Nick R Discusses New Rush Album on Video-NEW!!

Thank you TR!

arrrrrgh! not enough bandwidth! 

I just listened to an instrumental from the new album called "Malignant Narcissism". If this is ANY indication on how the new disc is going to sound, then this will indeed be the best Rush disc in a LONG time.

Really getting stoked now.

E

From what I've heard so far, it does seem that we could be in for a bit of a treat with this one. The tunes are the best in a long, long time, have a flavour of old-school Rush (not as, he says in sound, but in feel) but have a clean, modern edge that makes them sparkle.
One of things that makes Vapor Trails a tricky listen is IMO the production. It's quite muddied, lacks clarity, the vocals are completely dominated by the drums and guitars
and the bass is often just a low end rumble that's completely indistinct. The song-writing too lacks focus. There's good ideas in there but they're swamped by the 23 guitar tracks, crushing drums, woolly bass and flat arrangements.
What seems to be the case with this record is that Raskulinecz has cleaned up their sound a lot, gone back to the basics of getting Alex a tidy guitar sound that doesn't require multiple layers, stripping the bass of sub-bass rumble and finding Neil space to work some simple magic (interesting to see him talk about getting Neil to play on a simple 5-piece kit, without all the toys, on one track). The songs (the couple I've heard) are given room to breathe a bit.
Also in the songwriting, I'm hearing chord progressions and tricks Alex and Geddy haven't used in years, check out the end chord of the intro to Far Cry, it's pure Permanent Waves.
It's interesting to listen to records where a guy who's obviosuly a fan of a band's classic period gets hired to produce and brings a sensibility from those records to a band pushing forward in search of something new. Sometimes it's a disaster as bands try to recapture old glories but occasionally you get albums which marry the best of both outlooks, a reverence for the old and the thrill of the new.
Here's hoping we get one of those in Snakes and Arrows...


Edited by arcer - April 13 2007 at 04:37