Last week, I wrote a pretty angry entry regarding Rock Band 2 and the inclusion of "Tangled Up in Blue" in the game. And while I still feel that song is terrible, the tone of that entry was probably more vindictive than was necessary.

Regardless, it's water under the bridge for me, now that Harmonix has released the slightly delayed album pack of Rush's "Moving Pictures" this week. I'm a legitimate Rush nut--I've seen the band at least 15 times live all over the country--and playing through this album in Rock Band 2 took me back to the days when I was a teenager, working to try and figure out Geddy Lee's basslines on my crappy Squier Jazz bass and Epiphone practice amp.

As for highlights--and there are so many great moments on this album, both as a listener and a Rock Band player--the best for me has to be the sheer sound of it. Much has been written about the sound quality in album downloads in Guitar Hero: World Tour and Rock Band and, to my untrained ears, "Moving Pictures" is sounding better than ever. Even better, I'll point out, than the gold re-master of the CD that was released a few years ago.

Rush being a trio, the bass, guitar, and drums all get prominent placement in the original mixes anyway but, for me, the bellweather on the Rock Band version of "Moving Pictures" is the keyboard-centric "The Camera Eye", a 10-minute opus that is one of my favorite Rush songs. Great drumming by Neil Peart, excellent, muscular bass-playing by Geddy, and, naturally, fantastic guitar work by Alex Lifeson. What surprised me, however, was how the keyboards--which are a central focus in the song--are so prominent in the mix. Engineers could have buried the keys in the mix, instead focusing on the (sometimes minimal) guitar work in certain sections. By focusing on the dominant instrument, however, they've created a stronger musical statement, even if it isn't necessarily always a fantastic interactive experience.

So thanks, Harmonix. You've made an old Rush fan happy. Now, I'm wondering if you've heard Rush's "Vapor Trails"...