Great Rock Albums of 1982: Rush- Signals

Rush’s 1982 album “Signals” is almost another album in that year that escaped my attention. Fortunately, there was somebody in my platoon who was a huge Rush fan so thanks to him, I got to listen to this album. My first reaction to “Signals” was that it wasn’t as hard rock as some of the songs on their previous “Moving Pictures” album but it was an enjoyable album nonetheless.

In the eyes of many, “Signals” marked the beginning of Rush’s turn towards more synthesizer oriented music. While I won’t dispute that belief, I can say that some of the old Rush is still present in some of the songs. You just have to listen carefully. Alex Leifson’s guitar is definitely there underneath the keyboards of Geddy Lee.  Together, they make a definite statement for progressive rock not long before it gave way to more synth pop later in the 80s were quality musicianship wouldn’t count for much. What is good is that every song on this album follows along in this formula although I can say that Liefson does hammer out great guitar solos on tracks 2, 3 and 4. That’s probably why those songs stand out for me even though it was “Subdivisions” and “New World Man” that got the most radio airplay at the time. Those two songs probably deserved it anyway. If I were to compare this album to anything, it would be the second side of the “Moving Pictures” album and that’s definitely a good thing.

Track Listing:

1. Subdivisions

2. The Analogue Kid

3. Chemistry

4. Digital Man

5. The Weapon

6. New World Man

7. Losing It

8. Countdown

Rush

Geddy Lee- vocals, bass, keyboards, Moog Taurus pedals

Alex Liefson- guitars, Moog Taurus pedals

Neil Peart- drums, percussion

Whether or not you liked Rush or thought they sold out during what was now commonly called, “their synthesizer period,” you can’t fault this album. “Signals” in my mind, will always be considered a great progressive rock album.

Next post: Michael Stanley Band- MSB

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