SIGNALS  -  RUSH

YEAR:  1982
LABEL:  Mercury
TRACK LISTING:  Subdivisions,  The Analog Kid,  Chemistry,  Digital Man,  The Weapon,  New World Man,  Losing It,  Countdown
IMPRESSIONS:  They could've made MOVING PICTURES PART 2 but they didn't.  Instead, they embraced early 80's technology with synthesizers taking a more central role (to the chagrin of Mr. Alex Lifeson).  The songs got were kept shorter (relatively speaking) and the lyrics were more concise.  And the album opens with probably my favourite Rush song ever.  As a high school student on the outskirts of popularity with self-esteem just south of a worm's navel, "Subdivisions" had (and still has) a tremendously-powerful connection with me personally.  And hey, the rest of the album and half bad neither!  The three members of Rush were self-confessed fans of the Police and you can certainly hear their influence on SIGNALS (hey, that's the second Police-influenced album in a row here!). 
MY FAVOURITE TRACKS:  Subdivisions,  The Analog Kid,  The Weapon,  New World Man,  Losing It,  Countdown
GUEST ARTISTS:  Ben Mink (violins)
FACT SHEET:  SIGNALS is Rush's ninth album.  Troy Hickman named his super-hero characters "The Analog Kid" and "Digital Man" in the comic book "COMMON GROUNDS" after the two songs from this album.  All lyrics were written by Neil Peart except for "Chemistry" which features lyrics by Peart, Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson; this is the last time to date Lee and Lifeson have contributed to the lyrics of any Rush song.