Rush have two records arriving on October 2 through UMe/Mercury and Anthem, a 50th anniversary pressing of 2112 and the first vinyl edition of a compilation that has existed only on CD since 2003.
The anniversary edition of 2112 comes as a black liquid vinyl pressing, with the sleeve die-cut so the disc shows through the hole.
It first appeared in limited numbers at the UMusic Shop in New York in late July, timed to the band’s four sold-out nights at Madison Square Garden. It now goes out more widely as a Sound Of Vinyl exclusive.
The album was recently certified four-times platinum. Terry Brown produced it with the band, and the seven-part title track occupies the entire first side at over twenty minutes, following one man’s conflict with an authority that has outlawed music.
The second side splits the writing three ways. Neil Peart wrote “A Passage To Bangkok” and “The Twilight Zone“, the latter drawing on two episodes of Rod Serling‘s anthology series, and closed the record with “Something For Nothing“. Alex Lifeson contributed “Lessons“, built around slide guitar, and Geddy Lee wrote the ballad “Tears“.
2112 50th-anniversary liquid vinyl edition tracklist:
- “2112” — I. Overture / II. The Temples Of Syrinx / III. Discovery / IV. Presentation / V. Oracle: The Dream / VI. Soliloquy / VII. Grand Finale
- “A Passage To Bangkok”
- “The Twilight Zone”
- “Lessons”
- “Tears”
- “Something For Nothing”
The Spirit Of Radio On Vinyl At Last
The Spirit Of Radio: Greatest Hits 1974-1987 was released on February 11, 2003 as the band’s first authorised greatest hits collection, running just under 80 minutes. It has never been pressed to vinyl until now.
Artwork comes from Hugh Syme, the band’s longtime creative director. Original production credits across the set list Rush, Terry Brown, Peter Henderson and Peter Collins.
The compilation covers the Mercury years and skips 1975’s Caress Of Steel entirely.
Two configurations are being issued. The full 16-track version spreads across two LPs on 180-gram black vinyl. A retail exclusive cuts it to 10 tracks on a single LP — nine of them shared with the double, plus “Finding My Way” from the 1974 debut, which appears only on the single-LP edition.
2LP edition:
- “Working Man”
- “Fly By Night”
- “2112: Overture / The Temples Of Syrinx”
- “Closer To The Heart”
- “The Trees”
- “The Spirit Of Radio”
- “Freewill”
- “Limelight”
- “Tom Sawyer”
- “Red Barchetta”
- “New World Man”
- “Subdivisions”
- “Distant Early Warning”
- “The Big Money”
- “Force Ten”
- “Time Stand Still”
1LP retail exclusive:
- “Finding My Way”
- “Fly By Night”
- “2112: Overture / The Temples Of Syrinx”
- “Closer To The Heart”
- “The Spirit Of Radio”
- “Tom Sawyer”
- “New World Man”
- “Distant Early Warning”
- “The Big Money”
- “Time Stand Still”
“New World Man” reached number one in Canada and 21 on the Billboard Hot 100, the band’s only Top 40 single in the United States. “The Big Money” was a Top 50 hit, and 1987’s “Force Ten” reached number three on Billboard‘s Mainstream Rock Airplay chart.
Both editions close with “Time Stand Still“, one of the very few Rush recordings featuring an outside guest. Aimee Mann of ‘Til Tuesday sings the counter phrases against Lee on the choruses.
In June, Mann appeared onstage with the band at the Kia Forum in Los Angeles during the opening run of the “Fifty Something” tour, performing her part live with them for the first time.
Lee and Lifeson, with drummer Anika Nilles and keyboardist Loren Gold, opened the “Fifty Something” tour in Los Angeles on June 7, their first performances in 11 years.
The North American leg continues through 2026, finishing in Vancouver in December, before the band heads to South America and Europe in 2027.
Shows run as “evening with” performances, two sets a night, with each setlist assembled from a pool of around 40 songs.
