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Rush to release 50-song, career-spanning anthology

The Canadian rock legends look back at more than 5 decades of hits.

The Canadian rock legends look back at more than 5 decades of hits

CBC Music ·
A photo of Rush (three white men) on stage accepting an award.
Alex Lifeson, centre, Neil Peart, left, and Geddy Lee, right, of Rush accept their band's induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame at the Nokia Theatre on April 18, 2013. (Danny Moloshok/The Canadian Press)

Rush will release a 50-track, career-spanning anthology on March 21, titled Rush 50. It marks the first time that music the band has released across different record labels will appear on the same album. 

"50? Is that all?…. Seriously … it's a cool collection … but look at all those songs — I'm exhausted just reading the effin list," shared lead vocalist Geddy Lee in a press release. It's an impressive song list, including the band's biggest hits, a number of its early live performances and seven previously unreleased tracks. 

WATCH | Rush performs 'Tom Sawyer' at its 2013 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction:

Rush remains one of Canada's biggest cultural exports, selling 45 million albums worldwide, with 24 gold, 14 platinum and three multi-platinum records under the band's belt. Although made up of many different configurations in its early years, Rush eventually settled on the trio of vocalist/keyboardist/bassist Geddy Lee, guitarist/vocalist Alex Lifeson and drummer/lyricist Neil Peart. The seven-time Grammy nominees and 10-time Juno Award winners were inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame in 1994 and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2013. 

Beginning with the band's start in Toronto with the debut 1973 single, "Not Fade Away," the anthology maps Rush's journey from local upstart to progressive rock legend. Fan favourites "Tom Sawyer," "The Spirit of the Radio," "Fly By Night" and "2112: Overture/The Temples of Syrinx" all make an appearance, as do unreleased songs "Bad Boy," "Garden Road" and "Anthem." From a high school in St. Catharines, Ont., to the Forum in Los Angeles, Rush 50 also includes a number of the band's pivotal live performances throughout the years — most notably Rush's final performance before disbanding in 2015. 

Rush 50 will be sold in five different variations, with distinct mixes of CDs, vinyl LPs and digital versions. 

See the full tracklist below:

  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, Ont. – May 1974)
  5. "Before And After" (Live at Laura Secord Secondary School, St. Catharines, Ont. – May 1974)
  6. "Bad Boy" (Live at Agora Ballroom, Cleveland, Ohio – August 1974)
  7. "Garden Road" (Live at Agora Ballroom, Cleveland, Ohio – August 1974)
  8. "Anthem" (Live at Electric Lady Studios, New York – December 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 – June 1976)
  13. "Something for Nothing" (Live at Massey Hall, Toronto – June 1976)
  14. "Closer to the Heart"
  15. "Xanadu" (Live at Hammersmith Odeon, London – February 1978)
  16. "Drum Solo" (Live at Hammersmith Odeon, London – February 1978)
  17. "The Trees" (Vault Edition)
  18. "La Villa Strangiato" (Live at Pink Pop Festival, Netherlands – June 1979)
  19. "In the Mood" (Live at Pink Pop Festival, Netherlands – June 1979)
  20. "The Spirit of Radio"
  21. "Natural Science" (Live at Manchester Apollo, Manchester – June 1980)
  22. "A Passage to Bangkok" (Live at Manchester Apollo, Manchester – June 1980)
  23. "Tom Sawyer"
  24. "Limelight" (Live at Maple Leaf Gardens, Toronto – March 1981)
  25. "Vital Signs" (Live at Maple Leaf Gardens, Toronto – March 1981)
  26. "YYZ" (Live at the Forum, Montreal – March 1981)
  27. "Subdivisions"
  28. "Red Sector A"
  29. "Witch Hunt" (Live at Maple Leaf Gardens, Toronto – September 1984)
  30. "New World Man" (Live at Maple Leaf Gardens, Toronto – September 1984)
  31. "The Big Money"
  32. "Time Stand Still"
  33. "Distant Early Warning" (Live at NEC Arena, Birmingham, U.K. – April 1988)
  34. "Superconductor"
  35. "Dreamline"
  36. "Stick it Out"
  37. "Test For Echo"
  38. "The Rhythm Method" (Live at World Music Theatre, Tinley Park, Illinois – June 1997)
  39. "One Little Victory" (Remixed)
  40. "Cygnus X-1" (Live at Maracanã Stadium, Rio de Janeiro – November 2002)
  41. "The Seeker"
  42. "Between the Wheels" (Live at Festhalle Frankfurt, Germany – September 2004)
  43. "The Main Monkey Business"
  44. "Workin' Them Angels" (Live at Ahoy Arena, Rotterdam – October 2007)
  45. "Freewill" (Live at Quicken Loans Arena, Cleveland, Ohio – April 2011)
  46. "Red Barchetta" (Live at Quicken Loans Arena, Cleveland, Ohio – April 2011)
  47. "Headlong Flight"
  48. "Manhattan Project" (Live at US Airways Center, Phoenix, Ariz.; American Airlines Center, Dallas, Texas; AT&T Center, San Antonio, Texas – November 2012)
  49. "Jacob's Ladder" (Live at Air Canada Centre, Toronto – June 2015)
  50. "What You're Doing," "Working Man" and "Garden Road" (Live at the Forum, Los Angeles – August 2015)

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