Grace Under Pressure (Rush album)

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Grace Under Pressure

Studio album by Rush
Released	April 12, 1984
Recorded	Nov 1983-Mar 1984
Genre	Progressive rock
Length	39:23
Label	Anthem Records (Canada) Mercury Records
Producer(s)	Rush and Peter Henderson
ARTISTdirect link Rolling Stone link
Rush chronology
Signals (1982)	Grace Under Pressure (1984)	Power Windows (1985)

Rush (Still from "The Enemy Within" video)

Grace Under Pressure is the tenth studio album by the Canadian rock band Rush, released in 1984 (see 1984 in music). A nickname for the album is "P/G" (pressure over grace, or grace under pressure).

The album is notable for the radical new influences it displayed, especially reggae and ska. It is also notable as being the first Rush album that had no program music.

Following the amicable departure of Terry Brown as producer, Rush initially approached Steve Lillywhite to produce the album. All three members of Rush and Lillywhite were in agreement, but shortly before recording sessions were to begin, Lillywhite pulled out, saying he was not right for the band. Rush eventually produced the album themselves, with assistance from Peter Henderson, whose previous credits included Supertramp, Frank Zappa and King Crimson. Lillywhite apparently pulled out due to his desire to produce an album for the NYC band Crossfire Choir, who had agreed to record in London where Lillywhite could be close to his new bride, Kirsty MacColl.

One track, "Red Sector A", is notable for its allusions to The Holocaust, inspired by Geddy Lee's memories of his mother's stories about the liberation of Bergen-Belsen, where she was held prisoner. "Between the Wheels" is one of the band's most synth-driven songs since Subdivisions from Signals. The album's opening track is "Distant Early Warning," which deals with the pressure involving the aftermath of nuclear holocaust.

"The Enemy Within" is part one of the "Fear" series of songs that started with Part III on Moving Pictures released in 1981. This track incorporates ska influences into their music.

Grace Under Pressure reached #10 on The Billboard 200 and went Platinum in the US upon its 1984 release. On the back cover is a remarkable band portrait by the photographer Yousuf Karsh.

1 Track listing
2 Personnel
3 Charts
4 Instruments
5 Remaster Details

[edit] Track listing

"Distant Early Warning" – 4:56
"Afterimage" – 5:03
"Red Sector A" – 5:09
"The Enemy Within (Part I of Fear)" – 4:34
"The Body Electric" – 4:59
"Kid Gloves" – 4:17
"Red Lenses" – 4:41
- Written as "red lenses" on the lyric sheet. All lyrics for this song are written in lowercase and alternate between red and black.
"Between the Wheels" – 5:44

[edit] Personnel

Geddy Lee - bass guitars, synthesizers, vocals
Alex Lifeson - guitars, synthesizers
Neil Peart - drums, percussion

[edit] Charts

Album - Billboard (North America)

Year	Chart	Position
1984	The Billboard 200	10

Singles - Billboard (North America)

Year	Chart	Single	Position
1984	Mainstream Rock Tracks	"Distant Early Warning"	1

[edit] Instruments

In a departure from his previous Fender and Rickenbacker reliance, Geddy used a Steinberger XL-2 bass on Grace Under Pressure. This instrument can be seen in the video for Distant Early Warning, but the videos for The Body Electric and The Enemy Within show him playing the Rickenbacker. The main synthesiser he used was a PPG Wave 2.3 (also seen in the Distant Early Warning video). Neil Peart also used Simmons electronic drums for the first time on much of the album. Alex Lifeson used modified Fender Stratocaster guitars renamed as Hentor Sportscaster for most of the songs.

[edit] Remaster Details

A remaster was issued in 1997.

The tray has a picture of three fingerprints, light blue, pink, and lime green (left to right) with THE RUSH REMASTERS printed in all caps just to the left. All remasters from Moving Pictures through to Hold Your Fire are like this. This is just like the cover art of Retrospective II.
The back is a fairly plain, off-white panel with the track titles printed as well as the production and copyright information.
The insert displays the cover art. When the case is opened, it shows the photo of the band from the back of the LP inside the case. The insert unfolds to show the image of the egg in the vise, which has a thin red border around it and credits the image to Deborah Samuel.
Also in the insert are the lyrics, similar to those included with the LP. Like with the LP, the title and lyrics to red lenses are printed completely in lowercase.
- Some consider the title in all lower case (red lenses) to be the proper and accepted spelling.