Andy VanDette Comments On Mix Of Latest "Vapor Trails" Digital Release

On May 14th iTunes released two new digital only Rush collections, Rush The Complete Mercury Years, the complete Rush album collection from 1974-1987, as well as Rush: The Studio Albums 1989-2007.  The collections are also available on HDTracks.

Upon hearing of the new digital release of Vapor Trails, and reading some of the reviews, I contacted Andy VanDette to ask the big question: is this the long awaited Vapor Trails remaster of the original master tapes, or just a remix?:

These are the original mixes, but with a much different treatment. For what it is worth........A typical album takes me about 8 hours to master. I spent 4 days on VT, trying to find a way to emphasize the positive, and downplay the negative, with a "car test" every morning on my way in to the studio. I knew this album in particular would receive tremendous scrutiny.  Being a musician, growing up on the other side of Niagara Falls from the band, Rush had a huge influence on me. I hope I have done their catalog justice.

Check it out. I hope you will agree that VT sounds much less 'overblown'. I tried to design it to be more open and dynamic.

I hope you enjoy it.

Cheers,
Andy VanDette
Chief Mastering Engineer
Masterdisk NYC