This is my favorite studio Rush release. A time in my life becoming a drummer at 11 and learning the ropes being a dorky middle-school kid. Strange how such an awkward time in my life can still be looked back upon with such fondness. This album always takes me there back when family was still together and the special times we spent.
Permanent Waves, Moving pictures, and Signals were a helluva "trilogy". And I think Signals might have been the most consistent of the three, although production wise the two other albums might be a bit stronger.
Holy crap, I have this interview on cassette tape, somewhere down in the catacombs:D I remember it well, I had listened to it dozens of times back then, this was the first time hearing it in decades.
Hey Joedrums2112, thanks for posting this. Great interview and nice to reflect back. I am curious who conducted the interview? I think it would be great to give him some props. He did a great job and it seems evident that he was a real student of his craft as well as a fan. Thanks again.
The obvious change from "Moving Pictures" to this one was the keys, but another glaring difference was going from a bombastic cheerful sound, to a very subdued depressing sound and feel.
"Signals" is a good album with some great songs (Subdivisions and The Analog Kid are two of the greatest Rush tunes ever and feature two of Alex's best solos), but it was the album where Rush realized they had to part company with their long time producer Terry Brown who was too old school. Contrary to what one person said earlier, Alex does not "hate" the "Signals" album. The band as a WHOLE dislikes the record because the production was so shitty. Largely because Brown had little experience with recording anything but hard rock music. Rush needed a more contemporary producer like Peter Collins to produce the 1982-1987 synth records. Sadly, they didn't find Peter until "Power Windows" (which happens to be Geddy Lee's all-time favorite Rush record....he likes PW even more than "Moving Pictures." See the Rush autobiography "Contents Under Pressure."). While the album that followed "Signals," "Grace Under Pressure," is my all-time favorite Rush record and one of my favorite albums in the history of music, and while it brings Alex's guitar more to the forefront compared to "Signals,", the album was basically self produced. According to the band's autobiography "Contents Under Pressure," Steve Lillywhite was supposed to originally produce the album, but he backed out at the last minute, leaving Rush in a terrible bind. They ended up choosing Peter Henderson to produce, but as Geddy says in the book, he was a total disaster. He was a great ENGINEER, but he was not a producer. He couldn't make a decision, he couldn't provide song input, etc. Geddy says they spent 5 months recording the record in freezing cold Canada, working 16 hours per day, 7 days per day, with one day off. The line "The world weighs on my shoulder, but what am I to do" in the tune "Distant Early Warning" was sung 50 times by Geddy. Just that line alone. They had zero outside input, and put tremendous stress on themselves. It turns out that the stress was so bad the band almost broke up following the sessions. One of the greatest myths that gets propagated about Rush is that Alex Lifeson hates the four synth records from 1982-1987. It all stems from the so so documentary on Rush, "Beyond The Light Stage," which was put together by a Rush fan who is known for only liking heavy metal music and disliking Rush's music during the 1980's. He selectively chose interview bits to make it sound as if Alex hated that period, when in reality, he loves those records. He says so in "Contents Under Pressure" and in innumerable magazine articles I own. But like many guitarists, Alex did struggle a bit with the synths in the studio as they occupy the same frequency range as a guitar does. Dunn also makes it sound in the documentary as if the band lost a lot of fans during this time frame, and that the records were not successful. It's total B.S. The four synth records from 1982-1987 have out sold every 1970's Rush record besides "2112" which the band feels is mainly a good record because of the album's first side. And they didn't lose audience. They gained audience members. I know dozens of Rush fans whose favorite period of the band was the synth era. And then Dunn makes "Counterparts" into "the return to Rush" album when every member feels it's the worst record they've made since the 1970's! The record just SOUNDS good, but most of then material is shabby. On top of all this, famous DJ Eddie Trunk constantly talks about a discussion he supposedly had with Alex after the premier of "Beyond The Lighted Stage" where Eddie said to Al that he was so happy that he spoke badly about the synth records because Eddie hates them so much......just like Eddie hates synths in all rock music. It's basically a director and a DJ serving their own agenda instead of telling the truth about what Rush and their audience really feel.
It's funny to think that Geddy loves Power Windows the most.. As a 40 year RUSH fan since 1980, out of their body of work I probably dislike Power Windows the most. I actually put Grace Under Pressure as their last GREAT record. They really didn't recover with another record on the same level as the Terry Brown era, perhaps Clockwork Angels and Test for Echo. The post Signals era, while I applaud them for taking chances, allowed me to go on and discover other bands like Kings X. They were always there in the sense of being constant, but after 1984, I was essentially living in the past with RUSH. I'm glad they made Test for Echo, it was nice to return home in a sense. I think most RUSH fans just appreciate what they did over their body of work. Personally, I could have lived without the synth era, but I'm glad they did it their way.
80's Rush will always be my golden era! Period! I especially LOVE Signals to Hold Your Fire! It was a great time for me to be alive following Rush! With Power Windows and even more so on Hold Your Fire they MASTERED their new sound that started with Signals and even Side 2 of Moving Pictures to a degree. They finally found a perfect balance. It was the end of that chapter. Thats how it always felt to me. I still love the 90's Rush through Clockwork Angels. Especially the last 3! But the 80's for me was the most fun
Matt puts a great deal of stock into the documentary Grace Under Pressure. Let me say first I am a huge fan of the Rush's synth period during the 1980s. I think we may be parsing semantics here however because while Alex may not have hated those albums, he certainly was not happy that the lead guitar was taking a back seat to the keyboards. I collected nearly a 125 Rush radio interviews between 1980 and 2003, and on several occasions, all three members of the band have discussed Alex's dislike of the use of keyboards to carry the lead. I did not think the film Beyond the Lighted Stage gave the impression that Alex hated those albums, but simply that he wanted the band to return to a guitar driven trio. One of the comments that Geddy made during one of those radio interviews in response to Alex's desire to change direction that I have not heard repeated is that in order to satisfy Alex they put a great deal of extra work into the guitars parts during GUP through HYF. I have heard many individuals like Eddie Trunk say they were not fans of this period, but most people stuck with the band. While you may critisize the documentary Beyond the Lighted Stage, we must recognize that it was probably helpful in getting them into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and increasing their fame and fandom which by the way, cost me a lot more money to see them on the R 40 tour, especially on the last show.
I actually think signals is one of their best albums and I also actually think Alex's guitar tone on that album is insane. And the songs are one after the other solid. I don't think grace under pressure comes close to that record even tho I love the record.
@@stevet7487 I love Beyond the Lighted Stage. Let's face it, no book, no documentary is going to be perfect. They all contain bias in one form or another. I prefer to take all sources into account when making up my mind. Matt Smith above references Contents Under Pressure several times. What makes that book more relevant than Lighted Stage? I agree with you Steve. The perception of Alex not liking the synths was not created out of nowhere for the documentary.
after my favourite era, farewell to kings/hemispheres/permanent waves/moving pictures, this was the new RUSH emerging....is SIGNALS getting an updated mix with LIVE C.D.s like permanent waves and moving pictures did....?
Signals is a terrific album. The bass lines, guitar work & drumming are all fantastic. As someone else in these comments suggested, GUP is the last GREAT album Rush put out. Even though it was a huge struggle & Peter Henderson wasn't much help, it turned out to be a collection of songs that many a Rush fan would wear out on their cassette tapes. To be fair to Peter, I probably would have been the same way in the studio. "Damn, it sounds GREAT ! Lets roll with it." LOL.
There are no bad Rush albums, in fact each one is a masterpiece in its own way. But I always wished they had re-recorded or re-mixed Signals and put the guitars way up more in the forefront and toned down the keyboards. Rush is better when keys are just used for background texture, not occupying same sonic space as guitars.
This album gets a lot of guff because it came right after “Moving Pictures” but rather than play it safe Rush made a deliberate decision to go a different direction. Music was also changing in the 80s and bands that could not adapt to that disappeared.
Funny how when an album comes out, the band of course talks it up and says they are proud of it, and then decades later every single chance they get they trash this album. They may have been happy with it at the time but looking back geddy referred to it as “a mistake,” and alex said they lost their way with the album being so dominated by they keyboards, which he said wasnt even a real instrument lol
Wrong. Their passion was always to make the exact type of music they wanted to make at that particular time. It's true they were always influenced by what was going on around them in the music scene but they always followed their hearts. This is not speculation by me. I've read and watched dozens of interviews with them and they confirm this time and time again. Having said that, their hair and clothing style choices during this time period were not a good choice. lol I will agree with you on that.
@@gianthills And they did that because they wanted to do it, not because they had any desire to follow trends. They liked what the Police were doing and decided to use that in their music. It's an interesting premise that because they made this choice on one album you have decided that they were nothing more than trend followers. Specious reasoning
Just enjoy looking back at these pictures,that is moving pictures. Hahaha. RUSH one of the great progressive rock bands. End of discussion.🎸🎸🎸🎛️🎛️🎛️🎧🎤🥁🎤🎧🎚️
This album was the soundtrack of my life back then.
For me as well . Good times....
I get incredible feelings of nostalgia when I listen to this album. I got it for Christmas after it came out.
Mine too brother man
This is my favorite studio Rush release. A time in my life becoming a drummer at 11 and learning the ropes being a dorky middle-school kid. Strange how such an awkward time in my life can still be looked back upon with such fondness. This album always takes me there back when family was still together and the special times we spent.
Permanent Waves, Moving pictures, and Signals were a helluva "trilogy". And I think Signals might have been the most consistent of the three, although production wise the two other albums might be a bit stronger.
One of favorite albums by Rush. I can't help but tear up hearing Neil talk. RIP. Greatest band ever!
I had to go back and listen to Alex's solo on "Chemistry" again.
ditto
Thank you for posting this! Absolutely fantastic to hear.
Thanks for sharing this, an amazing era between Moving Pictures and synth heavy era to come.
You are so welcome. I hope you Like and Subscribe to my channel. KEEP ROCKIN’ JOEDRUMS2112
This interviewer is excellent as is the interview.
Holy crap, I have this interview on cassette tape, somewhere down in the catacombs:D I remember it well, I had listened to it dozens of times back then, this was the first time hearing it in decades.
Hey Joedrums2112, thanks for posting this. Great interview and nice to reflect back. I am curious who conducted the interview? I think it would be great to give him some props. He did a great job and it seems evident that he was a real student of his craft as well as a fan. Thanks again.
Great discussion
The obvious change from "Moving Pictures" to this one was the keys, but another glaring difference was going from a bombastic cheerful sound, to a very subdued depressing sound and feel.
A great interview. A lot of good information here on the behind other scenes of an adventuresome album.
Good ol' Neil.
Can't imagine condemning a cultural that has rewarded you so much....
@@yrmthr huh
Best drum mix ever!!
My favorite album.
Back when this first came out, we were all like "hmm, what's going on with Rush?" Took me years to really get it.
"Signals" is a good album with some great songs (Subdivisions and The Analog Kid are two of the greatest Rush tunes ever and feature two of Alex's best solos), but it was the album where Rush realized they had to part company with their long time producer Terry Brown who was too old school. Contrary to what one person said earlier, Alex does not "hate" the "Signals" album. The band as a WHOLE dislikes the record because the production was so shitty. Largely because Brown had little experience with recording anything but hard rock music. Rush needed a more contemporary producer like Peter Collins to produce the 1982-1987 synth records. Sadly, they didn't find Peter until "Power Windows" (which happens to be Geddy Lee's all-time favorite Rush record....he likes PW even more than "Moving Pictures." See the Rush autobiography "Contents Under Pressure."). While the album that followed "Signals," "Grace Under Pressure," is my all-time favorite Rush record and one of my favorite albums in the history of music, and while it brings Alex's guitar more to the forefront compared to "Signals,", the album was basically self produced. According to the band's autobiography "Contents Under Pressure," Steve Lillywhite was supposed to originally produce the album, but he backed out at the last minute, leaving Rush in a terrible bind. They ended up choosing Peter Henderson to produce, but as Geddy says in the book, he was a total disaster. He was a great ENGINEER, but he was not a producer. He couldn't make a decision, he couldn't provide song input, etc. Geddy says they spent 5 months recording the record in freezing cold Canada, working 16 hours per day, 7 days per day, with one day off. The line "The world weighs on my shoulder, but what am I to do" in the tune "Distant Early Warning" was sung 50 times by Geddy. Just that line alone. They had zero outside input, and put tremendous stress on themselves. It turns out that the stress was so bad the band almost broke up following the sessions. One of the greatest myths that gets propagated about Rush is that Alex Lifeson hates the four synth records from 1982-1987. It all stems from the so so documentary on Rush, "Beyond The Light Stage," which was put together by a Rush fan who is known for only liking heavy metal music and disliking Rush's music during the 1980's. He selectively chose interview bits to make it sound as if Alex hated that period, when in reality, he loves those records. He says so in "Contents Under Pressure" and in innumerable magazine articles I own. But like many guitarists, Alex did struggle a bit with the synths in the studio as they occupy the same frequency range as a guitar does. Dunn also makes it sound in the documentary as if the band lost a lot of fans during this time frame, and that the records were not successful. It's total B.S. The four synth records from 1982-1987 have out sold every 1970's Rush record besides "2112" which the band feels is mainly a good record because of the album's first side. And they didn't lose audience. They gained audience members. I know dozens of Rush fans whose favorite period of the band was the synth era. And then Dunn makes "Counterparts" into "the return to Rush" album when every member feels it's the worst record they've made since the 1970's! The record just SOUNDS good, but most of then material is shabby. On top of all this, famous DJ Eddie Trunk constantly talks about a discussion he supposedly had with Alex after the premier of "Beyond The Lighted Stage" where Eddie said to Al that he was so happy that he spoke badly about the synth records because Eddie hates them so much......just like Eddie hates synths in all rock music. It's basically a director and a DJ serving their own agenda instead of telling the truth about what Rush and their audience really feel.
It's funny to think that Geddy loves Power Windows the most.. As a 40 year RUSH fan since 1980, out of their body of work I probably dislike Power Windows the most. I actually put Grace Under Pressure as their last GREAT record. They really didn't recover with another record on the same level as the Terry Brown era, perhaps Clockwork Angels and Test for Echo. The post Signals era, while I applaud them for taking chances, allowed me to go on and discover other bands like Kings X. They were always there in the sense of being constant, but after 1984, I was essentially living in the past with RUSH. I'm glad they made Test for Echo, it was nice to return home in a sense. I think most RUSH fans just appreciate what they did over their body of work. Personally, I could have lived without the synth era, but I'm glad they did it their way.
80's Rush will always be my golden era! Period! I especially LOVE Signals to Hold Your Fire! It was a great time for me to be alive following Rush! With Power Windows and even more so on Hold Your Fire they MASTERED their new sound that started with Signals and even Side 2 of Moving Pictures to a degree. They finally found a perfect balance. It was the end of that chapter. Thats how it always felt to me. I still love the 90's Rush through Clockwork Angels. Especially the last 3! But the 80's for me was the most fun
Matt puts a great deal of stock into the documentary Grace Under Pressure. Let me say first I am a huge fan of the Rush's synth period during the 1980s. I think we may be parsing semantics here however because while Alex may not have hated those albums, he certainly was not happy that the lead guitar was taking a back seat to the keyboards. I collected nearly a 125 Rush radio interviews between 1980 and 2003, and on several occasions, all three members of the band have discussed Alex's dislike of the use of keyboards to carry the lead. I did not think the film Beyond the Lighted Stage gave the impression that Alex hated those albums, but simply that he wanted the band to return to a guitar driven trio. One of the comments that Geddy made during one of those radio interviews in response to Alex's desire to change direction that I have not heard repeated is that in order to satisfy Alex they put a great deal of extra work into the guitars parts during GUP through HYF. I have heard many individuals like Eddie Trunk say they were not fans of this period, but most people stuck with the band. While you may critisize the documentary Beyond the Lighted Stage, we must recognize that it was probably helpful in getting them into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and increasing their fame and fandom which by the way, cost me a lot more money to see them on the R 40 tour, especially on the last show.
I actually think signals is one of their best albums and I also actually think Alex's guitar tone on that album is insane. And the songs are one after the other solid. I don't think grace under pressure comes close to that record even tho I love the record.
@@stevet7487 I love Beyond the Lighted Stage. Let's face it, no book, no documentary is going to be perfect. They all contain bias in one form or another. I prefer to take all sources into account when making up my mind. Matt Smith above references Contents Under Pressure several times. What makes that book more relevant than Lighted Stage? I agree with you Steve. The perception of Alex not liking the synths was not created out of nowhere for the documentary.
after my favourite era, farewell to kings/hemispheres/permanent waves/moving pictures, this was the new RUSH emerging....is SIGNALS getting an updated mix with LIVE C.D.s like permanent waves and moving pictures did....?
The Wizards of Willowdale! #BrushWithRush
R.I.P Neil
Signals is a terrific album. The bass lines, guitar work & drumming are all fantastic. As someone else in these comments suggested, GUP is the last GREAT album Rush put out. Even though it was a huge struggle & Peter Henderson wasn't much help, it turned out to be a collection of songs that many a Rush fan would wear out on their cassette tapes. To be fair to Peter, I probably would have been the same way in the studio. "Damn, it sounds GREAT ! Lets roll with it." LOL.
You're one album short...
@@husq48 Which one do you feel was great that came after P/G ?
@@JSE2023 Power Windows, still undecided on "Snakes" and "Angels", both at least the best since then.
10:42, Neil is looking for the door.
Super cool.
Well funny enough part 1 of Fear came two years later on Grace Under Pressure, The Enemy Within. Signals is a great album.
Freeze was p4
@@bjk777 I know. But, I don’t really count it. It’s a great song, don’t get me wrong. I just don’t think it fits into the trilogy.
There are no bad Rush albums, in fact each one is a masterpiece in its own way. But I always wished they had re-recorded or re-mixed Signals and put the guitars way up more in the forefront and toned down the keyboards. Rush is better when keys are just used for background texture, not occupying same sonic space as guitars.
This album gets a lot of guff because it came right after “Moving Pictures” but rather than play it safe Rush made a deliberate decision to go a different direction. Music was also changing in the 80s and bands that could not adapt to that disappeared.
#RUSH4EVER
The pic is from 1984
"Too many hands on my time. . ."
I liked Signals. I would've been entertained by Moving Pictures part 2-9
Hi Joe, I have a question, what snare do you have in the Neil Peart mahogany 1980 kit???? sounds identical to the Neil´s kit
Funny how when an album comes out, the band of course talks it up and says they are proud of it, and then decades later every single chance they get they trash this album. They may have been happy with it at the time but looking back geddy referred to it as “a mistake,” and alex said they lost their way with the album being so dominated by they keyboards, which he said wasnt even a real instrument lol
Even changed their look to new wave. God. Who the hell gave them that idea? Tells me they followed trends, not their passion.
Wrong. Their passion was always to make the exact type of music they wanted to make at that particular time. It's true they were always influenced by what was going on around them in the music scene but they always followed their hearts. This is not speculation by me. I've read and watched dozens of interviews with them and they confirm this time and time again. Having said that, their hair and clothing style choices during this time period were not a good choice. lol I will agree with you on that.
@@ghendar like when they tried to mimic the Police with reggae beats because it was the trend of the time?
@@gianthills And they did that because they wanted to do it, not because they had any desire to follow trends. They liked what the Police were doing and decided to use that in their music. It's an interesting premise that because they made this choice on one album you have decided that they were nothing more than trend followers. Specious reasoning
@@ghendar They did follow trends , as I just proved. You're just being a fool on purpose, kid. Go away now.
Just enjoy looking back at these pictures,that is moving pictures. Hahaha. RUSH one of the great progressive rock bands. End of discussion.🎸🎸🎸🎛️🎛️🎛️🎧🎤🥁🎤🎧🎚️