| Grace Under Pressure | ||||
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| Album by Rush | ||||
| Released | April 12, 1984 | |||
| Recorded | November 1983 - March 1984 Le Studio, Morin Heights, Quebec | |||
| Genre | Prog-Rock | |||
| Length | 39:23 | |||
| Label | Mercury Records | |||
| Producer | Rush and Peter Henderson | |||
| Professional reviews | ||||
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| Rush chronology | ||||
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Grace Under Pressure is the tenth studio album by the Canadian rock band Rush, released in 1984 (see 1984 in music). A symbol for the album is the letter "p" above a line with the letter "g" below (p/g).
Grace Under Pressure reached #10 on The Billboard 200 and went Platinum in the United States upon its 1984 release. On the back cover is a band portrait by the photographer Yousuf Karsh. The original vinyl pressing also featured a photo depicting an egg being held in a C-clamp. Also, the cover art was painted by Hugh Syme, a long-time contributor to Rush's music ever since he performed as a guest musician on the song "Tears" from 2112.
Background[]
During the tour supporting their previous album, Signals, the members of Rush began by meeting with producer Terry Brown in Miami, calmly informing him that they wanted to move on. They'd become increasingly unhappy with the sound of the Signals album, and they were also keen to see how they would work with someone other than Brown. Despite their decision to part ways with Brown, Rush decided to include a small tribute to him in the liner notes of Grace Under Pressure, which states, "et toujours notre bon vieil ami — Broon." The quote translates to "and always our good old friend." Following Brown's amicable departure, Rush approached producer Steve Lillywhite to record the album. However, Lillywhite withdrew at the last minute, much to the chagrin of the band members. Rush eventually produced the album themselves, with assistance from Peter Henderson, who had previously worked with Supertramp, Frank Zappa and King Crimson.
Rush decided to record the album in the band members' native Canada at Le Studio, deciding on the title "Grace Under Pressure" for the album. The various current events found in the Toronto Globe & Mail newspaper inspired many of the lyrics on the album, particularly those of "Distant Early Warning," "Red Lenses" and "Between the Wheels." After a few months, the mixing stage had begun, and Neil Peart discussed the details of the cover art with Hugh Syme. The band spent up to 14 hours per day in the studio, perfecting the album's dystopian sound.
The album's running theme is pressure and how humans act under different kinds of pressure. In songs like "Between the Wheels" and "The Body Electric", Peart's lyrics explore the pressure put on by life as a whole. In "Afterimage", Peart describes the impressions left by a loved one that dies suddenly. 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. While the album's opening track "Distant Early Warning" has been interpreted as dealing with the pressure involving the aftermath of nuclear holocaust, Peart demurred in a contemporaneous interview, saying, "It's about a lot of stuff." "The Enemy Within" is part one of the "Fear" series of songs that started with part three, "Witch Hunt," on Rush's 1981 album Moving Pictures,through part two,"The Weapon" on 1982's Signals. The video for "The Enemy Within" was the very first video broadcast on Canada's Much Music station in 1984.
Musically, the album marks yet another departure from Rush's previous album. While maintaining the synth-heavy sound of Signals, Rush also began to experiment more extensively with different musical forms. The album is notable for the radical new influences it displayed, such as ska. This was the first album to be released by Rush to include no program music.
Track listing[]
All songs by Alex Lifeson, Geddy Lee and Neil Peart.
- "Distant Early Warning" – 4:59
- "Afterimage" – 5:04
- "Red Sector A" – 5:10
- "The Enemy Within (Part I of Fear)" – 4:33
- "The Body Electric" – 5:00
- "Kid Gloves" – 4:18
- "Red Lenses" – 4:42
- "Between the Wheels" – 5:44
Personnel[]
- Geddy Lee - Bass guitar (Steinberger XL-2), synthesizers (Minimoog, PPG Wave, Oberheim OB-Xa, Roland Jupiter 8), vocals
- Alex Lifeson - Guitars (Hentor Sportscasters), synthesizers
- Neil Peart - Drums (Simmons and Tama), percussion
Credits[]
- Peter Henderson - Engineer
- Frank Opolko and Robert Di Gioia - Engineer assistant
- In memory of Robbie Whelan
- Ray Danniels - Management
- SRO Productions, Toronto
- Executive Production by Moon Records
- Hugh Syme - Art direction, cover painting
- Yousuf Karsh - Portrait
- Jim Burgess and Paul Northfield - PPG Synthesizer programming assistant
- Bob Ludwig and Brian Lee - Mastering
- Jon Erickson - Pre-production engineering
- Howard Ungerleider - Road manager, lighting director
- Liam Birt - Stage left technician, crew chief, and president
- Nick Kotos - Stage manager
- Jon Erickson - Concert sound engineer
- Skip Gildersleeve - Stage left technician
- Larry Allen - Center stage technician
- Tony Geranios - Guitar and synthesizer maintenance
- Steve Byron - Monitor engineer
- Lee Tenner - Concert projectionist
- Kevin Flewitt - Personal assistant
- Tom Linthicum, Fuzzy Frazer, Dave Fletcher - Concert sound
- Concert Sound by National Sound
- Mike Weiss, Tom Higgins, Mark Cherry, Dave Berman, Jeffrey T. McDonald, Frank Scilingo (The Johnson Brothers) - Concert lighting
- Concert Lighting by See Factor International
- Billy Collins and Tom Wendt - Concert rigging
- Concert Rigging by Southfire Rigging
- Tom Whittaker, Pat Lynes, Bill Barlow, Mac and Candy MacLear, Harry Smith, Jack Stone, Red McBrine, Gordon Scott - Transportation (Busheads and truckfaces)
- Mille mercis à: les gens de Horseshoe Valley (Judy, Steve, Kevin, Kathy), Le Studio (André, Yaël, Paul Richard, Frank, Robert, Solange, Lina, Nancy, Yvon, Pierre, André et Michel et le Bouffe en Broche), the Mike Stone Happy Hour, the Franko Polko Singers, Trevor and the Commons, Frankie's Bar and Grill, Le Chasseur de Nuit, Bill Churchman, Barry Murphet, the International Scouting Organization of Cliff Burnstein, Peter Mensch, and Val Azzoli, the Griffin Family, NASA and the Johnson Space Centre, Roger Kneebend, Ann Uumellmahaye, Dr. Hfuhruhurr, Hentor the Barbarian, the Uglies, the Rory Gallagher Band and crew, Golden Earring and crew, Darrell and Werner en Allemagne, Yousuf and Estrellita Karsh (and Mary and Matthew), The B-Man, Tokyo Cro, Stuart Hall ("That's the weather, this is the time; now stay tuned for more news"), Jean Gallia et les autres proffesseurs de L'École Berlitz, et au bureau de SRO/Anthem: Ray, Val, Pegi, Sheila, Tom, and Marilyn, et toujours notre bon vielle ami--Broon.
- We appreciate the technical assistance of: The Music Shoppe (Thornhill), Bill Ward, Marcus, the Percussion Centre (Fort Wayne), Tama Drums, Avedis Zildjian Cymbals, Direct Synthesis, Quantec, Fostex, Loft, Richard Ealey and Bruce Anthony.
Charts[]
| Country | Chart | Position |
| U.S. | Billboard 200 | 10 |
Sales[]
| Country | Organization | Sales | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| U.S. | RIAA | Platinum (1,000,000) | June 26, 1984 |
| Canada | CRIA | Platinum (100,000) |
Discography[]
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 capital letters just to the left. All remasters from Moving Pictures through A Show of Hands feature this logo, originally found on the cover art of Retrospective II.
- The back is a plain, off-white panel with the track titles printed as well as the production and copyright information.
- The insert displays the cover art. The color of the cover art has been altered: it is of a richer, brown-gray color base, as opposed to the light blue base of the original LP release. The new cover is featured in nearly all of the album's modern representations. When the case is opened, the inside shows the photo of the band from the back of the LP version of the album. The insert unfolds to show the image of the egg in the C-clamp, 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 the LP, the title and lyrics of "Red Lenses" are printed completely in lowercase.
- Some consider the title in all lower case ("red lenses") to be the proper and accepted writing.
Compact Disc[]
| Country | Label | Catalog | Year |
| United States | Mercury | 818 476-2 | 1984 |
| United States | Mercury | P2-18476 | |
| United States | Mercury | P2-34634 | 1997 |
| United States | Mercury | 314 534 634-2 | 1997 |
| United States | Mercury | D-102057 | |
| United States | Mercury | D-118810 | 1997 |
| Canada | Anthem |
ANMD-1084 |
1997 |
| Canada | Anthem | VANK-1045 | |
| Canada | Anthem | ANMD-1045 | |
| Canada | Anthem | ANC-1-1045 | |
| Argentina | Mercury | 534 634-2 | 1997 |
| Brazil | Mercury | 818 476-2 | |
| Brazil | Mercury | 534 634-2 | 1997 |
| Germany | Mercury | 534 634-2 | 1997 |
| Germany | Mercury | 818 476-2 | 1984 |
| Japan | Epic/Sony | 35-8P-44 | 1985 |
| Japan | Epic/Sony | 25-8P-5077 | 1988 |
| Japan | Atlantic | AMCY-292 | 1991 |
| Japan | Atlantic | AMCY-2298 | 1997 |
| Russia | RSHCD 04000314 | ||
| United Kingdom | Mercury | 534 634-2 |
Vinyl[]
| Country | Label | Catalog | Year |
| United States | Mercury | 818 476-1 | 1984 |
| Canada | Anthem | ANR-1-1045 | 1984 |
| Canada | Anthem | 533943 | |
| Brazil | Mercury | 818 476-1 | 1984 |
| Columbia | Mercury | 818 476-1 | 1984 |
| Germany | Mercury | 818 476-1 | 1984 |
| Netherlands | Mercury | 818 476-1 | 1984 |
| South Africa | Trutone | 5369 | |
| Japan | Epic/Sony | 25-3P-5051 | 1984 |
| United Kingdom | Vertigo | VERH 12 | 1984 |
| United Kingdom | Vertigo | 818 476-1 |
Cassette Tape[]
| Country | Label | Catalog | Year |
| United States | Mercury | 818 476-4 | 1984 |
| Canada | Anthem | 4AN 1-1045 | |
| Japan | Epic/Sony | 25-6P-248 | |
| United Kingdom | Vertigo | VERHC 12 | 1984 |
Singles[]
| Information |
|---|
"Distant Early Warning"
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"The Body Electric"
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"Red Sector A"
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"Afterimage"
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