Who is organizing the marketing of this new version of Rush’s 2112? The Priests of the Temples of Syrinx?!?
Here are a few reasons why you definitely won’t be able to hold the red star proudly high in hand for this release:
1. If you want just the 40-page comic book version of 2112, you can’t buy it separately.
2. OK, you can buy it separately, but only as an iBook; but then, you first need to buy an iPad to read it. (Thanks, Priests; obviously you want your great computers to fill our hallowed halls as well.)
3. The hard copy version of the comic book is only available if you buy the CD in combination with the Blu-Ray. Only that counts as “Super Deluxe.” So, if you want to buy a DVD with the 5.1 mix for your DVD player, you won’t get the comic book along with it; i.e., the only way to get the print version of the comic book is to add the purchase of the “Super Deluxe” CD + Blu-Ray combo to your purchase of the “Deluxe” version.
Note that the electronic version of the comic book has more features than the printed version. In other words, I guess in order to be counted as a Rush fan worth being taken into consideration, you are required to own both an iPad and a Blu-Ray player. (Thanks, Priests.)
By the way, I don’t think I can get too excited about the 3 unreleased bonus live tracks added to the digitally remastered 2112 CD:
– Overture (Northland Coliseum, Edmonton, AB – June 25, 1981)
– The Temples of Syrinx (Northland Coliseum, Edmonton, AB – June 25, 1981)
– A Passage To Bangkok (Manchester Apollo, Manchester, England – June 17, 1980)
What?!? Is the rest of the June 25, 1981 live version of “2112” so bad that it couldn’t be included in its entirety? Who wants to listen to just part of the complete epic?!?
This is such crappy marketing, indifferent to consumer wishes, that I am happy to refuse to submit to the tyranny.
A final note: The new album cover by Hugh Syme is a hideous piece of font-driven garbage. Does it look any cooler than the original cover? No way. Not at all. You could find fan-created art that looks infinitely better! This new cover is so lazy and unimaginative, it is insulting to fans who have held the red star logo in such high esteem for so long. Why on earth would you remove the red star from the cover?!? They should have used the classic iconic logo on the new release, I say; perhaps that alone could be considered an improvement on the original cover.
Attention, Rush: Last year’s three “Sectors” box sets were bad enough. But thanks to your submission to the cold-hearted, corporate merchandising machine—because you have allowed it to assume control—you are now officially out-of-touch.
Will we remember induction into the Hall of Fame as the epochal marker of this change?
Then again, maybe I’m out of touch… because I’d rather have an acoustic guitar than a Blu-Ray or an iPad.
Progarchy 
Love the indignance Chris and, of course, I totally agree. This is another example of corporate greed at its worst. And we know that due to the unfortunate OCD suffered by many a music lover, a multitude will be sold. Why do bands let this happen or do they not have control over this ?
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Ian, I’m not sure Rush has any control over the early Mercury releases. That label has put out so many hits compilations and reissues, it’s ridiculous. I’m not playing their game any more – too often, “remastered” just means “louder”.
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At the end of the day, doesn’t it really come down to the music? Comics? Blue ray video versions? Who needs it all of that? Just give me some good sound.
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Rush should give the comic book for FREE to any fan who pays to hear the 5.1 sound mix. It would be a nice reward for those fans who already own multiple copies of 2112. For example: I already own three copies of 2112 (vinyl, CD, remaster).
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Rush should give all this FREE to any fans who were at the marvellous Manchester Apollo gigs in 1980 FIVE nights on the bounce …. this latest stuff is madness though I’m afraid. Even the latest Porcupine Tree one rattled my cage. I bought it, but then realised it’s just another version of what I already have … grrr.
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That awkward moment when I sit back in my nice office chair, look away from my high-res computer monitor, straighten my Jerry Garcia tie, and mutter, “Damn! Even MY favorite artist has ‘sold out’!”
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I’m not interested in the comic book myself, but I hate the replacement of the original artwork. The star man is iconic; when I was growing up, pretty much every Rush fan had a denim jacket with this embroidered upon it. (There’s a nice reference to this in the lyrics of The Tangent’s latest work-in-development, Le Sacre du Travail.)
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