STATIC-X has canceled all of its previously announced 2022 tour dates in Europe “due to the ongoing situation” on the continent.

Earlier today (Friday, March 18), the California-based outfit released the following statement via social media: “Due to the ongoing situation in Europe and Russia, STATIC-X is canceling all of our summer and fall overseas touring plans for 2022. We look forward to seeing all of you in 2023 when we will officially be celebrating the 20th anniversary of [STATIC-X’s second album] ‘Machine’ with you all around the world.”

This past January, STATIC-X postponed its “Rise Of The Machine” North American tour featuring FEAR FACTORY, DOPE, MUSHROOMHEAD and TWIZTID. The trek, produced by Live Nation, was rescheduled due to the increase in the spread of COVID-19 and its continued effect on travel restrictions, public health, and fan safety. The 42-date trek will now kick off February 25, 2023, in San Francisco, California and wrap up April 15, 2023 in Los Angeles, California.

The 20th-anniversary release of “Machine” — made available on February 18, 2022 — features newly remastered audio by Ulrich Wild and includes all 12 tracks from the original release, as well as three new bonus tracks: “Wisconsin Death Trip (Live 2019 Regeneration Featuring Wayne Static)” , “Sweat Of The Bud (Live 2019 Xer0)” and “I’m With Stupid (Live 2019 Regeneration Featuring Wayne Static)”. Originally released in 2001, “Machine” would ultimately turn out to be the last album recorded by the four original members of STATIC-X. All of the lead vocals and guitars on “Machine” were performed by Wayne Static, while bass, backing vocals, drums, and programming contributions came from founding members Tony Campos, Ken Jay and Koichi Fukuda. The limited-edition release will have packaging featuring fully reimagined artwork and will be available in multiple configurations, including multiple color vinyl sequenced on two discs, with an etching of the STATIC-X Shock symbol on side D.

STATIC-X’s latest album “Project Regeneration Vol. 1”, came out in July 2020. The first of two volumes, it features 12 brand new tracks, containing many of the final vocal performances and musical compositions of late STATIC-X frontman Wayne Static, along with the original “Wisconsin Death Trip” lineup of bassist Campos, Jay, and guitarist Fukuda. Both volumes are being worked on by longtime STATIC-X producer Ulrich Wild.

In total, “Project Regeneration” volumes one and two will consist of more than 20 brand new or previously unreleased STATIC-X songs and will feature all of the remaining works left behind by Wayne Static, along with the original “Wisconsin Death Trip” band lineup. The individual albums are expected to contain creative packaging elements that will allow fans to marry the two volumes together.

Due to the ongoing situation in Europe and Russia, Static-X is canceling all of our summer and fall overseas touring plans for 2022. We look forward to seeing all of you in 2023 when we will officially be celebrating the 20th anniversary of machine with you all around the world.
— Static-X (@OfficialStaticX) March 18, 2022

James LaBrie, known internationally as the vocalist for progressive metal icons DREAM THEATER, embarks on uncharted waters with his fourth solo album, titled “Beautiful Shade Of Grey”, due out on May 20 via InsideOut Music. Today sees the launch of the album’s first single and opening track, “Devil In Drag”, and you can watch the Wayne Joyner-produced video below.

The new endeavor sees him traverse personal maturation, loss, a myriad of complex relationships and, most importantly, LaBrie’s burning passion for music. On paper, the latest studio offering from the Canadian singer first took shape shortly after the global pandemic began to emerge. But in reality, LaBrie formed a bond with his fellow collaborator, bassist Paul Logue (EDEN’S CURSE), nearly a decade earlier.

The two first met in 2011, when James would lend his voice to a feature for Logue’s band, U.K. melodic metal outfit EDEN’S CURSE, on the song “No Holy Man”. As years went by the two remained in touch, occasionally kicking the tires on the idea of working together on another project. But when DREAM THEATER performed in Glasgow during the late winter of 2020, LaBrie and Logue would run into each other at the airport — once again asking the question. But this time, armed with the knowledge that a drastic change in the world was all but imminent, LaBrie made the decision to set things in motion.

On the album, Logue plays acoustic rhythm guitar (both six- and twelve-string) and acoustic bass, while guitarist Marco Sfogli, who’s contributed on all of LaBrie’s solo albums since 2005’s “Elements Of Persuasion”, handled the leads and solos. Logue recruited EDEN’S CURSE keyboardist Christian Pulkkinen to lend his playing on the record, while the suggestion to recruit James’s son Chance to play drums would also come from Paul. “Beautiful Shade Of Grey”, as LaBrie describes it, was a title that only came to him once he identified the record’s two core themes throughout its track list.

“A lot of these lyrics are dealing with the beauty of human beings, and a lot are dealing with the grey areas of the in between,” James says. “You’re not exactly happy, but you’re not exactly sad either.”

The record starts off (and ends) with the track “Devil In Drag”, which emerges as a wall of synthesizers and acoustic strumming before exploding into a full-blown ensemble. LaBrie expresses that the song was written about “someone who started out as a decent human being, but along the way lost touch with their roots — over time becoming self-serving, narcissistic and devoid of principles or values.” Going on to say, “‘Devil In Drag’ is written from the perspective of someone who’s known them all their life and, seeing them now, asking ‘what happened?'”

“Beautiful Shade Of Grey” will be released as a limited CD digipak, 180-gram LP, CD and as a digital album, with artwork by Thomas Ewerhard.

“Beautiful Shade Of Grey” track listing:

01. Devil In Drag
02. SuperNova Girl
03. Give And Take
04. Sunset Ruin
05. Hit Me Like A Brick
06. Wildflower
07. Conscience Calling
08. What I Missed
09. Am I Right
10. Ramble On
11. Devil In Drag (Electric Version)

Last December, LaBrie told Full Metal Jackie’s nationally syndicated radio show about how 1970s rock music influenced and inspired “Beautiful Shade Of Grey”: “I’m a huge [LED] ZEPPELIN fan. I’m a huge [fan of] PINK FLOYD and AEROSMITH and DEEP PURPLE and all that. These bands were so iconic back in the ’70s. So a lot of the inspiration, when I sat down with Paul Logue, who’s the other musician that I wrote the album with, and he’s from Scotland, I said, ‘Paul, I just want us to think more about…’ If you think about the acoustic end of ZEPPELIN and their organic approach to their songs, it was still beautiful, it was still powerful, extremely melodic, and it just kind of reached deep within, it resonated deep within each and every one of us that listened to any ZEPPELIN. So that was the catalyst to set things in motion. It became a full ensemble. I mean, I have keyboards, drums, bass, rhythm guitar, lead guitar and then myself doing all the vocals. So it’s somewhat acoustic but it’s also a full ensemble as well. So it still has the full band kind of sound and orchestration.”

Regarding the lyrical themes covered on the LP, James said: “‘Beautiful Shade Of Grey’ has a lot to do with the lyrics that I wrote for this album. And a lot of my lyrics are dealing with the human condition and all the dynamics of life in itself that each and every one of us experience and, to a certain degree, it’s common for most of us to go through the same experiences. So I wanted to write a lot about that. So that’s kind of what inspired this whole venture.”

Last October, James told “The Everyman Podcast” about how his collaboration with Logue came about: “I sang on one of [EDEN’S CURSE’s] songs back in 2010 called ‘No Holy Man’; so I guest on that. And I really liked Paul’s writing. To me, Paul’s writing was more from a classical era — like the ’70s; that classic rock approach. And I had a lot of ideas in that vein.

“Paul and I actually bumped into each other — you think fate isn’t there with you; holy shit… The day after we finished the show — DREAM THEATER in Glasgow [on] February 23rd [2020]. I’m waiting for my flight on the 24th to go to London and then Toronto, and Paul walks by me and he goes, ‘James!’ I’m, like, ‘Oh my God!’ He goes, ‘You know I was at the show last night.’ He kept trying to e-mail me on my old e-mail address. And he goes, ‘Listen, let me know. You wanna get together? You wanna do some writing?’ And I said, ‘I’d love to.’ At the time, I said, ‘I don’t know. Some freaky shit’s going on. You’re hearing about this virus?’ ‘Yeah. Yeah.’ [I said] ‘We’ve gotta go to Asia, then we’ve gotta go to freakin’ South America and North America and all that.’ I said, ‘So we’re probably not gonna be done till October, but why don’t we start writing then? Or why don’t we start throwing ideas back in the meantime, and I can even be on the road and working on it?’ And he goes, ‘Great.’ All of a sudden, the world closes down. So we got on it… It was probably… Everything closed down March 15th, I believe, and by March 20th, him and I were already passing ideas back and forth.”

Elaborating on the songwriting process for “Beautiful Shade Of Grey”, LaBrie said: “We started as, we said, ‘Let’s just keep it real raw and acoustic-based — that’ll be the fundamental of this album,’ and then it kind of morphed into more of an ensemble, so [with] keyboards… Marco Sfogli is playing lead guitar on all the tracks. Paul is playing all the rhythm acoustic guitars and bass. And then [my son] Chance [LaBrie] is doing drums. Christian Pulkkinen is the keyboard player, who’s a fantastic keyboard player, piano player. All the lyrics, except one, I penned.

“It was really interesting how it came together, whether I’d be throwing [Paul] a riff or I’d be throwing him a melody idea that became a chorus to one of the songs or verses,” he continued. “And then he’d throw me back his ideas musically. And we slowly but surely put it all together. We had everybody fully involved. And it came out fantastic. The label is really stoked about it. It has that kind of ZEPPELIN-esque feel to it, but still the modern-day aspects of it as well are there. So it’s great.”

Photo credit: Thomas Ewerhard

Ted McCarty’s archives reveal a long-lost treasure.

German power metallers BLIND GUARDIAN have released a new single, “Secrets Of The American Gods”. The powerful, majestic new track comes with a performance video that was filmed during the recordings for the band’s new album at the Twilight Hall Studios between March 2020 and 2021. Once again, the masterfully arranged artwork for the single was created by Andrea Christen.

BLIND GUARDIAN singer Hansi Kürsch comments: “The time has come to unveil another secret: With ‘Secrets Of The American Gods’, we proudly present you the epic side of our new album that’s going to be released in September. This single edit focuses on the essence of this magnificent composition and gives you an insight into our creative work in these eventful times. The vivid construction of this song circles around its core, the monumental chorus — hopefully the ‘American Gods’ worthy. A thoroughly felicitious ear candy, in my opinion. I promise you, it’s not easy to get rid of the refrain. The tracks gets completed with the fantastic making-of-clip that Dirk Behlau created. Enjoy the moment and keep the secret: Be assured that we still haven’t played all our cards and still have some aces up our sleeves. Maybe no additional secrets but celestial surprises. Stay tuned!”

Three months ago, BLIND GUARDIAN released the official music video for another new single, “Deliver Us From Evil”. Filmed by Dirk Behlau, the clip was said to be a taste of the band’s new album, set to arrive in September 2022 via Nuclear Blast.

“Deliver Us From Evil” was made available digitally as well as on a seven-inch single (along with the previously released “Merry Xmas Everybody” as the B-side) and digipak CD (with the previously released “Violent Shadows” Wacken World Wide 2020 live performance as extra track).

At the time, Kürsch stated: “We know that the gap between now and the album release in late 2022 is painfully long. Neither we nor our label could defy the current worldwide economic crisis. A long story short: There is no one to blame for this situation. With ‘Deliver Us From Evil’, you will get another sweet appetizer of a very intense and vivid album that will hopefully raise your joyful anticipation until our next strike. At least, it would do it for me, but luckily I already know the whole album.

“Talking about anticipation, even though ‘Violent Shadows’ and ‘Deliver Us From Evil’ are indisputably fantastic tracks, rest assured: We won’t let you wait another ten months with only two songs. I promise you that you will always be blown away. Cheers to the digital era and its endless possibilities. Oh, and the album title. There is one but I won’t tell you yet. This would be giving away far too much right now.”

Last July, Kürsch told Rock Hard Greece about the musical direction of BLIND GUARDIAN’s new material: “It is by far the most intense album we did in a very, very long time. It is, in every measure, a roller-coaster ride. There is a lot of let-your-hair-down stuff — more than I expected. There are some typical surprising BLIND GUARDIAN elements.

“I’m just curious to see, really, or to hear what people will think about it. I think it’s a very, very strong album. It will surprise a lot of people.

“It is straight-forward in the sense of BLIND GUARDIAN, so don’t expect a straight-forward album if you compare it to anything else,” he explained. “It’s not a straight-forward album at all, but it’s very straight-forward for BLIND GUARDIAN. It’s very aggressive, it’s very dark.

“The composing mostly has been accomplished before corona started to happen, but you can feel that there is a lot of anger in the album. It really delivers also very catchy and positive vibes, but there is a very raw energy you will feel.”

BLIND GUARDIAN’s latest release was the all-orchestral album “Twilight Orchestra: Legacy Of The Dark Lands”, which came out in November 2019 via Nuclear Blast. To create the concept, lead guitarist André Olbrich and Kürsch worked alongside German bestselling author Markus Heitz, whose latest novel, “Die Dunklen Lande”, was released in March 2019. The book is set in 1629 and contains the prequel to “Legacy Of The Dark Lands”.

BLIND GUARDIAN’s last “regular” studio album, “Beyond The Red Mirror”, was issued in 2015. It was the band’s first LP since 2010’s “At The Edge Of Time”, marking the longest gap between two studio albums in BLIND GUARDIAN’s career. It was also the group’s first album without bassist Oliver Holzwarth since 1995’s “Imaginations From The Other Side”.

Canadian rocker Danko Jones joined Brazilian/American metallers SEPULTURA on stage this past Wednesday (March 16) at The Opera House in Toronto, Ontario, Canada to perform the song “Sepulnation”. Fan-filmed video of his appearance can be seen below.

Danko previously collaborated with SEPULTURA on a recording of “Sepulnation” during the weekly “SepulQuarta” video podcast in which the band invited other famous musicians from all over the world to not only discuss important topics but also perform a track from SEPULTURA’s massive catalog together with the group. The resulting full-length compilation, also titled “SepulQuarta”, was released in August 2021, with the album containing 15 classics featuring internationally renowned guests and friends.

Danko commented on his guest appearance with SEPULTURA: “In 2020, I participated in their ‘SepulQuarta’ series which birthed their ‘SepulQuarta’ album. Singing ‘Sepulnation’ meant a lot because I’ve been a fan since [1989’s ‘Beneath The Remains’] and consider myself part of the Sepulnation.”

Shortly before the LP’s release, SEPULTURA guitarist Andreas Kisser said: “‘SepulQuarta’ was born at the very beginning of the pandemic when everything was halted. We had a new album out, but we couldn’t tour for it. Therefore, we created this recurring event where we could talk with our fans around the world, play our music and exchange ideas. It was a blast! ‘SepulQuarta’ kept us alive and strong throughout one of the most difficult times in human history.”

Obviously, the members of SEPULTURA were not the only musicians feeling this way, so they started to connect with friends and colleagues worldwide and asked them to not only be part of their weekly podcast, but also join them in playing one of SEPULTURA’s classics tracks. From the safety of their homes, international stars like Devin Townsend, Scott Ian (ANTHRAX), Matt Heafy (TRIVIUM), and many more recorded a SEPULTURA track together with the band, which were then mixed and mastered by Conrado Ruther for release.

SEPULTURA’s current lineup comprises Kisser, vocalist Derrick Green, bassist Paulo Xisto Pinto Jr. and drummer Eloy Casagrande.

SEPULTURA’s latest studio album, “Quadra”, was released in February 2020 via Nuclear Blast. The LP was created at Sweden’s Fascination Street Studios with renowned producer Jens Bogren.

Finnish cello rock quartet APOCALYPTICA has once again partnered up with some of the biggest names in rock music to deliver their new single “I’ll Get Through It”. The song, written for the band by American award-winning songwriter Diane Warren, features Franky Perez — guest vocalist in APOCALYPTICA’s 2015 record “Shadowmaker” — as well as Geezer Butler of BLACK SABBATH on bass guitar. The track can be found on all digital streaming platforms.

The song was born out of a visit Geezer and Franky paid to their friend Diane, who had already written the track “Not Strong Enough” for APOCALYPTICA, included in their 2010 record “7th Symphony”.

“Franky and I were visiting my friend, Diane Warren, at her studio,” comments Geezer. “She played us this song, saying that she thought it would work well with Franky’s voice. He gave it a try on the spot. We loved it. Franky then suggested sending it to APOCALYPTICA. They loved it, and the rest is history.”

Perez shares the same feeling of enthusiasm upon hearing the track for the first time. “I knew this song was special from the moment Diane Warren played it for Geezer and me,” he says. “So much so, that I framed the lyrics from the session the very next day. They have been hanging on my wall ever since. This song speaks to me lyrically which made for an honest performance. Musically, there is no better collaboration than Geezer and APOCALYPTICA to do the song the justice it deserves. I feel very fortunate to be a part of it.”

“I’ll Get Through It” marks the first collaboration between APOCALYPTICA and Perez since he sang on “Shadowmaker”, which adds to the excitement for the members of APOCALYPTICA, according to Perttu Kivilaakso. “We are more than thrilled working with our great and talented friend Franky Perez again!” he says. “It’s been a while since our previous collaborations in ‘Shadowmaker’ album and tour, and we are also highly awaiting for getting back on road with him this April all across the States!”

Perttu also adds about the song: “‘I’ll Get Through It’ is a meaningful and beautiful song by an incredible songwriter Diane Warren, with whom we’ve also had the pleasure of working with before. We can’t wait for you to hear the final result… falling in love again with Franky’s sensual performance, Geezer’s earthshakingly powerful bass, and our wistfully haunting cellos, among the inevitable presence of all the rhythms and groove!

“We hope you’ll enjoy the track as much as we do! Gonna be a blast performing it also live!”

APOCALYPTICA will be touring the U.S. extensively in 2022, as well as playing multiple summer festivals, among other dates, before hitting Europe with the aptly named “Epic Apocalypse Tour” alongside EPICA and WHEEL.

2015’s “Shadowmaker” was APOCALYPTICA’s first album to feature just one singer — Perez — instead of guest collaborators. The disc was recorded with Grammy Award-winning producer Nick Raskulinecz (FOO FIGHTERS, DEFTONES, MASTODON).

Prior to enlisting Perez, who will accompany APOCALYPTICA on the band’s 2022 North American tour, the group released eight albums that melded the classically trained cello mastery of the three core bandmembers with the harder elements of the rock world, including drums and guest vocalists, such as Gavin Rossdale from BUSH, and Corey Taylor of SLIPKNOT and STONE SOUR fame.

APOCALYPTICA’s “The Cell-0 Tour” of North America was set to begin in May 2020 before being moved back to early 2021 and to late summer 2021 and then finally to April/May 2022. The trek will feature support from LACUNA COIL.

Last April, APOCALYPTICA released the official music video for its collaboration with PAPA ROACH singer Jacoby Shaddix on a cover version of the CREAM classic “White Room”. The track was produced by Howard Benson at West Valley Recording Studios in Woodland Hills, California and mixed by Chris Lorde-Alge.

“White Room” was the first release from APOCALYPTICA since “Talk To Me”, which arrived in August 2020. That song was a collaboration with HALESTORM frontwoman Lzzy Hale.

APOCALYPTICA’s latest studio album, “Cell-0”, came out in January 2020. The effort was the band’s first fully instrumental record in 17 years.

Back in 2018, APOCALYPTICA’s Eicca Toppinen stated about the band’s decision to make an all-instrumental album at this point in the group’s career: “On the previous ones, we always combined the instrumental songs with the vocal songs, and it was great to have the featuring artists, it was great to work with Frank Perez for the ‘Shadowmaker’ album. But then, on the other hand, it became a bigger interest for us, like, okay, it would be interesting to make a full instrumental album, so there’s no compromise with anything.”

RUSH has just released the official audio for “Limelight (Live In YYZ 1981)” from the upcoming “Moving Pictures – 40th Anniversary” set. Check it out below.

On April 15, UMe/Mercury and Anthem Records label groups continue the extensive RUSH 40th-anniversary album series with new, expanded editions of the band’s groundbreaking 1981 release “Moving Pictures”, embodying its well-deserved classic album status. “Moving Pictures – 40th Anniversary” will be available to fans in six distinct configurations, including the (1) Super Deluxe Edition, (2) three-CD Deluxe Edition, (3) five-LP Deluxe Edition, (4) one-LP Edition, (5), Digital Deluxe Edition, and (6) Dolby Atmos Digital Edition and can be pre-ordered here.

“Moving Pictures”, RUSH’s eighth studio album, was originally released on February 12, 1981, and its adventurous-yet-accessible music catapulted the forward-thinking Canadian band to even newer heights as it began navigating the demands of a new decade. The album’s seven songs expertly blended RUSH’s intrinsic prowess for channeling its progressive roots into radio-friendly arrangements, a template the band had mastered to a T all throughout its previous album, 1980’s deservedly lauded “Permanent Waves”. “Moving Pictures” was also the second of many RUSH recording sessions at Le Studio in Morin-Heights, Quebec, which was ultimately nicknamed the trio’s own personal Abbey Road recording studio.

The album’s lead-off track, “Tom Sawyer”, became one of RUSH’s most cherished FM favorites in addition to taking its rightful place as a perpetual concert staple for decades to come. Next, the band shifts into the multi-generational dreamscape of “Red Barchetta”, which chronicles the thrills and chills of a high-stakes backroads car race. The instrumental barnburner “YYZ”, lovingly named after the airport identification code for Toronto’s Pearson International Airport, runs the gamut of the band’s forever impressive progressive chops in under four minutes flat. Side A closes out with the observational luminescence of “Limelight”, a timeless, if not prescient look at how introverted artists grapple with public demands while trying to maintain a personal level of earned privacy.

Side B commences with the expansive palette of “The Camera Eye”, a multi-layered, ten-minute-long travelogue that takes a bird’s eye view of the inherent hustle and bustle of New York City counterbalanced with the intense energy and deep-rooted history of London. “Witch Hunt” (subtitled as being “Part III of Fear”) offers a grim view of prejudice and mob mentality, while the album wraps up with the angular, cutting-edge “Vital Signs”, a propulsive track that clearly foreshadows a number of the more adventurous musical directions RUSH would undertake as the ever-shifting 1980s continued to unfold.

The Super Deluxe Edition includes three CDs, one Blu-ray Audio disc, and five high-quality 180-gram black vinyl LPs. The set encompasses the Abbey Road Mastering Studios 2015 remastered edition of the album for the first time on CD, along with two discs of previously unreleased and newly restored bonus live content newly mixed from the original analog live multi-tracks by RUSH’s original producer, Terry Brown, featuring the band’s complete, unreleased Toronto concert from Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto, Ontario, on March 25, 1981 (designated here as “Live In YYZ 1981”). The fourth bonus disc is a Blu-ray Audio disc with the core album newly mixed from the original multi-tracks in Dolby Atmos (a RUSH catalog first!), Dolby TrueHD 5.1, and DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround sound as done by noted producer/engineer Richard Chycki, alongside the previously available PCM Stereo mix. Also included on the Blu-ray are four bonus videos: a brand-new video for “YYZ” plus three remastered vintage promo videos for “Tom Sawyer”, “Limelight” and “Vital Signs”. Additionally, all of the vinyl in the Super Deluxe Edition has been cut via half-speed Direct to Metal Mastering (DMM) (another RUSH catalog first!) on five 180-gram audiophile LPs.

The Super Deluxe Edition of “Moving Pictures – 40th Anniversary” will also include several exclusive items, including a 44-page hardcover book with unreleased photos and new artwork by original album designer Hugh Syme, along with new illustrations for each song; extensive liner notes by Kim Thayil (guitarist, SOUNDGARDEN), Les Claypool (bassist/vocalist, PRIMUS), Taylor Hawkins (drummer, FOO FIGHTERS), Bill Kelliher (guitarist, MASTODON), and Neil Sanderson (drummer, THREE DAYS GRACE); a Red Barchetta model car mounted on a black perch with an MP40 nameplate; two Neil Peart signature MP40 branded drumsticks; two metal-embossed guitar picks, one each with Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson’s respective signatures engraved on them; a replica of the “Moving Pictures” 1981 official tour program; an MP40 logo enamel pin; a 3D lenticular “Moving Pictures in motion” lithograph; an 18×24-inch Toronto 1981 concert poster; a replica concert ticket from the 1981 Maple Leaf Gardens show; a 12×36-inch Rush Through The Years 1973-1981 poster; a YYZ luggage tag; and a All Access World Tour ’81 insert. All contents are housed in a premium lift-top box, which features movingly reimagined cover artwork by Hugh Syme.

The second configuration of “Moving Pictures – 40th Anniversary” will be released in a three-CD Deluxe Edition digipak that includes the newly remastered original album on CD 1 and the entire, unreleased 1981 Toronto concert on CDs 2 and 3. Extras include a 24-page booklet with unreleased photos and reimagined artwork by Syme, along with the aforementioned liner notes by Thayil, Claypool, Hawkins, Kelliher and Sanderson.

The third “Moving Pictures” configuration will be offered as a five-LP Deluxe Edition, all of it housed in a slipcase including a single-pocket jacket for the remastered original “Moving Pictures” on LP 1, and two gatefold jackets for LPs 2-5 that comprise all 19 tracks from the complete, unreleased “Live In YYZ” 1981 concert. As noted above, all vinyl has been cut for the first time ever via half-speed Direct to Metal Mastering (DMM) on 180-gram black audiophile vinyl. Extras include a 24-page booklet with unreleased photos, Syme’s reimagined artwork and new illustrations, and the complete liner notes.

The fourth configuration is a one-LP eCommerce exclusive edition, featuring the first-ever half-speed DMM vinyl pressing. It comes newly wrapped in a limited-edition premium tip-on style gatefold jacket with printed sleeve, and each pressing comes with one of six randomly inserted Neil Peart hand-drawn lyrics sheets.

The fifth configuration, the Deluxe Digital Edition, features the original album and all 19 bonus live performances from Toronto, and is the digital equivalent to the three-CD Deluxe Edition.

Finally, the sixth configuration, the Dolby Atmos Digital Edition, is the digital equivalent of Richard Chycki’s masterful Atmos mix of all seven tracks from the original album.

RUSH — bassist/keyboardist/vocalist Geddy Lee, guitarist/vocalist Alex Lifeson, and drummer/lyricist Neil Peart — maintains a large and uniquely passionate worldwide fanbase that acknowledges and respects the band’s singular, bold, and perpetually exploratory songcraft that combines sterling musicianship, complex compositions, and distinctive lyrical flair. RUSH has sold more than 25 million albums in the U.S. alone, with worldwide sales estimated at 45 million (and counting), and has been awarded 24 gold, 14 platinum, and three multi-platinum album distinctions. RUSH has received seven Grammy nominations, and the band was inducted into the Canadian Music Hall Of Fame in 1994 and the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame in 2013.