Hemispheres
	Produced by Rush and Terry Brown
	Released on November 1978
	US CHART POSITION #47 . . . GOLD RECORD (12/14/78), PLATINUM (12/1/93) . . . UK CHART POSITION #14
	Find it at GEMM
P2-22547 cover [high resolution scan]

G iven wisdom, given love, balance between the two is the answer. That’s the message of “Hemispheres,” an 18-minute Greek tragedy that, despite its allusion to “Cygnus X-1,” is more of a followup to 2112. Rush has always had trouble with the extended epic format; they write brilliant five- and six-minute songs, but they never seem to create enough music to support multi-part suites. The same themes are re-cast from part to part, disappearing in time only to reappear louder somewhere later. And that’s my knock on “Hemispheres” -- it would have made a great six-minute song, but over eighteen minutes the music becomes too self-referential. Maybe the answer for Rush is to follow the approach of other prog acts, and fuse different songs together as parts of a single epic, rather than stretching a single song to cover multiple parts. As a result, the album’s balance shifts in favor of side two, all of it classic Rush. “Circumstances” is the kind of punched-up pep talk that Rush would re-visit on “Freewill,” “The Trees” is the engaging offspring of “The End,” and “La Villa Strangiato” might be the best instrumental workout of their career. Hemispheres is ultimately half of a great album, not the sustained brilliance of Permanent Waves or Moving Pictures, but deservedly a staple in any balanced repast of Rush.

TRACK LISTING

1. CYGNUS X-I BOOK II: HEMISPHERES    18:05
   I. Prelude
   II. Apollo (Bringer of Wisdom)
   III. Dionysus (Bringer of Love)
   IV. Armageddon (The Battle of Heart and Mind)
   V. Cygnus (Bringer of Balance)
   VI. The Sphere (A Kind of Dream)
2. CIRCUMSTANCES    3:41
3. THE TREES    4:46
4. LA VILLA STRANGIATO, including...    (Geddy Lee/Alex Lifeson/Neil Peart)    9:35
   I - Buenos Nochas, Mein Froinds!
   II - To sleep, perchance to dream...
   III - Strangiato theme
   IV - A Lerxst in Wonderland
   V - Monsters!
   VI - The Ghost of the 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
   
   Music by Geddy Lee/Alex Lifeson and lyrics by Neil Peart unless noted. Arrangements by Rush and Terry Brown.

CREDITS

GEDDY LEE -- bass guitar, Mini-moog, Oberheim polyphonic, Taurus pedals, vocals
ALEX LIFESON -- six and twelve string electric and acoustic guitars, classical guitar, Roland guitar synthesizer, Taurus pedals
NEIL PEART -- drums, orchestra bells, bell-tree, tympani, gong, cowbells, temple blocks, wind chimes, crotales
Pat Moran -- engineer
Declan O'Doherty -- engineer
Terry Brown (with invaluable assistance from John Brand) -- mix engineer
Hugh Syme -- graphics, art direction
Bob King -- art direction
Yosh Inouye -- cover photography

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