Customer Reviews

Grace Under Pressure

5 star:		(85)
4 star:		(46)
3 star:		(16)
2 star:		(11)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

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.

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.

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.

This was the first Rush album I owned and heard in it's entirety, as a 14 year old. After a couple of friends introduced me to "Tom Sawyer" and "Subdivisions", and seeing the Distant Early Warning video (hey it was 1984, and MTV hadn't even reached it's third birthday and actually still revolved around MUSIC) I had to head down to the local music store and pick up the GUP cassette (don't forget, 1984). I fell in love with the album, and while at 14 my musical tastes may not have been fully developed, I was amazed by how there seemed to be no throw-aways on the album. Every song was engaging and some, like "Afterimages", "Red Sector A", and "Between the Wheels", were totally gripping.

Since then I have acquired just about everyhing in the RUSH catalogue and seen them play live many, many times (the next of which is soon to come). GUP, though a somewhat unusual album for Rush, is one of the strongest lyrically that Neil Peart has written. There is no song on the album that I would rate in the top 10 Rush songs, yet as a group, they're amazingly strong. The music and lyrics capture the mood of the era perfectly: the paranoia and darkenss of the cold war's last gasp. I certainly wouldn't call this Rush's best album by any means, but it will always be one of my favorites.

To many fans Rush's 1984 album GRACE UNDER PRESSURE may have come at a bad time. Their 1981 breakthrough MOVING PICTURES is widely regarded as their finest album, and the following album SIGNALS annoyed many because of its poor production after such an excellent release. Some came to see GRACE UNDER PRESSURE as a continuing slide downhill simply because it didn't give them more of MOVING PICTURES. I believe that anyone who appreciates stylistic evolution, however, could see this as one of their finest albums.

The first half of this album is incredibly cohensive. It opens with the stunning "Distant Early Warning". A reference to quick notification that a nuclear missile has been launched, the album communicates drummer and lyricist Neal Peart's pessism at the state of the world in the early 1980's, with increasing pollution and continuing standoff between the US and communism. From this first song it's obvious that the musicianship of the trio has gotten better and better, Peart's timing is incredible and Alex Lifeson was considered guitarist of the year for his screaming solos. One notices more use of synthesizers by bassist Geddy Lee, but they congrue with the rest of the band well and are overused like on the following two Rush albums. The second track, "Afterimage", is an elegy to a friend of the band who had passed away. It ends with a tight instrumental jam of the sort rarely heard after the band moved to a more radio-friendly song length. "Red Sector A" continues the superbness of the album. A reflection on Man's darker moments, among other the Holocaust, the song stands out because of Peart's exclusive use of the digital kit. In fact, on several following songs he uses this to some extent and it lends considerable freshness to the band's songwriting. The fourth track is "The Enemy Within", which is the album's most energetic and driven song.

The second half of the album doesn't stand out as much as the astounding first half. While "Kid Gloves" is often considered Alex Lifeson's finest moment, it isn't a very memorable song. "Red Lenses" is also instantly forgettable. The final track, "Between the Wheels" is pleasant, but it contains too much of the excess of production that was to plague 1985's POWER WINDOWS.

While MOVING PICTURES or this year's VAPOR TRAILS would probably be the best choice for someone who has never heard Rush before, I'd certainly recommend GRACE UNDER PRESSURE as one of the first albums a new Rush fan should pick up. The excellent balance of instruments, clean and clear production, and songwriting relevant to the period but also timeless make this a great album.

Canadian rockers Rush's tenth studio album Grace Under Pressure came out in April of 1984 and was an instant smash.
The mood of this album was dark and cynical compared to the three previous albums. As a matter of fact, all but two of the tracks tracks are in minor keys.
After falling out with longtime co-producer Terry Brown, the band switched co-producers to former Supertramp producer Peter Henderson and recorded Grace Under Pressure between November of 1983 and March of 1984 at Le Studio in Quebec (where the band recorded its last three studio efforts).
The album opens with the classic "Distant Early Warning", an anti-nuclear anthem which is one of the all time great Rush tracks. Remember the video with Geddy Lee's hair shorter and playing the Steinberger bass, Alex Lifeson's short new wave hairdo and playing the red Strat and Neil Peart behind his kit with the pony tail. Pure 80s but great track and a huge rock radio staple. "Afterimage" is a song about the loss of a friend, in Rush's case it was Robbie Whelan, whom was an assistant engineer on Rush's two previous studio efforts (Moving Pictures and Signals) and eventually became a tribute to drummer Neil Peart's daughter and wife after they passed away in 1997 and 1998 respectively. "Red Sector A" was about Holocaust survivors (Geddy Lee's parents survived that ordeal). We close the first half with the triumphant "The Enemy Within" was Part One to the saga called Fear (which spreaded out over four albums).
The next few tracks (which were the first three on the album's second half) "The Body Electric" (one of two in a major key), "Kid Gloves" (the other track in a major key) and "Red Lenses" are all great songs but many tend to overlook those tracks, especially The Body Electric with its classic Peart drumming. The album ends with the best closing track on a Rush disc "Between the Wheels" which has held up and was played on the last two tours as this song is a classic.
Alex's guitar work is killer throughout the albums and is one of his best performances.
This album was another Platinum seller and peaked at #10 in the spring of 1984 and is still a classic, even today thanks to the remastering of Bob Ludwig done in 1997!
I recommend Grace Under Pressure to all Rush fans.

Grace Under Pressure (P/G) is my favorite Rush album. From reading the previous reviews on the album, I think that I see something in this album that other people do not. The overall sound of the album is synth, with lots of electronic percussion (Neil Peart probably could make a wooden box sound good), and oh-so-clean tonal guitar. The combination of all this gives the album a bleak, stressed, hurried sound. I love it. Lyrical content is outstanding; dealing with loss (Afterimage), vivid imagery (Red Sector A), and dark emotions (Enemy Within). Even though you hear synths, I think that the clean tone of Lifeson's guitar dominates the album. This is the cleanest guitar sound that I have ever heard from Lifeson, who usually commands heavier, thicker power chords in his virtuosity. Also contained within the album are some of the best guitar solos that I have heard Lifeson crank out. It seems like Rush took a break from showing off with their flashy, sometimes too complicated, musicianship and concentrated on making a balanced, brilliant album. The bleak sound, the lyrics, it all intertwines to make a fantastic album. I believe Rush made this album during a stressful time for the band and from great stress and high emotions comes great work.

Why so many four star reviews? Obviously, some people have seemed to miss the inherent change in style that the band brought to this album. Grace Under Pressure is an amazing album, yes there are more keyboards and some of the songs are a bit slower but who cares? They are still great songs. By this point Rush was beginning to move into the middle phase of their career that would be marked by a more electronic less rock sound. The songs are extremely well crafted and the music (by Lee and Lifeson) as always is unheralded. Let's look at side 2, The Body Electric, although not one of Rush's best efforts it is certainly worthy of space on this cd. Kid Gloves and Red Lenses may be the two most overlooked songs in the Rush catalogue. Kid Gloves just flat out rocks with biting poignant lyrics by Peart. On Red Lenses, Geddy shows why his is the master of the Rickenbacher. The song has such a laid back coolness about it that is supplied totally by Lee's infectious bass line. Between The Wheels is a great closer and actually sounds more like a Signals tune but it's still great. Distant Early Warning is a concert standard that Rush would open many a show with. They even made a video for it! Afterimage is another flawed gem that only the most ardent Rush fans have come to cherish. Red Sector A is still played in concert to this very day, although its not my cup of tea many Rush fans really took to it. The Enemy Within ranks among my top 5 greatest Rush songs. These are probably the best lyrics Peart has ever written, "I'm not giving in to security under pressure..." Peart's lyrics about anxiety and panic ("Every muscle tenses to hide the enemy within..") are right on point, and truly show why his nickname is "The Professor." If I have not sold you on this CD by now, no one ever will. BUY THIS NOW!

This album is brilliant in every way, but you must keep in mind the fact that it was made in 1984--a very sci-fi and synthy period. I also love Rush...especially the early roots up until the Power Windows CD. Many people criticize Rush for their departure from the classic years (or their transition into a synthesizer medium), but I'm happy they kept advancing forward in so many ways. This album has a very sharp, frenetic and upbeat character to it which I find very stimulating even to this day. A stellar and fresh performance by all three guys: Outstanding, punchy bass lines, razor-sharp stratocaster chords and layering, and an unusual temporal drum style...an intoxicating combination.

When I listen to this CD now, it takes me back to my college years at MD when I would uncover my stunning red 1984 Kawasaki 900 Ninja for a spirited spin a la Red Barchetta style. It was a glorious time!

And if you're reading this Alex, Geddy, or Neil: Thanks for adding to the great memories of my life. I really love you guys for it.

Curt

I've a huge collection of albums and rush's albums are the ones i hold most dearly because their just simply...Wonderfull musicians that play THE most amazing complex sound in music, ever! "Grace under pressure" is rush's best album todate. Highly recommended...