Rush's new A Farewell to Kings 40th anniversary box set edition officially released last week, and fans can purchase either a 3-CD set, a 4-LP set or the Super Deluxe set. Each set includes the Abbey Road Mastering Studios 2015 remastered edition of the album, a complete Rush concert recorded in February 1978 at London's Hammersmith Odeon newly mixed by Terry Brown, and four newly-recorded cover versions of songs from the original album by Dream Theater, Big Wreck, The Trews and Alain Johannes. Rush has released streaming audio versions of all 4 covers, including Dream Theater's cover of Xanada here, Big Wreck's version of Closer to the Heart here, The Trews Cinderella Man here, and multi-instrumentalist Alain Johannes' cover of Madrigal here. The band has also made streaming audio versions of the previously unreleased 1978 live versions of Closer to the Heart, Lakeside Park, 2112, and Neil Peart's drum solo included in the box set available on YouTube and other streaming channels. You can listen to Closer to the Heart here, Lakeside Park here, 2112 here, and the drum solo here. The set also contains a Cygnus X1 sound effects outtake titled Cygnus X2 Eh which you can listen to here. Additionally, there's a 1.5-minute promotional, unboxing video highlighting the contents of the set which you can watch here, and this really cool 360-degree rendering of the album cover from FANTOONS. The Super Deluxe edition includes both the 3 CDs and 4 LPs along with an additional Blu-ray Audio disc containing a new 5.1 surround mix of the album by Steven Wilson, along with three original 1977 promo videos from a newly found 2-inch quad video master. John at Cygnus-X1.net has transcribed the liner notes (including Rob Bowman's essay) and made them available online here, along with scans of all the artwork here. The album and its milestone anniversary are also the subject of the latest In The Studio with Redbeard rockumentary radio show special, which is available for listening online at this location. The program consists of interview segments with Rush from past In the Studio interviews and runs about 18 minutes long. The set is now available to order at Amazon (3-CD set, 4-LP set, Super Deluxe set) and other retailers, and is also available in stores.

Southern California fuzz rock pioneers Fu Manchu will be releasing their 12th studio album Clone Of The Universe this coming February 9th via their personal label At The Dojo Records. Rush's Alex Lifeson makes a guest appearance on the album's 18-minute, side-long centerpiece Il Mostro Atomico. The band will be hitting the road in support of the album next year. For more information visit the band's website at fu-manchu.com.

Ultimate-guitar.com posted an article earlier this week on some of the Not So Famous Original Members of Famous Bands, and a few of the members of Rush's earlier, pre-1974 incarnations get mentioned:

It's kind of strange that the legendary bassist and vocalist Geddy Lee is actually not the original member of Rush. The band was formed by Alex Lifeson in 1968 and lead vocal and bass duties were handled by Jeff Jones. Another original member was drummer John Rutsey who is present on the band's debut album. He passed away in 2008 at the age of 55. Before their first album, the band went through some lineup changes which included Joe Perna on bass and vocals, Lindy Young on guitar and keyboards and various different instruments, and a second guitar player Mitchel Bossi. However, the most important lineup includes Neil Peart and Geddy Lee.

Music Radar posted an article earlier this week where they profile some of the best top-end guitars over $2,700. They compiled the list based on their extensive archive of reviews, and only included guitars with a minimum of 4.5 stars. Alex Lifeson's signature Gibson ES-Les Paul made the cut:

Alex Lifeson's latest signature uses the iconography of the Les Paul Custom but in semi-hollow ES LP style and is limited to a run of 200 pieces. While it's hard to second guess the price-points and style of Gibson's often forward-looking USA production range, the Memphis division output has never failed to impress us with an eye firmly on the past. Yet this guitar is not just about replicating the past: along with new design, Memphis is surprisingly cutting-edge, too, employing 'thermally engineered' woods - aka torrefication, a process for 'ageing' woods and a growing trend for both acoustic and electric makers.

Jim Eckstrom wrote a piece for the Olean Times Herald this past week where he asks the question, When might they pass the 'Motor Law'?, in reference to Rush's Red Barchetta. The article starts off with the lyrics to the song, and Eckstrom uses it as a basis for his discussion centered on how driverless cars, electric vehicle and other recent innovations in driving will affect society in the near future.

Back on December 1, 1991 in Edinburgh, Scotland, Nirvana's Kurt Cobain and Dave Grohl played a five-song, acoustic set to around 30 people under the pseudonym Teen Spirit. A partial recording of the show was recently unearthed and released online. Towards the beginning of the recording Kobain introduces Grohl as not Krist and says that he, "plays drums ... he doesn't know how to play bass", although Dave was playing the bass for this performance. Dave replies to those comments by saying, "I only knows Rush songs [on bass]". You can listen to the recording online here (thanks Tony A).

Here's the Dream Theater cover of Xanadu from Rush's A Farewell to Kings 40th anniversary box set:

Rush's Time Stand Still documentary will air on Showtime next Friday, December 15th at 9PM EST (thanks Bob A). That's all for this week. Have a great weekend!