SIGNALS

This sounds to me, like the beginning of the end, in a way. This is the last disc they would co-produce/arrange with Terry Brown co-chairing. From GUP out, they would change producers quickly, with often substandard results. "SIGNALS" is a dark album, driven by jaded, cold lyrics and the kind of negative vibe that makes the listener feel like there's a phantasm behind him/her, almost like the feeling that they achieved with "Vital Signs" from MOVING PICTURES.

By definition, Rush were and are the proverbial prog-rock band. PROGRESSIVE, according to www.dictionary.com, means "Moving forward; advancing." That's what makes Rush so great as a band (Grace Under Pressure...not so great). Times were changing; music as a whole was caught up in the death throes of punk at one end and new wave's first steps at the other. What to do? Do you abandon the prog of MP and go with shorter, more concise compositions, or do you continue along the well-worn prog path of side-long songs? They chose the former, and it worked perfectly.

"Signals" is, in a way, "Moving Pictures, Part 2.", simply because the themes and music fit together like a hand in a glove. "Subdivisions", with its chilling synth chords, insistent, thick guitar and driving drums, set the perfect stage for Peart's lyrics, dissatisfied with the desolation of suburbia and of life as a whole. "The Analog Kid" is my favorite song on the disc, and it doesn't even wait to build momentum. Fast from the onset, it speaks to the listener of wanting and being able to find a better life outside of what's being fed to you.

In a way, that's what this whole album is about. If "Moving Pictures" was about finding a new life, "Signals" is about the newness wearing off and dissatisfction setting in. I can think of no other band that speaks of that feeling so stylishly than Rush, and that's why it's worth 5 stars. My advice for the neo-progger...don't start here though. It's best to begin with HEMISPHERES or PERMANENT WAVES. the first disc lets you see where they are, and the latter; where they're going.