Signals [Gold Disc CD] - Rush (CD 1994)

(Disclaimer: Those looking for a brief description of the album will find what their looking for in the "Review Body" section. The section titled "Track Reviews" is meant only for those who want to read detailed descriptions of the songs, and they do not constitute the essence of this review. Lastly and most importantly, this review is not necessarily written by the point of view of a Rush fan.)

Overall Score: 3/5
Best song: Chemistry
Worst song: New World Man

Review Body:

While were away, Rush discovered the keyboards. And when I say that, it's not to say that they've never used that instrument before. They certainly have. But now it was becoming a major part of their sounds and, in return, began to take away the spotlight off lead guitarist Alex Lifeson. Now, I've often lauded keyboards; I love them for the sounds they produce and what that can contribute to a band's sound. If Rush wants to use keyboards, then good for them. Let's see what they can do.

Er... I've gotta ask: Why couldn't they think of anything more interesting to do with them? When I let this play in the background and only pay half-attention to it, all I'm getting is a continuous drone. When I am closely paying attention, all I'm getting is a continuous drone ... while pointing out that they have some hella good instrumental capabilities and they frequently give us some interesting textures.

But the lack of truly interesting keyboards isn't even half of Signal's problems. There's something more fundamentally missing, and it's obvious: What happened to the harmonies and melodies? You could argue that these were always Rush's greatest weakness, but it's done so poorly on Signals that it's a major drawback to this experience. These chord progressions are so bleak that I wonder how they could have worked on this so much without wanting to fall asleep. A great song is going to have harmonies that need as much life and depth as the quality of the orchestration. Rush's orchestration ranges from fine to excellent, but rarely do they give me anything particularly substantive to latch onto. Everything sounds so bleak, and it's almost like it's not even there. I know this puts me in the minority opinion, but this is precisely what's keeping this album from entering recommendable territory.

But I hope I'm not enough of a knee-jerk guy to completely dismiss an album just because I feel one thing is out-of-whack. Let me reiterate this is an enormously well-played album, and they give us plenty of interesting textures to listen to. I'd imagine Rush fans spent much of their life listening to this album with headphones so that they could memorize every little thing they do here, which obviously would take quite a bit of time. Furthermore, everything here is done tastefully and purposefully. It's all even so consistent enough so that nothing scored below a C+ in the track reviews. That's surely worth something.

Subdivisions is a good opener with a number of varied and intricate textures. The atmosphere might not singularly impress me, but it's the first song of the album and I guess that's where it works the best. The Analog Kid does allot its central sound to the electric guitar, and it's nice'n'crunchy. Arguably, this song contains the most distinct use of the keyboards... this heavenly bit that comes unexpectedly, but smartly. They at least haven't forgotten how to develop a song, and that was the most fundamental reason this review is mixed instead of negative. Chemistry is another wholly intricate arrangement, and I'd say they do that whole epic thing rather well without feeling like it was overblown. (Though considering my respectable boredom for the whole exercise, maybe something overblown wouldn't have been such a bad idea.)

I was with the album that far though my senses were progressively becoming duller. But they just lose me with Digital Man. Sure, the textures change but some parts (mainly that pounding synth thing) come off as awkward and doesn't flow well within the context of the rest of the song. New World Man is a similarly disinteresting song ... I struggle to find anything worth treasuring there, except for, as I already repeated a few times, the empty respect for their instrumental chops.

And I'll go ahead and mention this is an album that other critics overwhelmingly like but I'm wholly indifferent to. I'll also mention that I wrote a previous draft of this review, and I remember giving it the exact same assessment. (I never got a chance to publish because it fried in my hard drive last October.) I was hoping that by listening to it some more that it would grow on me... And I really wanted it to, because writing mixed reviews aren't a pleasant experience for me. But I guess it wasn't in the stars.

Track Reviews:

Subdivisions B
Hear all those dang keyboards! I thought these guys fancied themselves as prog's gift to heavy metal, and here they are turning into a keyboard band. ...Well, they're a good keyboard band anyway. They're generally interested in developing atmospheres here, although they only really develop *one* atmosphere and all I'm really receiving at my end is one lengthy drone. I do like their instrumentation, though, and they deliver a number of intricate textures. All things considered, this is respectable, and this is a vastly intelligent. But the melody is really lacking, which is one aspect that really should have been spruced up. I mean, this is a keyboard album for pete's sake.

The Analog Kid B+
This song works better because the guitar is crunchier and the keyboards are kept well into the background. These guitar riffs are tight and rather well-done. They do manage to work in a strange keyboard section that radiates what I'd call a, heavenly, vibe. It pops up rather suddenly, but it manages to work well in the context and turns out to be a delightful surprise. Lifeson proves he's still a member of the band when he delivers a finger-melting solo in there... It's not so much impressive as it is *fast*, but in the end it gives us another good texture change.

Chemistry B+
I love that crunchy guitar and the rhythms its playing. It doesn't seem like they really went as far with that concept as they should have. As long as they were using keyboards, why not let it play some counterpoint in the background? ... Come on, Rush, do ya want me to arrange your songs for you?? ... Oh, but this is a good song. I'm not always convinced at these guys attempt to create these pompous epic atmospheres, but when Geddy Lee cries Electricity!....Biology! I happen to buy the whole thing for that one second. Well, that's a cool experience at least. These textures are varied enough to keep it from growing too stale, but as I said earlier, I don't know why they didn't go ahead and take it to the next level. This melody needed sprucing up, too. I know they weren't writing three-minute radio ditties, but that's no excuse for bland melodies.

Digital Man C+
Alright, this is where my patience is tested. This would have made a perfectly bland three-minute song, but the fact they had to make this more than six minutes long means they didn't like me too much. To their credit, I like some of the elaborate chords they're playing ... but they're just playing it too long. That bit that comes up a few times with the pulsating synthesizer and echoey drums really doesn't work that well ... as interesting as it is to hear when it pops up it really doesn't work that well into the context of the song, and it's just not pleasant to hear. Of course the instrumentals are good, but I've long since become accustomed to what these guys are capable of. Give them credit for the intricate rhythms they give us.

The Weapon B
Holy moly, another six minute song. This one's better, though. I think these textures better and more developed than Digital Man and the song overall seems to flow better. The keyboards are a central part to this song ... a constant, busy loop going off in the background. They even find some time to give us this cosmic bit in the middle with what is apparently an artistic impression of ... er ... a weapon. Lifeson has his own parts with the electric guitar, which is nicely balanced in the mix. Really love Peart's drumming, which gives us plenty of textures. The overall chord progression is just dumb, though, and that's really what makes this seem so dull. The instrumentals are first rate and enough to be flashy and entertaining ... and I'm going to buy it ... but there's alarmingly little substance beneath it all.

New World Man C+
They made a good decision to not let this extend past four minutes, because this is another dull drone. That's to say, of course, that this is intricately well played and the texture is well developed. Sorry to keep beating this dead horse, because it's clear they're never going to appease me: Where are the melodies? Are you writing music or textures?

Losing It B
This is slightly better than a boring drone ... and that's just because they go off on this weird chord progression in the middle of it. They also manage to sell me quite dearly on that instrumental discourse they thrust in the middle of it with that very strange, scratchy guitar solo. It's wailing at such high frequencies that I'm surprised I'm able to register it at all. Not to beat the bloody red patch that was once a dead horse, this melody...

Countdown B-
Some of this song is pretty good! (Oh, do I have to be less vague?) OK, that funny concept with the rocket ship lift-off is completely pointless because I'm not paying attention to the lyrics. But they do often change these textures around, and that keeps this respectable more or less. Upon a few occasions, I can enjoy a few of the chords they choose ... but not once do I ever like the melodies. Not once. I've got to wonder why they bothered working so hard on something this down-deep boring...

Concluding Remarks:
Not the most exciting album Rush ever did. Of course I have nothing against them going in a more keyboard direction, but this album seems to come at me in one huge drone. The melodies aren't distinctive whatsoever, and their chord progressions are awfully bleak.