Rush News

Vapor Trails Deluxe Edition - April Fools!

I hope you all enjoyed my April Fool's joke!

RUSH fans rejoice! From RUSH.com:

"The Deluxe Edition of RUSH's triumphant 2002 album Vapor Trails will be released later this spring. A two disc set, the Deluxe Edition will contain both the original Vapor Trails album remixed by Rich Chycki from the original master tapes, as well as a second disc featuring 12 bonus tracks.
"That record was a very emotional record for us" says Alex Lifeson, "and it was very fragile. From the heavy stuff to the more melodic stuff, it was a very fragile representation of the band, in the way it was recorded. Unfortunately, it was a victim of what has become known as the 'Loudness War'. In mastering, it was mastered too high, and it just crushed everything. All the dynamics got lost, especially anything that had an acoustic guitar in it. With this Deluxe Edition, we are able to present our fans with our original vision of the album."
Disk two of the Deluxe Edition includes both an early demo version of "Earthshine" and an early instrumental version of "Peaceable Kingdom". Also included are unreleased performances of "Closer To The Heart" and "Ceiling Unlimited" recorded live in Mexico City in 2002, as well as the band's complete seven song set performed live in Toronto in 2003. Closing out the Deluxe Edition is a previously unreleased instrumental edit of "One Little Victory", which the band had licensed for use in a videogame published by EA Games in 2002.
"This is really for our fans," says Geddy Lee. "Two months after we released the record, we were kicking ourselves for not taking more time during the mastering process. Ultimately, it was our fans who missed out. We're trying to make it up to them now." "By including some worthwhile stuff on the bonus disk," adds Alex. "Although we usually don't keep anything that doesn't make the final album, after spending a year in the studio for 'Trails' we had tons of early recordings stored on DAT tapes which luckily no one had the heart to throw out. When Rich and I went back to the master tapes, I pulled out some of the early recordings from the those sessions and we've included them here as a gift for the fans." Geddy adds "'Earthshine' was the first song that we wrote after five years apart, and about five months into the project we reviewed the song and decided to completely rewrite it. The version included here is the one that didn't make the album. Also, 'Peaceable Kingdom' was originally constructed as an instrumental piece before Paul [Northfield] urged us to rework it with some lyrics Neil had written after 911. Ultimately, they're more of a curiosity really, something only our fans might appreciate." Lifeson continues "Exactly, this is for our fans. We filled up the bonus disc by including our complete performance from Toronto in 2003 which we did to help out Toronto during the SARS outbreak. We performed in front of almost a half-million people, the biggest crowd we've ever played for, and we've never released it before. "
"Coming off their induction into the Canadian Songwriter's Hall of Fame, RUSH is currently preparing for a North American Tour."

For the complete press release visit Rush.com, April 1, 2010.

19 comments:

  1. this better not be an april fool joke........

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  2. Well since there's no press release on Rush.com, it could very well be.

    And a bad one, if so.
    A remix/remaster of VT is probably on the top 5 wishlist of every Rush-fan.

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    1. I watched an interview with Niel, and he said there was to be work done to "bring it to satisfaction"....

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  3. wow, this was a really cruel April Fools joke. Seriously, after reading the article I was so excited.

    Then I read the comments and check the source and sure enough, nothing on rush.com.

    Not cool.

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  4. I got so excited when I read this this morning. Then my mom asked if I was gonna pull any jokes today. Then it hit me, could this be a joke? I really hope not :(

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  5. If this is a joke, I will be so hurt. That was one of the greatest albums I've heard (I've been listening to it almost nonstop during my current writing project), but I have to have the volume at about 30% in order to make it sound really good, which is a shame, because songs like "Ceiling Unlimited," "Vapor Trail," and "Out of the Cradle" deserve to be able to sound good while played loud enough to hear.

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  6. This is a great April Fools joke! I would have fallen for it if the math had worked out for that "second disc featuring 10 bonus tracks." My count tells me that with the "Earthshine Demo", "Peaceable Kingdom Instrumental", the unreleased live versions of "Closer to the Heart" and "Ceiling Unlimited", The 7 song SARSstock set and the "One Little Victory Instrumental Edit", the second disc would contain 12 bonus tracks.....still....would have been cool if it were true.

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  7. I wanted this to be true so much I actually believed it for a minute. Grrr... and well done!

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  8. Yes, well done indeed! You event went as far as to create a fake deluxe edition image!

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  9. Damnit! I thought this was REAL and was SO excited as I read it... then I started reading the comments here. Man... this would've been AMAZING!
    But yes, the count discrepency in the 2nd disc's number of bonus tracks was off, so I knew something was up... Damn you, April Fool's Day!

    (Good joke, though! Props to the site!)

    -M.

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  10. YOU BASTARD!! But seriously...YOU BASTARD! LOL Nice one.

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  11. Now that was hitting the sensitive cargo below the waterline.

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  12. I know that the guys have talked about re-releasing VT remastered, so this wasn't too far fetched...

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  13. First of all, my apologies to all that were put out by this year's April Fool's joke. I thought that as an April Fool's joke, announcing a Vapor Trails remaster by itself would have been weak, but as a deluxe edition with new artwork and some well thought out bonus tracks I might just fool someone. Looks like I was right!

    Anyway, I wish it were true, and while I may have crossed the line a tad bit, I guarantee you a remix/remaster is coming - it's just taking longer than any of us expected. Will it include bonus tracks? I highly doubt it, but I for one believe that when you expect your fans to purchase your album for the second time, it is nice to include bonus tracks (check out any of the many fantastic Deluxe Editions which have been released in the last few years and you'll see what I mean). When I started writing the bogus press release, the two bonus tracks I knew HAD to be on a VT Deluxe Edition were the "One Little Victory instrumental edit" (which is real, and fantastic by the way), and Ceiling Unlimited live (which in an ironic twist of fate, although it was played at both of the shows which yielded "The Board Bootlegs" from Rush In Rio, remains as the only live track from the VT tour not on any official releases). Also, I randomly picked the Mexico show as the source for Ceiling Unlimited, but as it turns out CU was not played at that show! Regarding the "early demos", while some of the details I provided regarding early versions of those songs are true, the quote that they still exist on DAT tape is fictional.

    Thanks for playing! Back to our regularly scheduled program...

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  14. Good one , you &^@&#%!!!

    Can't wait for the reality of that though!!!

    --Chad

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  15. Hey! That looks like the same "Deluxe Edition" graphic that has been used for those re-released R.E.M. albums.

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  16. Victor, yes the "Deluxe Edition" graphic is standardized, but to be honest I don't know if it is used by Atlantic Records. I have a few Deluxe Editions, such as The Cars debut album, Weezer's blue album, Def Leppard's Hysteria, (among others), and they are just incredible for what they include as bonus tracks (early demos and b-sides, specifically).

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  17. Damn, I believed this for a month and a half and was pumped. Yeah dude, you are a bastard! (Clever one, though).

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