Powderfinger Posted February 26, 2014 Share Posted February 26, 2014 The new issue of Prog Magazine includes a story on Signals: http://www.progrockm...-issue-on-sale/ Anyone get a copy? Is it worth tracking down? Mike Rutherford is the cover story (with excerpts from his new autobiography), so I'm doubly interested in this issue, but it can be a pain to locate in my town. Signals is my favorite Rush album. I'm well versed in the standard interpretation: keyboards took over (which I think is an overstated point). Wondering if the article offers any new insights on the album. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
circumstantial tree Posted February 26, 2014 Share Posted February 26, 2014 "the synths took over"? More upfront maybe but I definitely hear guitar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bathory Posted February 26, 2014 Share Posted February 26, 2014 anyone who says the synths took over just listened to subdivisions and threw the album away Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snyder80 Posted February 27, 2014 Share Posted February 27, 2014 I will never understand how anyone cannot adore Signals. I've always felt it includes some of their most intricate material (Analog Kid, Digital Man, Subdivisions, The Weapon) and also some of their absolute deepest lyrics. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HomesickAlien Posted February 27, 2014 Share Posted February 27, 2014 This is a review published just days after the release of Signals. "submerged in a soggy swamp of synthesizers" http://i.imgur.com/VewWstZ.png Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
circumstantial tree Posted February 27, 2014 Share Posted February 27, 2014 If that was his fave trio, then he wouldn't be calling the opening track "Sub Division". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patjnev Posted February 27, 2014 Share Posted February 27, 2014 He must not of read the lyric sheet that came with the album if he spelled it " Sub Division " also I'm pretty sure the lush deep fat tone of the opening riff of Losing it was not played on a "MOOG" , Oberheim is more likely. I have to admit I loved Signals . I am a synth freak and I also play guitar ,I got my first keyboard about six months before Signals came out and I love it . Looking back no Signal was probably not as strong as MP or PeW but it was my first relase as a Rush fan of 15 and I loved every track . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bathory Posted February 27, 2014 Share Posted February 27, 2014 let's keep in mind that pretty much all rock journalism from that time period was uninformed and shitty 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EagleMoon Posted February 27, 2014 Share Posted February 27, 2014 let's keep in mind that pretty much all rock journalism from that time period was uninformed and shitty Spoken by someone who was probably not even born when Signals came out. Rock journalism still sucks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turbine Freight Posted February 27, 2014 Share Posted February 27, 2014 Signals was Rush's last truly amazing album imo. I love it. It was downhill from there. Great album though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
treeduck Posted February 27, 2014 Share Posted February 27, 2014 Despite Neil's vigorous protests at the time, about being saddled with the metal label, I feel that Signals now represents the heavy metal album of 1982 and Neil knows it and even wears a pyramid style studded wrist band to celebrate the fact, especially on September 9. :goodone: :haz: :rush: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OGr8imL84AD8inF8sBlackSedan Posted February 27, 2014 Share Posted February 27, 2014 I happen to love Signals, it's probably my second fave RUSH album behind E...SL. But I think the reviewer is right on in his descriptions. Taking out all of the disparaging words, he's dead accurate. If you can just eliminate them from the review it's not half bad. He just happens to have been like many, many fans at the time who didn't like the drastic change to such a heavily keyboard laden record. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LedRush Posted February 27, 2014 Share Posted February 27, 2014 I was introduced to Rush through the Rush Chronicles double-disc best-of album. After listening to everything, I don't think I listened to anything after Subdivisions for a few years. Signals was the first album that I thought was clearly worse than the previous, though that trend continued until Presto. I've grown to like the synth era and Signals, but it is definitely when the synths took over and the band's music failed to reach the peaks of the earlier stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drbirdsong Posted February 27, 2014 Share Posted February 27, 2014 I was just listening to it the other day and it is amazing how nostalgic it makes me feel. It captures that time period so well. I got it the day it came out and it was the perfect early birthday present. I turned 17 a couple of weeks later and saw them live for the first time the following month. It will always be cemented in my mind for that, but also because it is a real gem that I appreciate more with time. Even the weaker moments sound great to me now. I'm all fanboy for it. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slack jaw gaze Posted February 27, 2014 Share Posted February 27, 2014 Anyone get a copy? Is it worth tracking down?You can read the Signals article here: http://www.2112.net/powerwindows/transcripts/20140200prog.htm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Powderfinger Posted February 28, 2014 Author Share Posted February 28, 2014 Anyone get a copy? Is it worth tracking down?You can read the Signals article here: http://www.2112.net/...0140200prog.htm Thank you! And thank you everyone for sharing your opinion of Signals. It is my favorite Rush album, and a top ten all time favorite of mine. It's a bit cold on the surface, but when you get beneath that outer layer there is a deep, beautiful album inside. As mentioned, I've always felt strongly that the keyboard domination argument is overstated, if not entirely inaccurate. I love Alex's contributions to Signals. An outstanding album with zero weak cuts, IMHO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ancient Ways Posted February 28, 2014 Share Posted February 28, 2014 We are all comparing signals against entire catalog today. I can tell you that when it was released it sounded buried in synths. Of course they released a few more albums after proving us wrong. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Todem Posted February 28, 2014 Share Posted February 28, 2014 (edited) Signals was the proverbial "shock to the system" to the original fans of the band who had been with them since their debut. The second generation of their fans (born in 1970 and beyond) and had been introduced via Moving Pictures (me cough me) embraced the new direction in all it's glory. It's the same story…….after Grace Under Pressure came out a massive amount of the "pioneer" fans dumped the band. But they had legions of new fans from Moving Pictures who picked up the slack. Whatever. Signals in hindsight is a brilliant record, full of warmth, incredible lyrics and has aged better than any of the "synth" era albums. In hindsight I am sure the band was disappointed in the overall mix etc….they have spoken about this many a moon over the past two decades…..and it marked the end of the Terry Brown era. A fitting end though as the album is easily one of Rush's 5 best in my book. Even though Alex is buried at times in the mix…..he has some of his very best guitar work here. Geddy's bass is insane on this record and Neils sums sound incredible. No doubt it has two of Rush's top 10 all time best songs in: SubdivisionsThe Analog Kid Edited February 28, 2014 by Todem Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ancient Ways Posted February 28, 2014 Share Posted February 28, 2014 I became a fan with pm but had devoured their entire catalog by the time signals came out so I guess I had the mentality of an original fan. I was shocked at what signals sounded like and it took me a few years to really appreciate it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slack jaw gaze Posted March 1, 2014 Share Posted March 1, 2014 ...and Neils sums sound incredible.I've always been a big fan of his math work too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geddy's Soul Patch Posted March 1, 2014 Share Posted March 1, 2014 ...and Neils sums sound incredible.I've always been a big fan of his math work too. His algorithms from the Power Windows period changed my life Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Todem Posted March 3, 2014 Share Posted March 3, 2014 It is widely known he is a mathematic genius! LOL! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lerxt1990 Posted March 3, 2014 Share Posted March 3, 2014 I'm old. Still think of Signals as "that new album." Always loved it, and always thought Chemistry was underrated genius for Alex. I now remember how Countdown was about exuberance over this new thing called the Space Shuttle, and now the shuttles have been retired. I'm old. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greg2112 Posted March 5, 2014 Share Posted March 5, 2014 anyone who says the synths took over just listened to subdivisions and threw the album away Right on. SOme of Alex's very best solos are on that album. My favorite Rush album of all time, bar none. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greg2112 Posted March 5, 2014 Share Posted March 5, 2014 While there's plenty of synth on Signals, I still group the album in the Permanent Waves/Moving Pictures era. I count the "synth era" as formally starting with Grace and going through HYF. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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