GRACE UNDER PRESSURE

"Grace Under Pressure" is the 1984 album that pushed Rush into their synth-rock age. It began with some synths on "Moving Pictures", grew with "Signals", and now the synth takes the forefront of the band, pushing guitars into the background. This was the final straw for most Rush fans, but Rush did hit some right notes here. This is my track-by-track review of "Grace Under Pressure":

0) Artwork (9/10) Rush's best artwork; it is deep and brooding and while I can't really make sense of it, it is a piece of art.

1) Distant Early Warning, 4:57 (9/10) The album starts with a bang with "Distant Early Warning". In my opinion, this is the 2nd best synth-based song after "Subdivisions" off of "Signals". The synth pounds a magnificent rhythm that the guitar assists and the drums help carry. Lee's vocals are superb.

2) Afterimage, 5:06 (6/10) The second track is a bit long, but the beginning and end are relatively exciting and fun. In the middle, though, is repetitive. Edit out the middle and you have another good song.

3) Red Sector 'A', 5:12 (3/10) A perfectly forgettable song. Nothing in this song stands out, and it is pretty boring throughout. The worst song in terms of guitar on this album, which sounds like a session player trying not to be noticed by the listener.

4) The Enemy Within, 4:37 (8/10) Awesome bass song! Geddy rules this song, with the combination of excellent bass and strong synths. An excellent intro carries a strong tempo into a very enjoyable song. Unfortunately, not too much in terms of guitars, which prevents this songs from being a classic.

5) The Body Electric, 5:02 (6/10) A good drum song, but other than that not much to remember. Fairly slow and not much to say in terms of musicianship.

6) Kid Gloves, 4:20 (7/10) Another fun song that is carried by excellent drumming, and, yes, guitars! At around 3:00, Alex finally shows up on this album. A song that really belongs on another album, as it doesn't sound like the synth-based music of this album.

7) Red Lenses, 4:44 (5/10) Filler, I think. But, actually, listenable filler. Its an interesting song with good bass, but there are too many odd stoppages in the song (weird keyboard-like music) to make it a good song.

8) Between The Wheels, 5:44 (4/10) More filler. Just a average song overall, average guitars, average drums, average bass and average vocals. But for Rush, average is below average.

Overall, 48/80= 6/10=3/5.

Highlights: Disant Early Warning, The Enemy Within, Kid Gloves Lowlights: Red Sector 'A', Red Lenses, Between the Wheels

A decent album, but Rush can do so much better.