After Rush finally broke with 2112, they tended to refine and progress with each new album. When it came to the 1980s, that process had to conform to a more streamlined, user-friendly result. Rush accepted the challenge, embraced the technology, and trimmed down the epics to bite-sized songs that the record-buying, MTV-viewing public could relate to. Strangely enough, the Ayn Rand-inspired lyrics were a direct reflection of the “Me” generation that dominated the mindset of the late 70s and 80s. Once synths worked their way onto Signals and its lead-off single “Subdivisions,” Rush seemed to be moving in the right direction. For them, however, more changes were necessary with their 1984 follow-up, Grace Under Pressure. And that started with replacing long-time producer Terry Brown with someone with a fresh perspective. Forty years later, Grace Under Pressure: Super Deluxe Edition not only features a new remaster and multi-channel remix, but also a new stereo remix by Terry Brown from the original studio album’s analog multitracks co-produced by Rush with Peter Henderson.
The eight songs that fill Grace Under Pressure sort of pick up from where Signals left off by incorporating many of high-tech apparatuses of the day like fancy dialup synths and electronic drums. In an effort to appease record company brass and hit parade impresarios, the object for Rush in 1984 was to come off as a sleek, modern-age band built for MTV comfort without alienating their more guitar-oriented fanbase of the 70s and early 80s. Grace Under Pressure achieves a balance, letting Alex Lifeson’s guitar operate front and center, without overextending its place in the mix. So you can listen to simple chord patterns frame songs like “Distant Early Warning” and “Red Sector A,” while low-flying keys follow along and fill in the gaps. Any short-run leads Lifeson plays are structured for purpose, not for showboat pyrotechnics. By the time you get to the reggae jump of “The Enemy Within” or the deep-seated groove of “Kid Gloves,” it’s as if the band is distancing themselves from their prog rock roots. On an album where none of the eight songs exceed six minutes, each and every track packs an economical punch without tedium excess. By the time you reach “Between The Wheels,” the guitar and keyboards intersect, without any intention of drifting apart.
The Terry Brown remix seems to bring out a little more warmth of the original stereo mix. Without hearing them proper, the jury is still out on Richard Chycki’s 48kHz/24-bit Dolby Atmos and 96kHz/24-bit Dolby TrueHD 5.1 mixes. His surround mixes of other Rush titles haven’t been well received. Steven Wilson’s take on A Farewell To Kings is really the only Rush 5.1 mix audiophiles seem to care about. Too bad it’s only available in the out-of-print box set currently fetching hundreds of duckets on the resale front. Thankfully, the included Blu-ray and the third and fourth CDs on Grace Under Pressure: Super Deluxe Edition include the complete show Rush performed on September 21, 1984, at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto, also newly mixed. The video — originally issued on VHS and Betamax as Grace Under Pressure Tour in 1986, two years later on Laserdisc, then reissued in 2006 on DVD as Grace Under Pressure 1984 — has now been retitled Grace Under Pressure Tour: Live in Toronto 1984. Newly edited, mixed and visually remastered in HD concert video, this is the 20-song live set finding the band totally in sync at every turn and easily at the peak of their powers. Watching Geddy Lee sing, play bass and keyboards in one song is a marvel to behold. And seeing the band lock in on “YYZ” into “2112: The Temples Of Syrinx” is all the proof you need that Rush, even as streamlined as they were in the 80s, always kept their musicianship at the highest level.
Available in multiple configurations — five LPs or four CDs, the Blu-ray, the Dolby Atmos Digital Edition, and Grace Under Pressure Tour: Live in Toronto 1984 free to view on YouTube — Grace Under Pressure: Super Deluxe Edition also includes new liner notes by Geddy Lee, as well as new illustrations by original album designer Hugh Syme for the box set cover and each of the album’s eight songs. Altogether, we’re looking at another teaser to wrap your ears and eyes around before Lee and Lifeson return for the Fifty Something tour to celebrate Rush’s music, legacy, and the life of late drummer and lyricist Neil Peart. Fans will expect to hear their favorites from Hemispheres, Moving Pictures and Signals. With 19 albums, they have plenty to choose from. That being said, there’s little doubt a song or two from Grace Under Pressure will find its way to the setlist.
~ Shawn Perry
Purchase Grace Under Pressure: Super Deluxe Edition
