Moving Pictures 40th Anniversary Review

Canuck power trio's 1981 masterpiece gets a box set

By James McNair, MOJO, June 2022, transcribed by pwrwindows

Five out of Five Stars

Drummer/lyricist Neil Peart's eloquent debunking of fame on Limelight; the dazzling instrumental interplay on Tom Sawyer; the escapist thrills of vintage Italian sports car reverie Red Barchetta – no wonder Rush's eighth studio LP became a fan favourite. As they embraced fizzy Oberheim OB-X synthesizers and further absorbed new-wave influences (see The Police-indebted Vital Signs), Moving Pictures was also the multi-million seller that took Rush out of theatres and into enormodomes, bringing financial and artistic freedom.

Extras here include previously unreleased, then-career-spanning live material from a 1981 concert at Maple Leaf Gardens in the band's native Toronto, while the Super Deluxe Edition's hardback book has linernotes by Soundgarden's Kim Thayil, Foo Fighters’ Taylor Hawkins and other devotees. There's new poignancy to the listening too, with Neil Peart dearly missed since he died in 2020.