VAPOR TRAILS

With all that had happened in the 6 years since the absymal Test For Echo (Neil losing both his daughter and wife and taking 3 year sabbatical) I was enthused to hear Rush returning to release new music. I was also enthused to hear they were embracing a harder, more urgent sound. And frankly VTrails is their best release since RTBones. In fact, I would argue this album is most like that one. Not in sound, but in quality.

Just like RTB you have a no standout tracks and no complete dogs....what you do have are a handful of good songs and a handful of okay songs. The one thing lacking is that stands out to me is many of the songs sound good while you're listening to them but there's nothing about them that sticks in your head (unlike their earlier songs which would ring incessantly in your head).

One Little Victory gets things started with a ferocious drumroll and yet another in a long line of solid, if pedestrian, opening songs (think Test For Echo, Dreamline, Animate, Show Don't Tell). Ghost Rider, Secret Touch and Vapor Trail are similar songs with good fundamentals and quality musicianship. The album allows all three musicians to shine more than they have many years.

The other thing that's obvious to me is Geddy's voice just isn't very enjoyable unless he's screaming. His high-pitched wail grated on some but at least it was rocknroll....his MOR approach is just boring and, with this album, I realized it's a primary drawback to the band.