GRACE UNDER PRESSURE

To start with, many Rush fans were happy to see the guitar take more space in the mix. It was a continuation of the sound first explored on Signals, it confirmed that Rush would "progress" as they would, & as they had before. They were open to the new music of the day, not in the sense of trendy followers, but just as they had admired Genesis & Gentle Giant in the 70s, they saw genius in groups such as Ultravox in the 80s. They built upon their roots & wrote Rush music. & Just as the first Rush album showed their Zep & Sabbath influences, but went beyond, they would attempt & in my opinion, succeed here also. I never did get into the groups that they would mention in interviews done at the time, but I was glad to see that they didn't want to stand still. Although in hindsight, the albums that would follow would leave me wanting. For myself, this is one of my favourites. I tend to attach myself to the "off" albums in their catalogue - Caress of Steel, Hemispheres, then this one, while still loving the more obvious hit smashes. So with my bias exposed, there stands my argument for this rating. Five stars & I'll fight for it !