GRACE UNDER PRESSURE

This was the first Rush album not co-produced by Terry Brown and because Peter Henderson wasn't experienced produced band had to do everything mostly by themselves. The result? Returning to analogue mixing that was probably caused by difficulties band met while working on this release. It makes me wonder how it would sound if Terry worked with them still. Anyway while Moving Pictueres and Signals are ADD, Grace Under Pressure is AAD like in the old times. But Rush found their place in 80's and they sound more fresh on this release. Some say "oh those keyboards are cheesy". I don't know if they are cheesy but I know it doesn't spoil the whole image. The sound is wide and clear. Music is still pretty energetic and very vivid. Distance Early Warning, Afterimage, The Enemy Within and Kid Gloves are good example for that. It's very melodic and vital. The Enemy Within is in ska style but not far from what band presented on previous albums. It's still Rush. Just a bit different. Red Sector A and Between The Wheels are dominated by keyboards but it doesn't mean there's no place for guitar solos. Red Sector A is one of my favorite Rush songs and this guitar solo is simply excellent. Same goes to solo from Between The Wheels. Lots of good music. I don't really dig Red Lenses and I think it wasn't good idea to mix blues with such keyboard rock. Btw Red Sector A is song about holocaust and these lyrics were probably the closest to Geddy's heart remembering that his parents escaped from nazis. Whole idea for the album was to make something beautiful out of all that pressure band was under. So the lyrical concept is pretty disastrous at some points but it only makes the whole thing better. It's the last Rush album from their discography I rate by 5 stars.