A pre-release listing for a Rush 50th anniversary Super Deluxe compilation set appeared on Apple Music earlier this week with an expected release date of February 7, 2025. The listing indicates that the set will include a combination of fifty studio and live tracks with some early rarities thrown in, spanning 4 discs. The listing is solely for the digital version, so it's unclear what might appear on a physical box set and whether a vinyl version will be available, or what additional extras it might contain. Although the website lists a release date of November 15th (indicating that they had likely planned to release it this year), it seems that they were forced to delay until February (when opened in the Apple Music app itself, it says expected Feb 7, 2025). Here's the full track listing (thanks Thesaurus Rex):
Disc 1
Not Fade Away
Can't Fight It
Working Man (Vault Edition)
Need Some Love (Live Laura Secord Secondary School)
Before and After (Live Laura Secord Secondary School)
Bad Boy (Live Agora Ballroom)
Garden Road (Live Agora Ballroom)
Anthem (Live Electric Lady Studios)
Fly by Night
Bastille Day
2112 Overture / Temples
By-Tor and the Snow Dog (Live - presumably from ATWAS)
Something for Nothing (Live - presumably from ATWAS)Disc 2
Closer to the Heart
Xanadu (Live - AFTK Deluxe)
Drum Solo (Live - AFTK Deluxe)
The Trees (Vault)
La Villa Strangiato (Live - Pinkpop Hemispheres Deluxe)
In the Mood (Live - Pinkpop Hemispheres Deluxe)
The Spirit of Radio
Natural Science (Live - PW Deluxe)
A Passage to Bangkok (Live - PW Deluxe)
Tom Sawyer
Limelight (Live MP Deluxe)
Vital Signs (Live MP Deluxe)Disc 3
YYZ (Live ESL)
Subdivisions
Red Sector A
Witch Hunt (Live GUP)
New World Man (Live GUP)
The Big Money
Time Stand Still
Distant Early Warning (Live ASoH)
Superconductor
Dreamline
Stick It Out
Test for Echo
The Rhythm Method (Live Different Stages)Disc 4
One Little Victory (Remixed)
Cygnus X-1 (Live Rush in Rio)
The Seeker
Between the Wheels (Live R30)
The Main Monkey Business
Workin' them Angels (Live S&A Live)
Freewill (Live - Time Machine)
Red Barchetta (Live - Time Machine)
Headlong Flight
Manhattan Project (Live Clockwork Angels Tour)
Jacob's Ladder (R40)
What You're Doing / Working Man / Garden Road (Live - Last Show)
The 20th annual Andy Kim Christmas show in support of CAMH Gifts Of Light took place this past Wednesday night at Massey Hall in Toronto, and Rush's Alex Lifeson was one of the many artists to participate. Other guest performers were Broken Social Scene, Billy Talent, Barenaked Ladies, William Prince, Dan Hill, Molly Johnson, and more. Alex sat in with several of the artists for much of the show, with the highlight being a Christmas medley performed in the style of Black Sabbath's War Pigs. Alex joined fellow performing members of Barenaked Ladies and Broken Social Scene to rework the Christmas carols Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town, Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer and Deck the Halls in a metal style. You can watch video of that performance below or on YouTube, and check out some more videos and coverage of the event in this post.
The Stan Greenspon Holocaust and Social Justice Education Center in Charlotte, NC will be hosting Rush's Geddy Lee for a community commemoration of International Holocaust Remembrance Day next month. From the Charlotte Jewish News (thanks RushFanForever):
... [Geddy] Lee, born Gershon Eliezer Weinrib, brings a deeply personal perspective to this remembrance: his parents, Mary and Morris Weinrib, were Holocaust survivors who endured Auschwitz, and he is the descendent of many others who did not survive. In his memoir, "My Effin' Life," Lee shares how his parents' experiences shaped his life and music, and he honors their legacy by sharing their stories. ... International Holocaust Reembrance Day is observed each year on Jan. 27, the anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau camp in 1945, which represented the largest and most infamous Nazi extermination site for systematic genocide during the Holocaust. The day was established by the United Nations General Assembly in 2005 to honor the six million Jews and millions of others who were killed during the Holocaust. The day aims to raise awareness about the Holocaust, honor its victims, and promote education about the dangers of hatred, big-otry, and intolerance. It serves as a reminder of the importance of safeguarding human rights and preventing future atrocities. ... "We live in a time when Holocaust denial and distortion are ubiquitous; commemorating this day reinforces the historical truth of the events that transpired," said Judy LaPietra, director of the Greenspon Center. "Given his reach and devoted fan base, Geddy Lee will share a connection to this history and reach a demographic that might not oth-erwise be informed about the Holocaust." Through our commemorative event, we reaffirm our collective responsibility to remember the past and actively promote a future free from hatred and violence. ...
The exact date and time of the event is yet to be determined. More information as we learn it.
Geddy Lee will be releasing a new baseball book in 2025 titled 72 Stories from the Collection of Geddy Lee, and the book is now availble for pre-order via Amazon and other retailers, with a slated release date of May 13, 2025. There's also an autographed, limited-edition version of the book that's being released in time for Christmas exclusively from the Rush Backstage Club. The 160-page special edition comes encased in a red cloth-bound slipcase and includes an exclusive, custom-made Geddy Lee baseball, created specifically for this project. The special edition costs $249.98 and can be ordered at this location. Geddy had written the book itself over a year ago and presented it as part of a package given to the winning bidders in a baseball auction that included much of Ged's extensive collection. Blogger Jay Roberts has posted a review of the book which you can check out here:
... As the reader would expect, the Introduction focuses mostly on his stories of collecting. But Geddy also provides what amounts to a small oral history of being a fan. Photos enhance his telling of the stories. Some are ones I have never seen. Geddy even put together a nifty set of photos he calls - "My (Sort of) Career in Baseball." ... One thread that weaves through part of the 160-page book is as Geddy describes it, the stories of human struggle, of players overcoming adversity and achieving greatness. ... It all adds up to a wonderful and thoughtful valentine to the game and some of its greatest moments and achievements. As a former member of SABR (Society for American Baseball Research), I was thrilled Geddy uses some of their biographies. They're the gold standard. And the photography is top of the line. ...
The late Neil Peart grew up in the St. Catharines, Ontario community of Port Dalhousie, the lakefront home of Lakeside Park which inspired the lyrics to the 1975 Rush song of the same name. Back in 2020 the St. Catharines City Council, with the full support of the community, voted to name the newly rebuilt pavilion at Lakeside Park the Neil Peart Pavilion at Lakeside Park in honor of the hometown icon who passed away nearly 5 years ago in January of 2020. The Council also established the Neil Peart Commemorative Task Force, with the objective to commission a public work of art commemorating Peart's life and legacy. Back in January of 2021 the Task Force officially began welcoming artists to submit requests for pre-qualification via the city's website, and revealed the finalists in September of 2021 along with the launch of a fundraising campaign for the Memorial. In November of 2022 the Task Force finally revealed that the artist who will have the honor of creating the memorial is Morgan MacDonald of The Newfoundland Bronze Foundry. The installation itself will depict two bronze statues of Peart - one as a young artist and the other in his later years. A pathway will connect the two statues with interpretive panels about Peart's personal and professional legacy. A video depicting what the Neil Peart memorial will look like in Lakeside Park can be seen on YouTube. The project and its timelines are contingent on the Task Force raising the $1 million required for completion, and an official fundraising campaign kicked off back in September on Neil Peart's 72nd birthday. You can get all the info on the different sponsorship levels, and make a donation of any size online at stcatharines.ca/neilpeart. Neil Peart Memorial Task Force chair David DeRocco was the featured guest on the latest episode of the Something for Nothing podcast. DeRocco chats with hosts Steve and Gerry about choosing Morgan, the progress of the fundraising effort, and the lasting legacy of Neil Peart and Rush. You can listen to the show below or wherever you get your podcasts:
Prolific session/touring drummer Ken Mary announced a new video series this past week which he is calling the Neil Peart Experiment. From Sonic Perspectives:
... Today Mary has revealed a new project, titled "The Neil Peart Experiment." Anyone who knows Ken knows his reverence for Neil Peart's composition skills. Throughout his career, he has cited Neil as one of his greatest influences, explaining that he's always wanted to try to duplicate Peart's drumming, at least in the technical sense, on a Rush track to experience what Neil did.
Well, one of Ken's drummer friends challenged him to do just that, with a few twists. As an experienced session musician, could Ken remove Neil Peart's drum track from a Rush song and replace Neil's parts almost note for note? How close to the original recordings in sound and performance could Ken get? But here were the additional rules the friend gave him: Ken must record the songs all in one pass, with no editing or samples, or any adjustment of any kind. And remember, the original songs were not recorded to a click track, so the time drifted on occasion!
Ken's friend was essentially asking him to remove the "foundation of the house" and replace it since all the other tracks (vocals, bass, guitar, and keys) were recorded after the drums were laid down. Could it be done? ...
You can check out Mary's introduction video here, and follow him on YouTube and Instagram for updates.
Mogo Magazine posted thier list of Rush's 10 Greatest Albums this past week, and - not surprisingly - Moving Pictures topped the list at #1 (thanks RushFanForever):
Propelled by air-drummer fave Tom Sawyer (don your Zildjian finger-less gloves at 2.31), Moving Pictures took Rush out of theatres and into stadia. "Our immediate financial worries disappeared", recalled Lifeson of this UK and US Number 3. Vital Signs' nodded at The Police. Limelight was Peart's lucid debunking of fame; Witch Hunt his ever-pertinent take-down of prejudice. Image-wise, Rush's stack-heels and waist-length hair had long-since ceded to mullets and skinny ties, but their metamorphosis wasn't quite complete. The Camera Eye's nod to New York City and London's vibrancy had old-school élan, time-signature changes and all.
On this past week's episode of Rush Roundtable (#255) on the Rushfans YouTube channel, the panel continues their Snakes & Arrows song discussions with The Larger Bowl:
Rush is a Band is now on Bluesky as well as X/Twitter (and Facebook), so give us a follow! That's it for this week. Have a great weekend!
