HEMISPHERES

Side A: 1. Cygnus X-1 Book II Hemispheres (18:04) : - i. Prelude (4:27) - ii. Apollo / III Dionysus (4:36) - iv. Armageddon (2:55) - v. Cygnus (5:01) - vi. The Sphere (1:02) Cygnus X-1 Book II is not a real suite. The Prelude is a single piece, it consists of a largely instrumental rock piece with great rhythm guitar work, but the piece doesn't take off, and the vocals come in late. Interlocutory beginning, then another rock piece (similar to the previous one) starts with a beautiful acid guitar solo but with the same sustained pace, full of (boring) stop and go. The third movement starts at the ninth minute with a change of rhythm, but then comes back to be similar to the firsts two. It all seems like a long, exhausting ride, always the same. Then around 12 minutes, when the music seems to wrap around itself, the music stops to give space to the synths. There is the suspended piece, cinematic, evocative, which constitutes a nice break. At about 14.40 the rock music starts again, it changes pace at 16 minutes, and it ends at the 17th minute. The last minute begins with the vocals by Lee accompanied by the acoustic guitar.

This suite, which excludes the initial 4 and a half minutes rock and the last acoustic minute, is very tiring and largely monotonous. There is a lot of effort but little inspiration for such a long piece. In fact, the first 12 minutes feel like a grueling ride almost all the same. Then it gets better, but too little too late to become a memorable piece. Total rating 7+.

Side B: 2. Circumstances (3:40). Second side opens with a conventional rock-song verse-chorus-verse-chorus, with an instrumental interlude with the keyboards. Rating: 7,5.

3. The Trees (4:42): it's a song that begins with acoustic guitar, but the transition to rock takes place without any gradualness and coherence, simply after the acoustic piece comes the electric piece with Lee's voice, then the usual instrumental interlude with the synths and the bass. Then, a Lifeson's solo and vocals again. Rush still fails to delineate elaborate suites or songs with coherent atmospheric passages - they simply layer acoustic pieces over electric pieces and fast beats to slow beats. This however is a good piece, so I rate 7.5 / 8.

4. La Villa Strangiato (9:35): is a nine and a half minute instrumental piece that begins with a flamenco style acoustic guitar and then, with a musical progression, becomes electric and bold, led by an electric guitar riff. At about three and a half minutes it slows down, and Peart takes the opportunity to play jazz style while Lifeson's guitar does some notable decorations: this interlude is the best of the whole album. At about 6 minutes the main riff resumes, and the players take advantage of it for solos, first the bass played by Lee, then the drums. At about 7 and a half minutes the piece have said everything it needed to say but it continues for another two minutes, accelerating the pace and becoming more frantic. It is by far the album's masterpiece and generally one of the best pieces in the entire Rush discography. Rated 8.5.

Second side quality: rating 8.

The second side is better than the first, and gets better from song to song. The first side suite is not entirely convincing. Overall the album is compact and settles on a decent or good musical quality, reaching its peak in the last song.

Rating: 7,5/8. Three Stars.

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