My Favorite Rush Album

Yes their style changed- but look how long they were around! Its bound to! I just LOVE every track on this Album!!!!! If you dont have this---then.......why? BUY IT!!!

Mark's the end for Rush

I'm sorry, i know there will be alot of upset fans or people P.O.ed at me for saying this, but i'm a Rush fan too so...



First of all, we all know how these guys will change their musical direction after every four albums and then cap it off with a live document. They have followed this pattern ever since the 70's so it is really no suprise that they would adapt to the sound of the 80's which SIGNALS marks. Let me just say that this is not a horrendus album by any means, but when you compare this to earlier works and the direction those albums went in, this just doesn't compare at all. It does have two songs i like, SUBDIVISIONS and ANALOG KID, but that is it, i can't enjoy this from beging to end like i can with some of their other releases (2112 for example). This seems alot less hard rock and more 80's New Wave to me, Lifeson's guitar work is buried in an endless sea of synthisezers and he really can only be heard very few times here,hell i might as well be listening to the POLICE for crying out loud! SIGNALS just marks the end for Rush in my mind because they never really recaptured the magic that all albums prior to this had in someform or another, basically puting out,at best, forgettable and mediocore efforts. I know some people acctually like this era, but not me!If you do decide to get it though, keep in mind that this is completely different from Moving Pictures.

Rush's continued evolution yields brilliance.

After the massive success of "Permanent Waves" and "Moving Pictures", it would have been easy for Rush to rest on their laurels and turn out album after album in the same format. But Rush has never been a band to stay stagnant, and 1982's "Signals" represents a departure and an evolution-- the aggressive, modern sound of "Moving Pictures" has been abandoned for a synth-driven rock sound. Gone are any overt signs of their early sound-- the loud guitars, shouted vocals, all totally buried in the past. Also missing are the long suites, or even any extended work-- indeed, no song stretches longer than six and a half minutes. And finally, the lyrics, once drifting into fantasy and metaphor, have taken a much more direct tact.



The album has several sounds on it, the most common is a hazy, keyboard driven sound. "Signals" opens with the throbbing, brilliant, "Subdivisions"-- no future imagery or mythical heroes rule this song, lyrically, its about pressure growing up, and its directness contributes to its success. Similar in form and theme is "Losing It", a pretty song with some of the most passionate singing Geddy Lee has ever done and a great guest spot on electric violin by Ben Mink.



Rush hasn't quite abandoned more guitar oriented sounds yet-- "Digital Man", with its reggae rhythms and stunning bass by Geddy Lee and the brilliant, anthemic "New World Man" all all largely driven by Alex Lifeson riffs. Somewhere in between is "The Analog Kid", with its great energetic verses and cloudy choruses (which also have some really stunning vocals from Lee) and "Chemistry", with its brilliant, circular chorus.



Less successful on the record is the drum-driven, rhythmic "The Weapon", which just doesn't seem to work-- its a bit plodding and definitely overlong, and the album closer-- "Countdown". Really, it just doesn't do anything for me.



Nonetheless, the album is one of the best Rush ever did, and is highly recommended.