Moving Pictures was the eighth studio album by Rush, released on February 12, 1981 on Anthem Records. After touring to support their previous album, Permanent Waves (1980), the band started to write and record new material in August 1980 with co-producer Terry Brown. They continued to write songs with a more radio friendly format, featuring tighter song structures and songs of shorter length compared to their early albums.
12-Feb-81 Photo By: Rob Verhorst/Redferns/Getty Images
Released on February 12, 1981 on Anthem Records, Moving Pictures reached Number 1 in Canada and Number 3 in the U.S. and the U.K. It remains Rush's highest selling album in the U.S. after it was certified quadruple-platinum by the RIAA for over 4 million copies sold
The album cover is a monument to triple entendre. On the front cover there are movers who are moving pictures. On the side, people are shown crying because the pictures passing by are emotionally “moving." Finally, the back cover has a film crew making a "moving picture" of the whole scene
Ontario Legislative Building Photo By: Roberto Machado Noa/LightRocket via Getty Images
The album cover photo was taken in front of the Ontario Legislative Building at Queen's Park, Toronto. The pictures that are being moved are the Rush starman logo, one of the famous Dogs Playing Poker paintings entitled A Friend in Need, and a painting that presumably shows Joan of Arc being burned at the stake on May 30, 1431
The first mover seen furthest to the left on the album cover, Bobby King, was a member of Hugh Syme's design team. King is not only one of the movers, but also the original Starman on 2112 and Dionysus (the nude man) on the Hemispheres cover
Red Barchetta Photo By: Fin Costello/Redferns/Getty Images
Neil Peart's lyrics to "Red Barchetta" were inspired by the short story "A Nice Morning Drive" by Richard S. Foster, originally written in the November 1973 edition of Road & Track magazine. Instead of an MGB roadster as featured in the original story, Peart says the Ferrari 166 MM Barchetta was the car that inspired the song's title