UPDATE - 10/11@1:34PM: FYI: an Ole representative informed me that Rush engineer Rich Chycki did the 5.1 mix.
As expected, Rush just announced this morning that they will be releasing a Hemispheres box set to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the album's 1978 release. The set is slated for release on November 16th and will be made available as a 2 CD or 3 LP set along with a Super Deluxe edition that includes both the 2CDs and 3LPs along with a bonus Blu-ray disc. From the Super Deluxe edition description at the Rush Backstage Club:
The Super Deluxe Edition includes two CDs, one exclusive Blu-ray disc, and three high-quality 180-gram black vinyl LPs. The set encompasses the Abbey Road Studios 2015 remastered edition of the album for the first time on CD, along with previously unreleased and newly restored bonus content consisting of the band's masterful June 1979 Pinkpop Festival performance in the Netherlands. Unfortunately, the Pinkpop recording engineer failed to capture the first several minutes of "2112," so an amazing, unreleased performance of the song during the Hemispheres tour from Tucson, Arizona in November 1978 appears here in its place. The third bonus disc contains audio from the album newly mixed from the original multitracks in 5.1 surround sound on a Blu-ray disc, along with four bonus videos: three shot in 1978 as promo videos, and one of "La Villa Strangiato," originally shot at Pinkpop with newly restored stereo audio.The Super Deluxe Edition of Hemispheres-40th Anniversary will also include several exclusive items, including a 40-page hardcover book with unreleased photos and new artwork by original album designer Hugh Syme; an extensive, 11,000+-word essay by Rob Bowman; The Words & The Pictures, a replica of the band's rare 1979 UK tour program; a 24x24-inch wall poster of the newly created Syme art; a Pinkpop Festival replica ticket; a Pinkpop Festival replica cloth VIP sticky pass; and a replica 1978 "Rush" Hemispheres iron-on patch. "Hemispheres was one of our most challenging and demanding records to make," says Alex Lifeson. "From its inception in a Wales farmhouse where it was written over a 4 week span," Lifeson continues, "to the very difficult mixing sessions in two London recording studios, it stands as a key transitional album in Rush's long recording history."
The Rush Backstage Club is also offering various merchandise bundles which you can check out here. You can pre-order the box set now via Amazon (2 CD, 3 LP, Super Deluxe edition), and check out an unboxing video below.
