GRACE UNDER PRESSURE

I thought that there were some good points in Grace Under Pressure, and most of the album is great. But, there are some parts of the album where I don't really know what is happening, and I don't feel that it is a really original and solid Rush album. The glossy guitars are an amazing touch, the lyrics are very impressive on this song (Mainly Red Sector A and Distant Early Waring for me). Most of the album is very messy though, and at times it is a tad hard to listen to. I will grade each song from a scale of 1 to 10, 1 being the worst, and 10 being the best, lets get it on!

Distant Early Waring- Probably among my 2 or 3 favorite songs from the album. The bass is pretty impressive, and this song has some good keyboard lines. The music video for this uses Geddys son as the kid playing in the sandbox, and is stolen by those guys how take him to their aircraft thing. The guitar is very glossy, very much near techno/sci-fi sounding. The drum is very interesting, but the main thing about this song is probably the keyboards, as Geddy takes control of over 3 things at once. 9/10

Afterimage- This song is my least favorite from the album. I think that it was way to hardrock and too much into the keyboard thing to be a ballad. Its a song about the band loosing a very close friend, into a very hardrock song. It is way too heavy for my taste, and I think that it uses the keyboard element way too much, unlike the other songs were it seems to fit very perfectly. The lyrics are the only thing that get my going, with all the sadness in the lyrics, its very hard to beileve that this is a ballad by the music. This is one of the hard to listen to tracks from the album, and it really is. 4.5/10

Red Sector A- Another favorite from the album. Geddy uses all keyboards on this one, like Afterimage, but I think that this song is so much better and much more organized than that song. The guitar on this one is extra glossy, which is definatly great in this case. The lyrics mean something about the hollocaust, which was a very serious thing, so this is a very serious song. The lyrics are very thought provoking on this one. The drums are great on this one, and I think that this song is definatly great. 9.5/10

The Enemy Within, Prt. 1 of Fear- This song is pretty decent, not my favorite of the album, but I think that the song fits in well with the album. I quote Experience to Extremes to be one of my favorite lines from the whole song. The music is pretty interesting, but most of it is very dark, and I don't really care for the guitar on this one. The bass is okay, but nothing really sticks out on this song. 7/10

The Body Electric- One of my favorites, again, but this one is very underrated. The basslines and bass riffs are so amazing in this song, and Geddy really puts the slapping motion into this song into impressive use. The lyrics, I don't really know what they mean, but i really like the line 1001001, S.O.S! But the music here is definatly great. The guitar is definatly the lead in this song, which really amazes me with the whole 80s thing, and how the guitar was almost gone and the keyboards took over, but I think this has all of the elements that some of the songs on this album missed out on. Rock, and instruments. 9/10

Kid Gloves- This song hasen't ever really stuck with me. I think it is a little too country/new wave/sci-fi for me, a bad mix. The slinky solo in this song is pretty good, but I don't think that the overall music, lyrics, and music flucuation really work for me. I think it would be great if the keys weren't added to this song, and then I think it would be a great tune that we have here. 5.5/10

Red Lenses- I particually amazing bass song for me. The basslines on this song are so overpowering that I think that it overpowers the music altogether for me! The lyrics are a little stupid, meaning a person can only see red or something like that, but I think that overall this song is a very interesting bass song for me. The music is good, once the bass settles down. This song is one of the more listenable songs from the whole album. 7.5/10

Between the Wheels- Another great song from the album, and a great closer for the album at that. This song is so underrate, it really kills me. It was great to see the boys play this on their new tour, unlocking it out of the vault, and I really love it. The keyboard is very serious sounding and the sound overall is very dark, and much more mind provokng than any of the other songs from the album. This song also shows Alexs amazing guitar work, with amazing riffs and impressive solos that will definatly blow your brain. While this song might not have the best bassline for the album, I think that this is definatly one of the better tracks. 8.5/10

A good album overall, containing gloss and hardrock.