Moving Pictures is the eighth studio album by Canadian progressive rock band Rush, released on February 12, 1981, through 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.
 
Moving Pictures received a positive reception from current and retrospective music critics and became an instant commercial success, reaching number one in Canada and number 3 in the United States and the United Kingdom. It remains Rush's highest-selling album in the United States, with 5 million copies sold. "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 auditioned some of the songs on a tour before recording the album (September 11 to October 1, 1980), and supported the album on tour from February to July 1981.