Customer Reviews

Signals (Mlps) (Shm)

5 star:		(136)
4 star:		(53)
3 star:		(16)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

For a band that has encompassed a huge collection of albums, spawning 3 decades, and seen several musical trends and revolutions, Signals is still the album I find myself going back to again and again. I'd also like to say, that for purchasers of this disc the Re-master (In comparison of the disc that is not), makes Niel's drums sound a little more crisp, and the album is a bit louder and has erased some of the softness of the recording. That being said on with the review....

I won't go around echoing the same comments that I have heard here from time to time. The departure from the radio friendly greatness of the last 2 albums, the flat keyboards and poor mixing of Alexs guitar, the absence of 7-10 minute opuses/concepts, the dropping of Terry Brown. All this has been talked about and leaves all those hard core Rush fans (many who seem to borderline be obsessed on the level of Star Trek geeks), too much to fight over.

What I will say is that to me this is an album that distinctly captures a mood and an era that doesn't exist anymore. The snythns have this demonic dark underpinning, and for the first time there were many songs on the album (for Rush) that had a distinct dark brooding theme to them. Subdivsions doesn't just hint at the drudgery and disspair of teenage pressure, it's litteraly hammered home in Geddy's verse of "conform or be cast out", as if he had to spell it out for the listeners.

The Weapon, while being a great moody piece for Niel to shine hammers home the possible apocalypse, and Loosing It easily needs no introduction with it's self-titled moniker, and Ben Minks violin solo. It isn't so much that Ben's violin sings as much as it literraly weeps and cries.

Even the glorious Analog Kid which is upbeat in mood and lyric, still sounds as if there is a lingering pathos that just sounds unreal when the sudden abrupt chorus hits of "you move me, you move me."

For good measure there are other songs that aren't dark at all, (New World Man, Chemistry, Digital Man), but there is an overhanging cloud that seems to exist over every song.

This to me is the greatness of this album. THe tracks and all the music prowess of the members combined with the early 80's new wave snyth mood going on, produced a dark complicated album that somehow touches me individualy like no other album. There had been dark themes such as say 2112 but it's a story, Witch Hunt is a common concept and brooding too, but somehow the bleakness and grandeur of this album speaks to me "personally" for the first time for a Rush album.

The band has still made great phenomenal albums (and even made a bleaker sounding album in Grace Under Pressure), but this is the one that speaks to me. It's like a perfect conversation with your best friend you haven't seen in a long time.

There is no album ever that even sounds like this. Do enjoy.

For me, this album completes the trilogy "Permanent Waves, Moving Pictures, Signals" and parallels my transition into those important high school years.

I grew up with Rush and can remember my dad telling me to turn the @(*$& down as a 10 year old listening to 2112 on 11 in my bedroom (so you knew it was cool). I remember skipping school the day Permanent Waves was released, running out to the store and then going back to a friends wood paneled basement with some goodies from Tim Hortons and playing the album over and over again wearing out each groove.

So, yea, you guessed it, by 1982 I was playing guitar in a rock band, trying my best to sound like Alex (I owned a gibson doubleneck (white circa 1972) for a few years as well and like an idiot sold it later in life - suck), had my hair way past my shoulders and really wanted to score with the hot blond chick who had developed earlier than all her friends. Monica, where are you?

So, what the hell does this have to do with Signals?

Well, Signals is a grown up, totally mature Rush, finding the sounds of the times as they were changing. Analog to Digital, "progressive" rock giving away to the wash of 80's synth pop and technology...always the wonder of technology moving forward. The lyrical genius of Countdown for example, remember when NASA wasn't incompetent? More than 20 years later still a complete pleasure to listen to.

Disappointingly received when released this albums true brilliance is unquestionable today. Regardless of what "phase" of Rush you dig, Signals is one that should equally be enjoyed by all. One-click this into your collection today!

As the saying goes... "It's a jelly eh?"

SIGNALS may not be as heavy or exciting as it's studio
predecessor MOVING PICTURES, but that doesn't make it any less enjoyable. LIFESON'S guitar took a back seat to GEDDY LEE'S syn-
thesizers, but this still sounded like RUSH; it was actually
their last album with that original RUSH sound and not coinci-
dently, their last album with TERRY BROWN. While me and my bro-
thers were initially disappointed with SIGNALS, it's now one of
my favorite albums of theirs. The songs themselves are terrific;
there are many classic Rush songs here, such as the very scien-
tific opening track, the synth heavy SUBDIVISIONS. I didn't mind
their chose of synthesizers around this time; I think they added
more color and texture to their sound and the synths on this al-
bum sound gorgeous. The band still rocks out on this, especially
on SUBDIVISIONS, THE ANALOG KID and DIGITAL MAN. DIGITAL MAN
and the other man song, NEW WORLD MAN, saw RUSH flirting with
POLICE-like reggae and I found the results rather enjoyable.
The real star of this album is NEIL PEART; his drumming has never
been, before or since, so playful and adventurous. Check out his
little disco beat at the beginning of SUB, or his playing on
DIGITAL MAN and especially on THE WEAPON; this guy knew his way
around his drum kit! LOSING IT is a gorgeous little song with
very sad lyrics sung perfectly by GEDDY LEE and features BEN
MINK on electric violin. GEDDY LEE actually does some of his
finest singing on this and comes up with many memorable vocal
lines.
THIS IS a WONDERFUL ALBUM!

When I was in 7th grade, I didn't know a thing about popular music. I mean absolutely nothing. My pop music-loving buddies, David and Chris B., would debate the relative merits of Culture Club and Men At Work while my classic rock purist friends, Steve and Chris S., would argue over the relative merits of Van Halen II and Led Zeppelin III. Me, I'd just nod and smile as though I had the vaguest notion what they were talking about.

Things reached their nadir one day in the lunch room where a gaggle of cool 8th graders, including Teddy Christie and John Cook, were sitting hunched over a Walkman at a nearby table. Well, to be honest, at the time, I didn't know what a Walkman was, so all I could really determine was that they were hunched over a small box that they kept passing around.

"Dude, check out some Subdivisions!" shouted Teddy, a savagely tanned little fellow with a mop of black hair perched atop a head that was several orders of magnitude too large for his body. As usual, Teddy was impeccably decked out in a Surf Wax t-shirt, Bermuda shorts, and tan canvas Vans.

"Neil Peart rules!" bellowed John, a savagely tanned tall fellow with wavy brown hair and a nose with just enough of a hook in it to let you know he came from money. Boy, did John ever look resplendent that day in his Izod polo shirt (collar carefully turned up), chinos, and loafers sans socks.

Just as Teddy and John were about to reach that stage of rocked-out euphoric bliss that only an Alex Lifeson guitar solo can evoke, Walter Stryker appeared out of nowhere and thwacked Teddy on the back, "Dude, what are you guys doing? Are we still gonna fire it up after school? I got the buds!"

"Hey, Walter! We're checking out some Subdivisions. You heard it yet?", answered Teddy, rubbing his suddenly throbbing shoulder blade.

"Whoa, man, you got Signals? Cool. Dude, I gotta go kick Branch Fields' (behind) but I'll be back in a few minutes. I really gotta check out some Subdivisions."

You can't really expect cerebral conversations from 8th graders, can you? Especially not amongst that bunch of high-achievers. Every last one of them would end up at Walsingham Academy soon enough. That's pretty much where all the rich preppies in our town with a weakness for buds and brew ended up spending their high school days (and parents' bank accounts) once their parents decided public school was a bad influence on them.

Me, I just sat there one lunch table over taking in the scene and scratching my head. For the life of me, I couldn't figure out what "Subdivisions" was. And who the heck was this Neil Peart guy? Though my days of living in York Terrace had almost come to a close and my parents had recently given in and bought me a pair of Converse (after years of making me wear Maypops purchased at Murphy's Mart), I was still hopelessly on the outside looking in when it came to popular culture. I honestly didn't know whether "Subdivisions" was a song, a tv show, or a magazine. If it wasn't "Diff'rent Strokes", Mozart, or Loretta Lynn, chances are, I wasn't familiar with it since my parents weren't exactly the biggest embracers of popular culture themselves back then.

It was only a few weeks later in Mrs. Perger's pre-algebra class that I finally solved the mystery of "Subdivisions". To placate the clique of 8th graders who dominated our class, Mrs. P would sometimes declare Fridays "radio day" and pull out her little brown radio and blast FM 99. To me, it all sounded pretty much like noise. I remember finding it impossible to tell Van Halen and Led Zeppelin apart for months even though about half the songs they played on FM 99 seemed to be by one of those two bands.

So, it was on a Friday afternoon in Mrs. P's class that I finally heard the words `subdivisions, in the high school halls, in the shopping malls, conform or be cast out' pouring out of that little brown radio. Huge cheers, a frenzy of high-fiving, and other displays of staunch male heterosexuality erupted around the classroom.

"I told you, Dude. `Subdivisions' rules!" shouted Teddy.

Walter couldn't nod his head fast enough in agreement. Even Branch Fields, still smarting from the legendary beating he'd suffered a few weeks earlier, had to agree, "Subdivisions most definitely rocks" he proclaimed.

"Shut up, Branch", hissed Walter.

Conform or be cast out, indeed.

So, how'd you like my story? I'm sure if you hated it, you've probably already punched the unhelpful review button. Fair enough, but you still haven't listened to my adult opinion on Signals. For a decidedly untrendy synth-heavy hard rock album, Signals holds up surprisingly well and remains musically interesting throughout. "Subdivisions" is one of rock's great songs - you can't ask for much more from a song than inspired, catchy songwriting and insightful social commentary. "The Analog Kid", "Digital Man", and "The Weapon" are all quality. I never used to be a fan of the overplayed "New World Man", though I can actually sort of enjoy it now. "Chemistry" is interesting musically, but the lyrics are positively wince-inducing. Overall, even for casual Rush fans, Signals is well worth having in your collection, especially if you have a decent speaker system that does the excellent production quality justice.

Signals is, for me, the definition of the timeless Rush album. This is the case because after all of these years I still listen to it in its entirety every single time I play it. I cannot make the same statement for any of the other Rush CD's I own, nor any of the 200+ CD's in my collection. It also holds the distinction of being the first CD I ever purchased, all the way back in 1986. I still have that CD, cracked case and all. It has such a sentimental value to me that I have always wanted to keep the original, and that means the original case as well. Of course, when the remastered version was released, I bought that as well, for the obvious reasons: the improved sound quality (REALLY noticeable here), and the original album photography and art design. If I were to be stranded alone on a deserted island with one CD, a portable player powered by solar energy or any other alternative power source, a fine pair of headphones, and all of the time in the world to kill, Signals would be my choice, hands down, for that one CD. Maybe another reason why Signals always stands the test of time is that when this came out in 1982 I was at an unforgettable point of my life, my senior year of high school, and the song "Subdivisions" connected with me more than any other song I had heard to that point, lyrically speaking. Even though that song was a statement about kids conforming to the masses and paying the price of their individuality for acceptance, I felt I could relate to the lyrics by being the antithesis to Neil Peart's lyric statement. For I was extremely introverted and individual, yet I still felt a desire to conform, to be accepted. Though in order to do that, I would have had to not be myself and become a non-individual, to "sell my dreams for small desires". So, in a way, the lyrics had their own unique meaning to me: The desire to escape the "subdivision", the society of non-individualism, yet still feeling the need for acceptance by their society from the isolated world that lies on the outside. And now, 17 years later, through all of the changes in my life, and all of the Rush songs I have absorbed into my psyche, "Subdivisions" remains my undisputed favorite, with the other seven songs on Signals fighting for second place. Sonically, even though this is the album where the synths really began to announce their presence (where they would stay for the next 10 years), they are here in a soulful enough synergy with the guitars/bass/drums that they do not detract from the energy produced by that core, but enhances the energy instead. The overall sound remains "human", not "artificial". It would be the last time the keyboards and the guitars would mesh so perfectly in the wash of sound, for on Grace Under Pressure, they would begin to detach themselves from one other, not to return in such a perfect synergy until Roll The Bones.If you want to own the one definitive Rush studio album, one that speaks to the heart both musically and lyrically, Signals is that album. Because I guarantee you will still be playing this album when the others in your collection begin collecting dust.

I've been a Rush fan since 1983. During my angst-ridden early teenage years, the music and lyrics of Rush meant more to me than anything else. Although my fanatacism for the band has toned down considerably in recent years, Signals remains one of those rare albums that I can listen to over and over again, and practically never grow tired of. There is not a weak moment on this album, and as far as I'm concerned it is this, rather than the oft-cited classic Moving Pictures, that represents the high water mark of the Rush oeuvre.

Not unlike Yes' 90125 or Marillion's Misplaced Childhood, Signals fuses a majestic synthesis of Hard Rock, New Wave, and Progressive Rock. If only more bands had plied this particular stylistic nexus! From the opening chords of the soaring, synthesizer-dominated Subdivisions (one of two tracks, along with New World Man, which probably needs no introduction to anyone considering the purchase of Signals) to the closing moments of Countdown, this album virtually crackles with freshness and exuberance. In it lie some of Rush's most underrated tracks: The Analog Kid, a joyous and rocking exultation to the overwhelming beauty of the world, as seen through eyes untainted by cynicism; Digital Man, a reggae-tinged, atmospheric masterpiece; Losing It, a gentle and touching paean (in 5/4 time, no less!) to those who once achieved greatness. The latter remains as one of this bands greatest ballads.

Signals is an underappreciated masterpiece, and a fitting capstone to a trio of albums that captured Rush at their absolute zenith (the first two being Permanent Waves and Moving Pictures, respectively). It also marked a turning point for the band, as they were entering a period that favored sythesizers and lush, complex arrangements to overt instrumental virtuousity. That particular period culminated in 1985's Power Windows, a breathtaking technical marvel, however on the basis of sheer songwriting quality, Signals can't be beat.

Every Rush fan can tell you that after the band released "Permanent Waves" in 1980, they were going in a new direction. "Signals", released in 1983 is that new direction, becoming complete! The melodic guitars and synthesizers of Alex Lifeson and Geddy Lee blend perfectly with the obvious overwhelming talent of Neil Peart on the drums. "Subdivisions" has become a concert standard and "Losing It" shows the heart-felt warmth for dreams not realized. Some of Neil Peart's finest percussion work can be found on "The Weapon" and "Digital Man". "Analog Kid" is a nice blend of rock and alternative while Rush achieved some commercial success with "New World Man". Finally, with the launching of Columbia, "Countdown" tells the story of that historic flight. The band had reached a point in their creativity and "Signals" is an album that displays that new creativity to the utmost sense of the word. The lyrics of Neil Peart deserve some attention on this effort, as they always do. Musically, this is perhaps one of Rush's finest.

... I bought this in 1982 while in the 9th grade and jammed it for years; occasionally I still do,although I am now 36 and married, and my wife is not a Rush fan. I own Moving Pictures and many other releases as well, but what I find most enjoyable about this one is the range the band displays. Every song is good; I mean there is no need for skipping around. It is a rare one indeed when you can simply pop it in the stereo and enjoy the entire CD. I wore out the album, wore out a casette tape, and I now own the CD. This is Rush at its best: temendous music, incredible diversity and intelligent lyrics. And you can ge it at a bargain price.

an excellent starting place for the curious listener who likes the music but finds geddy lee's upper-register vocal style from earlier albums a little unsettling. although diehards will probably pick either 'moving pictures', '2112' or 'hemispheres' as their best album, talk to any rush fan and they'll all have a special place in their heart for 'signals'. this album still packs the same musical and thematic punch that it did when i was an awkward and spotty kid in junior high. the sound doesn't merely come out of the speakers - it soars. an excellent record.

I originally reviewed this disc in my high school newspaper in 1982, and over time I realized I was right all along. This is a great disc! Many students wrote and complained to me in high school that Signals was too commercial and generally a weak disc. I felt then and still do 29 years later (yikes that hurts!) that Signals was one of Rush's finest moments. My first adult concert was Rush at the Indianapolis Convention Center for the Farewell to Kings tour and since then I have believed that Rush has remained one of the most important bands.

So needless to say I bought Signals the day it came out in 1982, and since have purchased three additional versions of it. Mercury Phonogram Release (1st), Mobile Fidelity Gold Edition (2nd), and Remaster Series (3rd) and each version sounds better than the last.

Outstanding Tracks The Analog Kid remains my favorite Rush song ever... The Weapon part 2 of the Fear Trilogy, a wonderful view of the Reagan Years in America.

Subdivisions my childhood explained in a song in suburban Indianapolis, Indiana. Digital Man predicted (in some ways) the coming of the current Information Age and the rise of digital technology. "His reliance on the giants, In the science of the day", does the name Bill Gates mean anything to you?

If you like Rush and you don't own Signals, go pick it up and be ready to experience Intellectual Bubblegum at its best!

Pros: Intellectual Bubblegum, Rush in its best period! Cons: Weak closing track

The Bottom Line Rush's best period starting with 1980's Permanent Waves and ending with 1984's Grace Under Pressure, Signals fits right in...

Recommended: Yes