Rush
Grace Under Pressure

THE REVIEW

What makes Rush particularly interesting to those who follow them is the historical evolution of their sound. Perhaps because it's hard to find a similar evolution in any other band. Although many groups try to change their approach during their career, there are very few who have changed style multiple times... And Rush is one of them... it wasn't enough for them to change their way of playing; they wanted to choose a rock style each time that would adapt to the tastes of the times... So, the band started their career with the hard rock style that distinguished bands like Led Zeppelin and Cream... because the early seventies were fertile ground for that style. Then they realized that the very fertile ground was the progressive rock of bands like Yes and Genesis... and so they moved (perhaps a bit late) into a prog-rock phase with song structures and atmospheres that strongly recall that style. And in the '80s? What do you think they could have done? Well, you guessed it, the answer is "what a lot of people were doing"! A style close to the British new wave and especially the synth pop very much in vogue in those years! And the strange and beautiful thing is that while many bands that tried to deviate slightly from their characteristic sound had to endure a lot of criticism which at a certain point becomes inevitably unbearable (see the Dream Theater, now a clinical and pathological case), Rush did not suffer much from this torture. They managed to greatly deviate from their traditional style while still gathering great approval from most fans and releasing albums considered "masterpieces".

And so, in the '80s, Rush found themselves practically engulfed in the electronic vortex that was very popular in those years, forgetting, as if they had never had them, the hard rock roots of their origins and the complex prog structures of the late '70s (while still maintaining a certain attitude towards experimentation).

The turning point, probably already anticipated by "Moving Pictures" where there was still a certain progressive tendency in the structures, was fully realized with "Signals" where numerous songs featured a predominance of synthesizers never so evident. In 1984, came "Grace Under Pressure" which even intensified these characteristics, making Rush really seem like any band of the eighties (but never putting their personality into question)... This time, a particular funky component is added, perhaps missing in "Signals", marked by the rhythmic guitar of Alex Lifeson and the bass of Geddy Lee which helps to give a sound even more aligned with the rhythms of the music of the time; and, on the other hand, the synthesizer work is more widely electro-pop: here are the Rush of the '80s summarized in a few words (since the synth period will continue with "Power Windows" and "Hold Your Fire").

The first two tracks are already an example of what has been said: "Distance Early Warning" and "Afterimage" are two songs with characteristic liveliness where rhythm and the electronic sound of the synth immerse us in that warm, festive '80s atmosphere. "Red Sector A" impresses with its typically dance drumming and that ever-rich and rhythmic electronic background! The following "The Enemy Within" also hits the mark, a track with an almost disco vocation with a guitar almost in ska/reggae style. Not bad is the next "The Body Electric" which is always able to maintain a good liveliness, more subdued is the next "Kid Gloves" with the guitar more in the foreground, a punk-like rhythm and less incisive synths. Thrilling is the penultimate "Red Lenses", my favorite, with those particularly dark atmospheres, those bass lines of an impeccable Geddy Lee and those synths that create an almost surreal atmosphere that fades into the darkness and chaos of the night! It's a shame it never gets mentioned among the album's best tracks, and trust me, it deserves it! Also beautiful is the final "Between The Wheels" where the distorted synths are increasingly in the foreground, more inspired than ever in an atmosphere always very "One Shot"!

An energetic, lively, loaded album this "Grace Under Pressure"! Once again, it testifies to a band that whatever they produce, in whatever way, inevitably hits the mark. A must-have, like the entire discography of the trio!