VAPOR TRAILS

This album appears to be a "Love/Hate" type of deal, even among the biggest of Rush fans (myself included). This album was Rush attempting to find their groove again, that groove that allowed them to be one of the most consistent and enjoyable rock bands for what was at the time close to 30 years. I find this album to be very enjoyable, albeit very "different" from anything they'd done before. The production itself is noticably different, with more of an emphasis on a raw, agressive sound that borderlines on metal at points. Still, every known trademark of Rush is present in the shoddy (most likely aimed to be shoddy to some degree) production work: Geddy's signature vocals (obviously somewhat aged and not as powerful as they were before, but he still can wail with the best of them, and I think his vocals are very underrated overall), Geddy's explosive bass work that seems to take on a life of it's own in each song, Alex's emotional guitar work which in my opinion, on this album, was his best and most expressive since perhaps stuff from the 70's. And of course, the outstanding percussion skills of one Neil Peart, and he surely shines in this album, taking an overly aggressive approach that just flat out sounds angry. He calms it down at points, Ghost Rider and How It Is are prime examples, but overall he's just pounding away throughout. The songs themselves are all inspired by Neil's losses of his wife and daughter, and the "healing journey" he took shortly after these deaths, attempting to find some meaning and beauty in a life that had seemed to take away everything he loved and cared for. The book he wrote, "Ghost Rider", really gives a more personal look at the story, and it also shows a side to the songs of Vapor Trails that is very personal, and very inspiring (at least for me.) Many tracks stand out right away. One Little Victory's powerful intro, the subtle beauty of How It Is, the emotion-packed vocals of Ghost Rider (In an interview, Geddy said he went out of his way to give his absolute best vocal performance for that song, as a sign of respect for his long-time friend and bandmate Neil), and the surprising continuation of the 'Fear" series of songs, "Freeze". This is by no means a masterpiece, and it is not neccesarily essential to a prog fan's collection, but it is a very worthy re-introduction to music for one of the best in the business, and no Rush fan should go without hearing this for themselves at least once. Love it or hate it, Vapor Trails is an album that had to be made, and hopefully it's a sign of bigger and better things to come.