RETROSPECTIVE III 1989 - 2008

Rush are now nearing the end of their 4th decade of releasing music and also at the end of their record deal with Atlantic, so to celebrate/cash in (delete according to your own personal degree of cynicism) we have the 3rd Retrospective of their work spanning 1989 through 2008.

The main interest for many fans will be the remixes done by Richard Chycki for the Vapor Trails tracks One Little Victory and Earthshine. The mastering/production of 2002's Vapor Trails has always been a bone of contention for Rush fans. The album is torturous to listen to: suffering both from digital artefacts and a muddy over-hot mix. So how do the tracks sound? Well in this humble reviewer's opinion they sound even worse! Initially I was enthusiastic as I could hear bits that were previously hidden but truth be known the mix is now even muddier, for example the bass is more prominent but the vocals are muffled, some of the guitar tracks can be heard but the drums sound, well, artificial I guess.

As for the rest, well it's OK I suppose. A collection of minor hits and fan favourites. Not the greatest era of the band and if you follow the mantra old Rush good - new Rush bad then this is not the collection for you. There is a bonus disc, available at a premium price, containing videos released by the band during this era so I guess collectors will want the release for those.

I listened to the CD once and shrugged. So what? Let's hope there's a Retro 4 with some real Rush music on it.