After Rush released their debut self titled album in 1974, the Canadian prog rockers have been consistently releasing albums all the way into the millennium. After the release of
Test For Echo in 1996, tragedy struck Neil Peart's family and no plans for another album were in sight for Rush. But after six years, Rush proved they were back with their seventeenth studio album entitled
Vapor Trails, released in May 2002. Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson, and Neil Peart, the same lineup since 1975, all give signature performances and you wouldn't even know their in their fourth decade of making music. However, I was disappointed with the lack of solos on the record. The album has few to none synthesizers and keyboards, much different than their 80's releases (
Signals,
Grace Under Pressure,
Power Windows), and has more of a rock feel to it, like their 1974 debut and 1975's
Fly By Night, which is displayed right from the opening track,
One Little Victory. I was somewhat disappointed in the production part of the album as it didn't have the greatest sound quality that it should of had, as it feels overproduced. But on the positive side, Neil Peart's lyrics are at his best.
Vapor Trails isn't the most consistent record Rush have released, but it is still great record and good to have if you are a fan of the band.
When I first got
Vapor Trails I wasn't expecting that much, to be honest, as I thought maybe Rush was past its prime seeing as how their previous few records were somewhat mediocre in my opinion. But after hearing this, I was pleasantly surprised.
Vapor Trails is a fairly long record for only having thirteen tracks at about seventy minutes long with the shortest track being
How It Is at four minutes and the longest being
Secret Touch at six and a half minutes. Geddy Lee proves he still has his bass skills right from the opening double bass intro to
One Little Victory. As for the opener, it is a solid track that shows that Rush went back to their early hard rock roots for this. The track is not the greatest on the album, but one of them and a good way to open the record.
This album does have some very good songs such as
Ghost Rider, a steady track that still shows Geddy Lee has his signature voice, and the title track,
Vapor Trail, with an all round great performance from the group, especially Peart's drumming.
Stars Look Down is another good track that could have fit nicely on
Permanent Waves.
Sweet Miracle is like the ballad of the album with a great hard rock intro and then calms down with some great lyrics which all adds up for a very melodic song. As I said already, Neil Peart's Lyrics are at his best on this record as displayed on
Peaceable Kingdom which deals with some meaningful and serious subject matter like the terrorist attacks in 2001.
Peaceable Kingdom is also one of the harder rock tracks on the album and the bass is very noticeable. So without the keyboards, Rush decided to incorporate some acoustic in this record as shown on
How It Is and features a nice acoustic solo by Lifeson.
Earthshine is another one of my favorites off the album. It has an almost grunge-like riff to open up, and then has one of the best choruses on the album. Much like Earthshine,
Secret Touch has a heavy riff and is a decent track but doesn't stand out to me.
Nocturne is very solid track with an excellent drum intro, and some great vocal work. It again is one of the heaviest on the album.
Freeze is bass driven rock song that keeps the album flowing until the album finale. The album closer
Out of the Cradle is very well done. Peart's drumming remains steady throughout the whole song. Out of the Cradle is in my opinion one of the best on the album and a fitting end to
Vapor Trails.
So overall, Rush's seventeenth studio album,
Vapor Trails is yet another solid release from the band and won't dissapoint. I admit it is no
Moving Pictures, but it is a great comeback album for the band and showed their fans that they weren't done yet even after the band went through a tough time. Easily one of their best in recent memory. Since the release of this record, Rush have released the cover album
Feedback in 2004. I recommend this album if you are a fan of Rush and still do not own this record, but if you are just getting into Rush, I would recommend getting some earlier albums by the band. Either way,
Vapor Trails is a very intelligent album, musically and lyrically.
Rush:
Geddy Lee: Vocals/Bass
Alex Lifeson: Electric/Acoustic Guitar
Neil Peart: Drums
Standout Tracks:
Earthshine
One Little Victory
Ghost Rider
Vapor Trail
Out Of The Cradle
