Having just listened to Rush's "Vapor Trails" - the first album after Peart's family tragedies - and felt compelled to make a post about the album it's self, and how it compares to their latest album, "Snakes & Arrow".
The first thing I must get off my chest is that "Vapor Trails" is a very difficult and tiring album to listen to for extended periods of time. Not because it's bad, but rather because it's mixing and sound quality are so bloody awful that even after two songs, I feel rather light headed and a tad dizzy too.
Suffice to say, VT's biggest problem has always been it's mixing and sound quality. It's all too distorted, all too messy and all too annoying if I may be honest. Nevertheless, the actual songs themselves are pretty rocking and notably different from S&A.
There are those who would disagree with me, but I think VT is very much a proper evolution of 1997's "Test for Echo"; in the same way in which "Test for Echo" pays homage to 1993's "Counterparts". Mind you, those were not my first impressions of this album. When I first heard VT, I thought it was absolutely awful and above all else, quite uninteresting. Thankfully, as time has passed, the album has very much grown on me and my appreciation for it is now quite strong.
As an album, It's quite hard rocking, bold and in-your face. "Snakes & Arrows" in comparison sounds softer, more polished, but ultimately more intelligent and more interesting. Whilst there are a number of great songs on VT, I feel that the majority of them are quite one-note pony - actually, come to think of it, the album as a whole doesn't have a great deal of variety. This in my humble opinion, is where S&A is a much better album as it offers an enticing and exciting mix of bass lines, electric and acoustic guitars and complex drum riffs. Not to mention, those little things: Mandolin, Violin, Synthesizers, a Moog, etc.
The song themselves prove S&A's variety too - you've got a 3 or 4 hard rockers, a few "acid-rock" songs, and a few quirky jams.
On the other hand, one cannot fault this albums interesting technique of drums and implementation of bass guitar. The perfect example for the latter being "Ceiling Unlimited", which is just absurdly awesome. Despite the awful sound distortion, Geddy's bass comes off as bold and inspiring - not to mention, Geddy uses his signature "flameco" style at it's absolute finest. It sounds frantic and mean.
Actually, much of the bass work in this album is daring and bold. Dare I say even better than S&A? Hmm..Maybe so.. But to say that would be kind of stupid considering it'd be like comparing apples to oranges.
Nevertheless, I feel that S&A manages to capture most everything in Rush history into one ultra-cool package. It is my humble opinion one of their finest albums.
Additionally, one thing that I feel VT ultimately suffers from is the lack of guitar solos. With S&A you get one in nearly every song, where as VT only offers three or four and the ones that exist, seem to lack the classic Lifeson feeling.
Mixing:
In terms of sound quality production and mixing, one cannot do better than S&A. While VT, on the contrary, couldn't be any worse. Honestly, it's a very messy album.
Furthermore, many of the guitars have undergone layering to manipulate their original sound and the end result is a swack of songs which sound majorly over-produced. Same goes for the vocal layering, it's more than a tad overdone. I don't mind some, but frankly, they went way overboard.
Lyrics:
The lyrics of VT are quite interesting, but ultimately, less "fun" than S&A. Don't get me wrong, I think they are most excellent, but I prefer S&A's for a multitude of reasons. They aren't as many metaphors and hidden messages, but they seem to work better from a song stand point.
Singles:
"Far Cry" vs "One Little Victory"
My choice from the two? Most definitely Far Cry. It is my opinion, more dynamic, more entertaining and well, just cooler. But, one cannot deny the OLV starting cue which is just dynamite - starts off with pounding drums and leads into hard edged Alex-style guitar and then leads into ultra-awesomeness. FC is not really any less impressive though - particularly the beginning which starts off with classic Rush F-Cord (purposely borrowed from "Hemispheres") and leads into pounding drums perfectly timed with Alex's guitar swacks, but as far as I'm concerned, the real magic with FC begins a little after the introduction. Specifically the point in which Alex does criss-cross notes - something similar to "Dreamline" - but of course, in a fashion which sounds Middle Eastern. If you haven't heard either song, it's quite hard to describe, but here are a few audio clips:
Studio version of "One Little Victory"
Studio version of "Far Cry"
"Secret Touch" vs "Spindrift"
Two truly spectacular songs, but choosing my favourite from the two isn't hard by any means - "Spindrift" any day. That's not to say ST isn't great though, oh no, in fact it's probably my favourite track from VT. Thing is though, SD is just too great to ignore. It invokes feelings of Moving Pictures' "Witch Hunt" and that my friends, is a big positive. It's a finely crafted song with intelligent lyrics and instrumentally mastery. Most of the song sounds demonic, while the chorus lightens up and the result is that SD sounds like two different songs combined together. Most of the folks I talk to really dislike that element of the song, but I personally, think it's absolutely wonderful. It's fitting to the song meaning too - as the song is based upon that of a relationship, the parts where the guitar is demonic is the couple fighting where as the chorus indicates a friendlier and more peaceful time. Lyrics such as these: "what am I supposed to say, where are the words to answer you" make such evident.
Honestly, there isn't anything remarkable about ST, but it is indeed great.
"Sweet Miracle" vs "Larger Bowl"
And TLB it is... Honestly, I never really liked SM. Musically, I feel it to be an oddity It's got a strong lyrical message though; that which is the miracle of life. TLB on the other hand, is a tad degree simpler than SM offering the message of how the world is seen through the eyes of the poor and the rich. Actually, it's more or less giving the exact same message which Test For Echo's "Half the World" gave back in 1997. No doubt, TLB is more light hearted than SM; it's melodies and music make such evident, but what really puts the icing on the cake is Lifeson's guitar solo in the middle of the TLB; it's absolutely wonderful
Songs:
So there you have a small comparison of the three singles which were released for these albums. Both of these albums have a total of 13 songs, but aside from that, they're very different. S&A is full of goodies from the raw "Armor & Sword", to the quirky "Malignant Narcissism", to the progressive "We Hold On". Of the 13 some songs on VT, there isn't one that I prefer over any of the 13 on S&A. I don't want to give you the impression that VT has no quality songs, because that is simply untrue. With VT you get such stand out tracks as "Peaceable Kingdom" - offering a similar message to "Armor & Sword", but in a fashion overly less impressive - to the pounding "Nocturne" to the 4th part of "The Fear series", "Freeze". And while were on the subject, perhaps it's time to mention how great the 4th installment of The Fear Series is. Sure, it doesn't really give you the same overall feeling as previous greats in the series: "The Weapon"; "Witch Hunt" and "The Enemy Within", but dynamically it's quite impressive. Admittedly, as the song's guitars have undergone much layering it is more or less unplayable in a live situation, but it's so rocking that one has to ignore such. Superb song. "Earthshine", "Vapor Trails" and "The Stars Look Down" are also favourites of mine, but in the end, S&A is just better.
Verdict:
So there you have it - my brief (lol) comparison of the two albums. Weaknesses and all, I am glad Vapor Trails is was it is. Like all Rush albums, it helped the band evolve and you can sure that without VT, there would be no S&A.
No comments:
Post a Comment