Moving Pictures (Rush album)

In June 1980, the band ended their 10-month tour of the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom in support of their previous album, Permanent Waves (1980). The tour was a commercial success for the group, becoming the first of their career to earn them a profit. During their stop in New York City a month prior, the band decided to scrap plans for a second live album in favor of making a new one in the studio. Cliff Burnstein of Mercury Records suggested the idea to the band, and Neil Peart was particularly enthusiastic about the new ideas that were being developed at sound checks and was keen to put them to tape. Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson caught on to his enthusiasm. The trio pitched the idea to their manager and producer, who had already mapped out a two-year plan for them, but agreed to the change and cancelled the schedule. Lifeson looked back on this change of plan as the most important one in the band's history since the decision to record 2112 (1976), which became their breakthrough hit. == Songs ==

Side one "Tom Sawyer" features a backbeat in a time signature, along with instrumental and closing sections in . It was the first Rush recording for which Lee used his 1972 Fender Jazz Bass, which provided a punchier lower end than he had been able to obtain with his usual Rickenbacker 4001. The bass became Lee's primary studio instrument from the recording of Counterparts (1993) onward. Lee said the group had more trouble with "Tom Sawyer" than any other song on Moving Pictures, and at times had doubts as to whether it would work. The band had technical difficulties with the computer that mixed the tracks, so they decided to operate the mixing desk manually with each member handling their own set of faders. Lee described the tale as "Orwellian in nature", which deals with an individual taking their Barchetta on a fast ride despite the banning of high speeds and is chased after by hovering patrol cars for breaking the law. It stemmed from the band's enjoyment of recording "La Villa Strangiato", a nine-minute instrumental on Hemispheres (1978); it was something they wanted to do again for Moving Pictures, only shorter. The opening of the track features an audio clip of a busy Metropolis city from Richard Donner's Superman (1978). The main riff was written by cover designer Hugh Syme on a synthesizer and double-tracked drums in one verse. "Witch Hunt" would become a part of the Fear series of songs, which includes "The Weapon" from Signals (1982), "The Enemy Within" from Grace Under Pressure (1984), and "Freeze" from Vapor Trails (2002), and appeared in reverse chronological album order, except for "Freeze" which is the fourth part and did indeed appear fourth. "Vital Signs" was the last song that the band wrote for the album, which was pieced together at Le Studio. It features a sequencer part produced by an Oberheim OB-X synthesizer, and shows a distinct reggae flavour. Reggae influences in Rush's music were first heard on Permanent Waves, and would later be heard more extensively on their next two albums. == Artwork ==

The cover was designed by Hugh Syme who estimated the artwork cost $9,500 to produce. Anthem Records refused to cover the entire bill, leaving the band to pay for the rest. It is a triple entendre; the front depicts movers who are carrying pictures. On the side, people are shown crying because the pictures passing by are emotionally "moving". Finally, the back cover has a film crew making a motion (moving) picture of the whole scene. It was photographed outside the Ontario Legislative Building at Queen's Park, Toronto. The pictures that are being moved are the band's Starman logo featured on the reverse cover of 2112 (1976), one of the Dogs Playing Poker paintings entitled A Friend in Need, and a painting that shows Joan of Arc being burned at the stake. The film crew on the back cover actually shot the scene, from which a single frame was used for the cover. This was revealed to Rush concertgoers several years later when the still image was shown on the stage projector, which suddenly came to life as a film sequence. Mike Dixon, one of the movers on the cover of Moving Pictures and the band's next album, Exit...Stage Left (1981), discussed the various people on the Moving Pictures cover. The first, Bobby King, seen furthest to the left, was a member of Syme's design team and is credited for assisting Syme on A Farewell to Kings, Hemispheres, and Archives. Dixon explained that King is not only one of the movers, but also the Starman logo and the man in the hat on the Hemispheres cover. The mover holding the Starman painting is Kelly Jay, singer of the Toronto band Crowbar who performed a show with Rush in 1973. Photographer Deborah Samuel is the Joan of Arc character, and her relatives are the family on the right. However, this conflicts with information provided in the Rush biography Chemistry, which states: "Hugh borrowed friends, neighbours and even his hairdresser's parents". ==Release==

Moving Pictures was played in its entirety during Lee's visit to Rick Ringer's radio show on CHUM-FM in Toronto, on February 11, 1981. The album was released on the following day. == Reception and legacy ==

Kerrang! magazine listed the album at among the "100 Greatest Heavy Metal Albums of All Time". Rolling Stone has listed Moving Pictures at on the 2012 readers poll 'Your Favorite Prog Rock Albums of All Time', at on the 2015 list '50 Greatest Prog Rock Albums of All Time' (behind Pink Floyd's The Dark Side of the Moon at number one and King Crimson's In the Court of the Crimson King at number two), and at on the 2020 edition of its 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. In 2014, readers of the Rhythm voted Moving Pictures the greatest drumming album in the history of progressive rock. Moving Pictures and 2112 (1976) are the two Rush albums listed in 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die. In 2024, Loudwire staff elected it as the best hard rock album of 1981. Moving Pictures was played live in its entirety for the first time to open the second set during each show of Rush's 2010–11 Time Machine Tour. In a knockout-style Facebook poll conducted in 2021, the album was voted the best album of the 1980s, narrowly beating out Depeche Mode's 1986 album Black Celebration to take the win with 52% of the vote. More than 22,100 votes were cast in the final round alone. In 2023, Sean Murphy of PopMatters wrote, "Moving Pictures is, without any question, not only Rush’s masterpiece but one of those rare albums that epitomizes an era. It represents both a culmination and a progression: the peak of the band’s development as well as the blueprint for Rush’s subsequent work." He also credited the album for serving as "a template of sorts" for how rock albums would be produced in the early 1980s. He explained, "Along with King Crimson’s Discipline, Moving Pictures illustrates that the first great era of progressive rock had been taken as far as it could, or should, go." ==Reissues==

The album was released on compact disc in 1984 by Mercury Records. Initial pressings were missing the first beat of "Tom Sawyer" by mistake but were corrected in subsequent releases. In 1997, Mercury Records released a digitally remastered version. The disc tray has a logo of three fingerprints with "The Rush Remasters" printed, a feature of all remastered albums from Moving Pictures through A Show of Hands, originally found on the cover of Retrospective II. The remaster restores all of the original artwork and lyrics found on the vinyl release (including the picture of Peart that had been left off of the original CD issue). Moving Pictures was remastered twice in 2011. The first, by Andy VanDette, was for the "Sector" box sets which re-released all of Rush's Mercury-era albums. It is included in the Sector 2 box set. In 2015, Moving Pictures was remastered for vinyl as part of the "12 Months of Rush" promotion. The mastering was also made available in a 24-bit/48 kHz digital format on various high-resolution online music stores. These remasters have less dynamic range compression than the 1997 and 2011 versions. Sean Magee remastered the album from an analogue copy of the original digital master tape using a 192 kHz sample rate. However, as Moving Pictures was originally mixed on digital equipment at 16-bit/44.1 kHz, no audio above 22 kHz exists in the original master or any of the remasters, which explains why many digital music stores only sell the album with 48 kHz as the maximum available rate. The band released a 40th anniversary edition of Moving Pictures on April 15, 2022. The five record set includes the 2015 remaster and a previously unreleased live recording of their show at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto on March 25, 1981. ==Track listing==

Notes 40th Anniversary Edition (2022) The 40th Anniversary Edition's Discs 2 and 3 were recorded live at Maple Leaf Gardens, Toronto, by Guy Charbonneau using Le Mobile Remote Recording – March 24 & 25 1981; Mixed by Terry Brown at Blue Sound & Music, Toronto, ON – December 2020 – February 2021; Technical Assistance: Russ Mackay; Mastered by Peter Moore – 2021. ==Personnel==

Credits are adapted from the album's 1981 liner notes. Rush • Geddy Lee – bass guitars, keyboards, bass pedals, vocals • Alex Lifeson – 6- and 12-string electric and acoustic guitars, bass pedals • Neil Peart – drums, timbales, gong, orchestra bells, glockenspiel, wind chimes, bell tree, crotales, cowbell, plywood Additional musician • Hugh Syme – synthesizer (on "Witch Hunt") Production • Rush – production, arrangements • Terry Brown – production, arrangements • Paul Northfield – engineering • Robbie Whelan – assistant engineering • Albert, Huey, Dewey, Louie – computerized companions • Peter Jensen – digital mastering, editing • Bob Ludwig – mastering and remastering • Hugh Syme – art direction, graphics, cover concept • Deborah Samuel – photography ==Charts==

Weekly charts Year-end charts ==Certifications==