Alex Lifeson names “the most satisfying” Rush album
Canadian prog heroes Rush had an oscillating career. Whilst they remain one of the most successful and influential of their generation, in addition to the most prominent creative heights they hit on records such as 2112, Rush also experienced their fair share of lows. This is something guitarist Alex Lifeson has spoken about on numerous occasions.
The most famous flop of their career is undoubtedly 1975’s Caress of Steel, an album that failed so intensely that the trio’s label, Mercury, seriously contemplated dropping them, and Lifeson considered quitting music for good. Yet, in a demonstration of the fluctuating nature of Rush’s career, due to the backlash they faced, they would pour all of their anger and frustration into its follow-up, which would be hailed as one of their best records, 2112.
After the celebrated period at the end of the 1970s and early 1980s, Rush would again seek to change their sound. While Caress of Steel had seen them move into a more prog-heavy, fantastical area that let go of the blues rock of their early years, following 1982’s Signals, the trio explicitly took hold of the latest musical developments. As teased on the previous record, they moved into a synthesiser-heavy environment on 1984’s Grace Under Pressure.
When speaking to Guitar Player in 1984, Alex Lifeson reflected on the new album and labelled it “the most satisfying” of all Rush’s releases. He said: “This is the most satisfying of all our records. Like any album, a month after I got away from it and had a chance to listen to it a little more objectively, there are a few things that maybe I would have done differently. But I feel good about it.”
Discussing what underpins the album, he revealed: “I don’t really have any favourite tracks, but I like ‘Red Lenses’ – it’s a real departure for us. I like the feel of ‘Red Sector A’ as a guitar song. It came out exactly the way I wanted it. The guitar seems very lonely and translates the lyrics well, which were inspired by a newspaper. We were up in Horseshoe Valley, just north of Toronto, for two months, and we got the Toronto Globe & Mail delivered to the door every morning. All you heard was the breakdown in the arms negotiations, the KAL [Korean Air Line] murders, all this stuff. It was a real dismal time for events. This is where Neil got a lot of input for his writing. I often adapted my playing to the message of his lyrics. That’s really the way we write.”
He concluded: “Grace Under Pressure is our fastest-selling album. Things are going really well for it, and I really like doing the songs onstage. There is something about it that is a departure from our other material, which makes it a lot more fun and interesting to play live.”
Listen to Grace Under Pressure below.
