Rush - Grace Under Pressure

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Free Music Notes for Grace Under Pressure

Free Music Review: Grace Under Pressure (Part One of the Synth Albums!)
Hit: 5 Stars

Grace Under Pressure marks the synth phase of RUSH's career. The instrument had been introduced already years previous, but its presence became much stronger on these three albums, GRACE UNDER PRESSURE / POWER WINDOWS / HOLD YOUR FIRE. For some this marks the beginning of the end of their beloved band, for me, I just found them to be willing to experiment and try new things. And it will only be for three albums!!! :D Of the 3, GUP and PW remain firm favourites of mine, with GUP just edging out over PW, because of song arrangement and just cohesiveness. GUP flows and comes across a little stronger as a whole work, where PW is a bit more experimental and varied.

From the opening track ''Distant Early Warning'', the sound of GRACE UNDER PRESSURE is announced. It is to be synthetic, cold and distant, but I have always felt, underneath that, is the musicianship of the band itself. I have never doubted their talents as musicians, so I've never felt they 'cheated' me by offering technopop. It was already established they could play. My most enjoyment comes from the textures and sounds on this album throughout. Great production, and Peart's ideas on percussion add difference to the utilised rhythms on GUP, reggae (in abundance), dance, rock and electronica. He plays throughout like a drum machine, but never sounding like one (I think Phil Gould of LEVEL 42 is the master at this though - fantastic drummer), and particularly on THE BODY ELECTRIC Peart's precision and arrangement ideas really shine. He constantly builds and adds elements that change what happens in repeated verses and choruses.

The funny thing I noticed at the time, and still laugh about, is that diehard RUSH fans LOVED ''KID GLOVES'' from this album, and I always used to get into arguments with them (when I was 16 or 17) that it was the worst song on it! A few years later I absolutely loved ''KID GLOVES'' and understood why it appealed to those fans who missed the old RUSH. It's the most 'classic RUSH' sounding song on the album, which is probably why I always felt it was so out of place on GUP in the first place! ( I was a later fan, I liked YES. I wanted to see the ZAPPA Xmas show when everyone wanted to see the Moving Pictures Tour!!!)

One song I always loved that RUSH fans hated, was ''RED LENSES''. It was Lee's bass work at the end of the song, and Peart's steady build up during the solo section that sold this song for me, and it always will remain one of my RUSH 'Gold' tracks.

Lifeson gets a little buried by the synth phase of RUSH's career, but I think it shows up more on HOLD YOUR FIRE than on GUP. SIGNALS surely buried him a bit, but he definitely makes his presence known on GRACE UNDER PRESSURE and POWER WINDOWS.

GRACE UNDER PRESSURE is one of my favourite of RUSH's albums. I've never truly been disappointed by this band in my entire time buying their albums. And that has been for at least 22 of their 30 year career. And there's always that 3 thing. You're guaranteed, as RUSH go through that 3 thing, that one of those albums is going to sum the whole thing, the whole phase up, so that they can move on to the next. Personally HOLD YOUR FIRE has never been one of my favourites. I loved MISSION. But of all their albums, I find it the hardest to remember the songs on it. Actually the only album of theirs I can't recall how songs go. :(
Thats my fault really, and I should give it a chance. For me, GRACE UNDER PRESSURE really summed up the Synth stage of RUSH. The first time around they achieved a nice blend of synth and hard rock, the second time they dove in and swam around, but I think by number 3 (HYF) they almost drowned. LOL

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