Sector 3

Recording information: Abbey Road Studios, London (04/1982-07/1982); Air Studios, Montserrat (04/1982-07/1982); Angel Studios, London (04/1982-07/1982); Le Studio (04/1982-07/1982); Le Studio, Quebec (04/1982-07/1982); McClear Place, Toronto (04/1982-07/1982); Sarm East, London (04/1982-07/1982); The Manor, England (04/1982-07/1982); Abbey Road Studios, London (11/1983-03/1984); Air Studios, Montserrat (11/1983-03/1984); Angel Studios, London (11/1983-03/1984); Le Studio (11/1983-03/1984); Le Studio, Quebec (11/1983-03/1984); McClear Place, Toronto (11/1983-03/1984); Sarm East, London (11/1983-03/1984); The Manor, England (11/1983-03/1984).
Photographers: Yousuf Karsh; Dimo Safari; Ross Halfin; Deborah Samuel; Glenn Wexler; Fin Costello; Andrew MacNaughtan.
Sector 3, the third installment of Rush's Sector series of box sets, finds the band diving headlong into the `80s with a more synth-oriented approach. Featuring the albums Signals, Grace Under Pressure, Power Windows, Hold Your Fire, and the live album A Show of Hands, this period of Rush's career finds them focusing more on Geddy Lee's multi-layered synthesizer excursions and finds guitarist Alex Lifeson moving into more of a support role as he begins to experiment with a more effects-heavy sound. Despite these changes, it would still prove to be a strong period for them as three albums in the set achieved platinum status in the United States (with all five of them hitting platinum in their native Canada). Serving as a blast from the past, these remastered reissues are repackaged in tiny re-creations of the original vinyl LP jackets, and the set also features a 52-page booklet containing lyrics and unreleased photos from the era. Also of interest to die-hard fans and audiophiles, the set includes a DVD-Audio version of Signals that contains both stereo and 5.1 Surround mixes of the album for those who wish to explore all the sonic depths that the album has to offer. ~ Gregory Heaney