Vapor Trails
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''Vapor Trails'' is the seventeenth studio album by Canadian rock band Rush. It was released on May 14, 2002, on
Anthem Records Anthem Records is an independent record label based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The company was formed in May 1977 by Ray Danniels and Vic Wilson with initial recording artists Rush, Max Webster, Liverpool and A Foot in Coldwater. The three ...
, and was their first studio release since ''
Test for Echo ''Test for Echo'' is the sixteenth studio album by the Canadian rock band Rush, released on 10 September 1996 on Anthem Records. It is the final Rush work before the death of Neil Peart's daughter and wife that put the band on hiatus until the ...
'' (1996), the longest gap between two Rush albums. After the ''Test For Echo'' tour finished in July 1997, drummer and lyricist
Neil Peart Neil Ellwood Peart OC (; September 12, 1952 – January 7, 2020) was a Canadian-American musician, best known as the drummer and primary lyricist of the rock band Rush. Peart earned numerous awards for his musical performances, including an ...
suffered the loss of his daughter and then his wife in separate tragedies. As a result, the group entered an extended hiatus during which it was not certain they would continue. They eventually reunited in January 2001 to rehearse material for a new album, recording for which lasted until December.Vapor Trails news archiv
Power Windows website
. Retrieved 16 March 2006.
For the first and only time since ''
Caress of Steel ''Caress of Steel'' is the third studio album by Canadian rock band Rush, released on September 24, 1975, by Mercury Records. It marked a development in the group's sound, moving from the blues-based hard rock style of their debut towards progr ...
'' (1975), the group did not use any keyboards or synthesizers in their music, incorporating many layers of guitar, bass and drums instead. ''Vapor Trails'' reached No. 3 in Canada and No. 6 in the United States. "
One Little Victory "One Little Victory" is the opening track and first single from Rush's 2002 album ''Vapor Trails'', with music by Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson, and lyrics by Neil Peart. To herald the band's comeback after a five-year hiatus, the single was design ...
" was released as the album's lead single in March 2002 and went to No. 10 on the ''Billboard'' Mainstream Rock chart in the United States. The next single was "
Secret Touch "Secret Touch" is a song by Canadian rock band Rush, and is the eighth track from the band's 2002 studio album, ''Vapor Trails''. It has been revealed to be one of singer Geddy Lee's favorite tracks from the album. It was released as the second s ...
". The album went gold in Canada in August 2002. The
Vapor Trails Tour Rush was a Canadian rock band formed in 1968 in Toronto, that was comprised primarily of Geddy Lee (bass, vocals), Alex Lifeson (guitar), and Neil Peart (drums, percussion, lyricist). The band formed in Toronto in 1968 by Lifeson, drummer John ...
lasted from June to December 2002, which saw the band play to the largest crowds of its career in Brazil. Following the band's dissatisfaction with the album's overall production, two tracks were remixed for the '' Retrospective III: 1989–2008'' compilation album. The positive feedback from this resulted in the entire ''Vapor Trails'' album being remixed by
David Bottrill David Bottrill is a Canadian record producer. He has won three Grammys. Formerly, he owned Rattlebox Studios in Toronto, Ontario with producer Brian Moncarz. Moneen, Basia Lyjak, and The Getaway Plan are among the artists to have recorded at th ...
and released on October 1, 2013, as ''Vapor Trails Remixed'', both as a separate release and as part of '' The Studio Albums 1989–2007''.


Background

After Rush finished their
Test for Echo Tour Rush was a Canadian rock band formed in 1968 in Toronto, that was comprised primarily of Geddy Lee (bass, vocals), Alex Lifeson (guitar), and Neil Peart (drums, percussion, lyricist). The band formed in Toronto in 1968 by Lifeson, drummer John ...
in July 1997, the group entered a five-year hiatus following the personal tragedies in drummer
Neil Peart Neil Ellwood Peart OC (; September 12, 1952 – January 7, 2020) was a Canadian-American musician, best known as the drummer and primary lyricist of the rock band Rush. Peart earned numerous awards for his musical performances, including an ...
's life, losing his daughter Selena in August 1997 and wife Jackie in June 1998. Peart took a hiatus and rode around North America on a motorcycle, covering . At some point in his journey, Peart decided to return to the band. In his book '' Ghost Rider: Travels on the Healing Road'', Peart writes of how he had told his bandmates at Selena's funeral, "consider me retired."Peart, Neil. ''Ghost Rider: Travels on the Healing Road''. Toronto: ECW Press. 2002. However, in October 2000, after a period of recuperation, Lee announced during promotional interviews for his solo album ''
My Favourite Headache ''My Favourite Headache'' (also published as ''My Favorite Headache'', especially in the United States) is the debut solo album by Geddy Lee of Canadian rock band Rush. The album was released on November 14, 2000, by Anthem Records in Canada and ...
'' that Rush were to get together in the following January with the intention to write and rehearse material for a new studio album. Lee said that the album was not made for simply new music, but for "the psychological health and welfare of all the people who have gone through a very difficult time."


Writing and recording

The trio gathered at Reaction Studios in Toronto on January 9, 2001, but did not play anything for three weeks. They discussed what they wanted to achieve and how the album should take shape. Lifeson said it was to get "a feel for each other's frame of mind. We needed to see if everybody was really up for it.". Lee and Lifeson said that they chose the studio based on its "artist friendly environment, that was very comfortable and accommodating". Among the topics discussed was the album's musical direction which became a source of difficulty as initially, there was little agreement on what it should be. Upon reaching a consensus, Lifeson said the three found common ground "on every aspect of the recording." The band started working, adopting a three-week-on, one-week-off schedule with no one present apart from a technical assistant. The group was hopeful there was still chemistry amongst them to make an album. They adopted their usual method of writing with Lee and Lifeson working together on musical ideas in the studio control room while Peart worked elsewhere on the lyrics, this time using a pen, paper and a computer. Peart wrote about their attitude towards the sessions: "We laid out no parameters, no goals, no limitations, only that we would take a relaxed, civilized approach." Peart looked through his scrapbook of notes and phrases he'd collected and explored ways of connecting them together to form a complete lyrical idea. Lee and Lifeson developed ideas largely through jam sessions typically kicked off by setting a pattern on a drum machine and playing along, recording every session using
Logic Pro Logic Pro is a digital audio workstation (DAW) and MIDI music sequencer, sequencer software application for the macOS platform. It was originally created in the early 1990s as Notator Logic, or Logic, by German software developer C-Lab which ...
. This was to avoid making a demo tape of a collection of songs and re-record them at a later point. This way early takes became the basis of the songs which kept the music fresh using as many original takes where possible. After several weeks Peart presented the ideas he'd formed, but Lee and Lifeson had not put down any concrete pieces of music. Peart recalled they were not yet "serious" and still wanted to play and explore ideas as sifting through what they had put to tape was a tedious process and disrupted their creative flow. Peart had completed six sets of lyrics at this point but was not getting feedback from his bandmates as he had before, so he paused on lyrics and focused on his book '' Ghost Rider: Travels on the Healing Road''. The three became dissatisfied with what they'd come up with and thought it was too forced, which led to their decision to take some weeks off. They felt refreshed and more focused upon resuming and were able to work out complete songs and not just sections. The songs that emerged from these early jams were "Peaceable Kingdom," "Ceiling Unlimited" and "Nocturne," and they contain some parts put down from the original takes. According to Lifeson, no tracks were completely re-recorded. ''Vapor Trails'' is the first album since ''
Caress of Steel ''Caress of Steel'' is the third studio album by Canadian rock band Rush, released on September 24, 1975, by Mercury Records. It marked a development in the group's sound, moving from the blues-based hard rock style of their debut towards progr ...
'' (1975) not to feature a keyboard instrument. This was an important factor for Lifeson, who often worried about their presence on previous Rush albums, but Lee agreed not to use them. Instead, Lifeson spent a greater amount of time devising guitar parts that were "richer on tonality and harmonic quality" that were adequate enough for the background tracks. Lifeson avoided sound effects on his guitar to achieve a more raw sound. At certain points in recording his drum parts, Peart had been influenced by
Who Who or WHO may refer to: * Who (pronoun), an interrogative or relative pronoun * Who?, one of the Five Ws in journalism * World Health Organization Arts and entertainment Fictional characters * Who, a creature in the Dr. Seuss book '' Horton He ...
drummer
Keith Moon Keith John Moon (23 August 19467 September 1978) was an English drummer for the rock band the Who. He was noted for his unique style of playing and his eccentric, often self-destructive behaviour and addiction to drugs and alcohol. Moon grew ...
and played in his style. After taking a break in June 2001, Rush began to record their new songs in mid-August. Initially they decided to write 13 tracks for the album and pick the best 10 or 11 for the final selection, but when the time arrived they agreed to include all of them. They were joined by English producer
Paul Northfield Paul Northfield is a prolific British record producer and sound engineer, who has worked on albums by bands such as Dream Theater, Queensrÿche, Rush, Porcupine Tree and Suicidal Tendencies. Northfield worked at Advision Studio, London from 197 ...
, who had worked on several previous Rush albums and assisted in the arrangement to some tracks when the group felt stuck. The band are credited as co-producers. In December 2001, the group left the Reaction Studios and started mixing the album at
Metalworks Studios Metalworks Studios is a music recording studio in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. It was established in 1978 by Gil Moore of the Canadian rock group, Triumph. Over a span of 40 years, Metalworks has been the recipient of Canadian Music Week's ' ...
with David Leonard. The mixing was complete in March 2002, after which it was sent to Masterdisk in New York City for mastering by
Howie Weinberg Howie Weinberg is an American audio mastering engineer with over 2,257 mastering credits, three TEC Awards, 21 Grammy Awards, two Juno Awards, and one Mercury Prize. Career Weinberg mastered Herbie Hancock's 1983 album ''Future Shock''. Other m ...
. Rush chose him having liked the sound of the other albums that Weinberg had worked on.


Reception

The production of ''Vapor Trails'' has been criticized by the band themselves, critics and fans alike because of the album's "loud" sound quality. It has overly compressed (clipped) audio levels during mastering, which generates additional digital distortion during the CD production. The trend, known as the
loudness war The loudness war (or loudness race) is a trend of increasing audio levels in recorded music, which reduces audio fidelity and—according to many critics—listener enjoyment. Increasing loudness was first reported as early as the 1940s, with ...
, was very common on modern CD production at the time.Anderson, Tim (18 January 2007)
"How CDs are remastering the art of noise."
Retrieved on 12 March 2012.
Alex Lifeson stated:
It was a contest, and it was mastered too high, and it crackles, and it spits, and it just crushes everything. All the dynamics get lost, especially anything that had an acoustic guitar in it.


''Vapor Trails Remixed''

''Vapor Trails Remixed'' is a remixed version of ''Vapor Trails'' mixed by
David Bottrill David Bottrill is a Canadian record producer. He has won three Grammys. Formerly, he owned Rattlebox Studios in Toronto, Ontario with producer Brian Moncarz. Moneen, Basia Lyjak, and The Getaway Plan are among the artists to have recorded at th ...
. The album was released by
Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over its first 20 years of operation, Atlantic earned a reputation as one of the most i ...
and
Rhino Entertainment Rhino Entertainment Company is an American specialty record label and production company founded in 1978. It is currently the catalog division for Warner Music Group. Its current CEO is Mark Pinkus. History Founded in 1978, Rhino was original ...
on September 27, 2013, and entered at No. 35 on the ''Billboard'' 200 chart. The band had been unhappy with the original album's overall sonic production. Influenced by the positive reaction to the remixes of "
One Little Victory "One Little Victory" is the opening track and first single from Rush's 2002 album ''Vapor Trails'', with music by Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson, and lyrics by Neil Peart. To herald the band's comeback after a five-year hiatus, the single was design ...
" and "Earthshine" featured on ''Retrospective III'' by Richard Chycki, Rush and Bottrill remixed the entire album. In an interview with Modern Guitars, Lifeson remarked that, since the remixes were so good, there had been talk of doing an entire remix of the album. ''Vapor Trails Remixed'' peaked in the
US Billboard Charts The ''Billboard'' charts tabulate the relative weekly popularity of songs and albums in the United States and elsewhere. The results are published in ''Billboard'' magazine. ''Billboard'' biz, the online extension of the ''Billboard'' charts, pr ...
at number 35. ''Vapor Trails Remixed'' is also included in the box-set of Atlantic Studio Albums called '' The Studio Albums 1989–2007'', in lieu of the original version.


Track listing


Personnel

Credits taken from the 2002 liner notes. Rush *
Geddy Lee Geddy Lee (born Gary Lee Weinrib; July 29, 1953) is a Canadian musician, singer, and songwriter. He is best known as the lead vocalist, bassist, and keyboardist for the Canadian rock group Rush. Lee joined the band in September 1968, at the re ...
– bass guitar, vocals *
Alex Lifeson Aleksandar Živojinović, (born 27 August 1953), known professionally as Alex Lifeson (), is a Canadian musician, best known as the guitarist and backing vocalist of the progressive rock band Rush. In 1968, Lifeson co-founded the band that wo ...
– electric and acoustic guitars,
mandola The mandola (US and Canada) or tenor mandola (Ireland and UK) is a fretted, stringed musical instrument. It is to the mandolin what the viola is to the violin: the four double courses of strings tuned in fifths to the same pitches as the viola ...
*
Neil Peart Neil Ellwood Peart OC (; September 12, 1952 – January 7, 2020) was a Canadian-American musician, best known as the drummer and primary lyricist of the rock band Rush. Peart earned numerous awards for his musical performances, including an ...
– drums, cymbals Production *Rush – production, recording *
Paul Northfield Paul Northfield is a prolific British record producer and sound engineer, who has worked on albums by bands such as Dream Theater, Queensrÿche, Rush, Porcupine Tree and Suicidal Tendencies. Northfield worked at Advision Studio, London from 197 ...
– production, recording *Chris Stringer – recording assistance * David Leonard – mixing *David Bottrill - mixing: 2013 version *Joel Kazmi – mixing assistance *
Howie Weinberg Howie Weinberg is an American audio mastering engineer with over 2,257 mastering credits, three TEC Awards, 21 Grammy Awards, two Juno Awards, and one Mercury Prize. Career Weinberg mastered Herbie Hancock's 1983 album ''Future Shock''. Other m ...
– mastering *Roger Lian – additional mastering and sequencing *Andy VanDette - mastering: 2013 version *Lorne "Gump" Wheaton – equipment care *
Hugh Syme Hugh Syme is a Canadian Juno Award-winning graphic artist and member of the Premier Artists Collection (PAC) who is best known for his artwork and cover concepts for rock and metal bands. He is also a musician and has appeared on some Rush ...
– art direction, paintings, and portraits


Charts


Weekly charts


Year-end charts


Certifications


References


External links

* * {{Authority control Rush (band) albums 2002 albums Anthem Records albums Atlantic Records albums Albums produced by Paul Northfield