2112 (album)
Encyclopedia
2112 is the fourth studio album
Studio album
A studio album is an album made up of tracks recorded in the controlled environment of a recording studio. A studio album contains newly written and recorded or previously unreleased or remixed material, distinguishing itself from a compilation or reissue album of previously recorded material, or...

 by Canadian
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...

 band Rush
Rush (band)
Rush is a Canadian rock band formed in August 1968, in the Willowdale neighbourhood of Toronto, Ontario. The band is composed of bassist, keyboardist, and lead vocalist Geddy Lee, guitarist Alex Lifeson, and drummer and lyricist Neil Peart...

, released in 1976
1976 in music
-January–February:*January 5 – Former Beatles road manager Mal Evans is shot dead by Los Angeles police after refusing to drop what police only later determine is an air rifle....

.

The album features an eponymous seven-part suite
2112 (song)
2112 is the sidelong title track of Canadian progressive rock band Rush's album of the same name, released in 1976. The overture and the first section, Temples of Syrinx, were released as a single and are still popular among Rush's setlists today. The "sci-fi" sounds in the beginning of the song...

 written by Geddy Lee
Geddy Lee
Gary Lee Weinrib, OC, better known as Geddy Lee , is a Canadian musician, best known as the lead vocalist, bassist, and keyboardist for the Canadian rock group Rush...

 and Alex Lifeson
Alex Lifeson
Aleksandar Živojinović, OC, better known by his stage name Alex Lifeson, is a second generation Serbian-Canadian musician, best known as the guitarist of the Canadian rock band Rush. In the summer of 1968, Lifeson founded the band that would become Rush with friend, drummer John Rutsey...

, with lyrics written by Neil Peart
Neil Peart
Neil Ellwood Peart , OC, is a Canadian musician and author. He is the drummer for the rock band Rush.Peart grew up in Port Dalhousie, Ontario . During adolescence, he floated from regional band to regional band in pursuit of a career as a full-time drummer...

 telling a dystopia
Dystopia
A dystopia is the idea of a society in a repressive and controlled state, often under the guise of being utopian, as characterized in books like Brave New World and Nineteen Eighty-Four...

n story set in the year 2112. The album is sometimes described as a concept album
Concept album
In music, a concept album is an album that is "unified by a theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, narrative, or lyrical." Commonly, concept albums tend to incorporate preconceived musical or lyrical ideas rather than being improvised or composed in the studio, with all songs contributing...

 although the songs on the second side are unrelated to the plot of the suite. Rush repeated this arrangement on the 1978 album Hemispheres
Hemispheres (Rush album)
Hemispheres is the sixth studio album by Canadian rock band Rush, released in 1978. The album was recorded at Rockfield Studios in Wales and mixed at Trident Studios in London....

.

2112 is one of two Rush albums listed in 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die
1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die
1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die is a musical reference book edited by Robert Dimery, first published in 2005. The most recent edition consists of a list of albums released between 1955 and 2010, part of a series from Quintessence Editions Ltd...

(the other being Moving Pictures
Moving Pictures (album)
- Personnel :* Geddy Lee - Bass guitar; Minimoog; Oberheim 8-voice synthesizer; OB-X, Moog Taurus bass pedals, vocals* Alex Lifeson - Electric and acoustic guitars, Moog Taurus...

). In 2006, a poll of Planet Rock listeners picked 2112 as the definitive Rush album.

The Toronto dates of the 2112 tour were recorded and released as All The World's a Stage
All the World's a Stage (album)
All the World's a Stage is a double live album by Canadian rock band Rush, released in 1976. The album was recorded at Massey Hall in Toronto on June 11 through 13 during their 2112 tour...

in September 1976.

Breakthrough

Due to the relative commercial failure of their previous album, Caress of Steel
Caress of Steel
Caress of Steel is the third studio album by Canadian rock band Rush, released in 1975. The album shows more of Rush's adherence to hard progressive rock, as opposed to the blues-based heavy metal and hard rock style of the band's first two albums. Long pieces broken up into various sections and...

, the record label is said to have pressured the band not to do another album with "concept" songs. Caress of Steel contains two multi-part epics: the 12-minute "The Necromancer" (side one) and the side-long epic "The Fountain of Lamneth" (side two).

By their own recollection, the band stuck to their principles and recorded what would become their first commercial success, and ultimately a signature record. 2112 was released in March 1976 and landed on the Billboard Hot 100 album chart, becoming their first album to reach the Billboard Top 100. 2112 would eventually be certified Gold on November 16, 1977, along with the band's then current releases A Farewell to Kings
A Farewell to Kings
A Farewell to Kings is the fifth studio album by Canadian rock band Rush, released in 1977. The album was recorded at Rockfield Studios in Wales, and mixed at Advision Studios in London....

and the live All The World's a Stage
All the World's a Stage (album)
All the World's a Stage is a double live album by Canadian rock band Rush, released in 1976. The album was recorded at Massey Hall in Toronto on June 11 through 13 during their 2112 tour...

. 2112 reached Platinum status on February 25, 1981, shortly after the release of Moving Pictures
Moving Pictures (album)
- Personnel :* Geddy Lee - Bass guitar; Minimoog; Oberheim 8-voice synthesizer; OB-X, Moog Taurus bass pedals, vocals* Alex Lifeson - Electric and acoustic guitars, Moog Taurus...

in 1981, the latter being their biggest selling record to date.

2112

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 Federation. By 2112, the world is controlled by the "Priests of the Temples of Syrinx", who determine the content of all reading matter, songs, pictures - every facet of life.

A man discovers a guitar and learns to play different music. When he goes to present this to the priests of the Temples, they destroy the guitar. He goes into hiding and dreams of a world before the Solar Federation. Upon awakening he becomes distraught and commits suicide. As he dies, another planetary battle 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 album, Neil Peart credits "the genus [sic] of Ayn Rand
Ayn Rand
Ayn Rand was a Russian-American novelist, philosopher, playwright, and screenwriter. She is known for her two best-selling novels The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged and for developing a philosophical system she called Objectivism....

." Rand, a Russian-born American novelist and creator of the philosophy Objectivism
Objectivism (Ayn Rand)
Objectivism is a philosophy created by the Russian-American philosopher and novelist Ayn Rand . Objectivism holds that reality exists independent of consciousness, that human beings have direct contact with reality through sense perception, that one can attain objective knowledge from perception...

, wrote a novella entitled Anthem
Anthem (novella)
Anthem is a dystopian fiction novella by Ayn Rand, written in 1937 and first published in 1938 in England. It takes place at some unspecified future date when mankind has entered another dark age characterized by irrationality, collectivism, and socialistic thinking and economics...

(itself adopted as the title of another Rush song, from the album Fly By Night) from which Peart borrowed the broad strokes of the plot.

Remaining songs

The other songs on the album stand alone from the title track, with Geddy Lee
Geddy Lee
Gary Lee Weinrib, OC, better known as Geddy Lee , is a Canadian musician, best known as the lead vocalist, bassist, and keyboardist for the Canadian rock group Rush...

 and Alex Lifeson
Alex Lifeson
Aleksandar Živojinović, OC, better known by his stage name Alex Lifeson, is a second generation Serbian-Canadian musician, best known as the guitarist of the Canadian rock band Rush. In the summer of 1968, Lifeson founded the band that would become Rush with friend, drummer John Rutsey...

 writing lyrics for one song each ("Tears" and "Lessons", respectively). All other lyrics were penned by Peart.

"Tears" would be the first Rush song to feature an outside musician. Hugh Syme
Hugh Syme
Hugh Syme is a Canadian Juno Award-winning graphic artist who is best known for his artwork and cover concepts for rock and metal bands. He is also a musician and has appeared in some Rush songs as a keyboard player. Syme is notably responsible for all of Rush's album cover art since 1975's Caress...

, who would play keyboards on a number of Rush songs in the future, (e.g., "Different Strings" on Permanent Waves
Permanent Waves
Permanent Waves is the seventh studio album by the Canadian rock band Rush, released January 1, 1980. The album was recorded at Le Studio, Morin Heights, Quebec, and was mixed at Trident Studios in London, UK. Permanent Waves became Rush's first US Top 5 album hitting #4 and was the band's fifth...

and "Witch Hunt" on Moving Pictures
Moving Pictures (album)
- Personnel :* Geddy Lee - Bass guitar; Minimoog; Oberheim 8-voice synthesizer; OB-X, Moog Taurus bass pedals, vocals* Alex Lifeson - Electric and acoustic guitars, Moog Taurus...

) contributes a multi-tracked Mellotron
Mellotron
The Mellotron is an electro-mechanical, polyphonic tape replay keyboard originally developed and built in Birmingham, England in the early 1960s. It superseded the Chamberlin Music Master, which was the world's first sample-playback keyboard intended for music...

 string and flute part to the track. "A Passage to Bangkok" and "The Twilight Zone" are songs typical of this time period of Rush. "The Twilight Zone" was written and recorded in one day. "Something for Nothing" closes out the album. Neil Peart states: "All those paeans to American restlessness and the American road carried a tinge of wistfulness, an acknowledgment of the hardships of the vagrant life, the notion that wanderlust could be involuntary, exile as much as freedom, and indeed, the understanding that freedom wasn't free. In the mid-'70s, the band was driving to a show in downtown Los Angeles, at the Shrine Auditorium, and I noticed some graffiti splattered across a wall: 'Freedom isn't free,' and I adapted that for a song on 2112, 'Something for Nothing'".

Starman emblem

The Starman emblem (also known as the 'Man in the Star' logo) was adopted by Rush fans as a logo since its first 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 symbolizes any collectivist mentality."

With regard to the album, the 'collectivist mentality' referred to is depicted as the Red Star of the Solar Federation, which according to the plot is a galaxy-wide confederation that controls all aspects of life during the year 2112. The figure in the emblem is depicted as being the 'Hero' of the album. Hugh Syme
Hugh Syme
Hugh Syme is a Canadian Juno Award-winning graphic artist who is best known for his artwork and cover concepts for rock and metal bands. He is also a musician and has appeared in some Rush songs as a keyboard player. Syme is notably responsible for all of Rush's album cover art since 1975's Caress...

, the creator of many of Rush's 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 Federation, which was one of Neil's symbols. We basically based that cover around the red star and that hero."

The logo also appears on six other Rush album covers: on the backdrop behind Peart's drumkit in All the World's a Stage
All the World's a Stage (album)
All the World's a Stage is a double live album by Canadian rock band Rush, released in 1976. The album was recorded at Massey Hall in Toronto on June 11 through 13 during their 2112 tour...

, their first live album released in 1976; in one of the pictures that is being moved in Moving Pictures
Moving Pictures (album)
- Personnel :* Geddy Lee - Bass guitar; Minimoog; Oberheim 8-voice synthesizer; OB-X, Moog Taurus bass pedals, vocals* Alex Lifeson - Electric and acoustic guitars, Moog Taurus...

; on Retrospective 1; on Archives
Archives (Rush album)
Archives is a compilation album by Rush, released in April 1978 . The compilation was a complete repackaging of the band's first three albums . Originally released with a faded grey cover, it was later repackaged with a darker, black cover...

, a compilation album released in 1978; on their 1981 live album Exit...Stage Left
Exit...Stage Left
Exit...Stage Left is a live album by Canadian band Rush, released in 1981. A video release with the same name, with slightly different content, was released in 1982 on VHS and later on Laserdisc, and in 2007 on DVD....

, in the background amongst symbols from all their previous work; on their 2003 compilation The Spirit of Radio; and on their 2004 covers album Feedback
Feedback (Rush album)
Rhapsody praised the album, calling it one of their favorite cover albums. Allmusic reviewer Thom Jurek called the tracklist "amazing" and said "None of these tunes are done with an ounce of camp...

.

Cultural significance

The Audio-Visual Preservation Trust of Canada
Audio-Visual Preservation Trust of Canada
The Audio-Visual Preservation Trust of Canada was a charitable non-profit organization dedicated to promoting the preservation of Canada’s audio-visual heritage, and to facilitating access to regional and national collections through partnerships with members of Canada's audio-visual community...

, a non-profit Canadian charitable organization dedicated to promoting the preservation of Canada's audio-visual heritage, has sponsored MasterWorks, which annually recognizes 12 culturally significant Canadian classics from the film, radio, TV and music industries. In 2006, 2112 was one of the albums chosen to be preserved.

Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock

The newest title in the Guitar Hero
Guitar Hero
Guitar Hero is a music video game developed by Harmonix Music Systems and published by RedOctane for the PlayStation 2 video game console. It is the first entry in the Guitar Hero series. Guitar Hero was released on November 8, 2005 in North America, April 7, 2006 in Europe and June 15, 2006 in...

franchise, Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock
Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock
Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock is a music video game and the sixth main entry in the Guitar Hero series for the PlayStation 3, Wii, and Xbox 360 consoles. The game was released September 24, 2010 in Europe, September 28, 2010 in North America and September 29, 2010 in Australia...

features the song 2112 in its entirety as seven different tracks. In the Quest mode of the game, the player receives the Legendary Guitar after finishing the 2112 chapter. Some of the venues in the game were inspired by the song.
The narration in Quest mode of the game in the 2112 chapter is narrated by the band.

Reception

Track listing

All lyrics by Neil Peart
Neil Peart
Neil Ellwood Peart , OC, is a Canadian musician and author. He is the drummer for the rock band Rush.Peart grew up in Port Dalhousie, Ontario . During adolescence, he floated from regional band to regional band in pursuit of a career as a full-time drummer...

 and music by Geddy Lee
Geddy Lee
Gary Lee Weinrib, OC, better known as Geddy Lee , is a Canadian musician, best known as the lead vocalist, bassist, and keyboardist for the Canadian rock group Rush...

 and Alex Lifeson
Alex Lifeson
Aleksandar Živojinović, OC, better known by his stage name Alex Lifeson, is a second generation Serbian-Canadian musician, best known as the guitarist of the Canadian rock band Rush. In the summer of 1968, Lifeson founded the band that would become Rush with friend, drummer John Rutsey...

, except where noted.
  1. "2112
    2112 (song)
    2112 is the sidelong title track of Canadian progressive rock band Rush's album of the same name, released in 1976. The overture and the first section, Temples of Syrinx, were released as a single and are still popular among Rush's setlists today. The "sci-fi" sounds in the beginning of the song...

    " – 20:33
    • I: "Overture" – 4:33 (0:00—4:33)
    • II: "The Temples of Syrinx" – 2:12 (4:33—6:45)
    • III: "Discovery" (music: Lifeson) – 3:29 (6:45—10:14)
    • IV: "Presentation" (music: Lifeson) – 3:42 (10:14—13:56)
    • V: "Oracle: The Dream" – 2:00 (13:56—15:56)
    • VI: "Soliloquy" – 2:21 (15:56—18:17)
    • VII: "Grand Finale" – 2:14 (18:17—20:33)
  2. "A Passage to Bangkok
    A Passage to Bangkok
    "A Passage to Bangkok" is the second song on Rush's album, 2112. Released in 1976, the song follows the album's title song 2112. The song opens with a driving guitar riff...

    " – 3:34
  3. "The Twilight Zone
    The Twilight Zone (Rush song)
    "The Twilight Zone" is the third track on Rush's album 2112. It was released in 1976. As with most Rush songs, the lyrics are written by Neil Peart. It is based on two episodes of The Twilight Zone, the first stanza of the song being based on the episode "Will the Real Martian Please Stand Up?",...

    " – 3:17
  4. "Lessons" (Lifeson) – 3:51
  5. "Tears" (Lee) – 3:33
  6. "Something for Nothing" (music: Lee) – 3:58

Rush

  • Geddy Lee
    Geddy Lee
    Gary Lee Weinrib, OC, better known as Geddy Lee , is a Canadian musician, best known as the lead vocalist, bassist, and keyboardist for the Canadian rock group Rush...

     – bass guitar, vocals, acoustic guitar, synthesizer
  • Alex Lifeson
    Alex Lifeson
    Aleksandar Živojinović, OC, better known by his stage name Alex Lifeson, is a second generation Serbian-Canadian musician, best known as the guitarist of the Canadian rock band Rush. In the summer of 1968, Lifeson founded the band that would become Rush with friend, drummer John Rutsey...

     – acoustic and electric guitars
  • Neil Peart
    Neil Peart
    Neil Ellwood Peart , OC, is a Canadian musician and author. He is the drummer for the rock band Rush.Peart grew up in Port Dalhousie, Ontario . During adolescence, he floated from regional band to regional band in pursuit of a career as a full-time drummer...

     – drums, percussion

Production

  • Arranged & Produced By Rush & Terry Brown
  • Recorded, Engineered & Mixed By Terry Brown
  • Mastered By Brian Lee & Bob Ludwig

Album

Billboard (USA)
Year Chart Position
1976 Pop Albums 61

Sales certifications

Country Organization Sales
U.S. RIAA 3x Multi-Platinum (3,000,000)

Singles

"The Twilight Zone
The Twilight Zone (Rush song)
"The Twilight Zone" is the third track on Rush's album 2112. It was released in 1976. As with most Rush songs, the lyrics are written by Neil Peart. It is based on two episodes of The Twilight Zone, the first stanza of the song being based on the episode "Will the Real Martian Please Stand Up?",...

"
  • Released:
  • Written by: Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson & Neil Peart
  • Produced by: Rush
    Rush (band)
    Rush is a Canadian rock band formed in August 1968, in the Willowdale neighbourhood of Toronto, Ontario. The band is composed of bassist, keyboardist, and lead vocalist Geddy Lee, guitarist Alex Lifeson, and drummer and lyricist Neil Peart...

     and Terry Brown
    Terry Brown (record producer)
    Terry Brown is a record producer involved in a variety of work, but most noted for his involvement with the Canadian rock band Rush and the British/Canadian band Cutting Crew. Brown is currently working with emerging Ottawa roots-rockers Ken Workman & The Union. He is referred to fondly by the band...

  • Chart positions:

"2112: Overture/The Temples of Syrinx
2112 (song)
2112 is the sidelong title track of Canadian progressive rock band Rush's album of the same name, released in 1976. The overture and the first section, Temples of Syrinx, were released as a single and are still popular among Rush's setlists today. The "sci-fi" sounds in the beginning of the song...

"
  • Released:
  • Written by: Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson & Neil Peart
  • Produced by: Rush
    Rush (band)
    Rush is a Canadian rock band formed in August 1968, in the Willowdale neighbourhood of Toronto, Ontario. The band is composed of bassist, keyboardist, and lead vocalist Geddy Lee, guitarist Alex Lifeson, and drummer and lyricist Neil Peart...

     and Terry Brown
    Terry Brown (record producer)
    Terry Brown is a record producer involved in a variety of work, but most noted for his involvement with the Canadian rock band Rush and the British/Canadian band Cutting Crew. Brown is currently working with emerging Ottawa roots-rockers Ken Workman & The Union. He is referred to fondly by the band...

  • Chart positions:

"A Passage to Bangkok
A Passage to Bangkok
"A Passage to Bangkok" is the second song on Rush's album, 2112. Released in 1976, the song follows the album's title song 2112. The song opens with a driving guitar riff...

"
  • Released:
  • Written by: Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson & Neil Peart
  • Produced by: Rush
    Rush (band)
    Rush is a Canadian rock band formed in August 1968, in the Willowdale neighbourhood of Toronto, Ontario. The band is composed of bassist, keyboardist, and lead vocalist Geddy Lee, guitarist Alex Lifeson, and drummer and lyricist Neil Peart...

     and Terry Brown
    Terry Brown (record producer)
    Terry Brown is a record producer involved in a variety of work, but most noted for his involvement with the Canadian rock band Rush and the British/Canadian band Cutting Crew. Brown is currently working with emerging Ottawa roots-rockers Ken Workman & The Union. He is referred to fondly by the band...

  • Chart positions:

Remaster details

Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab
Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab
Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab is a company known as an innovator in the production of audiophile-quality sound recordings. All releases are advertised as being produced from the first-generation analog master recordings, and using proprietary technology, which MFSL claims allows for improved sound...

 issued a Gold CD remaster in 1993, currently out of print.

A Mercury Records remaster was issued in 1997.
  • The tray has a picture of the star with man painting (mirroring the cover art of Retrospective I
    Retrospective I
    Retrospective I: 1974 to 1980 is a compilation album by Canadian rock band Rush, released in 1997 . The album is essentially a collection of their best songs from the first decade of the band...

    ) 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 including 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.
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