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I think that set A even though it doesn't have The Camera Eye is a more well rounded and Rockier set. What do you guys think about Set A vs Set B.? I'm just glad that Jacobs Ladder and Xanadu seemed like they are firmly set!

As someone who is old enough to remember when this album came out, it always surprises me how many fans nowadays love this album. I surprised because when this album came out back in 1984, most Rush fans hated it. I mean really hated it. I’m thinking a lot of the initial distaste for this record was because it was so radically different than anything they had ever done before. I honestly can’t think of any record that they've ever put out that was so dissimilar to its predecessor. Here are just some of my observations about Grace Under Pressure: This was their first “eighties” album. Please note that I put the word “eighties” in quotation marks. I KNOW it wasn't their first album they RELEASED in the eighties (it was their fourth, I think), but it was their first album that had such obvious trademarks of what people remember about the decade in terms of music. They had really short haircuts. Almost (gulp) new wave-ish! On the credits, Neil plays something called “electronic percussion”. They made a lot of flashy music videos with bright colors and lasers. There were even a couple of dance-able tracks (the two “red” songs). It was their first record to feature a new producer It was the first tour to feature a new image on the bass drum (not to mention the kit rotated and everything). I’m just thinking that all of these changes (and, yes, some were quite trivial) were just a bit too much for your average Rush fan back in the day. We missed the long hair, the kimonos, the sullen, stoned looks, and the 15-20 minute prog epics. We just weren't sure what to think with all of this new weirdness. Well, time went on, and eighties music wasn't so “new” anymore. After Rush got done playing with synthesizers, they kind of went back to the basic sounds albeit minus the epics. They endured longer than most of their counterparts (pun partially intended), and now fans can look back on that album and say, “You know, that album actually is pretty good!” Just a theory of mine. I distinctly remember a conversation I had with a co-worker back in ’84: Me: Are you going to the Rush concert? Him: (disgustingly) Don’t they have a song out now that goes something like one, zero, zero, one, zero, zero? Me: Yep. That would be The Body Electric. Him: (still disgusted) Naw, I ain’t going. It sounds like those guys are in a bit of a slump. For those of you that were around, what were/are your thoughts? Discuss Clem