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Canada's Rush Returns With "Vapor Trails"
Billboard/Atlantic Records/Anthem Entertainment/VH-1 News
| 3-14-02
| Jonathan Cohen
Posted on 03/14/2002 7:56:40 PM PST by My Favorite Headache
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To: My Favorite Headache
Thanks for the ping. I've never seen them live; I'll have to make every effort to catch them this time around.
To: My Favorite Headache
I just heard the release of "One Little Victory"!!!
Unbelievable!!. This Rush fan since 1980 is very pleased!!!
To: ConservativeLawyer
Once in 1985 and again in 1996. Better believe I plan on being there for this tour. This time NOT in the nosebleed section.
To: StarfireIV
I posted clips from 3 other songs as well
To: *Canada
Bumping for index
To: My Favorite Headache
Rush's Return Is Personal For Drummer Peart
Musician overcame personal hardships before writing Vapor Trails.
by Jon Wiederhorn
Ernest Hemingway once described courage as "grace under pressure." Rush drummer Neil Peart liked the phrase so much that he used it as the title of the band's 1984 album. Now, having experienced devastating family tragedy and a subsequent rebirth, Peart has become the living definition of courage.
In 1997, the drummer's 19-year-old daughter died in a car accident. The following year, his wife Jackie passed away from cancer. At that point, Rush had just released their third multi-disc live album, Different Stages, and the band took an extended hiatus to allow Peart time to heal.
Now, five years after their last studio record, Test for Echo, the Canadian power trio have completed their 17th album Vapor Trails, due May 14. The disc was produced by Rush — singer/bassist Geddy Lee, guitarist Alex Lifeson and Peart — and engineered by Paul Northfield (Marilyn Manson, Hole). With Northfield's help, Rush have created their most insistent and organic record in years.
Vapor Trails is loaded with Rush trademarks — Lee's deft bass playing and high, nasal vocals; Lifeson's crisp, ringing guitars; and Peart's extraordinarily precise drumming. But the band's interest in adapting to the times is notable.
The first single, "One Little Victory," owes more to the new breed of alterna-metal than to the prog rockers of yesteryear. The song starts with marching drums and aggressively churning guitars before shifting into a melodic, modern anthem colored with layered vocals and an undercurrent of wailing guitars. The lyrics of the chorus, "Celebrate the moment as it turns into one more/ Another chance at victory, another chance to score," sum up the flavor of the record.
Instead of dwelling on past tragedy, lyricist Peart is determined to reflect on what he has learned, embrace the present and prepare for the future. Songs like the road tune "Ghost Rider," which seems to be about the yearlong motorcycle road trip he made around North America to regain his sanity, is about as close as he comes to grief. "Carry all those phantoms through bitter wind and stormy skies/ ... Show my beauty, but there is no beast for a ghost rider."
Elsewhere, Peart reflects about the way life ebbs and flows between elation and depression, but he never feels sorry for himself. On "How It Is," he writes, "There's a little trap that sometimes trips up everyone when we're tired of our own company/ Sometimes we're the last to see beyond the day's frustrations/ That's how it is, how it's going to be."
Peart's recovery was sped up after he fell in love again and married his second wife in 2000. He chronicles the experience on "Sweet Miracle": "I wasn't walking on water, I was standing on a reef when the tide came in/ Swept beneath surface, lost without a trace, no hope at all/ Oh, sweet miracle, love, sweet miracle of life."
Musically, Vapor Trails is less complex and progressive than Test for Echo, which overflowed with acrobatic playing and eye-popping rhythm and tempo changes. It's probably the most organic disc the band has recorded since 1991's Roll the Bones. Even Peart overlooks his trademark drum gymnastics in favor of stark, steady beats.
Rush plan to support Vapor Trails with a major North American tour in late June. The shows will be the band's first since July 1997.
To: StarfireIV
updated for index...haven't had time to add the 4-4-02 article til now...
To: ConservativeLawyer
update
To: CygnusTheSwan
Updated
To: eric_da_grate
update
To: DEADROCK
update
To: My Favorite Headache
Thanks for the update.
To: My Favorite Headache
Great news. Have you heard the 2 min. samples of Earthshine, Freeze and Nocturne? Looking forward to hearing complete songs. Thanks for the ping.
To: DEADROCK
Yeah I did and I actually downloaded the entire album last night. Then SRO went out and shut down everyone's site. There are some moments that need to be forgotten on Vapor Trails but the last 4 tracks on it are flawless.
To: My Favorite Headache
'Forgotten?' Do you mean they are weak songs?
To: DEADROCK
Not anymore. Having had this album for a week now...it is perfect. I love it. Their best since Power Windows.
Here are Rush's first few tour dates, tickets go on sale 10 AM for all on April 20th...this Saturday:
June 28: Hartford, Conn. (ctnow.com Meadows Music Centre)
June 29: Scranton, Pa. (Montage Mountain Amphitheatre)
July 1: Charlotte, N.C. (Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre)
July 3: Virginia Beach, Va. (Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre)
July 4: Raleigh, N.C. (Alltel Pavilion @ Walnut Creek)
July 6: Saratoga Springs, N.Y. (Saratoga Performing Arts Center)
July 7: Darien Center, N.Y. (Darien Lake Performing Arts Center)
July 9: Bristow, Va. (Nissan Pavilion)
July 11: Holmdel, N.J. (PNC Bank Arts Center)
July 12: Mansfield, Mass. (Tweeter Center)
July 14: Camden, N.J. (Tweeter Center)
July 15: Wantagh, N.Y. (Jones Beach)
July 17: Toronto (Molson Amphitheatre)
July 19: Milwaukee (Marcus Amphitheatre)
July 20: Tinley Park, Ill. (Tweeter Center)
Aug. 1: Bonner Springs, Kan. (Sandstone Amphitheatre)
Aug. 2: Maryland Heights, Mo. (UMB Bank Pavilion)
Aug. 4: Cincinnati (Riverbend Music Center)
Aug. 6: Burgettstown, Pa. (Post-Gazette Pavilion)
Aug. 8: Columbus, Ohio (Polaris Amphitheatre)
Aug. 9: Noblesville, Ind. (Verizon Wireless Music Center)
Aug. 11: Clarkston, Mich. (DTE Energy Music Theatre)
Aug. 14: Nashville, Tenn. (AmSouth Amphitheatre)
Aug. 16: The Woodlands, Texas (C.W. Mitchell Pavilion)
Aug. 17: San Antonio, Texas (Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre)
Aug. 19: Dallas (Reunion Arena)
Aug. 21: Albuquerque, N.M. (Journal Pavilion)
The 2nd leg is scheduled to begin 2nd week of Sept. in the panhandle.
To: My Favorite Headache
You have heard all the songs, right? In another thread you stated that the last 4 songs were strong, the rest should be forgotten(something like that). In your mind, is it a weak cd?
To: DEADROCK
No. Actually that was listening off of a bad copy. When I finally got the cd itself it stands so well on its own there is not one piece of filler on the album at all. It is like I said the best album they have done since 85.
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