Signals (1982)
The beginning of Rush phase 3. If you didn’t hear the slow increase in the use of synthesizers over the last few albums, you must not have been paying attention. Many fans don’t like their mid 80’s output, but to be honest this sound was inevitable. It definitely wasn’t an overnight decision to use such heavy production. Personally, I think they started off quite strong. Signals does use a load of synth, but it somehow manages to keep that Rush feel and it gives us some classics.
“Subdivisions” is a great opener and is a concert mainstay to this day. It is also an indication of things to come for Alex Lifeson. Sadly, this phase of the band really suppresses his guitar playing. We all know by now how talented he is, and in my opinion his open chord style of playing would not have overpowered the songs had they beefed up his parts just a little. Still, I give him credit for modesty. And in all honesty, the songs are still really good. “The Analog Kid” shows off some decent guitar playing, “Chemistry” is unique in that it is one of the few songs Alex and Geddy wrote the lyrics for, “The Weapon” continues the Fear saga, and “New World Man” became Rush’s highest charting single. All in all, there is really very little complain about but there is just something about that production…
Rush seems to like exploring new styles with a couple albums before moving on. Their next album Grace Under Pressure has a sound nearly identical to Signals and after that we get dosed with even more synthesized production power. Ah, sadly the classic days of Rush are over but why would we want them to retread old ideas? What lies ahead are albums for those who are already fans of the band, but that doesn’t mean they are bad. They still manage to write some incredible music. Their albums just become a bit more tiresome to get through to find those songs.
Great yet overproduced music plus a completely horrendous album cover gives this album an
8/10. Not too shabby!