Rush fans on the board ??

The quality of their records has declined in recent years, and I'm talking about sound quality, not music quality. They should record to analog tape and digital master and release the record from the analog tape master (as was done in times of old) and release the CD from the digital master for those who don't know anything about dynamics and tonal accuracy.
I read recently that Wilco bought up a whole bunch of analog tape from a company that was going out of business... they know it's not the same. A high quality digital master is fine if you're making SACDs or DVDA's, but who's doing that nowadays????

Cheers.

tfkaudio, its funny you mention that. i was just discussing with a friend of mine how Exit..Stage Left sounds better(even though a live album) than Vapor Trails in overall sound quality.

Ok, I'm resurrecting an old thread here, but I'm a major Rush fan pretty new to Audiogon, so there it is.

Here's my rating scale:

10. Absolute perfection all the way through - a masterpiece.
9. Excellent, not one weak track and nearly perfect.
8. Great album, a must-own.
7. Very good album - well worth owning.
6. Not thier best, but still pretty darn good.
5. I don't listen that often, but it's a good album.
4. It's not bad, some weaker material.
3 - It's alright, I'll listen and enjoy it occasionally, but will often skip some tracks.
2 - There are a couple of good or great tracks, but generally fairly weak.
1 - Barely listenable, for completists only, only one or two even halfway-decent tracks.
0 - Just really bad, no redeeming qualities whatsoever.

Here's my order of all the studio Rush albums with ratings:

Signals - 10
Moving Pictures - 9.5
Permanent Waves - 9
Snakes & Arrows - 8.5
Hold Your Fire - 8.5
Hemispheres - 8
A Farewell To Kings - 8
Rush - 8
Grace Under Pressure - 8
2112 - 7.5
Fly By Night - 7.5
Power Windows - 7.5
Counterparts - 7.5
Caress of Steel - 6.5
Presto - 4.5
Roll The Bones - 2.5
Test For Echo - 2.5
Vapor Trails - 0.5

All you Rush fans should check the next Neil Peart. He is 11 year old Tyler Hudson and there is a youtube video showing his progress from ages 2 to 11. He actually plays "The Trees" at age 5! You can see it here.

He is now part of a band called MINDWALK whose three members are ages 11 to 15. They cover Limelight and YYZ and make it look easy.

My favorite, though, is their cover of King's X song We Were Born to be Loved.

Moving Pictures without a doubt is my favorite with Witch Hunt and Tom Sawyer.
Next is "Roll the Bones" and then "Test for Echo" an over looked gem I have turned a lot of Rush fans on to that had given up on the band.