2112 (album)
2112 (pronounced "twenty-one twelve") is the fourth
studio album by Canadian rock band Rush. Released on
1 April 1976, it features the seven-part title suite com-
posed by Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson, with lyrics writ-
ten by Neil Peart telling a dystopian story set in the year
2112. It is sometimes described as a concept album al-
though the songs on the second side are unrelated to the
suite. Rush repeated this arrangement on the 1978 album
Hemispheres.
2112 is one of two Rush albums listed in the book 1001
Albums You Must Hear Before You Die (the other being
Moving Pictures). In 2006 and 2016, polls of Planet Rock
listeners picked 2112 as the denitive Rush album. In 2 Concept and storyline
2012, it was ranked second on Rolling Stone's list of 'Your
Favorite Prog Rock Albums of All Time', as voted for in
a readers poll, one of three Rush albums included (the Main article: 2112 (song)
others being Moving Pictures and Hemispheres).[4]
A deluxe edition was released in 2012 as both a CD/DVD
and a CD/Blu-ray. The CD featured the entire album re-
mastered, as well as three live bonus tracks from their
1981 concert at Northlands Coliseum. The DVD and
Blu-ray included the album in three dierent HD formats,
as well as on-screen lyrics, liner notes, and a digital comic
book depicting the story of the title track.[5]
A 40th Anniversary edition was released in 2016 as both
a 2CD/DVD combo as well as a super deluxe edition
with a 3LP 200-gram vinyl version. The deluxe set fea-
tured the entire album remastered at Abbey Road Stu-
dios, as well as previously unreleased live tracks and cover
versions of the songs performed by Dave Grohl, Taylor
Hawkins, Nick Raskulinecz, Billy Talent, Steven Wilson,
Jacob Moon, and Alice in Chains.[6]
1 Background
Due to the relative commercial failure of their previous
album, Caress of Steel, Mercury (their record label at the
time) pressed the band not to do another album with con-
cept songs. Caress of Steel contains two multi-part epics:
the twelve-minute The Necromancer (the second half
of side one) and the side-long epic The Fountain of Lam-
neth (side two).
By their own recollection, the band ignored this advice
and stuck to their principles; the resulting album would
become their rst major commercial success, and ulti-
mately a signature record. 2112 was released in March
1976 and peaked at #61 on the Billboard Top LPs &
1
Tape chart, becoming their rst album to reach the top
100. 2112 would eventually be certied gold on 16
November 1977, along with the bands then-current re-
leases A Farewell to Kings and the live All the Worlds
a Stage. 2112 reached platinum status on 25 February
1981, shortly after the release of their best-selling album,
Moving Pictures.
In the year 2062, a galaxy-wide war results in the union of
all planets under the rule of the Red Star of the Solar Fed-
eration. By 2112, the world is controlled by the Priests
of the Temples of Syrinx, who control every facet of life.
A man discovers an ancient guitar and learns to play his
own music. Thinking he has made a wonderful discovery
that will be a boon to humanity, he goes to present the
guitar to the priests of the Temples, who angrily destroy
it and rebuke him for unearthing one of the silly whims
that caused the collapse of the previous civilization. He
goes into hiding and dreams of a world before the So-
lar Federation. Upon awakening he becomes distraught
and commits suicide. As he dies, another planetary bat-
tle begins resulting in the ambiguous ending Attention
all planets of the Solar Federation: We have assumed
control. (This spoken section was created by Geddy Lee
and Alex Lifeson reportedly messing around with a tape
recorder.) On the 2112/Moving Pictures episode of
the television series Classic Albums, Peart conrmed that
he intended the ending to be a happy one as the people of
the Solar Federation are liberated.
Peart credits the genius of Ayn Rand" in the liner notes.
Rand, a Russian-born, Jewish-American novelist and in-
ventor of the philosophy of Objectivism, wrote a novella
titled Anthem, the plot of which bears several similari-
ties to 2112; Peart added the credit to avoid any legal ac-
tion from Rand. This credit caused the band signicant
negative publicity, with some even labelling them right-
wing extremists. The British musical paper NME even
made allusions to Nazism, which particularly oended
lead singer and bassist Geddy Lee, whose parents were
Holocaust survivors.[7]
2 7 1997, 2011, 2012, & 2015 REMASTERS

3 Other songs in the background amongst symbols from all their previ-
ous work; on their 2003 compilation The Spirit of Radio;
The other songs on 2112 stand apart from the title track. and on their 2004 covers album Feedback. It is also fea-
Lee and Lifeson wrote lyrics for one song each (Tears tured on the[9]Canada Post stamp honouring Rush issued 19
and Lessons, respectively), while Peart wrote the rest.[8] July 2013. It also was featured on the front bass drum
heads of Pearts drum kit from 1977 to 1983, and again
Tears would be the rst Rush song to feature an out- on the 2004 R30 and 2015 R40 tours.
side musician. Hugh Syme, who would play keyboards
on a number of Rush songs in the future, (e.g., Dier-
ent Strings on Permanent Waves and Witch Hunt on
Moving Pictures) contributes a multi-tracked Mellotron
5 Legacy and cultural signicance
string and ute part to the track. A Passage to Bangkok
and The Twilight Zone are songs typical of Rush in this The Audio-Visual Preservation Trust of Canada, a non-
period. The Twilight Zone was written and recorded prot Canadian charitable organization dedicated to pro-
in one day, and is based on the show of the same name. moting the preservation of Canadas audio-visual her-
Something for Nothing closes out the album. Regard- itage, has sponsored MasterWorks, which annually recog-
ing this song, Peart states: All those paeans to Ameri- nizes twelve culturally signicant Canadian classics from
can restlessness and the American road carried a tinge of the lm, radio, TV and music industries. In 2006, 2112
wistfulness, an acknowledgment of the hardships of the was one of the albums chosen to be preserved.
vagrant life, the notion that wanderlust could be involun-
tary, exile as much as freedom, and indeed, the under-
standing that freedom wasn't free. In the mid-'70s, the 6 Reception
band was driving to a show in downtown Los Angeles, at
the Shrine Auditorium, and I noticed some grati splat- 2112 was included in IGN's list 10 Classic Prog
tered across a wall: 'Freedom isn't free,' and I adapted Rock Albums.[13]
that for a song on 2112, 'Something for Nothing.'"
In a readers poll held by Rolling Stone, it placed sec-
ond on the list of favourite Prog Rock albums.[14]

4 Starman emblem
The Starman emblem (also known as the 'Man in the Star'
logo) was adopted by Rush fans as a logo since its rst
appearance on the back cover of 2112. Peart described
the Starman in an interview with Creem magazine:
All (the naked man) means is the abstract
man against the masses. The red star symbol-
izes any collectivist mentality.
On the album art, the collectivist mentality is depicted A Mercury Records remaster was issued in 1997.
as the Red Star of the Solar Federation, which, accord-
ing to the plot, is a galaxy-wide federation that controls
all aspects of life during the year 2112. The gure in the
emblem is depicted as the Hero. Hugh Syme, the cre-
ator of many of Rushs album covers, commented on the
design: The man is the hero of the story. That he is nude
is just a classic tradition...the pureness of his person and
creativity without the trappings of other elements such as
clothing. The red star is the evil red star of the Feder-
ation, which was one of Pearts symbols. We basically
based that cover around the red star and that hero.
The logo also appears on seven other Rush album cov-
ers: on the backdrop behind Pearts drumkit in All the
Worlds a Stage, their rst live album released in 1976; in
one of the pictures that is being moved in Moving Pictures;
on Retrospective I; on Archives, a compilation album re-
leased in 1978; on their 1981 live album Exit...Stage Left,
AllMusic's Greg Prato (4.5 out of 5): 1976s 2112
proved to be their much sought-after commercial
breakthrough and remains one of their most popular
albums.[10]
7 1997, 2011, 2012, & 2015 remas-
ters
Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab issued a Gold CD remaster in
1993, currently out of print.[15]
The tray has a picture of the star with man painting
(mirroring the cover art of Retrospective I) with The
Rush Remasters printed in all capital letters just to
the left. All remasters from Rush through Permanent
Waves are like this.
The remaster album art has all of the elements in-
cluding the back cover, the story of 2112, lyrics,
gatefold shots of the band and the star with man logo
which were absent from the original CD.
2112 was remastered again in 2011 by Andy VanDette
for the Sector box sets, which re-released all of Rushs
Mercury-era albums. It is included in the Sector 1 set.[16]
2112 was remastered yet again, in various formats, in-
cluding 5.1 for a December 2012 release. (21/12/12)[17]

2112 was remastered for vinyl in 2015 by Sean Magee at
Abbey Road Studios as a part of the ocial 12 Months
of Rush promotion.[18] The high denition master pre-
pared for this release was also made available for pur-
chase in 24-bit/96 kHz and 24-bit/192 kHz formats, at
several high-resolution audio online music stores. These
masters have signicantly less dynamic range compres-
sion than the 1997 remasters and the Sector remasters
by Andy VanDette.[19]
On December 16, 2016, 2112 a 40th Anniversary edition
was released, featuring the Abbey Road Studios remas- 10 Charts
ter and an additional CD of rare, live and previously un-
released material including newly-recorded tracks from 10.1 Album
2112 featuring Dave Grohl and Taylor Hawkins of Foo
Fighters along with Nick Raskulinecz, Billy Talent, Steven Billboard (USA)
Wilson, Jacob Moon and Alice In Chains. This release is
part of the celebration for 40th anniversary of the album
and the band together with the same trio line-up.
8 Track listing
All lyrics written by Neil Peart, except where noted; all
music composed by Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson, except
where noted.
2012 Deluxe Edition bonus DVD / Blu-ray
2112 audio (PCM Stereo)
2112 audio (PCM 5.1 Surround Sound)
2112 audio (DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 Surround
Sound)
Digital Comic Book
Album lyrics
Album liner notes
Photo Gallery
9 Personnel
Rush
Geddy Lee vocals, bass guitar
Alex Lifeson electric and acoustic guitar
Neil Peart drums, percussion
Additional musician
Hugh Syme ARP Odyssey intro on 2112, [12] Sheeld, Rob (2 January 2013). 2112: Deluxe Edition.
mellotron on Tears
Production
3
Rush - arrangers, producers
Terry Brown - arranger, producer
Terry Brown - recording, engineer, mixing
Mastered by Brian Lee - mastering
Bob Ludwig - mastering
11 Certications
12 References
[1] Rush is a Band Blog: Alex Lifeson Modern Guitars in-
terview now online. Rushisaband.com. Archived from
the original on 19 July 2011. Retrieved 2011-09-01.
[2] "Metal Evolution Makes Case for Rush as Prog Metal
Pioneer. rushvault.com. 31 January 2012. Retrieved 17
January 2017.
[3] Freedman, Robert (1 August 2014). Rush: Life, Lib-
erty, and the Pursuit of Excellence. Algora Publishing.
Retrieved 17 January 2017 via Google Books.
[4] Andy Greene (26 July 2012). "'Readers Poll: Your Fa-
vorite Prog Rock Albums of All Time. Rolling Stone.
Retrieved 26 July 2012.
[5] Rush: 2112 (Deluxe Edition) review | Music | The
Guardian.
[6] 2112 40th.
[7] Rush 2112 & Moving Pictures (Classic Albums) [Full
Documentary + Extras]. 2010. Event occurs at 12'40.
[8] Grow, Kory (2016-03-29). Rushs Alex Lifeson on 40
Years of '2112': 'It Was Our Protest Album'". Rolling
Stone. Retrieved 2016-03-30.
[9] Canada Post Rush Booklet of 10 Cool stamps and
collectibles to honour Canadian Recording Artists.
[10] Prato, Greg. 2112 Rush. AllMusic. Rovi Corporation.
Retrieved 2011-11-20.
[11] Sellers, Kevin (30 September 2007). Rush 2112. Mu-
sic Emissions webzine. Retrieved 2011-09-01.
Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2013-02-21.
[13] 10 Classic Prog Rock Albums, page 2. Retrieved 2012-
07-30.
4 13 EXTERNAL LINKS

[14] Readers Poll: Your Favorite Prog Rock Albums of All

Time. Retrieved 2012-07-30.

[15] Original Master Recording Gold CD Archive @ MFSL.

Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab. Archived from the original on
2003-09-24. Retrieved 2011-11-20.

[16] Andy VanDette On Remastering 15 Rush Albums. The

Masterdisk Record. 2011-11-23. Retrieved 2013-11-20.

[17] JUST IN TIME FOR DECEMBER 21/12 Deluxe Edi-

tions of 2112. RUSH. 2012-11-12. Retrieved 2013-11-
20.

[18] 12 MONTHS OF RUSH: 14 ALBUMS FROM MER-

CURY ERA FOR RELEASE IN 2015. Rush.com. Re-
trieved 10 July 2015.

[19] Rush new 2015 vinyl and hi-res reissues thread. Steve
Homan Music Forums. Retrieved 10 July 2015.

[20] Rush 2112 Deluxe Edition in 5.1 Surround Sound Al-

bum Lyrics and Liner Notes.

[21] Recording Industry Association of America. RIAA.

Retrieved 2011-09-01.

[22] Gold and Platinum Search. Archived from the original

on 29 March 2014.

[23] Certied Awards.

13 External links
2112 (Adobe Flash) at Radio3Net (streamed copy
where licensed)
 5

14 Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

14.1 Text
2112 (album) Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2112_(album)?oldid=778257733 Contributors: Mav, Danny, Kricxjo, Charles
Matthews, Michael Reiter, Kaare, Bearcat, Robbot, Pigsonthewing, RedWolf, Calmypal, UtherSRG, David Gerard, Cbane, ScudLee,
Philwelch, Jonabbey, Varlaam, Guanaco, Bobblewik, SarekOfVulcan, Rwv37, Tsemii, Progoth, N328KF, Sysy, Rich Farmbrough, Spear-
head, Mike Garcia, Bobo192, NetBot, Engelcox, Wisdom89, Flatluigi, SPUI, Alansohn, Gargaj, Smithbcs, Bart133, Ndteegarden, Some-
oneinmyheadbutitsnotme, Lironos, Woohookitty, Raven42, Raygun, Al E., GregorB, Geddysciple, BD2412, Fletcherism, BorgHunter,
Koavf, Alaney2k, Brighterorange, FlaBot, Bgwhite, PainMan, YurikBot, Tznkai, DanMS, Sixteen Left, Jamesgibbon, Jaxl, Qirex, Multi-
chill, Cholmes75, Moe Epsilon, Deckiller, Ms2ger, Nikkimaria, Jogers, Little Savage, CoolKatt number 99999, Emc2, Davehard, Space-
boy492, Stuhacking, Derelk, Dposse, Yojizu, SmackBot, Lehla, Riserius1, Mr Pyles, Tankjian, Kudzu1, JP The Wanderer, KaptKos,
Emurphy42, Jennica, Joshua Boniface, Dan1216, Thegeneralpublic, DantheCowMan, BullRangifer, Marcus Brute, Curly Turkey, The
Fwanksta, ArglebargleIV, RedArrow21, Mchart, Euchiasmus, SilkTork, Jimmyupt, Mexynquick, InedibleHulk, Meco, Waggers, Jim-
Style61093475, Wwagner, Violncello, NEMT, Aeternus, Anger22, Angeldeb82, Lbr123, SkyWalker, CmdrObot, Jsmaye, WeggeBot,
Cydebot, Fnlayson, Leo178, Objectivist-C, Joeybombstyle, Fair Deal, Metnever, ST47, HauntingYourKids, Floydmaniax, Imadofus,
DavidSteinle, Thijs!bot, Jbl1975, Escarbot, Seaphoto, Voortle, TK-925, Kaini, TallulahBelle, Meddlecascade, MegX, Y2kcrazyjoker4,
Psramka, Finbar Canavan, Johnnylager, TheSpeedster, Newocritic, Drm310, Jtir, Tented, Arjun01, Teachereddie, J.delanoy, BigrTex,
Hondo77, LedRush, Shawn in Montreal, 5theye, McSly, Cgervasi, Bohemianroots, KylieTastic, STBotD, AquaStreak, Chris-marsh-usa,
Walor, Rei-bot, IllaZilla, Josephabradshaw, OverMyHead, Rock Soldier, BigJoeRockHead, Peter Fleet, Rarecloud, SieBot, Scarian, Salty-
wood, Aspects, Android Mouse Bot 3, Lightmouse, Sittingonfence, Fratrep, Spikelovesmetal, Kelpin, Chucke99, Tej68, ClueBot, Binkster-
net, The Thing That Should Not Be, Je kuta, EoGuy, Drmies, 2112guy, Stylteralmaldo, Bkwatts1, Trivialist, Alexbot, Swanrizla, Wiki
libs, Razorame, AndyYankee17, Obscurejude, Shredder2, Berean Hunter, Vybr8, Classicrockfan42, Antti29, Ngs61, WikHead, Count
of Tuscany, Centaur 76, Kbdankbot, Addbot, Author23, Mac Dreamstate, Noozgroop, CarsracBot, J.C.S.On.Guitar, Tassedethe, Di-
noBot2, Zorrobot, GeorgeMillo, Yobot, J Milburn Bot, AnomieBOT, Ntjp99, Krobertj, ArthurBot, Xqbot, Mr. Frank, Travis54546979,
Drilnoth, Live Light, The Evil IP address, Mlpearc, Sabrebd, Deiderique, Lipsquid, BretkBynum, Nahnite, Burger11, Sublimefan97,
Dinamik-bot, Phil A. Fry, Illuminationdivision, Stj6, Beyond My Ken, Becritical, DASHBot, Zaqq, EmausBot, Mk5384, Lewismaster,
GoingBatty, BUSHGOLDENSTATE, Passionless, John Cline, Ameijer, Jaydiem, GuKeltke, AOC25, IcehawkZERO, Mab987, L1A1
FAL, Brownat, Bill Hicks Jr., ChuispastonBot, NTox, Vaporsdad, Bjcheez, ClueBot NG, CactusBot, ParanoidPixie95, Matt Schrader,
Peloponneso, Djodjo666, Jamcad01, Hyliad, Adamanttt, Glacialfox, Nincrony, BattyBot, Esszet, InterZlatan8, Substellar, Australaurora,
PajoPajimir, Corn cheese, MatthewHoobin, Edvpj, Progrockdude, Ynot0207, Synthwave.94, IGotProof, NCFan12311, ,
You'reNotMyBrain, Pattheaux, Mdlark1966, Lukejordan02, RockNRollStaaaa, MetalicMadness, Shikari 123, Hemispheres2112, Rodolfo
lassparri, SummerPhDv2.0, AEdwards2112, Rushfataltragedy, Nickb2112, InternetArchiveBot, The Voidwalker, R0216, GreenC bot,
R00b07, UpNorth, Bender the Bot, CufneuZz, Tjdrum2000, ClockworkNumbers23 and Anonymous: 384

14.2 Images
File:Folder_Hexagonal_Icon.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/48/Folder_Hexagonal_Icon.svg License: Cc-by-
sa-3.0 Contributors: ? Original artist: ?
File:Portal-puzzle.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/f/fd/Portal-puzzle.svg License: Public domain Contributors: ?
Original artist: ?
File:Star_empty.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/49/Star_empty.svg License: Public domain Con-
tributors: Made with Inkscape from Stars615.svg: <a href='//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Stars615.svg' class='image'><img
alt='Stars615.svg' src='https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/72/Stars615.svg/96px-Stars615.svg.png' width='96'
height='17' srcset='https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/72/Stars615.svg/144px-Stars615.svg.png 1.5x,
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/72/Stars615.svg/192px-Stars615.svg.png 2x' data-le-width='640' data-
le-height='110' /></a>. Original artist: This vector image was created with Inkscape by Conti from the original images by RedHotHeat,
and then manually edited.
File:Star_full.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/51/Star_full.svg License: Public domain Contributors:
Made with Inkscape from Image:Stars615.svg. Original artist: User:Conti from the original images by User:RedHotHeat
File:Star_half.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/81/Star_half.svg License: Public domain Contributors:
Made with Inkscape from Image:Stars615.svg. Original artist: User:Conti
File:Symbol_book_class2.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/89/Symbol_book_class2.svg License: CC
BY-SA 2.5 Contributors: Mad by Lokal_Prol by combining: Original artist: Lokal_Prol

14.3 Content license

Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0