At long last, RUSH have released the remixed version of their comeback album, “Vapor Trails”:

Rush fans were ecstatic when the group returned from a six-year hiatus with their 2002 LP, Vapor Trails, but some noticed that the record didn’t quite sound right. “We overcooked it,” bassist/singer Geddy Lee tells Rolling Stone now. “The mixes were really loud and brash. The mastering job was harsh and distorted.” 

Lee came to this realization not long after the record came out, but there was little he could do to fix the situation. “It’s a terrible feeling that, due to lack of objectivity, you let an imperfect piece of work get out there,” he says. “But the songs are very strong and people really responded to the record and people were welcoming us back. The sonic defects of it got lost in the excitement of the band’s return to functionality. It’s always been a bee in my bonnet.”

And to think that it only took them 11 years to do it…

I love RUSH, have done since I first listened to “Fly By Night” when I was 16. By the time I was 22 and had all of their albums (up to that point), I was a gone case. I’m also one of those odd birds that actually really likes “Vapor Trails”, even though I’ll be the first to admit that the original mix sounded like a dog parking its breakfast. The problem was that the mix was too compressed, which meant thatevery freakin’ time Neil stomped on a bass pedal (which, given that it isNEIL PEART– thegreatestgoddamndrummerofall time– we are talking about, happens very very frequently), the bass drum sound would completely overwhelm everything else and the net result was a very harsh, compressed, and rather unpleasant sound. This, despite the fact that some of the songs on “Vapor Trails” are among the best that RUSH have ever written- “Ghost Rider”, “One Little Victory”, “Ceiling Unlimited”, the title track, etc.

Now, at last, you can hear the album the way it wasmeant to be heard.