Audio Fidelity did a version of this a few years back. It came out quite well I think.
Also I can't recall if the Hemispheres tapes are in salvageable enough shape. Some tapes were and some weren't.
Everything has been digitized several years ago though. So there's that.
Side 1 of Hemispheres is Rush's pinnacle.
The original mix is so good, I'm not sure I see a necessity for a SW remix. It's not like the situation with Tales from Topographic Oceans or Aqualung. I also don't see a 5.1 mix being a huge deal, since the bulk of the album is not heavily layered arrangements.
The only two Rush albums that jump out to me as needing a remix are Signals and Presto.
These comments from SW seem to have been recycled from Prog Magazine from about a year ago for some reason. Probably nothing to jump to conclusions about, just the Team Rock site filling its pages...
Agree with all of this with the exception of Signals. Always felt that the lush production/sound of that album was a product of the time and works for the songs (the vinyl reissue sounds great, btw). 5.1 completely unnecessary for this material..we don't need a SW rework of the Rush catalogue.Originally Posted by profusion
Signals received a bit of a remix in the Sector 3 box set remaster with the guitar slightly more prominent than before. The set also included a nice 5.1 surround dvd of the Signals album.
I recently picked this up on 200 gram vinyl, so I might not see the necessity to fill in more of the catalogue.
Yes a I recall that remix, was interesting to hear... I was referring solely to the vinyl reissue, which was not remixed, sounds great to my ears... Have the same opinion regarding 5.1 surround mixes/SW tinkering w/ the Rush back catalogue, just not interested.
My interest of any of SW's remixes is always piqued by what 'unreleased' material he finds on the master tapes, so in that context alone the Rush catalogue needs a SW remix!!!!
Not a chance!
We are the grandchildren of apes, not angels
But only we are gifted with the eyes to see
On days without FEAR, when our heads are clear
That angels, we could be
(Marillion 2016)
First of all SW should remix Clockwork Angels properly. That is just dense wall of sound mischmasch with no detail.
Last edited by kaltfeuer; 10-31-2016 at 10:11 AM.
I sampled a bunch of different Rush albums via iTunes last night. There are albums I really don't like the sound of (mostly the '90s stuff), but there's not much that I could imagine being improved with a remaster (in some cases a wholesale re-recording would be necessary...but then I don't think much of the material is worth it). Mostly what I didn't like were things like snare sounds (Roll The Bones, Presto, for example) or where the drums are mixed to low (Hold Your Fire has a rather wimpy sounding kick drum...a big drop off from the preceding Power Windows).
In general there is no problem with clarity (yeah, Clockwork Angels could probably use a little work in that department) which is where I'd normally be looking for improvement.
On the other hand sometimes it's surprising what can be done and maybe I'd really enjoy hearing some added punch and clarity on some things. If I had to choose I think it would be interesting to hear what could be done with Caress of Steel and Fly By Night. Even A Farewell to Kings (my sacred Rush album, lol) might be interesting to hear after Steven Wilson had his way with it.
<sig out of order>
Fly By Night and Farewell to Kings also got the surround treatment in the Sectors box sets and scrubbed up pretty well.
The Caress cd sounded particularly improved in this set compared to previous versions.
I kind of get the feeling that Rush aren't in any hurry to call up SW to remix their albums, but to be honest there are so many versions already floating around, and I'm happy enough with the Sectors sets.
Good to know. I hadn't paid much attention to the box sets and what their content might be. I used to listen to Rush constantly 20 years ago, but I'm pretty much burned out on them and have mostly moved on. So I'm unlikely to spend more money on various versions even though they'd be interesting to hear once or twice. Not to mention I recently disassembled my surround system and I'm not sure when it will be reconstituted.
<sig out of order>
Rush have kinda been in and out of my playlists for decades but with their current hiatus I'm happy to move on, as there are so many bands and so little time [altho Moving Pictures is still my litmus test for trialling headphones and adjusting eq settings].
The sectors box sets are my last hurrah, as I doubt that any further work on the albums will deliver significant improvements, and the cds are nicely packaged in replica LP covers within quality plastic sleeves. I had to buy twice because the first issue had technical glitches across the board - nothing major but irritating little things - but these were quickly addressed and when I bought the fixed boxes the second time everything was fine.
To be honest, if you're not overly familiar with the material you might be hard-pressed to hear much difference between the sectors mixes and the previous 90s remasters, but I could certainly hear the improvements, more on some albums (eg Caress, Exit Stage Left) than others.
They're worth getting hold of if you don't have any Rush, but not really essential for the casual fan if you already have some of the albums. I think you can now buy the 5.1 dvds - Fly By Night, Farewell To Kings and Signals - as limited blurays, but to be honest they're not much more than a bit of fun. Cool to listen to a couple of times but that's it.
Oh, and the stereo cd of Hold Your Fire has alternative mixes of tracks like Mission - another overlooked glitch, but in this case a genuine rarity.
As far as I know, the Sectors remasters have not been released as individual cds, and over here in the UK it's still the older 90s versions that tend to be predominant on shop shelves.
I think if there was going to be any kind of remix/remaster/renaissance beyond this, it would have happened around R40, but now that the band [and management] seem to be quietly winding down, I'd be very surprised if they took time out to let Steven Wilson remix albums like Hemispheres.
But you never know....after all, he managed to get the co-operation of Yes members, Robert Fripp and Ian Anderson - the original "awkward squad"...
There is no unreleased Rush studio material although there could be different or alternate versions of songs laying around.
I haven't heard this, since I've never updated any of my Rush catalog beyond the '90s remasters. On Signals, I'd start with bumping up the guitars and lowering the volume on the omnipresent synth pads and re-EQing them to get them out of the same space as the guitars, but I think the drums need some mixing work, too.
Signals is 'sort of' part of its time, but to me it really sounds like a band stuck halfway between where they had been and where they wanted to be, which is such a shame because of the amazing songwriting on it. Grace Under Pressure is really where they became an '80s band. Better synth programming, more production work on the guitars to make them "textural", and just an overall better sense of space and futurism in the mix. The songs are not as well developed as on Signals, but I think it's underrated. I loved it from the first listen in 1984.
Not a 5.1 guy (although I have all of the Rush 5.1s) but there are quite a few differences in the 5.1 mix. Different vocal takes for one. Totally mindbending to hear as the whole catalog has been hardwired to me. Totally different listening experience. Not quite the Let it Be Naked experience, but somewhere approaching that neighborhood for me.
People always ask about unreleased Rush songs (and there aren't any), but I wouldn't mind if they went in full on Beatle mode and just released some alternate takes on the same songs to get an idea about what they may have been thinking.
If you insist.
Something is definitely wrong with the production of Signals in my book and worse than Presto or Vapor Trails in that respect. I also was really let down by Hold Your Fire at first in part because of what sounded like a tinny production compared to my beloved Power Windows just two years early. I grew to like it pretty quickly, though.
http://strombo.com/radio/episode/rus...-conversation/
Rush albums with already Remixed in 5.1:
Fly By Night
2112
A Farewell To Kings
Moving Pictures
Signals
Snakes & Arrows
All done by Richard Chicky.
The band lately has worked with David Bottrill for the live DVDs, who also remixed Vapor Trails (2.0 only)
I don't think Wilson the guy the unique "remix paladin". We have enormous audio engineers around the world with great talent for 5.1 mixes. Stop with that Wilson "hype"!
It was always hard to understand how a band with three songwriters was only able to come up with 35-40 minutes of music in a 12-month period.
Neil is a lyricist, not a songwriter. Geddy and Alex are mainly instrumental writers, not lyricists. And it's not like they had 12 whole months to do nothing but write new songs. They were also touring, or alternately taking time off from being in Rush. Lots of time was spent just being with their families, traveling, raising children, indulging other interests, etc. It's only after they had met and agreed to start a new album project that they would really being writing new material. My sense is that time window lasted 3-4 months tops. Maybe 1-2 months of serious dedicated work as a trio.
I'm holding out for the Wilson-mixed 5.1 super-duper walletbuster special anniversary extra adjectives edition.
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote
Bookmarks