Moving Pictures is the eighth studio album by Canadian rock band Rush, released on February 12, 1981, by 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 longtime co-producer Terry Brown. They continued to write songs with a more radio-friendly sound, featuring tighter and shorter song structures compared to their earlier albums.
"Limelight", "Tom Sawyer" and "Vital Signs" were released as singles across 1981, and the instrumental "YYZ" was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance. Rush supported the album on tour from February to July 1981. In 2020, Rolling Stone ranked the album number 379 on its list of the "500 Greatest Albums of All Time".
Moving Pictures received a positive reception from contemporary and retrospective music critics and became an instant commercial success. The album reached number one in Canada and number three in both the United States and the United Kingdom. Moving Pictures is the fastest-selling album in the band's catalogue. It was certified Platinum by the RIAA on April 27, 1981 for one million copies sold, just two months after the album's release. It has since been certified Platinum five times over, for five million copies sold in the United States.
