It’s time to get back to my favorite decade. For the month of March, I’ll be looking back at some of my favorite jams from the 80s. These songs often came to me via MTV or the radio. NYC-area stations WDRE, WPLJ, WNEW, K-ROCK and Z100 introduced me to everything from irresistible pop confections to under-the-radar post-punk anthems. I would not be who I am today if it weren’t for the 80s. It was the decade when I discovered music can be a truly powerful thing. #31DaysOf80sSongs
Grace Under Pressure is rarely mentioned among Rush’s best albums. On the surface, it seems that other recordings were able to assert a more clearly defined musical agenda, including Hemispheres, 2112, Permanent Waves, Moving Pictures, Signals, among many others. But one could argue that Grace Under Pressure is where Rush started to put multiple musical explorations together unlike any of their other albums. While Signals was almost exclusively synth, Grace Under Pressure is where Lifeson’s guitar-driven attack collided with Lee’s synth explosions. You can hear it loud and clear on “Red Sector A”.
Uncharacteristic of the band, there isn’t a single bass line to be found on this song. Instead Lee focused solely on creating calculating synth jams and singing the harrowing story of life inside a prison camp. Meanwhile, Lifeson and Peart led the attack on guitar and drums, building a soundscape that washes over you. What’s more profound beyond the music is the influence of “Red Sector A”, which bears a striking resemblance to the epic musicality of Muse.
“All that we can do is just survive. All that we can do to help ourselves is stay alive.”