Signals is the ninth studio album by Canadian rock band Rush, released on September 9, 1982, by Anthem Records. After the release of their previous album, Moving Pictures, the band started to prepare material for a follow-up during soundchecks on their 1981 concert tour and during the mixing of their subsequent live album Exit...Stage Left. Signals demonstrates the group's continuing use of synthesizers, sequencers and other electronic instrumentation. It is the final album produced by their longtime associate Terry Brown, who had worked with them since 1974.
The album peaked at No. 1 in Canada, No. 3 in the United Kingdom and No. 10 in the United States. In November 1982, the record was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America for selling one million copies in the United States. Rush released three singles from the album: "New World Man", which became the band's highest charting single in the United States and a number-one hit in Canada, as well as "Subdivisions" and "Countdown". The group supported Signals with a concert tour from April 1982 to May 1983. Signals has been reissued several times, including a remaster with a new stereo and 5.1 surround sound mix in 2011.
Background and recording
In July 1981, Rush ended their tour in support of their previous album Moving Pictures. The album became their most commercially successful of their history, granting them their first No. 1 album in Canada and selling over one million copies in the United States at the tour's conclusion. Rush then took a three-month break, during which they oversaw the production and mixing of their second live release, Exit...Stage Left, at Le Studio in Morin-Heights, Quebec. In one of drummer and lyricist Neil Peart's diary entries written during this time, he had been cleaning a Hayman drum kit that was housed in the studio and, in September 1981, began working out a song with two members of the band's road crew, the unreleased "Tough Break". Peart was also working on lyrics, in particular a set which included "Subdivisions", a track the group would later record for Signals. The group had their sound man capture their soundchecks on tape which provided a method of developing new songs, which was particularly the case for "Chemistry". The album displays the band continuing to incorporate the synthesizer into their songs with less emphasis on guitar-oriented riffs which had been the focus of their sound in the 1970s. Lee considered Signals as the beginning of a new era for the band. In hindsight, he said it was considerably difficult to make because it took longer than usual for the band to achieve the right feel for each song. Some ideas that Alex Lifeson and Lee had initially saved for potential solo albums were used on Signals. Writer and journalist Greg Quill noticed a "cyclical framework" in Signals, specifically the album opening in suburbia followed by contemplating escape in "The Analog Kid". Then, "universal human imponderables" are explored through humanity, sex, religion, and aging, which ends in an actual escape in "Countdown". Quill spoke to Peart about this theory, to which the drummer replied: "You noticed that. We were hoping no one would. It's so unfashionable these days to construct grand concepts. We're being closed mouthed about it".
Recording began at Le Studio in April 1982, and ended on July 15. As per Lee, "instead of setting up as a power trio, we wanted to set up as a four-piece band without using a lot of overdubbing to achieve that". Rush intended to finish the album in June, but had to spend additional time in the studio which led to a month's reduction in their planned vacation time. Upon completion, the album was mastered by Bob Ludwig at Masterdisk. Its instrumental break has been compared with "Walking on the Moon" by The Police. The song developed further in March 1982 during the band's one month stay at The Grange in Muskoka Lakes, Ontario.
Side two
"The Weapon" is the second part of Rush's "Fear" song series. During a writing session at a northern Ontario manor home in 1981, Lee and his friend Oscar devised what Peart described as the foundation of "a highly mysterious and bizarre drum pattern" with his drum machine. Samuel shot the image on the rooftop of her studio. The lawn is a piece of AstroTurf, and the hydrant was rented from Toronto and repainted the desired colour for the cover. She recalled a search to find a Dalmatian who could sniff on command, and placed dog biscuits underneath the hydrant multiple times to get the final shot. The back cover is a pretend blueprint of a neighbourhood with what Lee described as "make believe subdivisions", No. 3 in the United Kingdom, and No. 10 in the United States. In November 1982, the album was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America for selling one million copies in the United States.
Rush released five singles from Signals. "New World Man" reached No. 21 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart for three weeks in October and November 1982. It is the band's highest charting single in the US, and the only one to have reached the top 40.
Reception
At the time of release, Rolling Stone criticised the band's choice of "emphasizing synthesizers at the expense of Alex Lifeson's guitar," calling the album "mostly a wasted effort."
Louder called Signals the 29th best album of the 80s.
AllMusic retrospectively praised the album, complimenting the band for not simply making Moving Pictures, Pt. II, continuing their exploration of the synthesizer and introducing more contemporary themes into the lyrics. while Stereogum placed the album third (behind Moving Pictures and 2112) in their list of "Rush Albums From Worst to Best," labelling it "the most audacious album of the band's career."
In the 2010 documentary film Rush: Beyond the Lighted Stage, Trent Reznor cited Signals as an influence for incorporating keyboards into hard rock. Canadian music journalist Martin Popoff stated that Signals was his favorite Rush album because of the "creamy production."
In 2022, Guitar World named Signals the #9 greatest rock guitar album of 1982, saying that although there was a "shift to a more electro-synth sound", there was "still room for Alex Lifeson to do his thing on his six-string", and that "Geddy Lee remained the best bassist in rock".
Reissues
{|class="wikitable"
|-
!Year
!Label
!Format
!Notes
|-
|1994
|Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab
|CD
|Gold CD remaster. "The Weapon" has one line of lyrics missing at 3:12. The label stated this was the case on the master tape delivered to them. Both "New World Man" and “Digital Man” have endings a few seconds longer.
|-
|2011
|Anthem
|CD, DVD
|Digitally remastered as part of the three-volume Sector box sets, also available in 5.1 surround sound.
|-
|2015
|Mercury
|LP, digital format
|Digitally remastered.
|-
|2023
|Mercury
|LP, Blu Ray, digital format
|Three digitally remastered formats: (1) Super Deluxe Edition, (2) one-LP Picture Disc Edition, and (3) Dolby Atmos Digital Edition
|}
Track listing
40th Anniversary Super Deluxe Edition (2023)
Subdivisions / Red Barchetta (Live) 7"
Countdown / New World Man 7"
New World Man / Vital Signs (Live) 7"
The Weapon (Single Edit) / Digital Man 7"
Personnel
Credits are taken from the album's 1982 liner notes.
;Rush
- Geddy Lee – bass guitars, synthesizers, vocals, arrangements, production
- Alex Lifeson – electric and acoustic guitars, Moog Taurus pedals, production
- Neil Peart – drums, percussion, arrangements, spoken vocal on “Subdivisions”, production
;Additional personnel
- Ben Mink – electric violin on "Losing It"
;Production
- Terry Brown – arrangements, production
- Paul Northfield – engineer
- Robbie Whelan – engineer assistant
- JVC – digital mastering
- Bob Ludwig – mastering at Masterdisk on the original vinyl album an remastering at Gateway Mastering Studios in 1997
- Brian Lee – additional remastering in 1997
- Hugh Syme – art direction, graphics, cover concept
- Deborah Samuel – photography
- Kineblok Inc. – photographic colour optics
- Moon Records – executive production
Charts
Weekly charts
{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;"
! scope="col"| Chart (1982)
! scope="col"| Peak<br />position
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|-
|-
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{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;"
! scope="col"| Chart (2023)
! scope="col"| Peak<br />position
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Year-end charts
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"
! scope="col" | Chart (1982)
! scope="col" | Position
|-
|-
!scope="row"|US Top Pop Albums (Cash Box)
|46
|}