As early as next year after the legendary "Moving Pictures" LP (and thus the beginning of a new era!) Rush have released in 1982 "signal". One does not quite know what to expect, when the direct predecessor album from the outset not to beat and push of its unquestionable throne. The result: Instead of resting on their success, to copy the captivating "Moving Pictures" predicates of yourself or to take as the basis for new, Rush direct their music in a completely new direction, without getting themselves and their claim untrue , "Signal" heralding the beginning of a very keyboard-heavy era in the band's history. For Rush were also frequently criticized. Synthesizer Alex Lifeson and guitars are located in parts quite well balanced - the end of the album gets the guitar before in the background; but by now melody supporting figures and short solos by Geddy Lee's keyboards refer most of the songs their power and effect, giving the music an extra dimension. Most can impress the electronic support as a rhythmic element. So the driving keyboards draw the steady Drive a supercooled so just by the gentle sound of the synthesizer atmosphere equal to the opener Subdivisions. In addition, through the straight through structuring Subdivisions creating the musical empathetic interpretation of the theme of the alienation of the individual in the big city. The inspiring and often ingeniously ambiguous lyrics of drummer Neil Peart fit perfectly and stimulate reflection: "Nowhere is the dreamer or the misfit so alone". THE ANALOG KID brings the listener with its crisp, tubby guitar patterns again considerably to the more guitar-driven track. The magical, spherical Breaks make the rocking number next to the opener to another very great classics of the album. THE ANALOG KID approaches the same theme ("Drawn like moths we drift into the city", Subdivisions) from a distance of - namely, the country boy who raves full of dreams of life in the city. It follows the unusually structured CHEMISTRY, which boasts an impressive power curve from the inconspicuous beginning to atmospheric chorus back. After DIGITAL MAN that impressed with the legendary mercurial basslines of exceptional players Geddy Lee, followed by THE WEAPON again a piece that lives by the synthesizer-Drive. NEW WORLD MAN is a song that has managed to live classic and acts of human inadequacy. Again, the lyrics such as "He's wise enough to win the world / but fool enough to lose it" simply outstanding. The quiet LOSING IT is a bleak résumé that looks back and forward. Here and also in which the NASA astronauts from Cape Canaveral dedicated COUNTDOWN sting at the end of the album especially keyboard sounds forth. "Signal" is a loosely coherent concept album about the modern man in a synthetic and alienated world and exerts quiet but profound critique of the loss of emotional bond and the pursuit of dubious dreams. You should also read the lyrics of Neil Peart while listening necessarily. This could be as usual inspiration from many sources. While "The Music Of The Spheres" in ANALOG KID goes back to Pythagoras, the first set of THE WEAPON ("We've got nothing to fear but fear itself") refers to a speech by US President Roosevelt from the year 1933rd LOSING IT has many references to Ernest Hemingway: "Where the sun will rise no more" is the answer to his title "The Sun Also Rises"; and the closing words "The bell tolls for thee ..." strongly reminiscent of "For Whom The Bell Tolls". Further, the description of the supercooled atmosphere through structured city is a reference to "Manhattan Transfer" by John Dos Passos, at the Neil Peart inspired in the albums "Moving Pictures" and "Power Windows". The good 42 minutes from "signal" have an advantage of inestimable value: None of the eight songs sounds remotely as if you heard it from Rush before. And it should also appear from the three musical magicians from Canada no longer only album, the musical based on any previous work. The "signal" too often undervalued, another shining star in the sky rush has also appeared on the greatest album of all time.
