4 Reasons
Scott Harris | Chattanooga, TN | 03/03/2009
(5 out of 5 stars)
"There are 4 reasons to buy Rush's latest compilation album:
1) You don't have one or several of these albums, don't want to buy the whole album, but want some songs from one or more of them.
2) One Little Victory - remixed
3) Earthshine - remixed
4) Ghost of a Chance - Live
If your reason is 1) above, you won't be disappointed with this album. This is a solid selection of tunes from Rush's Atlantic years. I might have a few quibbles about choices and absences - Test for Echo, over Driven any day of the week - but overall this is a good compilation.
More significant is the inclusion of two songs from what I consider to be Rush's best album from the Atlantic years (and their best since Signals), Vapor Trails. Vapor Trails generated a lot of buzz at its release, not only because it was the first all-guitar Rush album in many years, but also because of its very disappointing sound quality. After its release, internet commentators proceeded to conduct an audio autopsy on the album, lamenting its sonic distortion and frequent "clipping", and declaring it yet another victim of the "loudness wars" that pervaded and continue to pervade the mainstream rock recording industry (see Wikipedia for an excellent article on them). Almost everyone, however, praised the music itself. The two songs included here are some of the strongest on the record, though there are many to choose from, not the least of which are Peaceable Kingdom, Secret Touch, Sweet Miracle, Ghost Rider and Vapor Trail.
For this compilation, Rush enlisted the services of Richard Chycki (engineer on Snakes and Arrows) to remix the aforementioned tracks on Vapor Trails. It's possible that he may have remixed the whole album, though that has not yet been confirmed or denied by the band. Nevertheless, it's clear Chycki has done an awesome job with these two songs at least. The difference between the originals and the remixes is astonishing. Harsh compression and brick-wall limiting likely introduced during the original mix and/or mastering process is now gone. Vocals are clear. Neil's low toms and bass drums resonate in a clean and full manner. Guitars and bass are more defined and audibly clearer. The overall sonic picture has much more "air" around the sound - Earthshine sounds almost like a different song - and may have been retouched slightly in some places even beyond what would go into making simply a non-distorted remix.
If this is how all of Vapor Trails will sound when remixed, Rush and Atlantic should release the new version immediately - it will confirm VT as one of the top 3 albums Rush has ever made. This album will clearly rival their most recent release - Snakes and Arrows - both musically and sonically.
Finally, the live version of "Ghost of a Chance" from the Roll The Bones album is obviously from one of those "on" performances. The vocals, the ad-lib drum and guitar fills, and the energy from what was clearly a great live performance are readily apparent. Drawn from the Roll The Bones tour, the production and recording balance is really good and rivals the recent R30 and Snakes and Arrows live albums.
Don't hesitate - go buy it.
"
A good compilation
Joseph C. Helton | 03/04/2009
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Definitely a good retrospective of the latter part of Rush's career. There is no such thing as a 'perfect' compilation, but this one has some really nice highlights. First off we have the remixes, namely "One Little Victory" and "Earthshine", which breathe new life into two very good tracks from the "Vapor Trails" album. Also, we have "Ghost of a Chance" live, and a very nice rendition at that. The remainder of the tracks do a very good job of representing where Rush has gone since "Presto" was released.
I'm going to go out on a limb and say this is a must buy, not just for Rush fans, but anyone curious about Rush and wanting a good retrospective of the recent years of their long career."
Track Listings (14) - Disc #1