. Rush fans will always find something to complain about.

 

true enough

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I remember one complaint by many, no solos... I guess thats been solved

 

But that gives rise to new complaints: (1) the solo covered up the part of the song I liked; and (2) they should have soloed more. Rush fans will always find something to complain about.

 

true enough

 

It's not just Rush fans. In every fan community I've ever seen, there are the excessively devoted, who either explain and justify anything negative about the object of their devotion or refuse to acknowledge it at all, and there are the excessively critical who, if they ever say anything nice about the subject, they temper it with a slam on something else.

 

The Rush community does seem to have fewer of the excessively devoted and more of the excessively critical than most, though. Perhaps that is because of the band's continual evolution over their long history and the extreme polarisation resulting from the "Old Rush good, new Rush bad" mentality that so many embrace. What I've never understood about that is why people so enjoy being negative. There are plenty of Rush things that I don't care for or actively dislike, but I don't talk about any of them very much because I come here to celebrate what I love, not bellyache about what I hate.

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I remember one complaint by many, no solos... I guess thats been solved

 

But that gives rise to new complaints: (1) the solo covered up the part of the song I liked; and (2) they should have soloed more. Rush fans will always find something to complain about.

 

true enough

 

It's not just Rush fans. In every fan community I've ever seen, there are the excessively devoted, who either explain and justify anything negative about the object of their devotion or refuse to acknowledge it at all, and there are the excessively critical who, if they ever say anything nice about the subject, they temper it with a slam on something else.

 

The Rush community does seem to have fewer of the excessively devoted and more of the excessively critical than most, though. Perhaps that is because of the band's continual evolution over their long history and the extreme polarisation resulting from the "Old Rush good, new Rush bad" mentality that so many embrace. What I've never understood about that is why people so enjoy being negative. There are plenty of Rush things that I don't care for or actively dislike, but I don't talk about any of them very much because I come here to celebrate what I love, not bellyache about what I hate.

 

I've always hated that about you.

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I remember one complaint by many, no solos... I guess thats been solved

 

But that gives rise to new complaints: (1) the solo covered up the part of the song I liked; and (2) they should have soloed more. Rush fans will always find something to complain about.

 

true enough

 

It's not just Rush fans. In every fan community I've ever seen, there are the excessively devoted, who either explain and justify anything negative about the object of their devotion or refuse to acknowledge it at all, and there are the excessively critical who, if they ever say anything nice about the subject, they temper it with a slam on something else.

 

The Rush community does seem to have fewer of the excessively devoted and more of the excessively critical than most, though. Perhaps that is because of the band's continual evolution over their long history and the extreme polarisation resulting from the "Old Rush good, new Rush bad" mentality that so many embrace. What I've never understood about that is why people so enjoy being negative. There are plenty of Rush things that I don't care for or actively dislike, but I don't talk about any of them very much because I come here to celebrate what I love, not bellyache about what I hate.

 

I've always hated that about you.

 

Why, thank you! I love you too, LedRush! ;) :LOL:

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Let's not forget: because of the way some parts were originally recorded, some parts could be IMPROVED but not entirely FIXED.

It's like working on a photograph that was taken in a pitch black basement. You hope to "fix" it by ligtening it with Photoshop, thereby creating dynamic range, but you're probably just going to turn solid black into solid gray.

I am enjoying all the many improvements in the remix, but when I hear bits that are mashed or clipped, I don't get upset, because I know Bottrill just couldn't fix them.

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I kind of look at it this way. We were lucky to get Vapor Trails at all and anything since then is just icing on the cake. People can analyze the album to death but it is what it is. No going back now. I think the remix has greatly increased the dynamic range, taken all the distortion out, and it's very listenable now.
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No amount of better mastering of mixing can improve bad music. VT is easily my least favorite Rush album. It sounds boring and tired. I can never make it through the whole album, bad mastering not withstanding. I'm not going to waste my money on the remix, but that's just my opinion.

 

It sounds boring and tired? LOL To me it has always sounded exciting and energetic. You want boring and tired try Snakes and Arrows.

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No amount of better mastering of mixing can improve bad music. VT is easily my least favorite Rush album. It sounds boring and tired. I can never make it through the whole album, bad mastering not withstanding. I'm not going to waste my money on the remix, but that's just my opinion.

 

It sounds boring and tired? LOL To me it has always sounded exciting and energetic. You want boring and tired try Snakes and Arrows.

:LOL: I missed that. ak2112's opinion is worthless. He said hasn't heard the Remix. Why does one post an opinion of the original in the Remix verdict thread if you haven't heard it. :wacko:

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