The Exorcist (film) shot that obscured his face, as Friedkin felt that Vandis's face would be connected with his previous role in the Woody Allen film "Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex* (*But Were Afraid to Ask)". Vandis had previously played Milos Stavros, an Armenian shepherd who was in love with a sheep. Warners had approached Arthur Penn, Stanley Kubrick, and Mike Nichols, to direct, all of whom turned the project down. Originally Mark Rydell was hired to direct, but William Peter Blatty insisted on Friedkin instead, because he wanted his film to have the same energy as Friedkin's previous film,
Everything Your Listeners Ever Wanted to Hear by Rush... But You Were Afraid to Play partly due to both the increasing length and complex nature of the material. "2112" had been a surprise success in 1976, but still had not received much airplay. The band were working on a fifth studio album to be released later in 1977, so presumably the compilation was intended to promote some of the more radio-friendly tracks from the albums in between. Incidentally, the album's back cover has a blurb from "Circus" magazine with the headline "'Closer To The Heart' Will Be The Group's Sixth LP". Though no rare material is included, two songs were excerpts from their corresponding full-length