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:

• CD plus Audio DVD;
• CD plus Audio Blu-ray;
• CD plus Audio Blu-ray Super Deluxe Edition.

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)

1. 2112 (Overture/The Temples of Syrinx/Discovery/Presentation/Oracle: The Dream/Soliloquy/Grand Finale)
2. A Passage to Bangkok
3. The Twilight Zone
4. Lessons
5. Tears
6. Something for Nothing