Rush’s seventh studio album, Permanent Waves, which became their first huge chart success, is being commemorated with several 40th anniversary editions. The original LP reached #3 in their native Canada and #4 in the U.S., the trio’s biggest chart success up until then, when it was released on Jan. 14, 1980, and yielded a big pop radio hit, “The Spirit of Radio.” The expanded versions was released on May 29, 2020, via UMe/Mercury as a Super Deluxe Edition, on two CDs, and 3-LPs. Listen to many of the collection’s previously unreleased live tracks below.
Rush‘s Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson lost their beloved friend and bandmate, Neil Peart, who died on Jan. 7, 2020.
On June 12, the band released a new video for “The Spirit of Radio.”
Watch the new, animated clip for “The Spirit of Radio,” which pays homage to Peart
A Super Deluxe Edition features two CDs, three 180-gram audiophile 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 12,000-word essay.
Watch the official expanded unboxing video
The first CD is from the Abbey Road Studios 2015 album remaster, made available on CD for the first time. CD 2 is loaded with unreleased bonus live tracks from three stops on the Permanent Waves 1980 world tour 1980: the Manchester Apollo, London’s Hammersmith Odeon, and Kiel Auditorium in St. Louis, Missouri, all newly mixed by the band’s longtime producer Terry Brown.
Listen to “The Spirit of Radio” live in Manchester, from the new release
Among the many collectibles included in the Super Deluxe Edition is a 20-page 5”x7” Le Studio notepad, to commemorate the Quebec studio where the album was recorded. Two replica tour programs represent the official Permanent Waves world tour 1980 program. Also included: band member replica backstage laminates, a 24” x 36” 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.”
Listen to “Natural Science” live in Manchester
From the announcement: 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,” said 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.
Rush Permanent Waves Track Listing
The Spirit Of Radio
Freewill
Jacob’s Ladder
Entre Nous
Different Strings
Natural Science
Live Tracks
Beneath, Between & Behind (Manchester)
By-Tor & The Snow Dog (London)
Xanadu (London)
The Spirit Of Radio (Manchester)
Natural Science (Manchester)
The Trees (Manchester)
Cygnus X-1 (London)
Cygnus X-1 Book II (London)
Closer To The Heart (Manchester)
Jacob’s Ladder (Missouri)
Freewill (London)
Related: Our Album Rewind of the original 1980 release
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