Permanent Waves 40th Anniversary Edition Coming May 29th

The Permanent Waves 40th Anniversary Edition is now available.  Released May 29th, it is available in three package options: 2c edition, 3LP edition, or the Super Deluxe Edition.

All versions include the original album remastered in 2015 at Abbey Road Studios (previously released as part of the 12 months of Rush vinyl editions), and bonus content made up of various live recordings captured during the Permanent Waves tour.

1. Beneath, Between & Behind (Live in Manchester)
2. By-Tor & The Snow Dog (Live in London)
3. Xanadu (Live in London)
4. The Spirit Of Radio (Live in Manchester)
5. Natural Science (Live in Manchester)
6. The Trees (Live in Manchester)
7. Cygnus X-1 (Live in London)
8. Cygnus X-1 Book II (Live in London)
9. Closer To The Heart (Live in Manchester)
10. Jacob's Ladder (Live in Missouri)
11. Freewill (Live in London)

From the Super Deluxe Edition:

Celebrating 40 years of Rush’s Permanent Waves, the Super Deluxe Edition will feature two CDs, three 180-gram audiophile black vinyl LPs and a 40-page hardcover book filled with reimagined artwork by original album designer Hugh Syme, unreleased photos from the band’s archive and an exclusive twelve-thousand plus word essay. The Abbey Road Mastering Studios 2015 album remaster is made available on CD for the first time. CD 2 is loaded with unreleased bonus live tracks from three stops on the Permanent Waves World Tour 1980: Manchester Apollo, Manchester, England; Hammersmith Odeon, London, England; and Kiel Auditorium, St. Louis, Missouri, all newly mixed by the band’s longtime producer Terry Brown.

Permanent Waves is the band’s first of many iconic visits to Le Studio recording studio in Morin Heights, Quebec which has been nicknamed Rush’s Abbey Road Studios. A blank sheet of Le Studio letterhead was newly discovered, so the first of many collectibles included is a 20-page 5”x7” Le Studio notepad. The two replica tour programs represent the official Permanent Waves World Tour 1980 program and with the inclusion of U.K. performances the very rare, unofficial The Words & Pictures Volume II UK-only tour program is included. The Super Deluxe Edition’s finishing touches feature 3 band member replica backstage laminates, a 24”x36” double-sided poster showcasing the original album cover model and photos of each band member recording at Le Studio, and three Neil Peart handwritten lyric sheets for “The Spirit Of Radio,” “Entre Nous” and “Natural Science.”

Permanent Waves is the band’s first departure from in-depth, ten-minute plus conceptual song crafting and is deemed as a poignant moment they reinvented themselves and their sound. “We’ve taken it (the conceptual album) to its logical limit and it’s time to do something else,” remarked Geddy Lee. To further reinvent themselves, the band opted to record at Le Studio in Quebec which has been highly credited in the evolution of the Rush sound and would soon become their home away from home for future albums to come. Giving birth to two of the band’s most important songs in their stable, “The Spirit Of Radio” along with “Freewill” offered fans a long overdue experience: regular radio play. Additionally, the album features the cinematic “Jacob’s Ladder,” the album’s third single “Entre Nous,” the Geddy Lee lyric penned “Different Strings” and the barometer for pure progressive rock “Natural Science.”

Alex Lifeson guest appearance on Big Sugar's Eternity Now

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Alex Lifeson performs on the title track of Big Sugar's latest album, Eternity Now, released this past Friday May 8th.  Big Sugar's Gordie Johnson explained:

"That was not an accident! Alex Lifeson is on the title track. He's on the title track of my life and career trajectory. He was one of the first supporters of Big Sugar and one of the greatest mentors that I've had. And he's such a down-to-earth chill guy. He saw us coming up, liked our music, and would do things like 'Hey, man, here's a double-neck guitar. Why don't you take the Xanadu guitar and use it for a while?' Like, who does that? So I texted him and I had to explain myself because it's such a Rush knock-off. I got the Taurus Moog pedals in there and gave it the full Moving Pictures treatment. But he not only sent me a wicked guitar solo but a bunch of overdubs-acoustic guitars and banjos and all kinds of other production to put in the track. It got way Rushier. And I'm good with it. ... He still plays great. And when he sits down to play, only one sound comes out of that amp." - Global News, May 8, 2020

Check out the track below:

Thanks to RushFanForever for the headsup!

Anthem: Rush in the 1970s (Rush Across the Decades) by Martin Popoff Now Available

Anthem: Rush in the 1970s (Rush Across the Decades), the first of a three part Rush biography collection by Martin Popoff, hits bookstores today from ECW Press.  Order the hardcover edition at Amazon.

"With extensive, first-hand reflections from Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson, and Neil Peart, as well as from family, friends, and fellow musicians, Anthem: Rush in the ’70s is a detailed portrait of Canada’s greatest rock ambassadors. The first of three volumes, Anthem puts the band’s catalog, from their self-titled debut to 1978’s Hemispheres (the next volume resumes with the release of Permanent Waves) into both Canadian and general pop culture context, and presents the trio of quintessentially dependable, courteous Canucks as generators of incendiary, groundbreaking rock ’n’ roll." 

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Like Geezer Butler in Black Sabbath, to reiterate, Geddy indeed began on guitar. Alex, however, missed this part of Lee’s evolution.

“I didn’t know Ged when he played guitar. So the transition was already completed by the time we started jamming together and playing. Because that’s what we did after school. We’d plug into his amp and play. There was one guitar and one bass. So I’m not really sure about that transition. I’m sure he was interested in guitar like everybody was interested in guitar. But once we actually started playing and learning instruments, that was his chosen one. Just think John Rutsey in that early days―the drums became his thing but I don’t know if in his heart he wanted to be a drummer. I think he wanted to be a guitarist as well. But everybody had their job that they sort of gravitated to.”

Says Geddy, “I was nominated to be the bass player when the first band I was in, the bass player couldn’t be in our band. I think his parent’s prohibited him or something, and we had no bass player so they said, ‘You play bass’ and I said okay, and that was how simple it was. That happens to a lot of bass players. Everyone wants to be a guitar player, but I was happy to be bass player. Bass player is like being a major league catcher. It’s the quickest way to the majors. Nobody wants to be a bass player. It’s a great instrument, it really is, awesome way to spend your time. I had teachers you know; I’m just carrying on the tradition of Jack Bruce, Jack Cassidy, Chris Squire, a fine tradition of noisy bass players that refuse to stay in the background. So I feel that’s my sacred duty, to carry on what they started.”

Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson Appear in Gordon Lightfoot Documentary "If You Could Read My Mind"

Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson appear in If You Could Read My Mind, a documentary on Gordon Lightfoot, streaming on-demand this summer.  Directed by Martha Kehoe and Joan Tosoni, the film chronicles present-day Lightfoot performing a show and signing autographs as he fondly looks back on his nearly six-decade career — from his coffeehouse performance days in Ontario, Canada, to his rise to international fame in the Seventies.  “He is one of the greatest examples of timeless singer-songwriter,” Lee says in the clip, sitting alongside his bandmate Alex Lifeson. - Rollingstone.com, May 5, 2020