THE STUDIO ALBUMS 1989-2007

Much has already been written about the albums, so please check the reviews. Now, on to the actual box.

PACKAGING - Definitely a box for the music only as the packaging is similar to the "Original Album Classics" series released on Columbia Records. The only extra in this set is a booklet with lyrics for each song on every album.

MUSIC - If you're a fan of "Presto", it's worth the price alone as this is the ultimate remaster. It doesn't sound all that digital and cluttered and there's a great separation of the instruments. It's always been my favourite "Neil album". The keyboards and other sounds are more clear. Better than the remaster in 2004. "Roll The Bones" is the same as "Presto", although I've always found it to sound like an outtake album of Presto. The actual track "Roll The Bones" is a sonic treasure on this one and a drastic improvement. The leadoff Dreamline has a lot going on, moreso than the original and reminds of the remaster of Signals, especially the improvements on Countdown. "Counterparts" opens with the driving "Animate" and again, much more clear sounding. The rest of the allbum is still about love and things I'd prefer Rush not sing about. Yes indeed, I would rather dine on honey dew and drink the milk of paradise. They should leave love and heartbreak to J-Lo and Myley Cyrus...alhough "Double Agent" is a sonic treasure here. "Test For Echo"...I quit listening to Rush at that point, but I credit them for releasing a turkey(or what appeared to be a turkey at the time) so I could direct my attention to newer discoveries of yore like Soft Machine and all things Canterbury. Rush always plays some part in my life. Thanks, guys! I'm hearing new things on this one and gaining an appreciation for it. "Vapor Trails' (Remixed...but still not grammatically correct as these guys are Canucks and their english teachers would`ve rapped their knuckles for spelling vapor without a "u"...the Queen's English..."vapo[u]r"). Well, if you liked the original...then stay away. I couldn't stand it and it hurt my ears. I relate the original Vapor Trails with the Level 42 album called "Retroglide". That album too received complaints about a "hot mix with too much compression". I actually prefer the original Level 42 Retroglide-mix to the newer one (Level 42 remixed it, much like Rush did with "Vapor Trails"). But, I digress. What we have with the remixed "Vapor Trails" is a new album, as far as I am concerned. I had hard time getting through the original mix as many times as I tried, but my ears were fatigued (and I've got big ones, ladies and gentleman). If you're a Rush completist, get it. If you like "Vapor Trails" as is, don't do it. If you want to hear a new album, BUY IT! Hmmm...what to think of "Feedback". It's Rush running out of ideas but doing a decent job at some covers. I never bought the original, so I can't really compare if it's been remastered or not. The boys do a snappy version of Love's "Seven And Seven Is"(Arthur Lee would hate it! Yeah...he'd HATE it!) Congratulations. "Snakes And Arrows" sounds great, but I've always liked the sound of that album anyway. I don't have the original, so again...can't comment.

On the whole, the set gets an even 4 stars. Here's my breakdown

5 stars for "Presto" (I'd give it an extra if I could) 3 stars for "Roll The Bones" (Dreamline! and "Where's My Thing?'! Bravado and Ghost Of A Chance, Heresy...all sound reborn. BONUS!) 2.5 stars for "Counterparts" (Animate, Leave That Thing Alone and Double Agent!) 4 stars for "Test For Echo" (revisiting this one quite a bit...liking what I hear A LOT!) 2.5 stars for "Vapor Trails - Remixed" as there are some tracks on there my dog won't even smell or consume. I`ve found the back-up vocals irritating then and still do now. 2.5 stars for "Feedback' (just covers) 3 stars for "Snakes And Arrows" (on the album alone...as I can't compare it to the original...someone stole it out of the Lizzymobile)

Conclusion. A great box to fill in your Rush blanks, but not essentail Rush(notwithstanding Presto and Test Fr Echo). During and after "Roll The Bones", I found Rush to be hit and miss. However, the remixed Vapor Trails has made me reconsider it when I couldn`t listen to it at all in the past. "Test For Echo" is worth revisiting in this box(a real sleeper and underrated).

The title here is a bit of a misnomer - the packaging says this boxed set collects seven albums, but really it's six albums plus an EP (Feedback). In any event, it's a one-stop pick to collect all the studio output of the band from their Atlantic Records era. The clamshell box is solid, the albums come in card sleeves (not as nice as the mini LP replicas from the Sector 1, Sector 2, and Sector 3 boxed sets collecting their Mercury Records period, but these albums were from the era of CDs so lavish LP packaging wasn't really part of the order of the day anyway), and a booklet with the lyrics for all the songs bar the cover versions on Feedback.

Of the material collected here, Counterparts, Feedback, and Snakes and Arrows are pretty solid albums, though none of them are classics on the level of Farewell to Kings or Moving Pictures, and whilst Presto, Roll the Bones, and Test For Echo don't quite match the same standard but all have some nice moments to recommend them.

Fortunately, the balance of the collection skews more towards "good" than "OK with some good moments" thanks to the inclusion of the remixed version of Vapor Trails. (Indeed, this box came out at around the same time the remix was also made available separately.) It's often been said that the mix on the original release of Vapor Trails did the album no favours, and the remix proves that to devastating effect, turning a murky album into a pretty damn good one.

Getting seven albums for the price of about two, in a compact space-saving format, is a pretty decent deal. None of the albums here consist of Rush's A-material - but their B-material's still very, very good, and their C-material has enough interesting about it to make me glad to have it. Unless you are a hardliner for whom Rush ends with Hold the Bones (or Grace Under Pressure, or Signals, or Moving Pictures, or...), I would say most Rush listeners could do a lot worse than this set: it's not like many people are going to be clamouring for a super deluxe multi-disc reissue of Presto or something, and this package manages to be cost-effective without feeling outright cheap.