July 13th, 2013 - Signals, Cinq, Cents, Guitars, and Trappist Monks

 

Good evening!!  A special pairing tonight... the Meista doing a pairing with his brother, Dainomite and a favorite album of ours... Rush's synth-pop/rock-prog album, "Signals" and Chimay Tripel Peres Trappistes Ale Cinq Cents from Scourmont Abbey!  This pairing goes out to our Uncle Bob, who turned us on to Rush... cheers!!

"Signals" is the 9th studio album by Canadian prog-rock/metal gods, Rush, and was released in 1982 (if you can believe that!  Was it really that long ago?)  Originally started as a solo album by singer/bassist Geddy Lee, "Signals" evolved into a Rush album as he requested input from guitarist Alex Lifeson and drummer Neal Peart.  "Signals" opens with the song "Subdivisions", that I'm pretty sure Mr. Peart wrote specifically for me and my ilk and our very nerdy, outcast personas back in '82.  Each and every song on this album is a perfect synchronicity of sound and lyrics.  Musically, "Signals" is a much more synthesizer-heavy album than previous outings and a foreshadowing of the direction the band would take throughout the 1980s.  There are elements of synth-pop, hard rock, reggae, prog-rock, and electronica.   Lifeson's guitar work on "The Analog Kid" and "Chemistry" is fantastically intricate.  Geddy's vocals, bass, and keyboards throughout the album are phenomenal.  And Peart's lyrics are astonishingly profound, not to mention that his drumming is insanely precise as usual. 

Chimay Tripel Peres Trappistes Ale Cinq Cents (Yellow Label) pours a very cloudy clover honey golden amber with a very frothy, rocky head that displays strong and sustained snow bank lacing.  The nose is predominately banana esters with hints of malty pancake, and raisin bread.  Much like "Signals," the flavor is very complex.  Although it smells like banana, the banana flavor is very subtle... almost non-existent.  However, there are strong earthy notes and sweet dark fruit notes... fig, prune, along with molasses and apple cider.  There are also very sweet burnt toffee flavors and those wonderfully rich Belgian yeast flavors.  Like "The Analog Kid," this beer "moved me, you moved me"!

Time for bed... cheers bitches!!