About Grace Under Pressure
Grace Under Pressure is the band’s 10th studio recording, released in April of 1984. It was recorded at Le Studio, like so many other Rush albums. Rush originally approached producer Steve Lillywhite to record Grace Under Pressure, but he went on to work on other projects. The band produced the album themselves, with assistance from Peter Henderson, who had previously worked with Supertramp, Split Enz, Frank Zappa, and King Crimson.
Largely considered one of the band’s darkest albums, Grace Under Pressure was influenced by the growing tensions in the Cold War in the 1980s. The album’s running theme is “pressure” and how humans act under the influence of it. Despite the dark themes of the record, the band balances out influences from a lot of directions, including reggae and a harder feel of the classic hard rock sound.
The writing and rehearsing of the album went quickly, but the recording took a long time. Alex recalled:
“…once we got into the studio, things just took a long time. You can’t really help it sometimes, no matter how hard you work or how fast you work; there are certain things about recording that just take a long time.”
Credits
Produced by
Rush and Peter Henderson
Engineered by
Peter Henderson
Assisted by Frank Opolko and Robert Di Gioia
Management
Ray Danniels
SRO Management Inc.
Toronto
Executive Production
Moon Records
Art Direction and cover painting
Portrait by
Yousuf Karsh
Pre-production engineering
Jon Erickson
Mastering
Bob Ludwig and Brian Lee
Gateway Mastering Studios
Portland, Maine
Liner Notes
Geddy Lee – Bass Guitars, synthesizers, vocals
Alex Lifeson – Electric and acoustic guitars
Neil Peart – Drums, percussion & electronic percussion
Recorded at Le Studio
Morin Heights, Quebec
Between November 1983 and March 1984
In memory of Robbie Whelan
PPG Synthesizer programming assisted by Jim Burgess and Paul Northfield
Road Manager and Lighting Director: Howard Ungerleider
Stage Left Technician, Crew Chief, and President: Liam Birt
Stage Manager: Nick Kotos
Concert Sound Engineer: Jon Erickson
Stage Left Technican: Skip Gildersleeve
Centre Stage Technician: Larry Allen
Guitar and Synthesizer Maintenance: Tony Geranios
Monitor Engineer: Steve Byron
Concert Projectionist: Lee Tenner
Personal Assistant: Kevin Flewitt
Concert Sound: National Sound–Tom Linthicum, Fuzzy Frazer, Dave Fletcher
Concert Lighting: See Factor–The Johnson Brothers: Mike Weiss, Tom Higgins, Mark Cherry, Dave Berman, Jeffrey T. MacDonald, Frank Scilingo
Concert Rigging: Southfire Rigging–Billy Collins and Tom Wendt
Busheads and Truckfaces: Tom Whittaker, Pat Lynes, Bill Barlow, Mac and Candy MacLear, Harry Smith, Jack Stone, Red McBrine, Gordon Scott
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.
©1984 Mercury Records
©1984 Anthem Entertainment
Awards
Billboard 200 (North America)
#10RPM100 Albums (Canada)
#1UK Album Chart
#5Swedish Album Chart
#18GfK Dutch Album Chart
#27German Album Chart
#43Certified Gold by RIAA
June 26, 1984Certified Platinum by RIAA
June 26, 1984Distant Early Warning
Music: Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson
Lyrics: Neil Peart
An ill wind comes arising
Across the cities of the plain
There’s no swimming in the heavy water —
No singing in the acid rain
Red alert
Red alert
It’s so hard to stay together
Passing through revolving doors
We need someone to talk to
And someone to sweep the floors —
Incomplete
Incomplete
The world weighs on my shoulders
But what am I to do?
You sometimes drive me crazy —
But I worry about you
I know it makes on difference
To what you’re going through
But I see the tip of the iceberg —
And I worry about you…
Cruising under your radar
Watching from satellites
Take a page from the red book —
Keep them in your sights
Red alert
Red alert
Left and rights of passage
Black and whites of youth
Who can face the knowledge
That the truth is not the truth?
Obsolete
Absolute
Absalom
Absalom