What is Rush's worst album?

agreed, Rich... I still own their albums up to HYF as there are tracks I still really like despite the off-putting wall of synthetic synths, redolent of the era..

First off, let's not blame producer Peter Henderson. He was the band's third choice after being stood up by two other producers, and he was just not the right man for the job. I do not have any problem with the production/engineering side of the album, even if the band does. They really wanted a guitar-heavy album after people criticized Signals for having too many keyboards, so they are responsible for the album's overall sound even before recording began.

The real problems with Grace Under Pressure are 1) the lyrics, 2) the keyboards that do appear on this album, and 3) the overall "doom and gloom" atmosphere. By studio album #10, Rush had become successful beyond their wildest dreams and I think with this album it started going to their heads. It's my understanding that the bandmembers were dealing with personal issues at the time this album was made, and they were also affected by the general "edge of nuclear war" malaise that was constantly in the news. Neil's lyrics had become far more personal (notice all the personal pronouns) and preachy, and a lot less universal in subject and scope. The keyboards issue can be explained with "keeping up with the times", but today they sound embarrassingly dated.

So again, I do not hate this album, but I just find it wanting compared with their other albums of the 1980s. I would rank the 1980s Rush albums (best to worst) as follows:

1) Signals

2) Power Windows

3) Permanent Waves

4) Moving Pictures

5) Hold Your Fire

6) Grace Under Pressure

7) Presto (I still think of this as a 90s album even it was released at the end of 1989).

Going into the 90's I had largely forgotten about them until I heard the song Roll The Bones on the radio. That sounded fresh and interesting and brought me back to the band. Admittedly at the time (1991) there was a desperate lack of anything that was remotely interesting so this seemed as good as anything!

For myself, I've always considered the first two albums to be amateur efforts. In the 80s, Grace Under Pressure, while not terrible, is definitely below par. And while I've heard bits and pieces every now and again, I've never bought a Rush album after Presto, especially after hearing parts of Roll the Bones.