GRACE UNDER PRESSURE

I had a very hard time deciding whether to give this album 3 or 4 stars, but after another listen I had to go with 4, despite some serious flaws. Side A is beyond reproach, stuffed to the gills with catchy rockers like Red Sector A and The Enemy Within (my favorite track on the album.) The musicians are, as always, technically excellent, and being a child of the Eighties, I don't mind the synth. Peart's lyrics remain strong as well. Side B is where things start to fall apart a bit. The Body Electric, Red Lenses, and Kid Gloves are all pretty forgettable, and it's a shame that they didn't have more strong material to round out the album, but the album is redeemed, at least in my mind, by the closer, Between the Wheels, which gets better the more you hear it. It's certainly a different Rush than we saw on albums like A Farewell to Kings, but mustn't all great bands eventually evolve with the times or perish?