I was fortunate to get hold of this at the weekend, it rocks!
Given the comparative weakness of Test For Echo(IMHO), it is inspiring to listen to the new album and wonder at it’s sheer intensity. Peart plays with ferocity throughout, and Lifeson matches him all the way. Geddy Lee ‘sings’ with greater expression than previously thought possible.
The complete abandonment of keyboards may suprise some people, but it works here.
I have to go listen to it again.
GAH! I’ve been waiting for…forever…for this CD to come out and now I’m too broke to buy it!
The next sound you hear will be Rushgeekgirl pulling out couch cushions…desperately seeking spare change…
What is BIG NEWS like this doing on page two? Fellow Rush fans, for shame!
one of my coworkers gave me a copy of it today out of the blue. Some damn fine stuff.
I checked about, oh, 2,500 record stores in Amsterdam today. None of them had Vapor Trails in yet. World wide premiere, my ass. 
Go to www.getmusic.com for an interview with Lifeson and Lee, including little snippets of the songs themselves. Yes, based on those, I’d say we have a winner on our hands. Having said that, you can’t really tell until the album is a few months old. I played Test for Echo all day every day for two months when it came out, and have touched it ten times since. If that.
Counterparts, however, took a little more getting used to. But it’s still one of my all times faves now, 9 years later (has it been that long? Yikes).
This Friday, I pick up my copy! Extensive review to follow after the weekend. 
Oh, and even though the sound clip is maybe 10 seconds long, I can tell that “Earthshine” rocks HARD.
GAH!!! Gimme gimme gimme, now! 
Coldfire,
If you think that Counterparts is good, you should love this album.
Well I got the album yesterday at lunch. I’ve listened to it 5-6 times now I guess. So far I’m not all that impressed. So far the only songs that have really stuck out are Ceiling Unlimited, Ghost Rider and Sweek Miracle.
I have only listened to it once at home though so I really haven’t had a chance to sit down and really listen to it, read the lyrics etc. I think that after I do that I’ll know a little better if I like it or not.
Well I got the album yesterday at lunch. I’ve listened to it 5-6 times now I guess. So far I’m not all that impressed. So far the only songs that have really stuck out are Ceiling Unlimited, Ghost Rider and Sweek Miracle.
I have only listened to it once at home though so I really haven’t had a chance to sit down and really listen to it, read the lyrics etc. I think that after I do that I’ll know a little better if I like it or not.
I’m listening to it right now, but it’s only my second listen since I picked it up yesterday. One Little Victory has grown on me and I dig some of the other tunes but I haven’t been looking at the liner so I can’t tell you what the names of the songs are.
Edward, you still gonna see Rush at Nissan? If so did you get your tickets already and for what section? I ask this because the only person I can get to go with me is my GF, but when I asked her her response was “I get to go to a Rush concert and hang out with a bunch of people you met off the internet? How romantic” which leads me to believe that I’d be better off leaving her at home.
Hey Edward! If your impression remains the same, shall I send you my address?
You don’t want to waste valuable space on a recording that you don’t absolutely love, you know…
Yeah I’m going. I ended up getting lawn seats. I think I paid around 37 for them, it was an 11 buck mark up! I’m going with at least two to three other people and problably more. Any one else who wants to hook up let me know. It should be a lot of fun to get a number of people there.
Oh and RGG no you can’t have my copy, just cause it’s not the best thing in the world I’ll still keep it!
Edward, sweet. I was willing to go by myself but these sorts of things are more enjoyable with company.
Head on over to this thread and we can start making plans for meeting.
I downloaded most of the songs tonight. The album wil hit the stores tomorrow over here, and I just couldn’t wait. I figured since I’m a Rush Fan who owns over 15 legally purchased albums, and am certainly buying this one no matter what, they’ll forgive me the 24 hour break of copyright.
Still letting it all get to me. It’s different, in lyrics. More personal where the last albums were about general topics. Not surprising, seeing what Neil went through.
The music is very well-produced, and that’s in MP3 format on my PC. Can’t wait to get it into my Rotel CD player.
Can’t judge a lot about the songs yet - I usualy have to let it sink in for a few weeks. Oh, I’ll say one thing: the bass intro to Ghost Rider is a thing of absolute beauty. Very haunting.
For some reason, the thread didn’t move up in the list when I posted last night, so I’ll just bump it.
Have mercy, Uke.
This exactly describes CP & TFE for me too.
That said, the new album is really growing on me. I really dig #4, “Peaceable Kingdom” and the outro on #8, “Secret Touch”, is outstanding.
Vapor Trails is an excellent album, and definitely represents Rush’s renewed enthusiasm for their craft. It is hard hitting, aggressive, and rarely lets up, only for the occasional verse or two.
My favorites are Vapor Trail, Secret Touch, and One Little Victory.
My personal prediction is that on the upcoming tour, Rush will break their longstanding tradition of opening the concert with the first song off a previous album, and will instead open with OLV. It rocks, and in the words of Neil Peart, “One Little Victory” ma[kes] such an uncompromising announcement, “They’re ba-a-a-ack!”
Parting thoughts courtesy of Neil Peart on the Rush.com site:
Mars
I got it last night … it’s quite OK. I’m not as much of a fan of their “newer” (the last 10 - 15 years) stuff, and Vapor Trails reinforces that opinion.
Their producer certainly is a fan of the drums and bass! They are mixed way, way too high IMHO. Being an Alex fan, I am sad to have to strain to decipher all that’s going on with the virtuoso guitar playing. I miss the production values of the 70s and 80s.
I dig the album cover; certainly a lot more abstract than I was expecting. Hugh Syme certainly has changed a lot as an artist and graphic designer.
Now all I need is a Florida tour date and I’m all set. So far, none.
Woohoooo!!
It ROCKS. Hard.
No keyboards to be found on this album, no sirree. I’ll echo RTA to an extent: there are no guitar solos on there either, and frankly, Lifeson could have gotten a bit more airplay. What he’s doing is superb, however: better and more powerful riffs than on any other Rush album.
The production is simply awesome. Very agressive, very in-your-face. Crystal clear, highly detailed. Beautiful. Reminds me of that other fantastic production: Counterparts.
Lee and Peart seem to have the overtones on this album, musically speaking. I haven’t had a chance to sit down and read the lyrics yet: I’ve been playing it in the car a lot over the weekend. The compositions are good, very good. A lot better than most songs on Test for Echo (IMHO, only “Dog Years” and “Totem Pole” have stood the test of time on that one), and -so far- quite close to the quality of the songs on Counterparts, my favourite Rush album besides, of course, Moving Pictures.
I can see how someone who prefers the 80’s sound of albums as Power Windows and Hold your Fire would be disappointed with another rock-oriented album. But I for one welcome the turn the band has taken.
Ghost Rider and Earthshine stick out as favourites, so far. But more important: I can’t really pick a bad song on this album, something I could easily do on TfE.
Thank you, Rush, for being worth the wait once more.
So… anyone else? Huh? Huh??
[sub]Forgive me Uke, for I have sinned… a shameless bump![/sub]
As a native of Southern-Ontario, where Rush fandom is mandated by law, I’ve always been on the fringes. Frankly, they mostly annoy the hell out of me. The last (and only) album of theirs I owned was Moving Pictures which I listened to obsessively as a young teen although I quickly grew tired of the whole overwrought experience. Over the decades, I periodically checked out their material (not hard to do as they get a fair amount of airplay here) and still found plenty to annoy me. Geddy’s wail? Check. Cheeseball synths? Check. Obscure lyrics? Check. And did I actually hear Geddy rap a verse in Roll the Bones?? Or was that just some bizzare figment of my imagination?
And yet, I’m now officially intrigued. I’d been hearing nothing but praise for Vapor Trails both here and IRL so I went to CDNow to listen to all the audio clips and I actually liked what I heard! It sounds like they’ve toned down the pyrotechnics while still rocking hard. Thus, it is with mixed feelings that I am going to break a decades old covenant with myself and by a new Rush album. I hope you diehard cultists are happy with yourselves
[Michael Corleone]
Just when I thought that I was out they pull me back in.
[/Michael Corleone]