Rush are celebrating the 40th anniversary of their 1981 album with the release of an expanded edition today. Yes, it’s been 41 years since its release, but there was this thing called a pandemic that pushed everything back for pretty much everyone.
The anniversary collection has a re-imagined cover and is available in six configurations, including a Super Deluxe Edition with three CDs, one Blu-ray audio disc, and five 180-gram black vinyl LPs. The 2015 remastered edition of the album is also part of the Super Deluxe Edition for the first time on CD, along with two discs of previously unreleased and newly restored bonus live tracks from their unreleased concert, Live in YYZ 1981, at Maple Leaf Gardens in their hometown of Toronto.
Speaking about the album, Rush guitarist Alex Lifeson:
“It was so much fun to make. It felt easy. We were well prepared. There was an energy and a vibe in the studio. I thought Neil‘s [Peart] drum sound was just perfect for that record at that time. We just had such a wonderful time and I think that positive energy flows through that record. It’s an echo of what we were feeling. But Moving Pictures, definitely, at 40 years old, still carries it.”
The box set includes:
- A 44-page hardcover book with unreleased photos and new artwork by original album designer Hugh Syme, along with new illustrations for each song; and extensive liner notes by Soundgarden guitarist Kim Thayil, Les Claypool of Primus, late Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins and others
- A Red Barchetta model car mounted on a black perch with an MP40 nameplate
- Two Neil Peart signature MP40 branded drumsticks
- Two metal-embossed guitar picks, one each with Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson’s signatures engraved on them
- A replica of the Moving Pictures 1981 tour program
- A MP40 logo enamel pin
- A 3D lenticular “Moving Pictures in motion” lithograph
- An 18×24-inch Toronto 1981 concert poster
- A replica concert ticket from the 1981 Maple Leaf Gardens show
- A 12×36-inch Rush Through the Years 1973-1981 poster
- A YYZ luggage tag
- An All Access World Tour ’81 insert
The other configurations are:
- 3-CD Deluxe Edition
- 5-LP Deluxe Edition
- 1-LP Limited E-Commerce Edition
- Deluxe Digital Edition
- Dolby Atmos Digital Edition
Live in YYZ 1981 concert disc track listing:
- 2112 – Overture
- 2112 – The Temples of Syrinx
- Freewill
- Limelight
- Cygnus X-1 Book II: Hemispheres – Prelude
- Beneath, Between & Behind
- The Camera Eye
- YYZ
- Broon’s Bane
- The Trees
- Xanadu
- The Spirit of Radio
- Red Barchetta
- Closer to the Heart
- Tom Sawyer
- Vital Signs
- Natural Science
- Working Man / Cygnus X-1 Book II: Hemispheres – Armageddon: The Battle of Heart and Mind / By-Tor and the Snow Dog / In the End / In the Mood / 2112 – Grand Finale
- La Villa Strangiato
