In Alex Lifeson's Planet Rock interview last week he made reference to a 5.1 surround sound remix of Moving Pictures that was in the works. Rush engineer Richard Chycki gives some more details regarding this remix in a blog post on his website yesterday (thanks gornhay):

Ok, so the word is out. I’ve been in the studio for last month remixing the original Moving Pictures CD in 5.1 surround. I finished tweaks on Red Barchetta yesterday. It really was an amazing experience to spread the original tracks of such a classic CD into the 3D word of surround. (The car speeds off, goes behind and banks a sharp right in rear BTW). The listening experience is drastically enveloping and coupled with songs and performances that epitomize this band, it’s definitely a great time to re-discover Rush.

After discussion with the band, the goal here was to pay serious homage to the production of the era so a considerable amount of time was spent researching and working through effects etc. that matched the original but would fare well in the 5.1 world. And of course, placement was also a critical issue. I’m pleased with the results and Alex Lifeson was pretty blown away when he came in to listen to the finals.

So enjoy and more to come shortly!

It's still not clear whether Rush will be remixing their entire catalog in 5.1 or just selected albums. They are due to re-release their entire Universal-era back catalog later this year. Chycki also confirmed in a separate blog post yesterday that he's working on remixing Rush's 2002 album Vapor Trails - which Alex Lifeson had mentioned in his Classic Rock interview last week.

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