Vapor Trails

Vapor Trails is a moving comeback record on which Rush, struck by great tragedy and after a long hiatus, powerfully inscribes a restart through the bare drive of guitar, bass and drums. Using almost no synthesizers, the whole is built from the three members’ raw playing alone. Alex Lifeson’s thick, layered guitar riffs and Geddy Lee’s earnest vocal melody unite hardness and a sure openness. In the powerful opening of “One Little Victory,” the introspective “Ghost Rider” and the beautiful “Earthshine,” the emotion of facing deep loss and a slow recovery from it makes the sound’s earnestness all the deeper, while cuts like “Secret Touch” and “Sweet Miracle” convey the band’s strong will toward rebirth. Its great value lies in strongly conveying the very earnest necessity of the three gathering again to sound music, not merely to show off outstanding technique. It is a record that strikes the heart by the mere fact of overcoming difficulty. Loftily announcing that Rush had begun to walk again as a band, it is a powerful, moving comeback record.