Rush's 'Grace Under Pressure' Remixed & Expanded For March Reissue

 

UMe/Mercury and Anthem Records label groups continue the comprehensive Rush albums expanded reissue series with the arrival of new Super Deluxe Editions of the band’s 1984 release, Grace Under Pressure, an album that saw the trio shifting gears to construct eight technology-driven tracks that were forward driving compositions from their previous works. 

Grace Under Pressure: Super Deluxe Edition will be available in five distinct configurations, including the (1) Super Deluxe Edition 4-CD + Blu-ray, (2) Super Deluxe Edition 5-LP + Blu-ray, (3) Super Deluxe Digital Edition, (4) Dolby Atmos Digital Edition, and (5) Grace Under Pressure Tour: Live in Toronto 1984 at video DSPs. 

Pre-order Grace Under Pressure: Super Deluxe Edition  

Grace Under Pressure, Rush’s 10th studio album, was originally released in April 1984, and it features some key sonic-template modifications resulting from the band’s decision to further evolve its sound by enlisting a new producer after a successful decade of working with Terry Brown behind the board. The eight songs comprising Grace Under Pressure build from where September 1982’s Signals left off by fully embracing the tech and temper of the times while still remaining true to the band’s knack for blending progressive roots with radio-welcome song arrangements. Grace Under Pressure was co-produced by Rush with Peter Henderson and engineered by Paul Northfield with assistance from Frank Opolko and Robert Di Giola. It was the fourth in a series of Rush recording sessions ultimately held at Le Studio in Morin-Heights, Quebec. Rush’s instinctive recording process at Le Studio had been DNA-infused during sessions held there for the aforementioned Signals, in addition to February 1981’s Moving Pictures and January 1980’s Permanent Waves.

The limited-edition version of the Super Deluxe Edition includes four CDs, one Blu-ray, and a 52-page hardcover book. CD1 features the album’s original 1984 stereo mix newly remastered from the original analog stereo master tapes by Sean Magee at Abbey Road Studios. Although Grace Under Pressure was the first Rush studio album not produced by Terry Brown after a decade long healthy working relationship, the second CD now features Brown’s brand-new stereo mix of the album, as created from the original studio album’s analog multitracks. 

To get the ball rolling, Brown reached out directly to surviving bandmembers Alex Lifeson and Geddy Lee. Regarding his involvement, Brown confirmed that he “suggested it to Alex and Ged by saying to them, ‘Let me do a couple of tunes. If you love it, we can move forward.’ As it turned out, they did love it.” Brown’s goals for his remix were quite pure. “I had to give the guys something they would be excited about,” the producer continued, “so I went for a little more detail, different reverbs, and a larger footprint, all while maintaining the integrity of the original record.” 

The third and fourth CD present the first-ever complete setlist of the show Rush performed on September 21, 1984, at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto, which was also newly mixed from the original multitrack audio masters and has now been retitled Grace Under Pressure Tour: Live in Toronto 1984. 

The Blu-ray features the above concert on video newly edited & newly remastered in HD with the audio soundtrack offered in 48kHz/24-bit Dolby Atmos, 96kHz/24-bit Dolby TrueHD 5.1, and 96kHz/24-bit PCM stereo options, all newly mixed by Terry Brown. Its previous incarnation as 1986’s Grace Under Pressure Tour concert home video and CD was somewhat incomplete, and this new full concert experience features 37 minutes of unreleased performances. 

Also on the Blu-ray, the full 1984 studio album is newly mixed in 48kHz/24-bit Dolby Atmos and 96kHz/24-bit Dolby TrueHD 5.1 by longtime band associate, producer/engineer Richard Chycki, from the original album’s multitracks along with the newly remastered 192kHz/24-bit and 96kHz/24-bit PCM stereo. 

Observed Chycki, “Listening to Grace Under Pressure in Atmos, you can really hear Rush’s progress and development as artists, because there’s much more room in the 360-degree soundfield to express it. Things that may have just gone by you in stereo now appear in separate speakers without being gimmicky. Instead, they act as micro-features for the Atmos listener to better appreciate the band’s intent.”

Additionally, on the Blu-ray, Terry Brown’s new album remix is presented in 96kHz/24-bit PCM stereo, along with the band’s music videos for “Distant Early Warning,” “Afterimage,” “The Enemy Within,” and “The Body Electric,” all of which have been visually remastered in HD and presented in 96kHz/24-bit Dolby TrueHD 5.1 and 48kHz/24-bit PCM stereo. (“The Enemy Within” was the very first music video shown by Canadian TV channel MuchMusic, now known as Fuse, on August 31, 1984.)

 

Grace Under Pressure: Super Deluxe Edition will also include new liner notes penned by Geddy Lee, reflecting on his memories of finding a new producer for the album and reminiscing on a recent re-listen of the album proper. Original album designer Hugh Syme re-imagines the original album cover along with creating brand-new illustrations for each of the album’s eight songs and other related visual elements in the book. Exclusive bonus collectibles in the box include a custom acrylic Grace Under Pressure LED light-up display; a replica of the Grace Under Pressure tour book; a replica Maple Leaf Gardens/Toronto show concert ticket; a Grace Under Pressure Tour total access backstage pass; “Pressure Release” a replica of the 6-page press release; three bandmember live photo lithos; and a poster from the Toronto show. All contents are housed in a premium lift-top box.

The second Grace Under Pressure configuration will be released in is a five-LP plus Blu-ray Super Deluxe Edition, which is the analog equivalent of the four-CD edition. The LPs in the Super Deluxe Edition have been cut at Abbey Road Studios and pressed on 180-gram audiophile black vinyl at GZ Media in the Czech Republic. 

Both the 4LP + Blu-ray and 5LP + Blu-ray Super Deluxe Editions will also be offered at the Rush Backstage online store with 3 exclusive bonus lithos of Hugh Syme’s new illustrations.

The third Grace Under Pressure configuration will be the Super Deluxe Digital Edition, which is the digital equivalent to the physical Super Deluxe Edition audio tracks. 

The fourth configuration, the Dolby Atmos Digital Edition, is the digital equivalent of Richard Chycki’s Atmos mix of all eight tracks from the original 1984 album. 

Finally, the fifth configuration is the Grace Under Pressure Tour: Live in Toronto 1984 newly edited, mixed and visually remastered in HD concert video made available to video DSPs.

For more info, visit rush.com.