30 Years Later, Moving Pictures "Rushes" To Blu-Ray

Moving Pictures is finally on Blu-ray—not the kind of pictures you watch, but Moving Pictures, the seminal Rush album that went quadruple platinum in the U.S. and will be released April 5th in a new, fully remastered audiophile edition.

The new 30th anniversary Deluxe Edition reissue from Universal Music comes in a dual-disc package, combining a digitally remastered version of the original CD mated with either a DVD or Blu-ray Disc. Both the DVD and Blu-ray include high-resolution 96kHz/24-bit stereo taken from the original analog master, as well as 96/24 5.1-channel PCM surround audio mixed down from the original multitrack assets under the careful supervision of Rush lead guitarist Alex Lifeson.

Additionally, the DVD delivers 5.1-channel surround via a Dolby Digital track, while the Blu-ray version carries a lossless 5.1-channel DTS-HD Master audio track.

The set is loaded with extras, too. There's a trio of music videos on the DVD and Blu-ray featuring the songs "Tom Sawyer," "Limelight," and a previously unreleased clip of "Vital Signs." An extensive gallery of photos from the original recording sessions is also included, and there are new liner notes from music journalist David Fricke and special artwork by the original album designer Hugh Syme.

First released in February 1981, Moving Pictures is the Canadian band's most commercially successful album, topping out on the Billboard charts at #3 and being certified quadruple platinum (4 million copies sold) in 1995. It remains their best seller, and was performed live for the first time in its entirety last year for the ongoing Time Machine Tour. The album's best known radio tracks are "Tom Sawyer," "Limelight," and "Red Barchetta." Also on Moving Pictures is the Grammy-nominated instrumental track "YYZ," whose name was taken from the code letters for the Toronto airport.

Rush, comprised of Lifeson, singer-bassist-keyboardist Geddy Lee, and drummer Neil Peart, shows no signs of slowing down as they continue the Time Machine Tour across the U.S. and Europe through June of this year, and spend time in the studio recording their 20th album. Tour dates can be found on the band's official website

COMMENTS
A guy in Saskatoon's picture

Not to take anything away from Rush fans, but why did Universal Music choose this as a first for an attempt at a "new" music format? Don't get me wrong, as a fan of SACD I think hi-rez and videos on Bluray is a great idea (Bluray has decoders built right into most machines for hi-rez audio, unlike the often expensive, niche market that SACD equipment was) one that I thought was far overdue in many big music companies' attempts to draw more sales of music. But I can think of many catalog titles other than Moving Pictures to try and sell this new format with. Are any other companies following Universal's lead?

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