Attention All Planets of the Solar Federation: Rush's "2112" Returns in Deluxe Editions

Attention All Planets of the Solar Federation: Rush’s “2112” Returns in Deluxe Editions

November 9, 2012 By Joe Marchese — No Comments

2011 wasn’t a bad year to be a Rush fan, with the legendary Canadian band offering a deluxe edition of 1981’s Moving Pictures and three Sector box sets covering Rush’s entire 1974-1989 Mercury Records tenure. Now, Geddy Lee (bass, keyboard, vocals), Alex Lifeson (guitar) and Neil Peart (drummer) are preparing to close out this year by celebrating 2112 (yes, 2112 in 2012!) in a variety of deluxe formats. Amazon.com has confirmed December 18 as the release date for three editions of the classic 1976 album:

Perhaps the ultimate Rush album, 2112 became Rush’s most successful album to date with a No. 61 berth on the Billboard pop chart. The group’s fourth album, it eventually achieved multi-platinum status. Co-produced by Rush and Terry Brown, the LP blended heavy rock and prog rock into an imaginative, accessible and provocative whole. The side-long, seven-part, 20+-minute title track by Peart (lyrics), Lee and Lifeson (music) featured an overture, a finale, and a conceptual sci-fi thread inspired at least in part by the writing of Ayn Rand. The band’s story of a lone man with a guitar against the backdrop of a society oppressed by a galactic war proved irresistible to listeners. The album’s second side consisted of five more traditional songs. Virtually every aspect of the album influenced the band’s future path, including its artwork; the starman emblem (or “Man in the Star”) logo made repeat appearances on future Rush albums.

What will you find on the upcoming editions? Hit the jump!

Like 2011’s Moving Pictures and selected albums on the Sector box sets (one album for each of the three boxes), the upgraded 2112 will feature a new 5.1 surround sound mix. Rush’s surround guru Richard Chycki confirmed on his website that “[like] the other Rush surround releases to date – Moving Pictures, A Farewell To Kings, Fly By Night, and Signals – 2112 has been remixed at a 96 khz 24 bit high resolution from the original multitrack masters in a ‘re-creation’ direction taking advantage of the 3-dimensional soundscape of surround, rather than a complete re-interpretation of the mix.”

Complete track listings are not yet available for the new 2112 editions, but the Super Deluxe Edition (as of this writing) is priced just $23 or so more than the CD/BD combo. You’ll find pre-order links for all three versions below along with just the original album track listing. We’ll update with the confirmed track listings as soon as they are released by Mercury! All versions are due in stores on December 18.

Rush, 2112 (Mercury SRM-1-1079, 1976 – reissued Mercury, 2012- CD plus Audio DVD / CD plus Audio Blu-ray / CD plus Audio Blu-ray Super Deluxe Edition)

2112 (Overture/The Temples of Syrinx/Discovery/Presentation/Oracle: The Dream/Soliloquy/Grand Finale)
A Passage to Bangkok
The Twilight Zone
Lessons
Tears
Something for Nothing

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Joe Marchese

JOE MARCHESE (Editor) joined The Second Disc shortly after its launch in early 2010, and has since penned daily news and reviews about classic music of all genres. In 2015, Joe formed the Second Disc Records label. Celebrating the great songwriters, producers and artists who created the sound of American popular song and beyond, Second Disc Records, in conjunction with labels including Real Gone Music and Cherry Red Records, has released newly-curated collections produced and annotated by Joe from iconic artists such as Dionne Warwick, Diana Ross and The Supremes, Smokey Robinson and The Miracles, The Spinners, Johnny Mathis, Bobby Darin, Meat Loaf, Laura Nyro, Melissa Manchester, Liza Minnelli, Darlene Love, Al Stewart, Michael Nesmith, and many others.

Joe has written liner notes, produced, or contributed to over 200 reissues from a diverse array of artists, among them America, JD Souther, Nat "King" Cole, Paul Williams, Lesley Gore, Dusty Springfield, BJ Thomas, The 5th Dimension, Burt Bacharach, The Mamas and the Papas, Carpenters, Perry Como, Rod McKuen, Doris Day, Jackie DeShannon, Petula Clark, Robert Goulet, and Andy Williams.

Over the past two decades, Joe has also worked in a variety of capacities on and off Broadway as well as at some of the premier theatres in the U.S., including Lincoln Center Theater, George Street Playhouse, Paper Mill Playhouse, Long Wharf Theatre, and the York Theatre Company. He has felt privileged to work on productions alongside artists such as the late Jack Klugman, Eli Wallach, Arthur Laurents, Betty Comden and Adolph Green. In 2009, Joe began contributing theatre and music reviews to the print publication The Sondheim Review, and in 2012, he joined the staff of The Digital Bits as a regular contributor writing about film and television on DVD and Blu-ray.

Joe currently resides in the suburbs of New York City.