HEMISPHERES

I have been listening to this album for the past 10 years and it continues to grow on me each time I've listened to it. Rush's 6th studio album titled, Hemispheres, is an incredible work of progressive rock masterpiece! Covering your basic element's of progressive rock (complex lyrics, frequent changes in tempo, mix-meter sections, extensive use of instrumental counterpoint, etc...), Rush out does even themselves on this album. Lets take a look at the songs:

Track 1 - Cygnus X1 Book II, Hemisphere's What an amazing piece of music. As any Rush fan would know, this song is the sequel to Cygnus X1 on the album A Farewell to Kings. Lyrically, this song is following up to what happened to our hero and his Rocinante when they were being pulled into the black hole Cygnus X1. In this song, our hero falls into a world where there is a battle between heart and mind (Apollo and Dioneisus). When our hero breaks through the black hole and approaches the world, the battle stops to see what was approaching above. For stopping the war, the people called our hero, Cygnus, the God of Balance. Musically, this songs weaves nicely from one section to the next. It is over 18 minutes in length and every part of it is just as good as the last. Geddy's Rickenbacker is in full mid crunch here and blends nicely with Alex's guitar work of chords and melodies. Meanwhile Neil Peart the bands drummer and lyricist, is going through many different beats with easy. He adds little flares to his beats so he's not always doing the same thing. Doing this, he adds a nice texture to the music while keeping together the rest of the band. Great song, many different sections, fantastic ending, what's not to like?

Track 2 - Circumstances A finely crafted song that is both technical and meaningful. An autobiographical account of Peart's time in London, England, he takes you there with his complex drumming patterns and seemless flow of lyrics. Take a close listen to Geddy's bass line in this song because this is the ground work for his lines in Rush's mid-80's album catalog. Alex takes a heavier approach in this song giving it an added thickness that is very pleasant for the ears. Listen closely to the french lyrics in this song, the more that things change, the more they stay the same.

Track 3 - The Trees A Rush staple! This is a song that everyone has heard at one time or another. It opens up with a fingerpicked melody by Alex Lifeson on Classical guitar. When Geddy starts singing, the combination of his voice along with the classical guitar sounds almost madrigal like (Rush has dabbled with Madrigal esque songs before). Neil Peart brings us into the heavier section when he comes in with a thundering eighth note line. My favorite part of this song is the 5/4 section in the middle. It just builds up so nicely and Rush always finds a way to make a seemless transition back into the main theme of the song.

Track 4 - La Villa Strangiato (an exercise in self-indulgence) At the time, Rush's most out there song, but as people kept listening to it, they realized the same thing we do today. It is a great song that shows Rush's talent for incorporating many different styles, or even genres, into one song. This song is complex, serious, humorous, scary, and just plain fun to listen to. It is like going to the circus, Rush style. This is one of Alex's most technical classical guitar lines he has ever wrote and still pulls it off nicely to this day. Geddy's bass lines in this song are very funky, but he also holds it down when Alex comes in with a nice melody or something very technical. When I see Rush live, Neil Peart's drum solo always reminds me of this song. He incorporates jazz elements more than usual in this song and lays the ground work for future ideas in his drum solos. This song truly is an exercise of self indulgence.

Probably the main thing that ties this album together is the use of the synthesizer on each song. Geddy always chooses warm synth settings to make the music sound really warm as a whole. His leads are creative, versatile, and pleasant on the ears, while some synth players use settings that are too loud and in-your-face, taking away from the overall quality of the sound. Personally, there is a nice degree of difficulty on both the bass and the synth, and Geddy Lee does a good job of balancing the two on this album.

If you like Rush, you need to have this album in your collection...buy it!