I was warned that this 1978 offering from Rush was a bit weird. Having listened to a good chunk of it on line the other day, I don't know if I would call it weird, however, it does seem that Rush was determined to put out another concept album. "Hemispheres" adheres to Neil Peart's love of fantasy and science fiction and the desire to get it down in music. The result was an album which two of the songs were in excess of nine minutes, (the first track Cygnus X1- Book II, Hemispheres is eighteen minutes) filled with the type of prog rock which Rush was becoming famous for.
There are some people out there who don't like listen to songs that are much more than seven minutes long, let alone an entire album of them. For those of us who don't have a problem with it, this album is great for listening to when you are doing other things. It served that purposer for me the other day. That doesn't mean you can't just sit down and listen to them for the pure sake of doing so. Great when you are on a long drive or just sitting back and listening. "Hemispheres" is a very good album for doing just that. It has the trademark Rush sound which has defined them for over thirty years now.
Track Listings:
1. Cygnus Book X1 Part II, Hemispheres
I. Prelude
II. Apollo Bringer of Wisdom
III. Dionysus- Bringer of Love
IV. Armageddon, The Battle of Heart and Mind
V. Cygnus- The Bringer of Balance
VI. The Sphere, A Kind of Dream
2. Circumstances
3. The Trees
4. La Villa Strangiato (An Excercise in Self Indulgence)
I. Buenos Nachos Mein Froinds
II. To sleep, perchance to dream
III. Strangatio Theme
IV. A Lerxst in Wonderland
V. Monsters!
VI. The Ghost of Aragon
VII. Danforth and Pape
VIII. The Waltz of the Shreves
IX. Never turn your back on a Monster
X. Monsters (Reprise)
XI. Strangiato Theme (Reprise)
XII. A Farewell to Things
RUSH
Geddy Lee- vocals, bass, mini moog, oberheim polyphonic, tarus pedals
Alex Liefson, guitars, guitar synthesiser, mini moog,
Neil Peart- drums, percussion, bells
As far as concept albums go, this one is one of the best. In the following albums, Rush would return to more traditional type album structure, but "Hemispheres" is still a good listen.
Next Post: Foreigner- Double Vision
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