This first UK vinyl pressing sounds pretty neat and on my set up it really sounds full, dynamic. They still listen to only so called Symphonic Prog and obsess about Flower Kings and Transatlantic.Sure I love all that too but they might be missing out on newer or different music just because it doesn't fit their established and fixed thought pattern.I You know the sort though, only listen to those same classic 50 or so timeless albums like The Lamb, Fragile, Tarkus, Aqualung, Pawn Hearts, Meddle, Selling England, Red, Moving Waves etc. " retrorock" and I claim ownership of that title as I first used it over 10 years ago. Mmmmhhh it seems that some Prog fans are really fans of a newly discovered music genre called But isn't this called " progressive rock" ? Many Rush fans at the time hated these records. Along with Grace Under Pressure, the next one along, they make a rather odd but quality pairing. It's a grower, the production is superb and the lyrics are very interesting social comments. Ok after more than twenty plays in my car cassette player, this is early 80s remember, I found myself whistling these (at the time) nameless tunes, each day after my drive to work. I decided to let go of my former faves and dive in to post punk where a delicious menu of PIL, Gang of Four, Echo, Simple Minds, U2 and Banshees were all sat waiting for former Prog fans to eat them up.īut what's this ? Rush actually sound good, how's that happen ?I Oh dear Sabbath were Dio's vehicle for Rainbow songs and, soon Yes were about to shock us all with you know what ! Genesis were now a vehicle for the Phil Collins marriage guidance Counsellors. Oh dear Rush don't sound good any longer do they, where's By Tor and where's Anthem, you know Zep had imploded after Bonhams sad demise and the so called NWOBHM had arrived. Yes I became confused in the early 80s as to where my version of Rush had gone ! Get my drift ? Then we get this very dense electronic synth lp. Then Moving Pictures which began again with a big big single, sure the rest was much more in keeping but do Rush really want Top 40 pop singles, wot they do ?!?! Of course the label does so out go the epic side long suites and in come the hummable choruses. So Hemispheres was excellent then they go all pop sort of with Spirit of Radio, sounding a bit new wave, right as The Police with Andy Summers reggae guitar style. Gentle Giant certainly don't think so up to Interview do they ? However, at the time it was actually released I was not very impressed, I mean where was the huge guitar wall of sound ,the side long epics like Hemispheres, now that is an absolute classic record if a little hard to get into at first listen? So Signals is as far removed from any prior releases that you can get and yes I still struggle with it - but it's definitely worth owning. The album also completely paved the way for the direction that Rush were to maintain throughout virtually the rest of their career, and to my mind, Signals is the last of the "vital" Rush albums - I lost interest in them after this album, I'm sorry to say. Signals was also the last album to be produced by Terry Brown, which is quite sad, especially how it ended - but he presided over all of the essential Rush period. My favourite track at the time (and still is) is Digital Man - I'm a sucker for some expansive bass and drumming from Lee and Peart - and this track has it in spades (and more than a nod to The Police, imo). Lyrically, I think this might well be the strongest of all their albums - Losing It is just brilliant with an amazing performance by Ben Mink. However, there are some real highlights and includes a stone wall classic in Subdivisions. It's very synth laden, the most of all their releases I think? It had a fairly depressive melodic theme throughout, with what some might say somewhat dispassionate vocals by Geddy Lee. This album really did get panned by a lot of critics and it's easy to see why. I was a Rush fan with a fairly small 'r' at the time when I bought it on release in 1982 and I didn't know what to expect (Permanent Waves was my only realistic point of reference - and still is my all time favourite Rush album). I too struggled with this album for a long time, and I probably still do to a certain extent.
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