Big Rush fan here. I just picked this up last night and I'm listening as I type. Sounds very good to me. I plan to import a wav from the original and the new mix into Sonar to compare with my various meters. This is supposed to have more dynamics and or less compression. The drums sound fantastic. Anyone else got this?

haven't hear it yet...
this was a great album ( i saw the live tour ) but always had the mastering issue.
 
the mix was fine, it was just distorted in the mastering.
 
bad mastering, bad!

My all time favorite Band....
 
I termed it "Intellectual Rock" back in my teens...no one
had a clue what I meant then...they'd just look at me funny...

Eventually...they figured it out...

batsbrew
haven't hear it yet...
this was a great album ( i saw the live tour ) but always had the mastering issue.
 
the mix was fine, it was just distorted in the mastering.
 
bad mastering, bad!

Yeah I never had a problem with the mix. It was the master. Anyhoo, it has been remixed and remastered and it is different (for the better) for sure. The vocals sound a lot less processed for one thing.

I'll have to look for it.  I enjoyed the tour and I liked the songs.  The mastering was heavy handed and had to be overlooked to enjoy the music.  I think this is a case of needing to know the audience.  The average Rush fan is not going to be impressed with massive compression for that "radio friendly" sound.  This is Rush.  Act like it.

I can't remember, was the original Vapor Trails recorded using laundry dryers or rotisseries?  It makes a difference you know.
 

 

This is wonderful news. I've never even heard the Vapor Trails album. One look at the waveform and I knew I wasn't going to spend money on it.
 
It's always mystified me why a band that's been around for so long and done so consistently well has always been pushed around by record labels. At one point they were forced to get awful haircuts and dress up in silly outfits to look like Air Supply in the 80's. You'd think that by now they'd be calling the shots themselves, hiring their own engineers and having the final say on releases.
 
P.S. Just ordered the CD, which is pleasantly priced at just 9 bucks, presumably to encourage those who'd previously bought the squashed version to buy again. Plus, you get the MP3 version of the album thrown in for free. Good marketing, or maybe it's an apology.

I wonder if all the dweebs behind the marketing ever get together to brag about who made their "products" do the dumbest things.

Oh great. Now Bit's going to hate it and blame me. I don't give Amazon refunds! Hahaha! For those interested...I recently imported a track from "Clockwork Angels" (The Anarchist) into Sonar and pulled up T-Racks metering. The music alone was around -12 rms and the perceived loudness was -14 before the vocals came in. Some people (Rush Fans) have complained about the mastering of Clockwork Angels, but it sounds pretty good to me. It has a lot more dynamic range than say...Van Halen's latest one. VH comes in at about 5db louder than Rush. I must admit it sounds pretty good too. Only a pro can squash one that much and it still sound ok. It does get fatiguing after awhile though like the original Vapor trails release.

A couple older Rush tunes for comparison...
 
"Workin' Them Angels" from Snakes & Arrows (2007): -8dB average RMS, > 8000 overs.
 
"Passage to Bangkok" from 2112 (1976): -12dB ave. RMS, 600 overs.
 
That's only 1dB per decade, not too bad. I have a feeling my copy of 2112 may have been a remaster, though. The original vinyl was probably less dense.