If anyone figures out how to save the file, please let me know. While listening to the Neil-only version of the track, I had some riffs and melodies pop into my head. I’d love to import it into GarageBand and see what my ideas would sound like over that drum track.

I’m sure it’s only a matter of time before some folks start posting their interpretations online. Could be very interesting indeed!

The good news first: the mastering isn’t as hot as on Vapor Trails, with the clipping being pretty much kept at bay.

While my personal bias is the Hemispheres—Signals period, you can’t deny that the drums always sounded like they were right there in front of you, crisp and well defined. Today’s mixing techniques make Neil Peart sound like he’s hitting cardboard boxes in another room. The drums lack balls. His playing is great and intricate as ever, I just wish I could hear it.

Geddy Lee has said in some interviews that there is Taurus pedals are all over this disc. While that sounds exciting, they’re hard to hear and they don’t sound like most of us remember them, not to mention that they don’t really stand out and are hard to hear. They should have been more up front and could have given Snakes & Arrows a warm retro feel. He should have ditched the orchestra strings preset and used the pedals instead.

This brings me to my biggest issue with some of the material: there’s not enough space between the music, there’s too many things going on and vying for your ear. For example, the wall of vocals effect doesn’t give the music room to breath. Can you imaging replacing the Taurus pedals on “Freewill” or “The Spirit of Radio” with some “oooohhhhhs oooohhhhhs” and “aaaahhhhs” a la “Earthshine”? Personally, I think the live versions of the Vapor Trails material that appears on Rush in Rio and R30 sounds much better. It’s stripped of the layers and it’s just the band rocking as a three piece.

Unlike most of today’s music, Snakes & Arrows is certainly not one dimensional. There’s a great deal of textures being explored and while that can be viewed as Rush pushing their boundaries, at times the songs sound a bit disjointed. Quirky for the sake of being quirky. With the exception of “Far Cry” and “Malignant Narcissism”, everything is mid-tempo. As a result, there isn’t any particular track that grabs you instantly.

Given the hype regarding the disc having elements of “classic” Rush, expectations were high. While there certainly are moments when you can hear these elements, you also hear some overtones of their output from the 90s and their most recent studio release, Feedback. Can’t say I enjoyed that one much, but that really has nothing to do with the band or their interpretations of the material… I just don’t care for music from the 1960s.

After 23 days with this on my iPod… a solid B.

Far Cry
The teaser clip for “Far Cry” gave us hope with “The Hemispheres Chord.” The reality is that it’s the disc’s most radio-friendly track but comes up short of the promise vested in that one chord. It has its moments: the “It’s a far cry…” lines sound like vintage Geddy. The “One day I feel…” lines have that 60s/Feedback feel that mucks this up a bit for me.

Armor and Sword
Interesting drum opening from Neil with the ringing guitar sounds like U2’s The Edge. This could have fit in perfectly on My Favorite Headache. The melody during the “No one get’s to their heaven” line is wonderful.

Workin’ Them Angels
Is it me or do the opening chords and verses sound like they could have come off of Caress of Steel? While the song is unremarkable, for some reason the chorus pops into my mind during various times of the day. If the song can do that, I guess I shouldn’t call it unremarkable, huh?

The Larger Bowl
Folk-rock that I could see them doing during the acoustic break (if they have one this tour). One of the benefits of the song’s dynamics is that you really get to hear Geddy’s strong and expressive voice. The layering of his vocals, however, is starting to get a bit old by now. Same goes for the “whoaho whoaho”s as well. Another one with the dreaded 60’s vibe. No great shakes.

Spindrift
Right now – for me – the best song on Snakes & Arrows. The opening atmospheric soundscape reminds you of something off of Hemispheres. But there are those damn “oooohhhhhs” again – enough already! It sounds like Hemispheres meets Permanent Waves during the verses with a nice melody for the “A little closer to you…” lines.

The Main Monkey Business
Ditch the “oooohhhhhs oooohhhhhs” and use the Taurus pedals instead! That would be a tasteful way to acknowledge your history. While not as mundane as either of the “Thing” instrumentals from the 90s, it doesn’t quite measure up to “YYZ” or “La Villa Strangiato”. There’s a great break that begins at 2:26, especially as Neil brings it to a crescendo but it loses its momentum by dropping into a loopy solo at 2:50. They should skip this solo and delete everything between 2:50-3:13 and jump right to the screaming solo at 3:13. I’m such an armchair producer… don’t you love it?

The Way The Wind Blows
One genre I never “got” was the Blues, so anything that sounds like Stevie Ray Vaughn, BB King, etc. is simply a turn off for me. I’m just not a fan of that guitar tone and it doesn’t sound like Alex Lifeson. It gets pretty decent when the verse kicks in but then breaks into an odd sounding bridge. The “We can only…” lines and acoustic break sounds great but overall, not one of the top songs for me.

Hope
This is a nice, unexpected surprise. Alex should do an entire album in this vein – if he could keep it interesting for at least 40 minutes. This sound really suits him, much more than the Victor material. Come on Alex – let’s see a solo disc of Appalachian inspired folk guitar. I’m dead serious.

Faithless
I read somewhere that this song is the lyrical bookend to “Freewill” and I agree. The chorus sounds like a blend of My Favorite Headache and Hold Your Fire. A “classic” sounding solo from Alex – you could smell the arena-refer on this one.

Bravest Face
The switching between placid acoustic guitar verses and hard rocking choruses is starting to sound a bit Nirvana-ish: Soft/loud/soft loud/solo/loud/soft/end. Contains another great melody found in the chorus.

Good News First
Crank up those Taurus pedals in the beginning – I can hear them but they’re buried. Damn, this is as close to vintage Rush as we’ve gotten in 20 years. The verse is so-so and the lyrics a bit iffy, but there’s classic Rush buried all throughout this one. Some of Geddy’s phrasing sounds familiar, but I still can’t peg it.

Malignant Narcissism
Bass. Guitar. Drums. Absolutely no “oooohhhhhs hhhhhoooos” to be found and no porn sounding guitar solo. Just the three of them with some great interplay between Geddy and Neil… you hear some “YYZ” in there, but not as complex. Second best track but could have used a smoking solo.

We Hold On
Somewhat Pearl Jam-ish. I hate to bring this up, but what happens at 1:20? Sounds like a cut and paste gone wrong. Maybe this is why the special edition is delayed until June? I wonder if they caught this late and wanted to fix it before the second release. Anyone else hear the “Red Barchetta”-ish harmonics between 2:57 and 3:00?

Also received notification that my Musictoday tickets have shipped.

Life is good!

So… the reviews are coming in, as well as the bickering between the “I have” and the “I will not”-s. It’s interesting to read the various takes on the music, as well as to see how sanctimonious some folks can get.

As for me, I’m still the master of my domain. Not because I sit on that side of the downloading debate, nor because I’m downloading it at this very moment.

I’ve simply been too busy to care.

Am I excited about the new CD and tour? Of course. But for some reason, I don’t have that “gotta have it” feeling that makes me hunt down the tracks online and give it repeated listens on the iPod.

Maybe it’s because “Far Cry” and “Spindrift” didn’t immediately grab me. Maybe it’s information overload regarding every minute detail of the recording process or the “heard it from a guy who knows someone who had lunch with the guy that parked Neil’s car” speculation that often leads to misinformation. Or maybe I just want a decent release that hopefully doesn’t sound like a cross between Presto and Vapor Trails. 

And the hype. Thanks to Google, you can now read a ton of interviews where you read the same rote answers so many times that nothing that anyone says comes across as genuine anymore. You can’t blame the person being interviewed because when ten different people ask you same question, what are you going to do… give ten different answers? So they all say the same damn thing: “this album is heavy“ and the ubiquitous “it’s our best work yet.” Read 20 articles that say that and tell me how you can’t have high expectations for the release?

When it comes to Rush, I always have high expectations. They’re my favorite band but they’re not infallible.

Almost done listening to it in its entirety. To be honest, I think it may take a few listens to properly ”hear” it all. This’ll be something for later tonight when the house is silent and everyone’s asleep.

My initial feelings still stand…

Snakes & Arrows

Just my luck… I was flying back home from an overseas business trip. After we crossed the Labrador Sea, we worked our way south, flying east of the Laurentines. Since we were cruising over the Great White North (it really was — tons of snow!), I popped in the Etymotics and listened to all of Permanent Waves and Hemispheres. Absolutely brilliant music.

One of the reasons I like Permanent Waves and Hemispheres so much is Geddy Lee’s bass tone — the damn thing sounds like a rubber band at times. It’s punchy, it snaps and it lives in its own space. It’s just my own lousy opinion, but ever since the band moved to Atlantic, the tone has been buried and the bass has lost its distinctive voice.

Having just heard the expanded clip, I sort of feel like I did when I hear all of “One Little Victory” — vague. Granted, I haven’t heard the entire song, but the layering of the vocals isn’t my cup of tea. Geddy has such a distinctive voice and like his bass tone, it’s at its best when it’s clean and cuts through the clutter.

Whining aside, I’ll certainly be buying the disc on May 1 (looks like the May 8 info was incorrect). After all, Rush will forever be my favorite band.

I picked up a few Muse discs a couple of days ago and gave them all their first listen during a long drive this afternoon. As of now, while I like Origin of Symmetry and Absolution, Black Holes and Revelations sounds a little more put together.