Newly expanded and updated, this beautiful coffee table book delves into the 40-year relationship between Rush and their longtime artist and illustrator, with a foreword by drummer and lyricist Neil Peart!

Containing original illustrations, paintings, photography, and the incredible stories behind each album that Hugh Syme has designed with the band since 1975. The book's narration was written by music journalist Stephen Humphries and includes in-depth interviews with each Rush band member and the artist. The Art of Rush also contains entertaining anecdotes and commentary from a wide array of notable musicians, actors, athletes, writers, radio personalities, and Rush insiders about their favorite Rush album covers, which clearly reveals how vital and impactful the visual representation of their music has been through the years. One of the hallmark's of Rush releases is the considerable care and consideration that goes into each one--including the conceptual artwork. Readers may be surprised to discover just how much effort went into each concept and the execution for every album cover!

Some of the regaled stories include furtively crossing the border for a guerilla-style shoot for A Farewell to Kings, trying to herd a warren of rabbits for the cover of Presto, descending into the depths of an autopsy lab to find a brain for Hemispheres, and a stunt involving fire, whiskey, and photographer Deborah Samuel for Moving Pictures. But no history of the band's art would be complete without the story of the creation of arguably the band's most iconic image, The Starman from 2112.

"From the first time Hugh and I met, we shared a level of communication that would sustain us through all the years of discussing art by long distance," says Rush's Neil Peart. The Art Of Rush is a must for fans of Rush, art, and music everywhere.

Hugh Syme's profile page

Stephen Humpries' profile page

Neil Peart is an internationally acclaimed, bestselling, and award-nominated author, and for more than thirty-five years has been the celebrated drummer and lyricist for Rush, the most successful band in the history of Canadian rock music. Defying categorization, his books have earned a devoted, ever-growing readership by combining elements of memoir, travel writing, and social commentary with a thoughtful, musical sense of self-discovery. His previous books include ROADSHOW: Landscape With Drums, A Concert Tour by Motorcycle (2006), the story of Peart’s two-wheeled travels on Rush’s 30th Anniversary tour in 2004; TRAVELING MUSIC: The Soundtrack to My Life and Times (2004), a unique triple memoir of a man, a musician, and a traveler; and THE MASKED RIDER: Cycling in West Africa (1996), a richly textured account of bicycle touring in “the continent where both life and art began.” The relentlessly soul-searching GHOST RIDER: Travels on the Healing Road (2002) was chosen by The Writers’ Trust of Canada as a Drainie-Taylor Biography Prize finalist for its “exceptional merit” as one of the five best biographies of the year. For their achievements, Peart and his Rush bandmates have been appointed Officers of the Order of Canada, the country’s highest civilian honor.

Neil Peart's profile page

"The Art of Rush is a glorious thing to own and to linger over. It is a piece of perfection, in and of itself." —Progarchy