Diogenes Anyone who is familiar with Rush knows that the band was going through some tough shit in the late ‘90s. Drummer Neil Peart tragically lost both his daughter and his wife in the span of less than a year, effectively putting the band on a hiatus for quite some time. It’s because of this that Vapor Trails even getting released in the first place was surprising to people, since most had written the band off. But as fate would have it, the trio from Canada did indeed reunite to record their comeback effort in 2001-one that a decade later, people still aren’t too sure about.

First: the infamous production. Yes, it sucks. It’s a freakin’ mess. Alex Lifeson’s guitar is too distorted. Geddy Lee’s vocals are either too muffled or too up-front, depending on which vocal effects are used (more on this later). It’s too dense. It’s basically the opposite of the clean, professional production that Rush had used for the previous twenty years, and it’s probably the main reason why people tend to shun Vapor Trails. What’s curious about this is that the band actually spent a really long time writing and recording it; although the circumstances definitely warranted Rush easing back into the swing of things, it’s still a little strange to think that Vapor Trails came out the way it did.

However, I present to you a different perspective: the production on Vapor Trails can actually be seen as a blessing in disguise. GASP! Sure, when compared in a vacuum to virtually any Rush album before it, Vapor Trails sounds awful, but just listen to the songs. There is a discernible energy to this album that Counterparts and Test for Echo lack. Part of this is undoubtedly due to Vapor Trails being Rush’s “reunion” album (the time off giving them some really emotional tunes to write), but you can’t convince me that songs like “Earthshine” or “Ghost Rider” would sound nearly as good with the production that they used on their 90s material. Simply put, the songs on Vapor Trails have a bite, an edge, a punch about them, and that’s a good thing as far as I’m concerned.

When you think about it, though, this falls right in line with Rush constantly changing and evolving to fit the times. They have fathered both proto-metal and progressive rock, explored synths in a way that wasn’t totally cheesy, and successfully experimented with grunge and alternative rock sounds; it should come as no surprise that they would eventually release an album like Vapor Trails (let alone in their late 40s). It’s noticeably devoid of guitar solos, Lifeson instead opting for a dirtier guitar tone to fit the riff-oriented songs. The keyboards are totally gone. The traditional Rush melodies are still there, but in a way that’s both charged and yet unable to get out. It’s quite fitting, as you can almost feel the band’s emotional experiences spilling over into their music. Granted, melodically structured songs like “How it Is” tend to be thrown away by the fanbase because they sound buried, but there’s still plenty of beauty to be found here. And on the other side of things, songs like the opener “One Little Victory” and “Nocturne” are what the band tried to do on Counterparts: use a guitar-based sound to create energetic, aggressive tracks.

Really, what Vapor Trails suffers most from is filler. There aren’t any songs here that I’d call “bad,” but the album certainly could be a couple of tracks shorter; it’s getting the point in the band’s career where you have to wonder if another installment of “Fear” is really necessary. And the “thousand Geddy” approach to the vocals can get a little irritating, too. I know the guy’s getting up there in age, but I think the band waited one album too long to get him to sing in a lower register, instead of adding all sorts of vocal effects to the already muddy sound (although Snakes and Arrows had both). I mean, they’re not even consistent, and they’re the only thing on this album that sounds thrown together or done at the last minute.

In the end, what is usually regarded as the most dividing album in Rush’s career is simply another exploration in a new sound; this time, it’s heavier and more intimate, a perfect match to suit the most tumultuous time in the band’s history. It may not be a top album in their extensive discography, but there are plenty of hidden gems here, more than enough to give Vapor Trails a fair shake. Remember, production isn’t everything!

Warthur After his wife and daughter both died within a year of each other, it seemed as though Neal Peart was simply too shattered to continue with Rush. After a lot of soul-searching and a long road trip, Peart finally felt ready to get back in the saddle and the result was Vapor Trails. The infamously slipshod production job has already been discussed to death so I won't get into that here - what I will say is that Rush seem fairly laid back here, operating mainly within the comfort zone they had settled into over the past two decades and offering few surprises. Then again, I guess they were just thrilled to be back in the studio at all.

Warthur Compiled by Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson whilst Neal Peart struggled to come to terms with a series of tragic events in his family life, there was a time when it appeared that Different Stages might be the final release by Rush. Happily, Peart’s emotional recovery meant that this wasn’t the case, but if this triple live album had been the band’s last words, then they’d have gone out on a high.

The first two discs are drawn from the tours for Counterparts and Test For Echo, with most songs being drawn from a single performance in 1997 with a few exceptions here and there. These showcase Rush giving their heaviest performances since the 1970s - if not of their whole career - with classic songs being given definitive live renditions (including a complete run-through of 2112!) and newer songs being given a much-needed shot in the arm, transforming them from their comparatively sterile studio versions into pieces worthy of sharing a setlist with the band’s best songs. This, frankly, is the best way to listen to the post-Grace Under Pressure songs included here, and if the release had been rounded off with just these two discs it’d still be great value for money. It’s not perfect - the “rap” section in Roll the Bones still sounds goofy and there’s a really tedious drum solo midway through the second disc - but it’s Rush sounding back on form for the first time in over a decade, so the first two discs would earn four stars on their own.

The third disc documents a barnstorming show in London during the Farewell to Kings tour. This is very much worth having for any fan of early (pre-Permanent Waves) Rush, and I’d say it’s even a better live document of that period of their career than the hastily recorded All the World’s a Stage. The band give a performance which is at once heavier and yet at the same time more technically proficient than on that album, adding little flourishes to already complex compositions and rocking the hell out of the selections from their first three albums. In fact, I’d say that the versions of Bastille Day, By-Tor and the Snow Dog, and the other pre-2112 songs here are the definitive recordings of those tracks. As for the fresher material, Something for Nothing is - rather surprisingly - the only 2112 track featured, whilst four songs from Farewell to Kings are presented, the band proving on tracks like Xanadu or Cygnus X-1 that they were fully capable of realising even their most complex compositions on stage.

On the whole, then, a very credible four star performance from the 1990s and a bonus disc of five star 1970s material makes me think a four and a half star rating is more than fair. Different Stages really puts Rush’s 1990s studio albums to shame when you compare these lively, energetic renditions of that material to the versions on Roll the Bones, Test for Echo and Counterparts, and comes highly recommended to all Rush fans who like the heavier side of their work.

Warthur Counterparts wasn't quite a return to form - when "on form" for Rush includes classics like Moving Pictures, 2112, and A Farewell to Kings, returning to it is a difficult proposition indeed and Counterparts didn't quite get there. But it was their strongest album for some time and had some pretty good songs, so Rush fans had plenty of reason to be hopeful about the followup. "Maybe," everyone thought, "this is it, the breakthrough, the comeback, the definitive blowing away of the cobwebs which puts Rush back at the top of their game."

Spoiler: it isn't. Test For Echo isn't a terrible album, but it doesn't feel very necessary either; musically speaking, it's essentially Diet Counterparts, a retread of that territory with the sound toned down a little and a bit less inclined to get heavy from time to time. If you liked that album, Test For Echo might do it for you, though I suspect many of those who embraced Counterparts will find Test rather lightweight. If Counterparts didn't impress you or seem like much of a comeback, Test For Echo certainly won't win you over.

Warthur Counterparts isn't an album I'd put in the front rank of Rush's discography, but it's still something of a return to form, firmly reversing the trend towards irrelevance and self-plagiarism that the band had been drifting into since Grace Under Pressure. This time around, the band's experiments in incorporating modern alt-rock ideas into their sound from Roll the Bones are brought to fruition, accomplishing the blend in a much more graceful and natural way than that album ever did.

The opening number, Animate, finds Rush sounding more energetic and forceful than they had since Signals, and I have to give Neil Peart credit for Nobody's Hero - a slice-of-life song which expresses Peart's shock both at the AIDS-related death of a friend and a murder that took place in his home town. (I particularly like how the opening lines take the position that straight people shouldn't be embarrassed of socialising with and supporting their LGBT friends.) However, whilst the album has a more or less strong opening, I find the material here isn't quite polished enough to sustain it for the entire 54 minute runtime.

It might be tempting to blame CDs for this, and I do believe the expanded time constraints compared to vinyl offered by CDs have prompted some bands to include poor tracks on their albums for the sake of filling out the running time, and there are plenty of albums out there which could be improved if their creators stuck to a 40 minute running time and trimmed the fat. But I don't think that's the case this time around; the fact is, Rush were coming out of a creative slump here which preceded the shift from vinyl to CDs, and whilst the better songs on here are entertaining enough, the band's classic songs blow this material out of the water. Rush were moving in the right direction at this point, but they hadn't recovered fully yet.

AtomicCrimsonRush This 3 CD package is a great concert experience that I will return to often. Everything works - from the excellent sound quality to the crystal clear picture. The stage itself is massive and there are incredible lighting effects, lasers and fire effects. The 3 split screens at times show each band member, and sometimes a visual effect to enhance the track being played. There are weird Rush-ian gimmicks, namely the 3 huge ovens full of rotating chickens that glow ominous red throughout the night. There is no reference to these except Lee says at the end of CD1 that they are no longer spring chickens so they need to take a break. At one point a weird chef appears to turn the chickens over. Similar in fact to the washing machines with rotating clothes in the 'Live in Rio' show. Other subtler things are on stage such as flanks of flowers around microphones, plastic dinosaurs around Lifeson's stacks and the piece de resistance is the miniature Stonehenge rock on Lee's keyboards - a nod in Spinal Tap's direction for sure. We see crowd shots and Lee takes home movies of them screaming Hello Canada - in fact we see many versions of him doing this from other shows. Peart is featured with a sizzling drum solo that is well above what normally occurs in solos. He uses gamelon style blocks and sound effect drums to enhance the solo and his kit rotates to add depth. I love when the jazz band kicks in and he plays full blown jazz metrical patterns - there is a standing ovation after this.

There are no lengthy lead solo sections where Lifeson plays by himself but there is a nice acoustic piece following the drum solo. Lifeson effortlessly plays all the songs with precision and finesse. Surely one of the greatest guitarists in the world.

Lee's vocals are excellent and as clear as ever. His bass pounds on every track. I noted its all mostly hard rock on this live show. The band play old favourites that every Rush fan adores such as 'Spirit of Radio' and 'Tom Sawyer' but they focus on 'Snakes and Arrows' album, virtually playing every song. This could have been problematic but I find these live versions even better than the studio versions. I was never a huge fan of S&A but this live concert really brings something special to these tracks. I like the film clips that break up the songs such as South Park's Cartman singing Tom Sawyer and the weird clips of babies in prams and a game of snakes and ladders.

The bonus features are fun, such as watching the clips without the band shots and the making of the clips which show Rush at their kookiest. Some of the extra live tracks are great too so overall this is a must see for any Rush fan. I recommend this as well as 'Live IN Rio' which are completely different experiences. This is not as good as 'Rio' due to the set list, but it is still a fantastic DVD package.

AtomicCrimsonRush The spirit of Rush captured live before an enthusiastic crowd.

“Rush In Rio” is undoubtedly one of the best live records in the extensive Rush catalogue. Unlike some of the other live DVD concerts, this one features a lively crowd that insist on singing every line of every song and their enthusiasm is infectious. It always brings a warm feeling to hear them singing all the notes, even in the instrumentals. This is definitely one of the best DVDs of the power trio along with “Snakes and Arrows Live”.

There are some brilliant moments to savour as a visual and oral experience. Lee, Lifeson and Peart are at their best, Lee is especially terrific on vocals, when his voice was powerful and dynamic. There are about 160 minutes of quintessential Rush favourites. Highlights abound such as Tom Sawyer, YYZ, where the crowd holler out every note and bounce like a football crowd, The Pass, Freewill, Closer to the Heart and a wonderful version of Natural Science, a track that drew me to the “Permanent Waves” album. There are incredible performances of One Little Victory, Leave That Thing Alone, Resist, and a 7 minute edited version of 2112. At least it is here but I rather the version on "All The World's A Stage"/

The last part of the concert is my favourite as it features indispensable classics such as Limelight, La Villa Strangiato, The Spirit of Radio, By-Tor and the Snow Dog, and a tacked on tiny version of Cygnus X-1. My favourite is Working Man, and it is given a wonderful treatment in Rio.

There are some unusual additions on DVD 2 with the most compelling documentary I have seen in years. The fly on the wall treatment of seeing what goes on behind the scenes is fascinating and worth the price of admission alone.

This concert is a lengthy but triumphant Rush paradise. The performances are faultless and it is full of energy and power from start to finish. Pick up this masterful DVD at all costs!

rdtprog The Time Machine tour was highlighted by the celebration of the Moving Pictures's CD 30th Anniversary. The band played the entire cd at the beginning of the second set. Also they decided to play back some songs that have not been play for a long time, like "Marathon" and "Time Stand Still". For the first time, we can hear the song "Presto", live. The rest of the set contains classics songs covering all the decades, including the two new songs; "BU2B" and Caravan". The playing of the entire Moving Pictures cd was a opportunity to hear for the first time in 30 years, "Camera Eye". But at the same time, we have to endure again the same songs that the bands put on all his tours, i am talking about "Tom Sawyer" and "Limelight", who are favorites among the majority of fans, but not for me. The two new songs are not great songs, but had to be put on the set list here.

For the performance, the band was full of energy, happy to be there, if we take a look at the cameras that was catching the looks and funny faces that each member through at each other, especially obvious in the song "Free Will", with Neil and Alex. The editing filming is excellent by giving us some camera shots at the right spot and at the right moment.

The picture quality on the Blu-Ray is very good, maybe not as good as Snakes and Arrows, but this is not a issue here. The DTS-HD sound is excellent with a full surround sound and a clear mix of all instruments. As for the extras, it's rather short and not memorable. I would have prefer to see more recent footage instead of some old archives stuff where the picture quality is poor, like they did on Snakes and Arrows.

So this Blu-Ray is excellent, because it's made by a great band that have survived together all these years with a impeccable musicianship. I can only be a little fussy about the set list, that's what happened when you listen too much to a band's music... Recommended!