Lorraine Posted June 21, 2014 Share Posted June 21, 2014 I have read more than a few here say that they loved Rush up to and including Signals. After that, it has been said, Rush changed. There is a significant difference in their music after Signals, but I have read that is something Rush wanted to do so as not to musically stagnate. Is it that you couldn't adapt yourself to another aspect of the band? Or was it something more than that? Is there nothing post-Signals that you like? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Segue Myles Posted June 21, 2014 Share Posted June 21, 2014 I think I would have been ok back then, I love it when my favourite bands try something new! Buuuut...Signals is my second least favourite Rush album of that decade, after Presto. I love both albums, but yeah! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laughedatbytime Posted June 21, 2014 Share Posted June 21, 2014 PoW was when I started to lose interest. I love p/g and while I didn't love Signals the way I had loved everything back through 2112 it was still a great album. But the records from PoW to S&A just weren't all that appealing, though recently I've learned to like PoW and HYF, and love VT. IMO, CA is a classic harkening back to the halcyon days, and their live shows have always been sublime. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ancient Ways Posted June 21, 2014 Share Posted June 21, 2014 I'm not sure it was the end or not. Rush and I were at different points. They were older and looking for something a little more sophisticated and I was getting into heavier music so it was just bad timing for me. Plus, as a guitarist there was a lot of exciting music being released in that general time like Ozzy with randy, Metallica, yngwie, satch, etc. why would I want to listen to a lot of keyboards? I know signals has some good guitar work but all I could hear were keys. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toymaker Posted June 21, 2014 Share Posted June 21, 2014 (edited) First I'll say that I still like a lot of what Rush does, and I agree with the post that states that Clockwork Angels is a bit of a return to former glory. For me, Signals still has a kind of classic Rush "feel"--I love the busy arrangements and the fingerwork and maybe a formula I can't quite articulate. The instrumental bit in Digital Man has it—one of the last truly, truly great classic moments. They return to it occasionally—for example, I'm not too keen on the song Mission (sorrry) but I think there's a moment of majesty there when they're all playing over what is essentially a wicked drum break. After signals it just seemed to me like they were trying to satisfy the pop needs of the mainstream; although it had the Rush "treatment" it didn't have, entirely, the Rush magic. In one of my first posts on this forum I talked about that early middle period, the four albums preceding Exit Stage Left—the period during which one questioned Who Sent Rush Here to Transfix Us? Signals still has enough of that magic. After that, it seems the grooves changed, the guys were being steered a bit more by the pop and ska and keyboard-heavy music. Something else I said before—I always tried—I tried and tried and tried to still love them and for the most part I succeeded. But part of me waited patiently for Clockwork Angels and now I'm Blissed Out again—a concept album with a full blazing suite of the old Rush spirit. Edited June 21, 2014 by toymaker 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Narps Posted June 21, 2014 Share Posted June 21, 2014 For me life and the change in their music went hand in hand. After Power Windows (which I like) I started having children and lost interest in many things from my youth. The timing couldn't have been better when it comes to Rush in particular because the sound on HYF and some recordings that followed are a turn off to me anyway. I got the best when I was really paying attention and I still hold them near and dear to this day..... :dweez: 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
troutman Posted June 21, 2014 Share Posted June 21, 2014 I'm not sure it was the end or not. Rush and I were at different points. They were older and looking for something a little more sophisticated and I was getting into heavier music so it was just bad timing for me. Plus, as a guitarist there was a lot of exciting music being released in that general time like Ozzy with randy, Metallica, yngwie, satch, etc. why would I want to listen to a lot of keyboards? I know signals has some good guitar work but all I could hear were keys. You pissed me off Geddy! :madra: :P Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lorraine Posted June 21, 2014 Author Share Posted June 21, 2014 I'm not sure it was the end or not. Rush and I were at different points. They were older and looking for something a little more sophisticated and I was getting into heavier music so it was just bad timing for me. Plus, as a guitarist there was a lot of exciting music being released in that general time like Ozzy with randy, Metallica, yngwie, satch, etc. why would I want to listen to a lot of keyboards? I know signals has some good guitar work but all I could hear were keys. You pissed me off Geddy! :madra: :P That's telling him! :madra: 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
troutman Posted June 21, 2014 Share Posted June 21, 2014 I'm not sure it was the end or not. Rush and I were at different points. They were older and looking for something a little more sophisticated and I was getting into heavier music so it was just bad timing for me. Plus, as a guitarist there was a lot of exciting music being released in that general time like Ozzy with randy, Metallica, yngwie, satch, etc. why would I want to listen to a lot of keyboards? I know signals has some good guitar work but all I could hear were keys. You pissed me off Geddy! :madra: :P That's telling him! :madra: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ReRushed Posted June 21, 2014 Share Posted June 21, 2014 In 1982 Rush snobs hated keyboards. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EagleMoon Posted June 21, 2014 Share Posted June 21, 2014 I think part of the problem is that their music seemed more mainstream. A lot of the elements of 80s music were creeping into their songs. Thin percussive style guitar parts instead of the heavy in-your-face crunchy solo laden epics we'd had before. The keyboards were taking over and the guitar was pushed to the background. It was sort of like Metallica playing country music. A bit of a shock to the system. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goose Posted June 21, 2014 Share Posted June 21, 2014 For me, while Alex's guitar work on Signals, Power Windows, and HYF, while interesting, is not compelling. GUP's more stark production saves Alex from the mire of keys. Presto was a move in the right direction, bringing Alex more up front. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Analog Cub Posted June 22, 2014 Share Posted June 22, 2014 I love Signals, Grace Under Pressure, and Power Windows. My one gripe about Signals is the mix. The guitar sounds a bit mushy. This was fixed on Grace Under Pressure :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Segue Myles Posted June 22, 2014 Share Posted June 22, 2014 I have no issue with any eighties Rush album aside from Presto. It would be a top ten effort if it had the production of Moving Pictures and a completely new version of Supercinductor. The backing vocals on the chorus are HIDEOUS!! Signals sounds fine to me. Perfect? No. But I love it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamie Posted June 22, 2014 Share Posted June 22, 2014 I didn't live through any of it so no :P I like their 80's stuff except for Hold Your Fire. But I do think that their 70's stuff was their peak. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ancient Ways Posted June 22, 2014 Share Posted June 22, 2014 I have no issue with any eighties Rush album aside from Presto. It would be a top ten effort if it had the production of Moving Pictures and a completely new version of Supercinductor. The backing vocals on the chorus are HIDEOUS!! Signals sounds fine to me. Perfect? No. But I love it! I'm with you, this thread isn't about our current feelings but the feelings of those around when it was released. Now I recognize it as a natural evolution from PeW-MP-signals 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomhealey Posted June 22, 2014 Share Posted June 22, 2014 Signals came out in my first year of college. I joined the college radio station (now WJCU, check it out, especially Rocket), and my mind exploded with musical potential, but one of my favorite bands brought forth keys when I wanted screaming guitars. I felt abandoned. This wasn't By-tor! Rather that allow for the fact that my favorite bands might grow, I compartmentalized them, and Rush no longer fit its mold. I jumped ship the first time I heard Subdivisions (now one of my favorite songs) and didn't stick my toe back in the water until Different Stages. I missed a lot of good music in that gap, and I'm happy I dove back in. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JARG Posted June 22, 2014 Share Posted June 22, 2014 I have read more than a few here say that they loved Rush up to and including Signals. After that, it has been said, Rush changed. There is a significant difference in their music after Signals, but I have read that is something Rush wanted to do so as not to musically stagnate. Is it that you couldn't adapt yourself to another aspect of the band? Or was it something more than that? Is there nothing post-Signals that you like? Signals marked a point where I had to start making excuses for the band, akin to people making excuses for Geddy's voice ("the man's in his 60s, what do you expect?"). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turbine Freight Posted June 22, 2014 Share Posted June 22, 2014 Signals is great. I loved it immediately when it was released. Terrific album that has stood the test of time. However, what came after that, when Rush decided they wanted to be some sort of Human League/Police hybrid was the beginning of the end for me. It was nothing to do with synths. It was just that Rush started writing songs I didn't like. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bathory Posted June 22, 2014 Share Posted June 22, 2014 people can try to sound as smart as they want (lookin at you JARG) but it all boils down to "guitar good, keyboard bad" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laughedatbytime Posted June 22, 2014 Share Posted June 22, 2014 people can try to sound as smart as they want (lookin at you JARG) but it all boils down to "guitar good, keyboard bad"Mostly true, but it's not like CP and TFE are classics. Good songwriting has a lot to do with it. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bathory Posted June 22, 2014 Share Posted June 22, 2014 I know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bathory Posted June 22, 2014 Share Posted June 22, 2014 how about "70s hard rock good, everything else bad" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bathory Posted June 22, 2014 Share Posted June 22, 2014 (edited) still, I can definitely understand why folks flipped shit back in 82. the first time I tried listening to subdivisions I only made it a few seconds and went back to the 70s stuff Edited June 22, 2014 by bathory Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laughedatbytime Posted June 22, 2014 Share Posted June 22, 2014 still, I can definitely understand why folks flipped shit back in 82. the first time I tried listening to subdivisions I only made it a few seconds and went back to the 70s stuffI loved Subdivisions pretty much immediately, but more for the lyrics...they resonated with me perfectly at that point in my life. Digital Man and Chemistry, on the other hand... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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