Rush Retrospective: Album 17- Vapor Trails

 

Album:  Vapor Trails

Year Released:    2002

Lineup:  

• Geddy Lee – bass guitar, vocals
• Alex Lifeson – electric and acoustic guitars, mandola
• Neil Peart – drums, cymbals

Overall Thoughts:

After the tour for Test for Echo, tragedy stuck drummer Neil Peart, with the deaths of his daughter (car accident) and wife (cancer).  The band took a hiatus during this time, considering themselves retired as a band.  It wasn't until five years later they were able to heal enough to start working on a new album together.  

The hiatus is noticeable.  The skill is still there- the playing is outstanding.  The music has a 'back to basics' flair to it- no keyboards at all, and the music is played at a frentic pace.  

The skill is there, but the art is off.  None of the musical hooks stay with you- they are well played but you don't fall in love with them.  Same with the lyrics; well-written but nothing memorable.  Nothing is bad but there is nothing here that I fell in love it.  That's probably unfair, given the circumstances.  Just to hear them recording is a good thing.  

The band did not like the original album, thinking the mix was causing it to sound too distorted.  A remixed album was released in 2013, and the band believed the songs sounded better in the remixed version.  It does sound better (to my own ears; to be fair, I'm half-deaf and likely to miss the nuances)

Rush climbed back into the studio after five terrible years.  Vapor Trails was the result; not their best album, but a first step back.  

Ranking of Rush Albums (adding as more albums are reviewed):

1. Presto
2. Moving Pictures
3. Roll the Bones
4. 2112
5. Permanent Waves
6. Fly By Night
7. Rush
8. A Farewell to Kings
9. Hemispheres
10. Hold Your Fire
11. Power Windows
12. Counterparts
13. Signals
14. Test for Echo
15. Caress of Steel
16. Vapor Trails
17. Grace Under Pressure

Top 10 Rush Songs (adding as more albums are reviewed):

1. "The Pass", Presto
2. "Tom Sawyer", Moving Pictures
3. "Working Man", Rush
4. "Closer to the Heart", A Farewell to Kings
5. "La Villa Strangiato", Hemispheres
6. "Freewill", Permanent Waves
7. "Bravado", Roll the Bones
8. "2112", 2112
9. "Fly By Night", Fly By Night
10. "Show Don't Tell", Presto