HEMISPHERES

While prog was on it's dying breath in 1978 Rush seemed to have only started their classic era. With punk taking over it seemed only natural that the surviving prog bands would have to hit hard. Enter Rush's Hemispheres, a hard hitting album that's still as prog as they come, yet still lets the heads bang.

The album consists of four songs, each one of them a construct of grandeur. HEMISPHERE'S (or CYGNUS X-1 BOOK II, whichever name you like better) starts out the fray, continuing on from the coda track from "Farewell to Kings". However, while the first part to this song was especially heavy and sreamy, part II is a bit more midpaced, allowing more storytelling. The track, though avant gard, refers to a battle between the two sides of the brain, portrayed by the gods Apollo and Dionysus, and their followers. Each side gets its ups and downs until the end when the main character makes his way through the bacl hole of Cygnus X-1 and stops the warring gods with a plea, making him Cygnus, god of balance. All in all the track is an incredable combination of songwritting and instumentation, and showcases each member's ability to it's finest. An essential prog track.

The rest of the album consists of shorter songs until we hit the coda. CIRCUMSTANCES and THE TREES are both great tracks, both very heavy in their approach, and the latter of which uses more avant gard storytelling. Soon we hit the next great standout on the album, the 9-minute instumental LA VILLA STRANGIATO, which starts out with a quiet guitar and explodes into a full blown epic journey. It's very hard to describe with words, as a matter of fact.

When it comes right down to it this is an essential band at their essential moment in life, and they have given us a masterpiece deserving no less than 5 stars.

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