VAPOR TRAILS

Personally I wouldn't recommend this album. The best tracks also appear on the Rush in Rio DVD and I think those versions sound better. My first impression of the album was that it sounded like a wall of incoherent noise. My favorite tracks are marred by the lousy sound and the majority of the tracks sound like uninspired album fillers.

I don't think the bad sound is just an engineering problem, I also think that Alex just plays with too much distortion these days. I wonder what the songs would sound like using a cleaner guitar tone like in the 70's.

Despite what the other reviews say, I definitely would not consider this a classic Rush album.

I'll give it two stars. I didn't care for it, but it appears there is a sizeable segment of Rush fans that do like it a lot.

To put my opinions into perspective, here is how I rate the Rush albums

Great: 2112 A Farewell to Kings Hemispheres Permanent Waves Moving Pictures

Good: Rush Fly By Night Caress of Steel Signals Grace Under Pressure Power Windows Hold Your Fire Counterparts

Fair: Presto Roll the Bones

Poor: Test for Echo Vapor Trails