GRACE UNDER PRESSURE

On "Grace Under Pressure", the guitars, bass, drums and keyboards are quite different from the previous albums. I remember, in 1984, we were anxiously waiting for the release of this record: we were expecting a masterpiece like "Moving Pictures" or "Signals". Well, at the first listening, we felt completely disoriented by the ultra modern sound involved! So, a little disappointment emerged at that time. However, after many further listenings, we noticed that this record is absolutely excellent from beginning to end!

Geddy Lee really concentrates his effort on fresh & atmospheric state-of-the-art keyboards here; Alex Lifeson uses a very rock urban echoed rythmic electric guitar, sounding just a little bit like YES "Big Generator": the difference is that the guitar sound here is much more refined, rich and superior; Lifeson's solos have a very highly pitched sound: he produces one of his best sophisticated solos set ever recorded here, approaching the perfect ones on the "Power Windows" album: about one per track. Geddy Lee's bass is completely different here: no more Rickenbacker sound! He often uses the popping technique, like on "Body Electric", which is quite interesting. He also seems to use more bass pedals. Finally, Peart's drums are completely different too: he often uses electronic drums, which contributes to the modernity of the overall sound. On "Between the Wheels", his melodic solo is really OUTSTANDING, and it is just a prelude to the ones on the next album! The overall recording is not as good as on "Power Windows".

My rating: 4.5/5