New Book Examines The Making of Rush’s “Moving Pictures”
Rush’s seminal album Moving Pictures hit a milestone in 2021 for its 40th anniversary, but its celebration and examination continues on. Backbeat Books has just published a new book by author Will Romano called Moving Pictures: How Rush Created Progressive Hard Rock’s Greatest Record. With behind-the-scenes details as well as new research and interviews, the work sheds new light on the musically adventurous release.
“While ‘Permanent Waves’ and ‘Hemispheres’ were important releases in Rush’s evolution as a band, ‘Moving Pictures’ marked a turning point for the Canadian trio in more ways than one,” Backbeat writes. “It was not only a creative triumph but a commercial one, with sales and airplay that blasted them into the stratosphere of rock stardom. Beyond the individual power of its seven songs, however, the key to its lasting significance is the distinctive overarching vision that Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson, and Neil Peart brought to the album. As Romano shows, ‘Moving Pictures’ reconciled opposing creative sensibilities to a remarkable degree, giving the record real thematic depth while at the same time rendering it the very antithesis of a ‘concept album.’ Each track was carefully layered with cinematic and multisensory meaning, paradoxically using music to evoke experiences beyond the strictly aural.”
Romano’s book, which is 298 pages long, is available now in paperback and Kindle formats. Rush fans take note – he has another book called Rush: Every Album, Every Song coming in June.
