ALBUM RELEASE NEWS

If I could wave my magic wand, I’d set every unofficially released Rush track free — oh wait, it looks like the band’s parent labels read my mind (well, mostly).

To that end, I’ve been informed that, on March 21, 2025, UMe/Mercury and Anthem Records collectively plan on celebrating the iconic Canadian trio’s half-century milestone marker with Rush 50, a wide-ranging 50-track super deluxe anthology that encompasses the entirety of the band’s long and storied career for the first time across all the band’s label groups, bookended with the first-ever reissue of their debut 1973 single and a live recording of the last song Rush — bassist/keyboardist/vocalist Geddy Lee, guitarist/vocalist Alex Lifeson, and the late, great drummer/lyricist Neil Peart — ever performed together as a band at their final concert on August 1, 2015, at The Forum in Los Angeles.

Rush 50 — a.k.a. R50 — will be available in five distinct configurations: the 180g 7LP/4CD Super Deluxe Edition, 180g 7LP/4CD Rush Store Backstage Exclusive Super Deluxe Edition (which includes a bonus pack of four lithos), 180g 7LP Deluxe Edition, 4CD Deluxe Edition, and the full 50-track Digital Edition. Three of those options — two of them, of course, being of primary interest to us here at AP — can be ordered via Music Direct here, or by clicking on the MD link graphic near the end of this story. (If you gotta have those four bonus lithos — which showcase Rush through time, newly illustrated Fantoons versions of characters created for the box set’s included graphic novel that depicts the band in the ’70s, ’80s, ’90s, and 2000s — you’ll have to go here to get that special version of the big box.)

As Geddy Lee put it, “50? Is that all? . . . seriously . . . it’s a cool collection . . . but look at all those songs — I’m exhausted just reading the effin’ list!” (Those who have read Ged’s most excellent autobiography, November 2023’s 512-page My Effin’ Life, get the man’s lingo usage.)

Before I dive into all the relevant box set stats, watch the official R50 unboxing video, via the YouTube clip below.

Here’s the scoop. Rush 50 serves as a complete career-spanning Rush anthology on 7LPs (and 4CDs), featuring 50 tracks in total — seven of them previously unreleased — alongside numerous choice selections from every studio album, live release, and deluxe reissue the band have officially released over the years. The seven 180g black-vinyl LPs each feature additional new artwork from longtime Rush art maestro Hugh Syme in premium tip-on jackets. Each LP has been cut via Direct Metal Mastering (DMM), and they’ve been pressed at GZ Media in the Czech Republic. All of the contents in R50 are housed in a premium box with a rotating lid and a “Rush 50” golden jubilee emblem.

Amongst the Holy Grail unreleased tracks on R50 are the first-ever official LP (and CD) reissue of Rush’s very first single on Moon Records from 1973 — “Not Fade Away” (LP1, Side 1, Track 1) and “You Can’t Fight It” (LP1, Side 1, Track 2), a pair of early gems that Rush fans have been clamoring to be released officially for decades — as newly remastered from the original analog tapes. I happen to count myself among those decades-long clamorers, for I only have those two special, foundational Rush tracks on a few different bootleg CDs, whereupon both tracks have always sounded tinny and scratchy at best — but now, I (and you!) can finally hear them on vinyl in much, much better fidelity. (In case you’re wondering, no copies of that initial Moon single [MN 001; Side 2 shown below] are currently listed as being available for purchase on Discogs.)

Other studio rarities found on R50 include Vault Editions of “Working Man” (LP1, Side 1, Track 3; the final version of it, of course, appeared as Track 4 on Side 2 of March 1974’s self-titled debut, Rush) and “The Trees” (LP3, Side 5, Track 1; the final version of which appeared as Track 2 on Side 2 on October 1978’s Hemispheres), both of them showcasing alternate guitar solos by Alex Lifeson. The Vault take of “Working Man” had only been available as a digital single, while the Vault cut of “The Trees” had never been officially released beyond its appearance on instrument-based video games.

Additionally, five unreleased live songs have been culled from some of Rush’s most legendary performances that essentially bookend their entire career. Four of them originate from a pair of the band’s earliest live shows — two from Laura Secord Secondary School in St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada, on May 15, 1974, and two from the Agora Ballroom in Cleveland, Ohio, on August 26, 1974. The two live tracks from the Ontario show include original drummer John Rutsey — “Need Some Love” (LP1, Side 2, Track 4) and “Before and After” (LP1, Side 2, Track 5). The other two come from the Cleveland gig — the non-album cuts “Bad Boy” (LP1, Side 2, Track 1) and “Garden Road” (LP1, Side 2, Track 2) — and they feature Neil Peart on drums.

Rush visited New York’s iconic Electric Lady Studios in New York City on December 5, 1974, with their unreleased performance of “Anthem” (LP1, Side 2, Track 3) being presented here. The last unreleased live offering on R50 comes from Rush’s final career performance with Peart on the kit that took place at The Forum in Los Angeles, California, on August 1, 2015 — a masterful, nuanced medley construction of “What You’re Doing / Working Man / Garden Road” (LP7, Side 14, Track 2) that was newly mixed from the multitracks by longtime Rush producer/engineer Terry Brown.

Besides those long-sought-after rarities, Rush 50 embodies the full arc of Rush’s growth and ultimate prowess in the studio setting, as evidenced by the restless nomadic manifesto of “Fly by Night” (LP1, Side 2, Track 4), the vulnerability linchpin “Closer to the Heart” (LP2, Side 4, Track 1), and the crackling energy of the airwaves in “The Spirit of Radio” (LP3, Side 6, Track 1) and “Tom Sawyer” (LP4, Side 7, Track 1).

R50 showcases at least one studio track from all 20 official Rush studio albums, while also spotlighting officially released live recordings such as “YYZ” (LP4, Side 7, Track 4; from Montreal, in 1981), “La Villa Strangiato” (LP3, Side 5, Track 2; from The Netherlands, in 1979), and two Neil Peart masterpiece drum solos — the simply named “Drum Solo” (LP2, Side 4, Track 3; from London, in 1978) and the more eruditely dubbed “The Rhythm Method” (LP5, Side 10, Track 4; from Chicago, in 1997).

The Super Deluxe Edition of R50 (SRP: $374.99) features new artwork from the earlier-noted Hugh Syme, the band’s longtime creative director who designed this collection’s brand-new 50th anniversary graphics along with 29 new illustrations that celebrate the vibrant essence of Rush’s songs. The included 104-page hardcover book sports detailed essays from noted rock journalists David Fricke and Philip Wilding, who both recount their individual experiences with the band and convey their crowning achievements — all of it centered around numerous, career-spanning photos of the band in action.

Exclusives to the Super Deluxe Edition are 20 new illustration lithographs by Syme — showcasing one song from each studio album — and a second hardcover book, the brand-new 100-page graphic novel The Fullness of Time, written and illustrated by Fantoons. The graphic novel visually brings to life a conversation between Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson reflecting on the trials, tribulations, and successes recording each Rush studio album, along with contributions from many of the producers and engineers who were instrumental in the evolution of Rush’s sound over the years — Terry Brown, Peter Henderson, Paul Northfield, Peter Collins, Rupert Hine, Kevin “Caveman” Shirley, Stephen W. Tayler, and Nick Raskulinecz.

The standalone 7LP Deluxe Edition of R50 (SRP: $249.99) — the vinyl-only equivalent of the Super Deluxe Edition, with slightly different outer-cover gold graphics — also features that 104-page hardcover book with the aforementioned essays, photos, and new Syme artwork in tow.

So, which edition/editions are you gonna order? (I think you already know my answer to that.) Did the powers that be leave anything out on the rarities front — albeit keeping in mind the total track cap was always gonna be 50, either way? Chime in with your own Syrinxian thoughts in the Comments section below, after the tracklisting.

RUSH
RUSH 50
180g 7LP/4CD Super Deluxe Edition (Anthem/Mercury/UMe)

LP 1 – Side 1
1. Not Fade Away**
2. You Can’t Fight It**
3. Working Man (Vault Edition)**
4. Need Some Love (Live at Laura Secord Secondary School, St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada – May 15, 1974)**
5. Before And After (Live at Laura Secord Secondary School, St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada – May 15, 1974)**

LP 1 – Side 2
1. Bad Boy (Live at Agora Ballroom, Cleveland, Ohio – August 26, 1974)*
2. Garden Road (Live at Agora Ballroom, Cleveland, Ohio – August 26, 1974)*
3. Anthem (Live at Electric Lady Studios, New York – December 5, 1974)*
4. Fly By Night
5. Bastille Day

LP 2 – Side 3
1. 2112: Overture / The Temples Of Syrinx
2. By-Tor & The Snow Dog (Live at Massey Hall, Toronto, Ontario, Canada – June 11-12-13, 1976)
3. Something For Nothing (Live at Massey Hall, Toronto, Ontario, Canada – June 11-12-13, 1976)

LP 2 – Side 4
1. Closer To The Heart
2. Xanadu (Live at Hammersmith Odeon, London, United Kingdom – February 20, 1978)
3. Drum Solo (Live at Hammersmith Odeon, London, United Kingdom – February 20, 1978)

LP 3 – Side 5
1. The Trees (Vault Edition)*
2. La Villa Strangiato (Live at Pink Pop Festival, Burgemeester Damen Sportpark, Geleen, Netherlands – June 4, 1979)
3. In The Mood (Live at Pink Pop Festival, Burgemeester Damen Sportpark, Geleen, Netherlands – June 4, 1979)

LP 3 – Side 6
1. The Spirit Of Radio
2. Natural Science (Live at Manchester Apollo, Manchester, United Kingdom – June 17-18, 1980)
3. A Passage To Bangkok (Live at Manchester Apollo, Manchester, United Kingdom – June 17-18, 1980)

LP 4 – Side 7
1. Tom Sawyer
2. Limelight (Live at Maple Leaf Gardens, Toronto, Ontario, Canada – March 24-25, 1981)
3. Vital Signs (Live at Maple Leaf Gardens, Toronto, Ontario, Canada – March 24-25, 1981)
4. YYZ (Live at The Forum, Montreal, Quebec, Canada – March 27, 1981)

LP 4 – Side 8
1. Subdivisions
2. Red Sector A
3. Witch Hunt (Live at Maple Leaf Gardens, Toronto, Ontario, Canada – September 21, 1984)
4. New World Man (Live at Maple Leaf Gardens, Toronto, Ontario, Canada – September 21, 1984)

LP 5 – Side 9
1. The Big Money
2. Time Stand Still
3. Distant Early Warning (Live at NEC Arena, Birmingham, United Kingdom – April 21-22-23, 1988)
4. Superconductor

LP 5 – Side 10
1. Dreamline
2. Stick It Out
3. Test For Echo
4. The Rhythm Method (Live at World Music Theatre, Tinley Park, Illinois – June 14, 1997)

LP 6 – Side 11
1. One Little Victory (Remixed)
2. Cygnus X-1 (Live at Maracanã Stadium, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil – November 23, 2002)
3. The Seeker
4. Between The Wheels (Live at Festhalle Frankfurt, Frankfurt, Germany – September 24, 2004)

LP 6 – Side 12
1. The Main Monkey Business
2. Workin’ Them Angels (Live at Ahoy Arena, Rotterdam, Holland – October 16-17, 2007)
3. Freewill (Live at Quicken Loans Arena, Cleveland, Ohio – April 15, 2011)

LP 7 – Side 13
1. Red Barchetta (Live at Quicken Loans Arena, Cleveland, Ohio – April 15, 2011)
2. Headlong Flight
3. Manhattan Project (Live at US Airways Center, Phoenix, Arizona; American Airlines Center, Dallas, Texas; AT&T Center, San Antonio, Texas – November 25-28-30, 2012)

LP 7 – Side 14
1. Jacob’s Ladder (Live at Air Canada Centre, Toronto, Ontario, Canada – June 17-19, 2015)
2. What You’re Doing / Working Man / Garden Road (Live at the Forum, Los Angeles, California – August 1, 2015)*

* Previously unreleased
^^ Previously unreleased on LP

CD 1
1. Not Fade Away**
2. You Can’t Fight It**
3. Working Man (Vault Edition)**
4. Need Some Love (Live at Laura Secord Secondary School, St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada – May 15, 1974)**
5. Before And After (Live at Laura Secord Secondary School, St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada – May 15, 1974)**
6. Bad Boy (Live at Agora Ballroom, Cleveland, Ohio – August 26, 1974)*
7. Garden Road (Live at Agora Ballroom, Cleveland, Ohio – August 26, 1974)*
8. Anthem (Live at Electric Lady Studios, New York – December 5, 1974)*
9. Fly By Night
10. Bastille Day
11. 2112: Overture / The Temples Of Syrinx
12. By-Tor & The Snow Dog (Live at Massey Hall, Toronto, Ontario, Canada – June 11-12-13, 1976)
13. Something For Nothing (Live at Massey Hall, Toronto, Ontario, Canada – June 11-12-13, 1976)

CD 2
1. Closer To The Heart
2. Xanadu (Live at Hammersmith Odeon, London, United Kingdom – February 20, 1978)
3. Drum Solo (Live at Hammersmith Odeon, London, United Kingdom – February 20, 1978)
4. The Trees (Vault Edition)*
5. La Villa Strangiato (Live at Pink Pop Festival, Burgemeester Damen Sportpark, Geleen, Netherlands – June 4, 1979)
6. In The Mood (Live at Pink Pop Festival, Burgemeester Damen Sportpark, Geleen, Netherlands – June 4, 1979)
7. The Spirit Of Radio
8. Natural Science (Live at Manchester Apollo, Manchester, United Kingdom – June 17-18, 1980)
9. A Passage To Bangkok (Live at Manchester Apollo, Manchester, United Kingdom – June 17-18, 1980)
10. Tom Sawyer
11. Limelight (Live at Maple Leaf Gardens, Toronto, Ontario, Canada – March 24-25, 1981)
12. Vital Signs (Live at Maple Leaf Gardens, Toronto, Ontario, Canada – March 24-25, 1981)

CD 3
1. YYZ (Live at The Forum, Montreal, Quebec, Canada – March 27, 1981)
2. Subdivisions
3. Red Sector A
4. Witch Hunt (Live at Maple Leaf Gardens, Toronto, Ontario, Canada – September 21, 1984)
5. New World Man (Live at Maple Leaf Gardens, Toronto, Ontario, Canada –
September 21, 1984)
6. The Big Money
7. Time Stand Still
8. Distant Early Warning (Live at NEC Arena, Birmingham, United Kingdom – April 21-22-23, 1988)
9. Superconductor
10. Dreamline
11. Stick It Out
12. Test For Echo
13. The Rhythm Method (Live at World Music Theatre, Tinley Park, Illinois – June 14, 1997)

CD 4
1. One Little Victory (Remixed)
2. Cygnus X-1 (Live at Maracanã Stadium, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil – November 23, 2002)
3. The Seeker
4. Between The Wheels (Live at Festhalle Frankfurt, Frankfurt, Germany – September 24, 2004)
5. The Main Monkey Business
6. Workin’ Them Angels (Live at Ahoy Arena, Rotterdam, Holland – October 16-17, 2007)
7. Freewill (Live at Quicken Loans Arena, Cleveland, Ohio – April 15, 2011)
8. Red Barchetta (Live at Quicken Loans Arena, Cleveland, Ohio – April 15, 2011)
9. Headlong Flight
10. Manhattan Project (Live at US Airways Center, Phoenix, Arizona; American Airlines Center, Dallas, Texas; AT&T Center, San Antonio, Texas – November 25-28-30, 2012)
11. Jacob’s Ladder (Live at Air Canada Centre, Toronto, Ontario, Canada – June 17-19, 2015)
12. What You’re Doing / Working Man / Garden Road (Live at the Forum, Los Angeles, California – August 1, 2015)*

* Previously unreleased
** Previously unreleased on CD & LP

RUSH
RUSH 50
180g 7LP Deluxe Edition (Anthem/Mercury/UMe)

**same configuration / same side breaks
as in the above Super Deluxe Edition box set