GRACE UNDER PRESSURE

By the beginning of the 1980s, Rush had moved away from "concept albums," or at least away from long songs on albums that appeared to be concept albums. Supposedly, Signals was something of a song cycle, although it's unclear to me whether this was intentional, or whether it was the product of drummer/lyricist Neil Peart's mindset at the time he wrote the lyrics.

While Grace Under Pressure may not be a concept album, it is certainly a topical album, and its central theme is derivable from its title: how do people react when put under extraordinary pressures?

The theme is perhaps more overt on the first side of the album, whose songs deal with choices about the use of nuclear weapons, reacting to the death of a friend, the hopes of a concentration-camp prisoner, and the balance between fear and daring.

The album is a mix of strong songs (tracks 1 to 5) and mediocre ones (6, 7, and 8), although these ho-hum tracks do fit the album well. Track five, "The Body Electric" is the clear standout. In typical Peart fashion, the lyrics are a tradeoff between clunky and clever, the clever part here being the chorus, which begins "one zero zero one zero zero one..." - - yes, this is indeed a song sung from the point of view of a robot. In case the listener misses this, though, Peart is careful to state that the protagonist is a "humanoid" and an "android" - - and that's just in the first five words. But who says that nerdy sci-fi songs need elegant lyrics?

This album continues the trend of Rush, a power trio, sounding more like a power octet in places. In terms of instrumentation, Grace Under Pressure is not much of a departure from its predecessor Signals, although there seems to be a slight reduction in synthesizer usage, and the guitar seems to be a bit more up-front in the mix. Nonetheless, Grace Under Pressure is one of the most keyboard-heavy Rush albums.

Among Rush's 1980s output, Grace Under Pressure has the most consistent mood and sound, although the mood is dark and, and in general, the sound is missing the "live" feel of albums as recent as Moving Pictures.

Overall, a solid offering from Rush. If you're a fan of early Rush, or late Rush, Grace Under Pressure should be worth a spin insofar as it's less poppy and commercial than the stereotypical mid-period Rush album.