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Why was Signals "the end" for some of you?


Lorraine
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The funny thing for me is that I had completely and utterly hated Rush up to that point, and while it would take me another 25 years to actually catch on to them, Subdivisions was the first Rush song that I almost kind of liked. So in a way, you could say that Rush began for me with Signals. But not really! :LOL:
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Never ever ever ever ever ever ever ever EVER will I lose interest because of a "crappy album"

But how about "ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever EVER EVER?

 

:)

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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

I 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...

 

the first time I tried listening to subdivisions I didn't make it to any lyrics.

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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

I 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...

 

the first time I tried listening to subdivisions I didn't make it to any lyrics.

Damn! What is it, about 30 seconds in?

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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

I 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...

 

the first time I tried listening to subdivisions I didn't make it to any lyrics.

Damn! What is it, about 30 seconds in?

 

yeah, I'd seen pictures of 80s rush, and I'd heard from just about everybody that nothing after moving pictures was worth jamming anyway, so I went into it sort of expecting it to suck. and when I heard those synths I figured signals must be their attempt at a techno dance 80s yuppie record or some crazy shit. plus, thrash metal was pretty much my favorite genre at the time.

 

I decided to try and listen to grace at some point not too long after that and ended up playing it and enjoying it all the way through. I ended up even liking red lenses, so I decided to give signals another chance. thank god I did.

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I can find something to like on every album. I used to make many mix tapes (then mix CDs, now playlists). There's an idea for a post: perfect playlist for a) a drive in the country, b) cooking in the kitchen, c) a relaxing bath, d) impressing your date . . . . okay, scratch that last one.
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The only track that didn't grab me was Analogue Kid. Other than that it was great then & still is now.

Really? Isn't that like the deadliest of cool rock guitar tracks on the album?

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The only track that didn't grab me was Analogue Kid. Other than that it was great then & still is now.

Really? Isn't that like the deadliest of cool rock guitar tracks on the album?

 

Nope.

Nope? How could you nope?

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Signals, I remember Exactly what I felt, Betrayed

 

Became hooked on Rush after seeing them in 1979

Bought Moving Pictures in 1980 at an obscure music store up in Carson City Nevada where I visiting a new girl friend

Bought every album & indulged for 2 years in RUSH.......

 

Anticipation for this album for me was the highest ever

 

OMG, couldn't barley get through it, only stand out was the oddity "countdown" ( I was a nasa nerd )

 

Dis owned RUSH, Years passed & I was hanging with a good friend & he & I went to his friend's house & this guy was a rocker,

Me & him had very similar taste in music, After a couple hours he gets very excited to play a particular album.

I'm figuring got to be something GREAT with his sudden burst of enthusiasm

Pulls out SIGNALS !

I'm like dude, you have NO Idea how BAD I hate Rush right now

He doesn't hesitate & now Subdivisions in playing, He's loving it & ya know Subdivisions was kind cool,

but NO way could I get through the WHOLE album.

Well he some how explained song by song & didn't seem so bad.....

 

Next day was Sunday for me. Almost always smoke a little & listen to an album before Noon

I decided to dust off Signals & try it, WTF was I thinking before ? This Album is GREAT !

Never ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever will I "lose interest" in RUSH !

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Signals, I remember Exactly what I felt, Betrayed

 

Became hooked on Rush after seeing them in 1979

Bought Moving Pictures in 1980 at an obscure music store up in Carson City Nevada where I visiting a new girl friend

Bought every album & indulged for 2 years in RUSH.......

 

Anticipation for this album for me was the highest ever

 

OMG, couldn't barley get through it, only stand out was the oddity "countdown" ( I was a nasa nerd )

 

Dis owned RUSH, Years passed & I was hanging with a good friend & he & I went to his friend's house & this guy was a rocker,

Me & him had very similar taste in music, After a couple hours he gets very excited to play a particular album.

I'm figuring got to be something GREAT with his sudden burst of enthusiasm

Pulls out SIGNALS !

I'm like dude, you have NO Idea how BAD I hate Rush right now

He doesn't hesitate & now Subdivisions in playing, He's loving it & ya know Subdivisions was kind cool,

but NO way could I get through the WHOLE album.

Well he some how explained song by song & didn't seem so bad.....

 

Next day was Sunday for me. Almost always smoke a little & listen to an album before Noon

I decided to dust off Signals & try it, WTF was I thinking before ? This Album is GREAT !

Never ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever will I "lose interest" in RUSH !

 

I think it's one of those albums that was ahead of its time. At the time it was such a departure from what they had been doing but now after time has passed it's easier to go back and listen to it and appreciate it on its own merits.

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I liked Signals when it came out (and always have). What it did do was get me into new wave and alternative music. After the album came out I read an interview with Rush where they said they had been influenced by some band called Ultravox. So I went out and started listening to Ultravox (who have since become one of my all-time fave bands) and that led me into more and more "weird" bands. Over the following few years, as my interest in Rush started to wane, I delved headlong into the alternative & underground music scene, and stayed there for a decade and a half, all thanks to SIgnals.

 

My interest in Rush started to wane with Power Windows, and HYF was the nail in the coffin. All of a sudden my favourite band was starting to sound ... ordinary. They were sounding soft, and middle-of-the-road, like some sort of easy-listening band, and I wanted no part of that whatsoever. (It's just as well I didn't stay a Rush fan then, since their next albums were Presto & RTB, and I don't like those either.) I finally started listening to the band again in the 2000s, after they began releasing music I liked again.

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"Is it that you couldn't adapt yourself to another aspect of the band? Or was it something more than that?"

 

I was a junior in HS and Rush was easily my favorite band (had been since AFTK). Signals didn't thrill me except for Analog Kid (still one of my favorites). Wasn't the keyboards as I was soon to get into bands like OMD, Front 242, Skinny Puppy, New Order, etc., just didn't think the songs were that great. Didn't help that it didn't sound like PeW and MP, but if it had been great I wouldn't have minded. Liked GUP a lot but wasn't happy that it was going further from what Rush had been. By the time PoW came out I was neck deep in post punk, garage punk, industrial, etc., and didn't even buy the album. HYF sealed the deal. Completely lost interest for years to the point when I met a fan of post-MP Rush I would think "poor, pitiable soul; they must have never been exposed to good music; I must feign interest so that their delicate psyche isn't harmed." My thinking is that Rush went from being the best power trio/prog metal band on the planet to being pretty lame at styles done better by many many other bands. Even now I like only a handful of tracks total from PoW through T4E, though I do now at least see why people can like those a lot, it's just not my thing.

 

"Is there nothing post-Signals that you like?"

 

I like VT and on, though I don't think the songwriting touches PeW and MP. But, they would make me Rush fans even if I had never heard their early stuff, whereas PoW through T4E would have the opposite effect.

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"Is it that you couldn't adapt yourself to another aspect of the band? Or was it something more than that?"

 

I was a junior in HS and Rush was easily my favorite band (had been since AFTK). Signals didn't thrill me except for Analog Kid (still one of my favorites). Wasn't the keyboards as I was soon to get into bands like OMD, Front 242, Skinny Puppy, New Order, etc., just didn't think the songs were that great. Didn't help that it didn't sound like PeW and MP, but if it had been great I wouldn't have minded. Liked GUP a lot but wasn't happy that it was going further from what Rush had been. By the time PoW came out I was neck deep in post punk, garage punk, industrial, etc., and didn't even buy the album. HYF sealed the deal. Completely lost interest for years to the point when I met a fan of post-MP Rush I would think "poor, pitiable soul; they must have never been exposed to good music; I must feign interest so that their delicate psyche isn't harmed." My thinking is that Rush went from being the best power trio/prog metal band on the planet to being pretty lame at styles done better by many many other bands. Even now I like only a handful of tracks total from PoW through T4E, though I do now at least see why people can like those a lot, it's just not my thing.

 

"Is there nothing post-Signals that you like?"

 

I like VT and on, though I don't think the songwriting touches PeW and MP. But, they would make me Rush fans even if I had never heard their early stuff, whereas PoW through T4E would have the opposite effect.

 

It's funny. All the guys I know who were/ are into post punk etc. and were also Rush fans have this exact same story.

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"Is it that you couldn't adapt yourself to another aspect of the band? Or was it something more than that?"

 

I was a junior in HS and Rush was easily my favorite band (had been since AFTK). Signals didn't thrill me except for Analog Kid (still one of my favorites). Wasn't the keyboards as I was soon to get into bands like OMD, Front 242, Skinny Puppy, New Order, etc., just didn't think the songs were that great. Didn't help that it didn't sound like PeW and MP, but if it had been great I wouldn't have minded. Liked GUP a lot but wasn't happy that it was going further from what Rush had been. By the time PoW came out I was neck deep in post punk, garage punk, industrial, etc., and didn't even buy the album. HYF sealed the deal. Completely lost interest for years to the point when I met a fan of post-MP Rush I would think "poor, pitiable soul; they must have never been exposed to good music; I must feign interest so that their delicate psyche isn't harmed." My thinking is that Rush went from being the best power trio/prog metal band on the planet to being pretty lame at styles done better by many many other bands. Even now I like only a handful of tracks total from PoW through T4E, though I do now at least see why people can like those a lot, it's just not my thing.

 

"Is there nothing post-Signals that you like?"

 

I like VT and on, though I don't think the songwriting touches PeW and MP. But, they would make me Rush fans even if I had never heard their early stuff, whereas PoW through T4E would have the opposite effect.

 

It's funny. All the guys I know who were/ are into post punk etc. and were also Rush fans have this exact same story.

 

I have pretty much the exact same story.

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people can try to sound as smart as they want (lookin at you JARG) but it all boils down to "guitar good, keyboard bad"

 

Is this true? Is it the keyboard that wasn't liked?

 

Speaking for myself, I loved their eighties sound. However, it was a far cry from COS, AFTK and Hemispheres. Personally, I would have preferred they stayed with the latter sound, but they didn't ask me what I thought. Maybe next time they will. :cool:

Edited by Lorraine
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people can try to sound as smart as they want (lookin at you JARG)

Was it "akin" that threw you off? Not sure what I said up there can be reasonably be interpreted to mean I was trying to sound smart, but whatever.

but it all boils down to "guitar good, keyboard bad"

 

That's a lot of it, but not all. Certainly there were keyboards on albums prior to Signals. No, for me it was more that the songs were getting "softer" for lack of a better word. The thing I liked about early Rush was the in-your-face aggressiveness of the music (certainly a preponderance of guitar helped in that regard) -- probably because I was a teenager in the late 70s and early 80s. I also liked that their music wasn't popular with most of my peers -- that made it feel like Rush was a kind of secret that I and a few friends were in on (again, the appeal of that probably had something to do with my age).

 

When MP came out, their popularity skyrocketed, but the music was still pretty hard-hitting, so I was still among the faithful, but when Signals came out, it was blatantly obvious that the band was trying to capitalize on their new-found popularity by writing songs that were more appealing to the "masses". Rush had styled themselves as a "we don't give a f**k about what other people like" type of band, which again, appealed to me mostly due to my age, but Signals changed all that, "OK, so maybe we do care what other people think...we care so much that we'll start writing songs that they might like". It's sort of like how for years Rush said, "we don't give a f**k if we don't get into the RRHOF", but when it finally happened, it suddenly was "a big deal" for them.

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