Grace Under Pressure [Original recording reissued, Original recording remastered]

Rush | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (June 3, 1997)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Original recording reissued, Original recording remastered
• Label: Island / Mercury
• ASIN: B000001ESV
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (162 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,128 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #33 in Music > Hard Rock & Metal > Progressive Metal
  • #93 in Music > Rock > Progressive > Progressive Rock

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

39 of 42 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars You see black and white, and I see red, January 27, 2005

By 

Evil Lincoln (Dayton, Ohio) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Grace Under Pressure (Audio CD)

Grace Under Pressure is sometimes my favorite Rush album, and sometimes it's second to Signals, but either way, it's a masterpiece.
Coming smack dab in the middle of Rush's synth period as it does, one might expect guitarist Alex Lifeson to have only a background role in Grace Under Pressure. That's not the case at all, and in fact, I think this is his best Rush album. His solos in "Kid Gloves" and "The Body Electric" are just incredible, while his rhythm guitar roles in "Red Sector A" and "The Enemy Within" rock hard.

That's not to say that synthesizers play a minor role in Grace Under Pressure. They're at the forefront of every song (except "Kid Gloves"), and unlike many later Rush efforts, they never get in the way of the song. Everything on the album blends together perfectly. "Distant Early Warning," for example, has everything that `70's Rush classics have- a great guitar riff, Geddy Lee's heavy bass and high-pitched vocals, and Neil Peart's maniacal drumming and cryptic yet concrete lyrics. However, it also looks to the future, with a more pessimistic mood and blasts of keyboards scattered about.

The rest of the album doesn't disappoint either, with "red lenses" (the title is supposed to be written in all lower-case letters, for whatever reason) being the best of the bunch. The song is unique in the Rush canon, to say the least, having a stream-of-consciousness and dissonant feel to it. This is also one of Neil Peart's best Rush songs- there's a percussion section in the middle of the song that will blow you away. I have no idea at all what the lyrics mean ("We've got Mars on the horizon, says the National Midnight Star"), but that doesn't matter, because it's just so fun. You can tell they had a whole lot of fun while recording "red lenses," that's for sure. I wish Rush would play it live, because it's very high-energy and would make a killer show-opener.

Elsewhere, cynicism and bleakness abound, with a Holocaust theme in "Red Sector A," an ode to a deceased friend in "Afterimage," and wartime lament in "Between The Wheels."

"Red Sector A" is a noteworthy song because, shockingly, there is no bassline. Geddy Lee is only the singer and keyboardist on this song, and it features a great hook where the guitar and synthesizer trade riffs. Add Neil Peart's pounding electronic drumbeat, and you've got a Rush concert favorite. You won't even notice the missing bass guitar.

Like I said, this can be my favorite Rush album, and the only bad thing I can say about it is that the front cover isn't all that good (well, that and the band's photo on the inside- I bet they hate to look at that now, twenty years later). Every single second of Grace Under Pressure is excellent, and there are just too many highlights to go over in this review. You'll just have to listen for yourself.

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of Rush's best, February 15, 2002

By 

Would-RVM245 "would245" (Grafton, MA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Grace Under Pressure (Audio CD)

Many have called Grace Under Pressure one of Rush's worst albums, as the band got away from some of thier heavier riff-rock stuff in favor of a cleaner, more synth-driven sound. Why critics and fans alike have seen this as being a bad thing is beyond me. First of all, the songwriting on all of "Grace" (especially lyrically) is some of thier best. The songs are shorter and multi-textured, with Alex Lifeson using higher pitched and open chords and Geddy concentrating on grooves, allowing the keyboards to drive the song. This gives Alex, Neil, and Geddy the oppurtunity to do different things than they have ever done before, showing a new side of the band. There really isn't a bad song on the album, but the true standouts here are Afterimage, Red Sector A, Kid Gloves (containing arguably Alex's best solo ever), and Between the Wheels. This is Truly an underrated album that non-Rush fans can enjoy just as much as us Rush-heads.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars WOW!!, March 18, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Grace Under Pressure (Audio CD)

If forced to pick a favorite Rush album (difficult for me because I'm a die hard fan), this is the one.True, it is darker-sounding than previous outings, and the lyrics are much more foreboding than those that drummer Neil Peart had written before, but Rush wear the mood well.The album is shrouded in synthesizers, electronic percussion, and washes of textural guitar, allowing the band to nod toward what was happening in popular music at the time without sacrificing the virtues thay had always practiced that made them uniqe.For me, it is "Kid Gloves" that is the stand-out track. Time signatures shift between 5/4 and 4/4 as the verse and chorus modulate from the key of G to the key of E. Through all of this, the beat is pumped like some anxious variant of the dance-pop so prevelant in those long gone days of 1984. As icing on the cake, add Alex Lifeson's warped, cliche-free guitar solo. When other players were trying their hardest to sound like Eddie Van Halen, Alex looked the other way toward players like the Edge, Andy Summers and Adrian Belew, all the while retaining his unparalleled technical command of his instrument and his rather sick sense of humor.If you've ever wondered what the musical conventions of the mid-eighties might sound like in the hands of real musicians, then GUP is your kind of record.