SIGNALS

you know what, this album sucks and its about damn time that I stop apologizing for it and making excuses for its major problems. Its a crappy album and just as bad as presto. The sound on this album is that of a band that doesn't know how to top a masterpiece (of moving pictures) and a band that wants to transition but will not fully commit. This album has one foot in analog and one foot in digital, Hence analog kid matures in digital man. Look, I have nothing against digital Rush. I love power windows and enjoy grace under pressure, but this album just comes off as generic and way too chipper, with nothing that I can really sink my teeth into. There's just nothing really all that interesting here, and the lyrics are kind of lame. Singing about chemistry is lame and I am a chemistry major, so I am technically the demographic. Digital man has some highlights with its ska reggae thing going on. Yes there's new world man but by Rush single standards its tame and plays it safe. Countdown just outright is terrible and bland. A song played over a shuttle launch just makes me cringe. Shuttle launches are slow and tedious and take ALL DAY long, and that is how its sounds. The album goes out with a wimper.

On a brighter note, I absolutely love Subdivisions and always have. It may be my favorite Rush song. This isn't the only time a monumental song appeared on a lackluster album (Pyramid song being on Amnesiac comes to mind). Such a great song and when I heard it for the first time it was like they were speaking directly to me. Another very overlooked and long forgotten gem of a song is Losing It. Wow, this was quite the revitalization at a point in the album when I was getting bored, but alas, it is a flawed gem. It is so close to reaching a masterpiece level of composition but sadly some low parts bring it down. But then countdown comes in and ruins any satisfaction that Losing It generated.

In the end I never listen to this album, either going for Moving Pictures or Grace Under Pressure when in the mood for this period, and I always feel so guilty about it. Its like, oh here is Rush at the peak of their talents, and I try and convince myself oh "It has to be good", but its not, its boring and bland, and I now can finally admit that. Its like late 70's Rush made Presto. Its the tail end of the prog rock period just as Presto the was the tail end of the new wave lame soft NO BALLS rock period. Signals is the album that everybody just bought on impulse, since it followed Moving Pictures, and praise it without really thinking about it. In the end its, Dry, stale and out of steam.

But they come back...