| Author |
 Topic Search  Topic Options
|
Textbook 
Forum Senior Member
Joined: October 08 2009
Status: Offline
Points: 3281
|
 Topic: Hemispheres vs A Farewell To Kings
Posted: October 12 2011 at 20:45 |
How do people rate Hemispheres as better than A Farewell To Kings? AFTK is in my opinion a five star classic. It has cheese prog (Xanadu), cool prog (Cygnus X-1), three shorter but enjoyable pop tunes and one more piece sort of inbetween them all, A Farewell To Kings. Good lyrics too. No fat on that.
Hemispheres on the other hand... well... it's not terrible, but it's no five star classic and it's clearly not as good as AFTK imo. The Trees is just about one of the worst lyrics I've ever heard. Cygnus X-1 Book II is mostly good but has some dead air, not dynamic enough and the lyrics are kind of "almost", like there was potential for something great there but they stopped a few revisions short. La Villa Strangiata is nice but not even close to the titanic awesomeness of closing with the original Cygnus X-1.
And yet Hemispheres is rated higher than AFTK on PA. Tsk. You people.
|
 |
Horizons
Collaborator
Honorary Collaborator
Joined: January 20 2011
Location: Somewhere Else
Status: Offline
Points: 16952
|
Posted: October 12 2011 at 20:53 |
Well. I personally like Cyngus x-2 more than Cyngus x-1. La Villa Strangiato is fun and incredible instrumental. The Trees have dated lyrics, but great music. Circumstances is a short and underrated song by Rush, it's really a great song overall.
Do i like Hemispheres more than Farewell to Kings? No. Are they rated the same by me? Yep, both 5*
This is all coming from a fanboy btw.
|
|
Crushed like a rose in the riverflow.
|
|
TopographicTales
Forum Senior Member
Joined: September 05 2011
Location: NJ
Status: Offline
Points: 115
|
Posted: October 12 2011 at 21:05 |
 Horizons wrote:
Do i like Hemispheres more than Farewell to Kings? No. Are they rated the same by me? Yep, both 5*
This is all coming from a fanboy btw. |
This.
|
|
richardh
Prog Reviewer
Joined: February 18 2004
Location: United Kingdom
Status: Offline
Points: 26140
|
Posted: October 13 2011 at 01:39 |
I much prefer A Farewell To Kings and would go along with the idea that it was a 5 star masterpeice (their only one in that decade imo)
Hemispheres saw them take the ideas developed on AFTK one stage further although I don't feel there is any great improvement (assuming that makes sense!). La Villa Strangiato is magnificient but thats the only track I love on that album. Rush were in bad need of a change and the punk/new wave movemnt ironically worked in their favour as they streamlined their sound and rose even higher in my eyes. The run of albums from Permanent Waves to Power Windows was one of the best of any band.Progressive in all the right ways.
|
|
Atavachron
Special Collaborator
Honorary Collaborator
Joined: September 30 2006
Location: Pearland
Status: Offline
Points: 64351
|
Posted: October 13 2011 at 01:56 |
|
Hem is sublime, Kings is not.
|
|
Jbird
Forum Senior Member
Joined: June 20 2011
Status: Offline
Points: 338
|
Posted: October 13 2011 at 15:07 |
I like 'em about the same.
My one critizism of Hemispheres is there wasnt enough different musical ideas in the title track, otherwise it's a great album.
A Farewell To Kings has alot of different-sounding songs though. IMO Closer To The Heart, Xanadu, A Farewell To Kings, and maybe Cinderella Man, are 'classic' sounding Rush songs. Cygnus X1 is quirky, quite good musically but one of the few songs that I, as an old school Rush fan (pre- Permanent Waves) didn't like Geddy's vocals on that song.
|
|
Tuzvihar
Special Collaborator
Honorary Collaborator
Joined: May 18 2005
Location: C. Schinesghe
Status: Offline
Points: 13489
|
Posted: October 13 2011 at 15:24 |
|
I like AFTK very much. And I really can't get into Hemispheres. The only song I can remember and like from it is The Trees.
|
|
"Music is much like f**king, but some composers can't climax and others climax too often, leaving themselves and the listener jaded and spent."
Charles Bukowski
|
|
Gerinski
Prog Reviewer
Joined: February 10 2010
Location: Barcelona Spain
Status: Offline
Points: 5093
|
Posted: October 13 2011 at 15:31 |
Love them both about the same, they would have made one of the best double albums in history had they had the patiente to wait and release them together as a double. They fit and flow very nicely together, they feel like made for a double. And if they would have then added a final 10 min epilogue-reprise with recurring themes from several of its songs, it would have been the cherry on the cake 
|
|
Catcher10
Forum Senior Member
VIP Member
Joined: December 23 2009
Location: Emerald City
Status: Offline
Points: 17497
|
Posted: October 13 2011 at 15:36 |
^ I actually play them back to back all the time.......and I created a separate folder for all the songs as a double album
" A Kings Farewell to Hemispheres" is what I call it.......5+ Star dbl album.
|
|
|
|
lucas
Special Collaborator
Honorary Collaborator
Joined: February 06 2004
Location: France
Status: Offline
Points: 8138
|
Posted: October 13 2011 at 16:24 |
Tuzvihar wrote:
I like AFTK very much. And I really can't get into Hemispheres. The only song I can remember and like from it is The Trees.
|
this.
|
|
"Magma was the very first gothic rock band" (Didier Lockwood)
|
|
Epignosis
Special Collaborator
Honorary Collaborator
Joined: December 30 2007
Location: Raeford, NC
Status: Offline
Points: 32477
|
Posted: October 13 2011 at 16:32 |
|
I love both, but I love Hemispheres more.
|
|
|
|
Andy Webb
Special Collaborator
Retired Admin
Joined: June 04 2010
Location: Terria
Status: Offline
Points: 13298
|
Posted: October 13 2011 at 17:05 |
Epignosis wrote:
I love both, but I love Hemispheres more.
|
Ditto.
|
|
|
|
iluvmarillion
Forum Senior Member
Joined: February 09 2010
Location: Australia
Status: Offline
Points: 3236
|
Posted: October 13 2011 at 17:15 |
Catcher10 wrote:
^ I actually play them back to back all the time.......and I created a separate folder for all the songs as a double album
" A Kings Farewell to Hemispheres" is what I call it.......5+ Star dbl album. |
My thoughts as well. Sister albums, it's like comparing a cappuccino to a cafe latte. Put the two albums together as a double album, you still have an album shorter in length than a typical Neil Morse album.
|
|
criticdrummer94
Forum Senior Member
Joined: June 16 2011
Location: Ohio
Status: Offline
Points: 431
|
Posted: October 13 2011 at 17:28 |
|
I love both of them. To me, they are Rush's best albums but AFTK is my favorite album of all time
|
  MY IDOLS
|
|
criticdrummer94
Forum Senior Member
Joined: June 16 2011
Location: Ohio
Status: Offline
Points: 431
|
Posted: October 13 2011 at 17:32 |
Catcher10 wrote:
^ I actually play them back to back all the time.......and I created a separate folder for all the songs as a double album
" A Kings Farewell to Hemispheres" is what I call it.......5+ Star dbl album. |
How about "A Farewell to Hemispheres"
|
MY IDOLS
|
|
Fox On The Rocks
Forum Senior Member
Joined: February 10 2011
Location: Toronto, Canada
Status: Offline
Points: 5012
|
Posted: October 13 2011 at 18:29 |
|
Well AFTK has Xanadu which is my favourite Rush song but the songwriting on Hemispheres is a lot more cohesive and I find it overall more appealing. I think that the first Book of Cygnus X-1 meanders too much near the middle of the song and I don't really care for Cinderella Man that much.
|
|
|
|
sideburndude...
Forum Groupie
Joined: October 13 2011
Status: Offline
Points: 69
|
Posted: October 13 2011 at 19:24 |
|
I think hemispheres is just more consistent than a farewell to kings. All tracks on Hemispheres are gold. While A Farewell to kings has Xanadu and Cygnus X1 (some of Rush's best) Cinderella man and Madrigal do nothing to progress the album. hemispheres sounds more focused and cohesive.
|
|
AutumnWanderer
Forum Newbie
Joined: September 12 2011
Location: Australia
Status: Offline
Points: 27
|
Posted: October 13 2011 at 21:19 |
|
Haven't heard Hemispheres yet, but Farewell To Kings is a favourite out of the albums that Geddy and that do.
|
|
Textbook
Forum Senior Member
Joined: October 08 2009
Status: Offline
Points: 3281
|
Posted: October 13 2011 at 23:14 |
|
While we're creating fantasy Rush albums I have always hoped the gang would do a 2112 redux in which the song is expanded to album length as it always should have been. No matter how many times I play 2112, going from that to Passage To Bangkok never feels right.
|
|
KingCrInuYasha
Forum Senior Member
Joined: September 26 2010
Location: USA
Status: Offline
Points: 1281
|
Posted: October 13 2011 at 23:51 |
|
Have to give it to Hemispheres, mainly due to the fact that it doesn't have a track like Cygnus X-1 Book I.
|
|
He looks at this world and wants it all... so he strikes, like Thunderball!
|
|
Donate monthly and keep PA fast-loading and ad-free forever.
/PAlogo_v2.gif "Progarchives.com Homepage")
Hemispheres vs A Farewell To Kings
