This past Monday, March 18th marked the 50th anniversary of the 1974 Canadian release of Rush's debut album on Moon Records. The album was then re-released on Mercury/Polygram (with the revised pink logo) later that year on August 10, 1974. In 1995 it was given Gold status by the RIAA, and a 40th anniversary Rush Rediscovered vinyl box set was released in 2014. Back in January Pollstar published an interview with Geddy where his representative Meg Symsyk was asked about the upcoming 50th:
... the occasion of "R50" - 50 years since Neil Peart joined Rush, in time for the band's second album, Fly By Night - does not go unnoticed. "When the band is ready to share what they would like to do to celebrate R50, they will let everyone know," Symsyk says. ...
There have been other rumblings about what the band might do for their 50th, but no details have been revealed yet. Wisconsin-based company Artovision celebrated the anniversary with the release of several 3-D artwork pieces depicting the album's iconic artwork. Over the past few years, they've released several sets of officially-licensed pieces based on Rush album art including Moving Pictures, Roll the Bones, Hold Your Fire, A Show of Hands, Signals (this desktop art piece too), Hemispheres, Clockwork Angels and Counterparts. As mentioned above, their latest addition is in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the release of Rush's debut album on Moon Records. They've released both 3-D Shadowbox and Desktop pieces for the original red cover, along with a pink option for the Mercury records edition. The shadowbox art pieces depict the iconic album art with the 3-D Rush explosion logo as seen here. These collectible shadowbox art pieces measures 14x14" x 2.5" and come ready to hang with an official Rush Certificate of Authenticity (COA). Each piece is printed on 1/8" thick optical-grade acrylic with vibrant UV cured inks and set in a high quality finished MDF wood frame. There are also corresponding Desktop versions available here, which are printed on 3/4" thick optical-grade acrylic with vibrant UV cured inks and also coming with an official Rush Certificate of Authenticity (COA). For more information on Artovision, and to see their complete line of officially-licensed Rush pieces, visit their website at artovision3d.com. You can also follow them on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, and watch a YouTube video demonstrating the 3-D effect of their Shadowbox art here. Also getting in on the celebration was Iconic By Collectionzz, who commemorated the anniversary with a set of two officially-licensed, limited-edition poster screenprints from illustrators The Silent Giants; one in the original Moon Records red color and the other is in the pink color from the Mercury release. Each numbered print is 18"x24" and includes a holographic authentication sticker on the rear. Unfortunately all the prints are now SOLD OUT, but you can also check out their entire line of Rush prints here.
Last week Rush beer partners Henderson Brewing Company announced the upcoming release of a new vintage of their Moving Pictures Ale, which first debuted in the fall of 2021 as a celebration of the 40th anniversary of the iconic Rush album. The new, limited-edition 2024 vintage is now available for pre-order and will be available in about 4-6 weeks. This Belgian Dark Strong Ale with Riesling Must pours a gorgeous deep, ruby colour with a fine, tan head. The taste is complex, with notes of dark fruit pudding, toffee, dates, cherries, honey, bread crusts and a slight booziness. Although Henderson aren't allowed to sell beer over the border to the US, their partners at Halftime Beverage are happy to take US customer orders here.
A new Rush tribute project called Rush for Cover has been in the works for the past couple of years and will finally be seeing the light of day this coming April. The album features nine, new interpretations of classic Rush songs by an international cast of independent, underground artists (none of whom are trios themselves), and is a tribute album created by Rush fans for Rush fans. The album will be available on opaque creamsicle and opaque sky blue vinyl along with a limited digital release, and they are now taking pre-orders at rushforcover.com. A corresponding charity auction is also now underway with all proceeds going to the Glioblastoma Foundation, The V Foundation for Cancer Research (founded by ESPN and legendary basketball coach Jim Valvano) and the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network. The auction includes several unique items including the original painting used for the cover of the album by fan and artist Kelly Drew, a one-of-a-kind test pressing of the album signed by all of the artists, a stack of original Rush vinyl (including a sealed, original pressing of Clockwork Angels, various promo 12"s and original 45s). The auction will run throughout the next month, with the official release date for the album on Friday April 26th. You can learn more and pre-order the album at rushforcover.com.
The Rushfans YouTube channel got in on the R50 celebration this past week too, with this 50th anniversary album quiz video hosted by Donna Halper (who better to do that!), and this special edition of Rush Roundtable where the panel creates a 50 Songs for 50 Years Rush career-defining playlist.
Another milestone Rush-related anniversary took place this past week; the 2009 film I Love You Man celebrated 15 years since its March 20, 2009 release. The movie is filled with Rush references including a cameo from the band where they perform Limelight during a concert scene as seen here:
That's all for this week. Have a great weekend!
