Rush announce 40th-anniversary edition of ‘Signals’
The 1982 album Signals proved to be a major turning point in the evolution of Canadian progressive rock icons Rush. While their previous two albums, 1980’s Permanent Waves and 1981’s Moving Pictures, fused the band’s signature sound with elements of new wave and synth-rock, Signals was the start of a new era that featured keyboards more prominently than ever before. As the last album produced by longtime collaborator Terry Brown, Signals was the bridge between Rush’s classic period and their exploration of technology throughout the 1980s.
In time, Signals has come to be seen as a high watermark in the Rush catalogue. Containing classic songs like ‘Subdivisions’ and ‘New World Man’, Signals had the same high-quality material that had fleshed out the band’s previous albums. The only difference was that Rush was advancing their interest in synthesisers and electronic instrumentation, something that would polarize fans as they moved throughout the decade.
Now, Signals is getting its own deluxe reissue to celebrate its 40th anniversary. Much in the same way that albums like 2112 and Hemispheres have seen major reissues to celebrate their respective anniversaries, Signals is now getting a deluxe reissue of its own.
The new version of the album will come in three editions: the Super Deluxe Edition, a single-LP Picture Disc Edition, and a Dolby Atmos Digital Edition. A limited-edition ‘Backstage Exclusive’ Super Deluxe box will also be available through the band’s online store, featuring eight lithographs of Neil Peart’s original hand-drawn lyrics for each song from the album.
The Super Deluxe Edition of Signals-40th Anniversary will feature one CD, one Blu-ray Audio disc, one high-quality 180-gram black-vinyl LP with new artwork from original album designer Hugh Syme, and four 7-inch singles with new artwork from Syme. The package also features the Abbey Road Mastering Studios’ 2015 remastered edition of the album, which is being released for the first time on CD. The Blu-ray also offers new animated visualizers for each song and two bonus remastered vintage promo videos.
Also included in the Super Deluxe Edition is a 40-page hardcover book with new song illustrations and new artwork from Syme. In addition, unreleased photos from the Signals Tour, along with three lenticular lithographs that transition from the original black-and-white band headshots into the original album’s “Digital Man” colour headshots, will be available. The package also contains four Signals Tour band lithographs, Syme’s original album cover sketch lithograph, a double-sided 24×24-inch poster featuring Syme’s new Signals artwork on one side, and an outtake photo from the original album cover shoot on the other side.
Who knows, maybe we’ll get a new pinball machine of Signals while we’re at it. Check out the unboxing video for the 40th-anniversary edition of Signals down below.
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