Blabbermouth is reporting that UMe/Mercury and Anthem Records are continuing the comprehensive Rush 40th-anniversary album series with a new and expanded edition of 1982’s “Signals”, although, in actuality, that album was released 41 years ago.
Due out on April 28th, “Signals – 40th Anniversary” will be available in three distinct configurations, including the (1) Super Deluxe Edition, (2) one-LP Picture Disc Edition, and (3) Dolby Atmos Digital Edition. There will also be a limited edition Super Deluxe box featuring eight lithographs of the late drummer Neil Peart’s original hand-drawn lyrics for each song on the album, which can only be found on the official Rush online store. All configurations are available for pre-order and pre-save here.
The Super Deluxe Edition includes one CD, one Blu-ray Audio, one high-quality 180-gram black-vinyl LP with new artwork from original album designer Hugh Syme in a premium tip-on jacket, and four seven-inch singles (“Subdivisions”, “Countdown”, “New World Man” and “The Weapon (Single Edit)”),all of them with new artwork from Syme. The set encompasses the Abbey Road Mastering Studios 2015 remastered edition of the album for the first time on CD. The Blu-ray Audio disc contains the core album newly mixed from the original multi-tracks in 48kHz 24-bit Dolby Atmos (the second Rush album to appear in Atmos, following “Moving Pictures”) and 96kHz 24-bit Dolby TrueHD 5.1 as done by esteemed producer/engineer Richard Chycki, alongside the previously available 48kHz 24-bit PCM Stereo mix. Also included on the Blu-ray are new animated visualizers for all eight songs, as well as two bonus remastered vintage promo videos: the high-school halls narrative of “Subdivisions” and “Countdown”, the latter of which features authorized Space Shuttle Columbia launch footage. Additionally, the LP in the Super Deluxe Edition has been cut via half-speed Direct Metal Mastering (the second RUSH album to have been done as such, again following “Moving Pictures”) on a 180-gram audiophile black-vinyl LP, and it has been pressed at GZ Media in the Czech Republic.
The Super Deluxe Edition of “Signals – 40th Anniversary” will also include several exclusive items, including a 40-page hardcover book with new song illustrations and new artwork by original album designer Hugh Syme and 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” color headshots; four “Signals” tour band lithographs; Syme’s original album cover sketch lithograph; and 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. All contents are housed in a premium lift-top box, which features significantly reimagined cover artwork by Hugh Syme.
The second configuration of “Signals – 40th Anniversary” will be released in is a one-LP Picture Disc Edition. The picture disc is housed in a transparent plastic sleeve, and it showcases new Hugh Syme artwork on both album sides.
Finally, the third configuration, the Dolby Atmos Digital Edition, is the digital equivalent of Richard Chycki’s expert Atmos mix of all eight tracks from the original album.
Backed by the singles “New World Man”, “Subdivisions” and “Countdown”, “Signals” was the follow-up to Rush’s 1981 smash hit “Moving Pictures” and repeated about the same success as the aforementioned album, entering at No. 1 in Canada, No. 3 in the United Kingdom, and No. 10 in the United States. The album was was certified platinum by the RIAA for selling one million copies in the U.S. in November 1982.
“Signals” — which saw the band demonstrating their continuing use of synthesizers, sequencers, and other electronic instrumentation — would also be the last Rush studio album to be produced by Terry Brown, who had worked with them for nearly a decade.
