Rush Blazes 'Trails'

By Elysa Gardner, USA Today, May 28, 2002

Rush, Vapor Trails ( ** 1/2 out of four)
Plenty of critics sneered at Rush back in its pre-grunge, prog-rock heyday. On its first studio outing in more than five years, though, the Canadian trio illustrates how influential its driving power rock was on such popular '90s bands as Stone Temple Pilots and Smashing Pumpkins. (The latter group's debt is especially evident when you hear Rush's supercharged rock-radio hit One Little Victory.) But while Rush's members have retained the muscular technical prowess that made them musicians' musicians, little of their new material features the kind of spacious production and rhythmic snap that mitigated their bombast on better vintage tunes. Some of the aimless crashing and thrashing here suggests that co-producer Paul Northfield, whose previous credits include Marilyn Manson and Hole, wasn't used to working with players as skillful as drummer Neil Peart and bassist/singer Geddy Lee. Vapor Trails offers a lot of steam, but it doesn't offer much in the way of direction.