This Is Rare: A New Interview with Rush’s Neil Peart (And the 2112 Reissues Are Out Today)

When it comes to doing any kind of press or interview for Rush, Neil tends to leave everything up to Geddy and Alex.  This doesn’t mean, however, that he never talks to anyone.  

Here’s an interview with Michael Shrieve, a drummer famous for his work with Santana.  He got a chance to talk to Neil when Rush was in Seattle last month.

Today we get the special deluxe reissues of 2112.  I’ve heard the remasters and they sounds spectacular.  There are three special physical packages available.

First, there’s the two-piece deluxe edition. It comes with a cd featuring digitally remastered version of the original album plus three bonus live tracks:

–“2112 Overture” (recorded live at Northland Coliseum in Edmonton, June 25, 1981)

–“The Temples of Syrinx” (also from that Edmonton show)

–“A Passage to Bangkok” (Manchester Apollo, Manchester, England, June 17, 1980)

The second disc is DVD-Audio. It’s meant to be played in your home theatre system . Full 5.1 surround, naturally. (For the geeks: 48kHZ/24-bit Dolby Digital for DVD-Video players)

It also comes with a digital comic book formatted for widescreen TVs. Plus a photo gallery with pictures no one has ever seen before plus Neil Peart’s handwritten lyrics. There’s also new artwork (created by Hugh Syme, the guy who created the “starman in the pentagon” back in the day) and expanded liner notes from David Fricke of Rolling Stone.

Or you can go with the Blu-ray deluxe edition. This has everything the regular deluxe version has except with a Blu-ray disc for extra crispness.

And finally, there’s the super-deluxe edition. It’s all that plus a hardbound book featuring a 40-page comic book and a 24 page book 

And speaking of books, have you heard about the 2112 iBook that’s also out today?