Rush's long-anticipated 40th anniversary Grace Under Pressure box set officially released this past Friday, and is now available to purchase (4-CDs or 5 LPs). The set features a brand-new Terry Brown album mix commissioned by Rush, the first-ever release of the complete concert film and album of the September 21, 1984 Maple Leaf Gardens show, and liner notes from Geddy Lee reflecting on the album over 40 years after its release. Physical editions of the set are available as a Super Deluxe version only, either with 4-CDs or 5 LPs. In addition, a Super Deluxe Digital Edition and a Dolby Atmos Digital Edition are available, along with the Grace Under Pressure Tour: Live in Toronto 1984 video being made available to video DSPs (Digital Service Providers like YouTube, Netflix, Apple TV+, etc.). To coincide with the release, Rush posted visualizer videos for all of the tracks on the album, including both the standard versions and the new, Terry Brown remixes. You can check them all out on Rush's YouTube channel. And that's not all! Rush posted the complete Grace Under Pressure Tour: Live in Toronto, 1984 to YouTube last Friday, and it's now available to rent or purchase digitally on Amazon Prime and other streaming providers. You can get all the details as to what is and isn't included in the set in this post. John at Cygnus-X1.net has also scanned/transcribed the set and made it available online here. Several reviews of the set have been posted online this past week as well, including this one from At The Barrier, and this review from Metal Planet Music:
... As with their music and lyrics, Rush never lower their standards and that includes the quality of the product; there may be some head scratch inducing options available to the prospective buyer, but this release, in any of its shapes and sizes, as with any Rush release, is worthy of inclusion in your record library.
Artovision is a Wisconsin-based company that creates 3-dimensional collectable artwork inspired by popular culture, video games, food and Americana. Over the past several years, they've released a number of officially-licensed pieces based on Rush album art including Moving Pictures, Roll the Bones, Hold Your Fire, A Show of Hands, Signals (this desktop art piece too), Hemispheres, Clockwork Angels and Counterparts, Rush's debut album, Grace Under Pressure, Vapor Trails/Snakes & Arrows, Caress of Steel/Fly by Night, and Permanent Waves/Presto/Power Windows. There's also this desktop piece depicting the iconic Le Studio logo that they released last summer. For their latest batch of offerings, they created several new pieces celebrating the 50th anniversary of Rush's 2112 album, which celebrates 50 years since its 1976 release this month. There are 3-D Shadowbox pieces for both the iconic album cover, and the Starman, along with matching desktop pieces (album cover, starman). There is also a desktop piece with the familiar band photo from the album sleeve. The collectible shadowbox art pieces measure 14x14" x 2.5" and come ready to hang with an official Rush Certificate of Authenticity (COA), with each piece printed on 1/8" thick optical-grade acrylic with vibrant UV cured inks and set in a high quality finished MDF wood frame. The corresponding desktop pieces are printed on 3/4" thick optical-grade acrylic with vibrant UV cured inks and measure 6" x 6". For more information on Artovision, and to see their complete line of officially-licensed Rush pieces, visit their website at artovision3d.com. You can also follow them on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, and watch a YouTube video demonstrating the 3-D effect of their Shadowbox art here.
Legendary producer/mixer Kevin Shirley was a recent guest on the popular Rick Beato YouTube channel, and described at length his journey from South Africa to producing records for rock giants like Iron Maiden, Rush, Led Zeppelin, Journey, and The Black Crowes. Right towards the beginning of the interview, he relays the incredible story of how Rush helped him get his start in North America working on the Counterparts record. You can listen to the interview via YouTube at this location (thanks Thomas P).
Grapes for Humanity is an organization that helps to raise funds to benefit humanitarian causes around the world with the assistance of the international wine community, and Geddy Lee is a member of the board of directors. A few weeks back, the Board - including Geddy - convened to reflect on their stellar year in 2025, and also discussed the exciting year ahead, including preparations for their 6th annual Fine Wine Auction, as seen in this Instagram photo
Mixing engineer Dan Barracuda was the guest on the latest episode of the Something for Nothing podcast. Dan has a knack for dissecting songs that makes difficult music theory seem easy. Across his social media presence, you can find Dan breaking down what makes songs by your favorite artists tick-including Rush, which he discusses in detail in this episode. You can listen to the show below or wherever you get your podcast.
Rush tribute band YYNOT hosted their 4th annual Bubba Bash tribute concert in celebration of The Professor back in early January at the Keswick Theatre outside Philly. The show was hosted by Cathy Rankin, and featured YYNOT along with special guests Jason Bittner (Shadows Fall, Overkill, etc.), Jon Dinklage (Clockwork Angels string ensemble), Joe Bergamini (drum instructor, author, etc.), John Wesley (Porcupine Tree), Mike Orlando (Adrenaline Mob, Category 7), Fer Velasco (Rush Monterrey Tribute, Mexico), Greg Russell (Natural Science), Jack Gibson (Exodus, Category 7) and Tyme Rogers (Tech 21 NYC). All proceeds from the show went to benefit Cedars Sinai Hospital, and you can send along your donation here. The band started posting some pro-shot videos from the event to their YouTube channel this past week, starting with this cover of The Big Money:
That's all for this week. Have a great weekend everyone - Spring is almost here!
