Not Your Typical Poll Spotlight: Grace Under Pressure

[JohnnyBlaze]

http://www.giginjapan.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/rush-grace-of-master-osaka1.jpg

 

[Note: The pic/poster which says 'Osaka Prefectural Gym' is about a 5 minute walk from my old flat. I've seen a few sumo tournaments there and the capacity couldn't be more than 7,000-8,000 people. However, Rush played there BEFORE it was remodeled so the capacity was likely much less. I wasn't in Japan yet for what would be Rush's only tour here. I was a 12 year old kid reading comic books and playing football in the streets back in the states...but I was already a devoted Rush fan then and wearing the hell out of my Signals tour t-shirt.]

 

 

Anyway, discuss. :hail:

[Mystic Slipperman]

Cool topic!

 

 

I remember hearing Grace under Pressure not long after it was released.

 

I LOVED Signals, Moving Pictures, and most of Permanent Waves by this point (just for some background).

 

When it came to Grace... I really liked Distant Early Warning and Red Sector A, but I didn't rush out and buy the album. The rest of it sounded samey to me at the time.

 

Took me several years but I came around to the rest of it by around 1989.

 

ALEX is my favorite part of this album. His choice of chords..especially all those suspended chords. MAN... that shit is deep. And I love his solo on Between the Wheels.

[Cyclonus X-1]

Liked it right away. It begins with one of my favorite four-song stretches in the band's entire catalog.

 

Top ten...probably seventh.

 

Guitar for the sound, the chords, and the Between the Wheels solo.

[Texas King]

P/G for me meant different Rush but I got into that type of Rush, so I liked it.

That album is probably my fave album from Rush synth era. I like pretty much all tracks except Body Electric and Red Lenses, which are kind of dumb filler on this very good album.

And Lee dominated with his synths on this album. Lifeson and his guitar? Forget it, man, the 70's was his era.

Edited May 23, 2017 by Texas King

[Lucas]

I gave up on Rush for a long time after Grace was released .. I do like it now more than I did then, as time has sort of eased the disappointment, but having had been a fan since 1977, and really loving what they had accomplished to that point, as a 17 year old kid, Grace was something I just couldn't relate to ..

[Na na na]

Grace Under Pressure is the album that got me into Rush in 1985. One of their best albums. Vocals are really strong on this one

[Na na na]

Love the vocal on The Body Electric...those first lines are incredible!!!!

[Digital Dad]

I probably must have loved it long before I knew much about music. But then I also used to like Barry Manilow.

[Stormtron]

I avoided the synth era for awhile during my initial mid 90s Rush love fest. My stoner metalhead circle of friends didn't like synth Rush and I wasn't about to ruin my coolness by proclaiming my love for the synth songs I knew from Chronicles. I was already pushing it with my penchant for Wu-Tang and shit. When I finally got the proper Grace album I instantly loved it and felt like a dumbass.

 

I don't know what the strongest aspect is...it's everything together really, but I voted for vocals because I really feel Geddy on some of these songs, and they're fun to sing along with.

[bluefox4000]

When i first heard it. i didn't hate it or like it. needed more spins.

 

Now that i know it i can safely say it is one of my least fav Rush albums ever. just doesn't connect with me.

 

If i had to pick a strong point......the Keyboards.

 

Mick

[EagleMoon]

I don't think anything in particular stands out. I love Geddys bassline in The Body Electric and the keyboards on Between the Wheels but other than that I can't think of anything.

[rocket ignites]

I didn't really care much for GUP when I first listened to it. I've come to appreciate it more over the years. Probably due to all the bootlegs I enjoy from that era.

 

I think it's a better album top to bottom than PoW. It's close but edges HYF for me.

[theredtamasrule]

The first Rush new release I ever had...second cd I ever bought...loved it immediately then...still love it now. Mayhap it's the best synth era album? And YES...I love Red Lenses.

[Earthshine]

I clearly remember when it came out. I secretly disliked it to most. I told a few how much I disliked it. It was one of the very few Rush albums I did not run out and buy the day or week it came out.

 

I found it very depressing for the most part. The lyrics were very depressing. The songs are very depressing for the most part. I still have to be in the mood for it. I also did not like the production of it at first.

 

Prior to its release, Neil did a very negative and quite depressing interview in the April 1984 edition of Modern Drummer. I could not believe what I was reading. Not inspirational. After reading it, I thought the band would breakup within a year.

 

I did not get the album until right before I saw them on that tour. I bought tickets for both nights, still not being sold on the album.i

 

Then! After seeing them perform most of it live, I really liked it! After the second night, I loved it! I was SO glad that I attended both nights!

 

After that, the album grew on me and I grew to love it! It is just one of those Rush albums that may take time to grow on you and that is so heavy and has heavy topics that it may not be listened to at all times and in any mood.

 

I clearly remember how, in contrast, I LOVED Power Windows IMMEDIATELY and when I saw them on that tour for 2 nights in a row, that I loved it even more!