April 12, 1984 - Grace Under Pressure

About two weeks since my last release and about a year and a half since "Signals", Rush released their tenth studio album "Grace Under Pressure" on April 12, 1984. Like their last album this newest offering continues their new 80s style and features a lot of keyboards. This is also the first Rush album not to be produced by Terry Brown, with the band opting for a change and going with English producer Peter Henderson. Let's listen to some new Rush!

The album kicks off with the lead single "Distant Early Warning" and it has some thundering keyboards by Geddy Lee that sound pretty awesome as well as some groovy bass in the opening. It's all Geddy still in this quiet verse with solid singing and it leads to a loud, catchy chorus with more epic synths. After another verse and chorus Alex Lifeson's guitar takes over for a short bit that is good but not great but Geddy's bass is great backing him. It's right back to the epic synth riff for a final chorus and they nicely jam it out to finish things off. The next song is called "Afterimage" and it's driven by keyboards that drown out everything else, though they do sound pretty good at times. Geddy's vocals are good as usual in both the verse and chorus and Lifeson finally emerges from the background with some decent but light guitar in the chorus. The guitar carries into the next verse and the synths have their moments, but ultimately there is too much of them I think. After another verse and chorus Lifeson plays some space-y guitar overtop a pretty boring backing riff. This leads to a guitar solo that is pretty good and we hear some cool Neil Peart drum fills as well before it's back to the synth-led final verse and chorus. Track 3 is another successful single titled "Red Sector A" and the guitar leads the way for once and it's a catchy main riff by Lifeson. Geddy's vocals are great once again and the synths do join the verse, but it's not overwhelming and it meshes well with the guitar. It's a very catchy and cool verse and Peart plays some solid drums in a tamer but still solid chorus. After another verse and chorus they move into a cool new part and I like how Geddy sings "are we the only human beings to survive?" Lifeson gets a chance to solo and it isn't too flashy but it sounds really epic and fits the mood nicely and Peart's drums are superb in the background. They play a final chorus and another cool bridge and Peart continues to play some great drums as they close out this pretty cool song. The side finishes up with "The Enemy Within" and the synths are prevalent in the opening, but they settle into a cool main riff with no keyboards and solid bass and guitar. Geddy sings a cool quick verse and the chorus is also pretty fast-paced and catchy, ending with Geddy singing a high-pitched "experience to extremes!" This is followed by a lame keyboard part that I think falls really flat and they repeat this process with another verse, chorus, and lame synth part. They move into a decent bridge with some cool drums by Peart, but it doesn't lead to a cool solo, or anything really as it's back to the chorus as they lather, rinse and repeat. I thought this was easily worst song of the side, which was otherwise pretty good!

Side two begins with "The Body Electric" and it's classic Rush with a cool drumbeat, solid bass and epic guitars forming the main beat. There are synth bits added but I find it much better because they are not overwhelming. Geddy sings a nice verse that leads right into a catchy chorus and he sings "1001001, S.O.S., 1001001 in distress" for a simple chorus but he delivers it very nicely. After another verse and chorus they play a light bridge riff that brings us to solo time. Lifeson's guitar solo is pretty good but Geddy's bass is amazing in the background. They nicely return back to the chorus and play the light bridge again to finish things off. Up next is "Kid Gloves" and a decent guitar riff leads the way, Geddy plays some light bass and keyboards and sings a soft verse as things are good but not great. The pace picks up heading into the chorus and the guitar sounds cool but I'm not a fan of the "epic" keyboards in the chorus. I find they fall flat and don't hit hard at all, but the rest of the chorus is alright with Geddy's voice sounding great as usual. After another verse and chorus the keyboards drop out for solo time. It's reminiscent of an old Rush solo with some awesome guitar leading the way but the bass and drums are both great as well in a great solo. The keyboards sadly return and after a nice drum fill by Peart they return to the chorus and jam it out until the end. Track 7 is called "Red Lenses" and some cool bass drives the opening with Lifeson adding some nice guitar overtop. They shift nicely into a unique main riff with some unorthodox but pretty cool percussion by Peart. The synths keep the pace and Geddy sings a catchy verse while Neil continues this cool drum beat. The opening riff turns out to be the chorus riff and the bass and guitar both sound good still. After another verse and chorus the synths take over for a solo! It sounds pretty cool, but it's not exactly what I want Rush to be putting all their energy into. Lifeson's guitar is relegated to the background and there's no bass at all; so while this is still a cool keyboard solo, it's also disappointing in that sense. Geddy switches to bass and Peart plays a new awesome drum beat in a part that I like way better and they seamlessly connect this back into a final verse and chorus. They slowly fade it out to the finish and Geddy plays some great bass at the very end of the song! The album finishes up with "Between The Wheels" and it's driven by some very loud and epic synths as Lifeson plays a great guitar riff overtop. Geddy sings a solid verse and the keyboards drop out for the second half of the verse, but they return in full force for the chorus. The fast-paced chorus sounds good but the 80s keyboards bring things down a bit for me. The epic opening riff resumes and after another verse and chorus Lifeson breaks into a solo. It's a pretty long solo, but he doesn't really go all out and while it is certainly still cool I think it could have been way better. It's right back into the chorus and they end it as it began with the epic slow synth riff. There's some pretty cool guitar and keyboard licks in the fadeout as they bring this pretty good album to an end.

That is the end of "Grace Under Pressure" and I thought overall it was a pretty solid record. I'm still not a huge fan of Rush's shift from awesome progressive music into new-age synth-dominated music, but all things considered they still made a solid album. There were several catchy songs and I even enjoyed some of the keyboards as Geddy Lee plays some pretty epic stuff. I think it was easily better than their last album "Signals" but it definitely still doesn't come close to any of their first eight albums. I and many Rush fans must accept that this is the direction they have chosen to go in, and I hope they can continue to make the best out of their new style of rock.