Yesterday Rush released a new disk called Snakes and Arrows. Snakes and Arrows represents Rush' first all new studio release since Vapor trails was released in 2002. Since 2002 Rush has released a greatest hits type of cd, a cd called Feedback which is a cover disk of songs that inspired them mostly from the 60's and features such songs as Summertime Blues. Also since 2002 they have released 3 concert video's that chronicle their long careers called Rush in Rio, R-30 and Replay x 3.
I only recently purchased Vapor Trails and for me it was a refreshing return to it's harder rock roots rather than the post Signals sound that I never cared for which was more of a Punk/Pop type of sound for me and never worked. Presto was the best of these disks but yet I couldn’t bring myself to enjoy it like I would have wanted too.
On Snakes and Arrows they pick up where Vapor Trails leaves off in terms of effort. I must say that I haven’t warmed up to Vapor Trails in terms of overall blending of they music, but I really like the hard feel and the effort that they put into the music.
Snakes and Arrows seems to be a more complete disk than Vapor Trails and flows better for me and still employees the hard feel and strong performances by its stars. Even a non Rush fan might enjoy this disk. Long gone are the shrill sounds of a much younger Getty Lee's voice and are now replaced with a much more mellow and in some ways maybe a soulful sounding Geddy.
Overall I am cautiously optimistic about this disk. I have only spent a brief time listening, but from what I have gathered it is much closer to what I want in a Rush cd and in fact the first track "Far Cry" is very good IMO.
I would encourage anyone to take this new disk for a test drive, and don't be afraid to crank it up as I think you will really appreciate the quality of the music with those hard hitting drums and bass strings shinning through on a nice sounding system.
With all this said, it is far from what a Rush CD once was in 2112 or A Farewell to Kings, but it is light years better than Power Windows or Grace Under pressure (Sorry to those who enjoyed those cd's)
Rush was a Prog Metal band that switched gears and lost a lot of fans and gained some new ones over the decades. This disk doesn’t find those Prog Metal fans scratching that itch, but were getting a bit closer. My hope is that Rush will eventually rekindle that Prog Metal type of desire and grace us with another Masterpiece sooner rather than later.
I only recently purchased Vapor Trails and for me it was a refreshing return to it's harder rock roots rather than the post Signals sound that I never cared for which was more of a Punk/Pop type of sound for me and never worked. Presto was the best of these disks but yet I couldn’t bring myself to enjoy it like I would have wanted too.
On Snakes and Arrows they pick up where Vapor Trails leaves off in terms of effort. I must say that I haven’t warmed up to Vapor Trails in terms of overall blending of they music, but I really like the hard feel and the effort that they put into the music.
Snakes and Arrows seems to be a more complete disk than Vapor Trails and flows better for me and still employees the hard feel and strong performances by its stars. Even a non Rush fan might enjoy this disk. Long gone are the shrill sounds of a much younger Getty Lee's voice and are now replaced with a much more mellow and in some ways maybe a soulful sounding Geddy.
Overall I am cautiously optimistic about this disk. I have only spent a brief time listening, but from what I have gathered it is much closer to what I want in a Rush cd and in fact the first track "Far Cry" is very good IMO.
I would encourage anyone to take this new disk for a test drive, and don't be afraid to crank it up as I think you will really appreciate the quality of the music with those hard hitting drums and bass strings shinning through on a nice sounding system.
With all this said, it is far from what a Rush CD once was in 2112 or A Farewell to Kings, but it is light years better than Power Windows or Grace Under pressure (Sorry to those who enjoyed those cd's)
Rush was a Prog Metal band that switched gears and lost a lot of fans and gained some new ones over the decades. This disk doesn’t find those Prog Metal fans scratching that itch, but were getting a bit closer. My hope is that Rush will eventually rekindle that Prog Metal type of desire and grace us with another Masterpiece sooner rather than later.

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