SIGNALS

To me, this album seems like a logical continuation of where the band was going from Moving Pictures. While some bemoan the lack of epic songs, 'The Camera Eye' on Moving Pictures was a regular length song performed twice, and to me 'Red Barchetta' told a much better story than 'Cygnus X-1'. The obvious backlash from fans to 'Signals' can mostly be attributed to the sudden drop in guitar activity, with keyboards now providing much of the meat of the arrangements. Alex Lifeson's guitar playing here is nonetheless similar in content to that of 'Moving Pictures', only lower in the mix, and kudos must be given to Lifeson for blending in so perfectly with the synthesizers used by Geddy Lee. The album on the whole is less demonstrative than its predecessors, in my opinion actually a quite 'progressive' step for the band, who not only had refined their songwriting process from the overly selfconscious 'progressive' efforts of earlier records, but moved with the times, bringing an up-to-date (at the time) arsenal of synthesizers, electronic drums and guitar processing to the Rush sound. The fact that the album still sounds relevant today is a testament to how well the band implemented these innovations, and rather than sounded tacked-on and dated, they sound natural and are well utilized.

The opener, 'Subdivisions' is the most famous track here, and is in my opinion one of Rush's finest songs, up there with 'Tom Sawyer', 'Xanadu' and 'Natural Science'. The insistent synthesizer part blends perfectly with Alex Lifeson's brilliant rhythm playing, and Neil Peart's drums not only sound great but are brilliantly played, his patterns really bringing life to the arragement. The moment when Geddy Lee's bass guitar kicks in always sends chills down my neck, and really brings the song down to earth for the chorus. The lyrics, in particular for this song but generally across the album, are some of Peart's best, and show a real maturity after the overblown silliness of his earlier lyrics. 'The Analog Kid' is a somewhat different song, this one a lot more guitar-oriented, with a rocking unison riff at the beginning, breaking into some really epic sounding synths during the chorus. Geddy's bass sounds awesome here, his vocals are great here too. 'Chemistry' is another interesting song, with again, massive sounding synths and a great contrast when the bass enters. It's worth listening to the guitar here as well, it blends so perfectly with the synthesizers. Peart's drumming is an art in itself, so precise and dynamic. 'Digital Man' sounds like The Police's 'Walking on The Moon', but it's not a bad thing. Neil Peart does a very nice Stewart Copeland impression (he obviously admired him) while Alex Lifeson's guitar sounds really great on this track, though it's hard to tell who was copying who with Lifeson and Andy Summers. 'The Weapon' is a continuation (backwards) of the 'Fear Trilogy' started with 'Witch Hunt'. This song isn't as great as its predecessor, but it's certainly an interesting song, with some really great drumming from Neil Peart. 'New World Man' is a song that apparently had a very quick genesis, and sounds quite commercial, but what I'd give to hear a song like this on British commercial radio! It's a fantastically catchy song with great singing from Geddy and again, that really warm and detailed bass sound. 'Losing it' is a very different track and perhaps the most experimental on the record. The electric violin is very haunting, and the mood is generally eerie but very impressive. Like a lot of the tracks on the record this is one that grows on you. I can't think of any other songs quite like it in Rush's repertoire, yet it fits in perfectly in this record. 'Countdown' is the one track I think doesn't quite cut it. It's kind of an experiment that doesn't work with a slightly irritating sythesizer riff that seems like an attempt to ape 'Tom Sawyer'. The song sounds stilted, though that's not to say its without its virtues, but at the end of the album I'm normally clamouring to put on 'Grace Under Pressure' instead. Speaking of 'Grace Under Pressure', 'Signals' sits very nicely with its follow up, much like COS and 2112, AFTK and Hemispheres and PW and MP seem to form perfect pairs. This album seems perhaps the most consistent Rush album (excepting countdown) and doesn't seem like a misstep to me. The band had really refined their craft on this album and while it lacks some of the outright excitement of its predecessors, it makes up for it with finesse.