Perhaps this is going to be a good music year, for me personally at least.  The Queen remasters, a new King Crimson (of sorts) on the way, and now the first of the new Rush remasters, Moving Pictures from 1981.  I am going to take the same approach as my recent Queen II review.  So if you are looking for a song-by-song album review, you won’t find it here.  Rather, I think, like Queen, most people that would be interested in this remaster have already heard Moving Pictures likely love it, and just want to know if it is worth purchasing again.  The answer is – you betcha!

I’ve had Moving Pictures on Canadian vinyl, then on Japanese vinyl, then on the first CD issue, then the Mobile Fidelity Gold II CD, followed by the official remaster from the 90s and now this remaster.  I must be a glutton for punishment, but there it is.  This remaster reaches heights to these ears that none of the CDs before did (sorry, MF).  The sound palette is so full and rich this time out that it mesmerized me and kept me glued to my listening chair.

Let’s talk about the various differences that I hear right off:

The bass (as in guitar) has a rich, “plucked” sound and is now up in the mix.  Even when the synthesizers and guitars are competing, the bass counterpoint is discernable and true.  The bass drums and toms are now firmly spaced and placed – it is amazing to me that more remasters can’t seem to get this right.   Cranking the volume up hits you right in the chest – but with such clean authority that you’d swear Geddy Lee re-recorded his parts.  At no time on this remaster do you hear any mushy sound mess – you know what I mean – when busy-ness in certain places makes you think you have cracks in your speakers.  Every instrument, effect and sound is there to be clearly heard.  Getting away from the pure power of the big guns, another wonderful enhancement is the many instances of high hat, cymbal and other delicate percussive sounds now in the audible mix.  You realize more than ever how busy Neal Peart is with how much other stuff is going on – the little taps, the ting of a high hat, the tempo being kept with a recurring cymbal that switches channels and fills in somewhere else.  A lot of this was there before, granted, but not with the clarity and noticeable importance that this remaster has given it.

The sound stage is absolutely right on – the middle stage vocals are where they should be, and the other instruments sweep back and forth and hover above creating a lot of depth to the mix.  This album always did have a very modern sound, and this remaster has the same depth of richness as many contemporary recordings – think Porcupine Tree sound quality.  I don’t have a 5.1 system, so can’t comment on the surround mix on the second disc DVD (which features surround and stereo mixes as well as three videos).  But if you are looking for a stereo upgrade, whether you play it on DVD-A or standard stereo, this is a must-have for any Rush fan.

As a note – some versions of this deluxe edition do not come with the clear plastic outer sleeve as shown in the photo.  Mine came in a nice digi-double fold out with a booklet and no outer sleeve.

Release Date: April 05, 2011
Band Website

–Robert Metcalf